I actually watched these a while back but sadly I have not blogged so much lately and have never given my review.

For those who don't know, Davey and Goliath was a television series made by Gumby creator Art Clokey under the sponsorship of the Lutheran Church in America. Thus each show had a moral or scriptural lesson to teach which can be backed up by Biblical truths. Each disc had a handful of the 15 minute shorts as well as one longer short. All episodes are fairly decent but there are a few gems to be found.

On the first disc we get the controversial (for its time) episode of Blind Man's Bluff. Davey's best friend Jonathan (who quite possibly was the first black kid in a cartoon series depicted as a normal human character) invites him over to take care of his cousin Scottie who hates White people. What's so interesting here is that the tables are turned from the conventional White Supremacy that is used to display racism. Sadly even to this day we have groups of people who don't even believe that Black people can be racist against White people or that it is somehow excusable. Davey and Goliath got it all those years ago.

The second disc has more Biblical stories in it with one episode, Good Neighbor, mirroring Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan and Halloween Who Dun It where Davey learns that not even the masks we try to put on can hide us or our sins from God. However much in the same way that the Doughnut shop owner forgives the children and pays for the damages Jesus forgives us of our sins and makes things right for us by saving us from the punishments we deserve.

Davey and Goliath is a classic that I think many children today could benefit from. The messages are simple and don't overload kids and best of all come from the truths of the Bible which Jesus gave to us. Davey and Goliath aren't teaching the universalism and tolerance crap of most new shows which tell children to abandon principals and to accept just about anything as normal and decent.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Labels: Animation, Christian, Family

Under the Umbrella Tree: Volume 4: Rounding out the collection is the fourth and hopefully not last volume of Under the Umbrella Tree. We anticipated this volume more than any other with the only possible exception being Volume Three. This was mostly due to the selection of episodes. All of these I remember but sadly have not seen in at least 10 years.

First on the disc is "Gloria Gets Rough." This story talks about gender roles, unnecessary violence and how playing football in the house is not a good idea. Actually it's about Gloria being upset that some boys won't let her play football so she decides to play rough with Iggy and Jacob. The episode handles it all well and offers some alternatives.

Next up is "Private" where Jacob can't learn to respect other people's privacy. After that is a favorite of mine, "The Aqua Show" where the gang puts on a show in the bathroom. I especially loved Iggy as a fish.

Finally is another of the half hour shows, "Ready to Learn." In this special Jacob starts a flying school, Holly tries to learn computers and Iggy and Gloria start school for the first time. This is one of the best specials and has some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

All in all the set is quite nice and I will be holding a vigil every night until Volume 5 is released.

Labels: Family, TV Shows

Under the Umbrella Tree: Volume 3: When I have a good DVD series, I just can't stop watching it. This is no more true than in one of my childhood favorites, Under the Umbrella Tree.

Most of the episodes I remembered quite well and several I was quite anticipating such as "To the Dentist," "Jacob's Girlfriends" and especially "Going Bananas."

The presentation of these discs is quite nice. I really love how they bring out the puppets to introduce the episodes. I am also glad to learn that the child narrator was not original and we can actually hear the theme song. Also we get to see the original slightly different opening on Bananas as that was made earlier in the series.

As anything else I say will just be a repeat of the last two, I will merely say that this is a show which I will buy any and all future releases of. Here's hoping we can get more soon.

In closing, I feel it best to sing a song.
It's National Banana Day! We'll peel our frowns away! It's time to shout, "Hooray!" "For National Banana Day!

Labels: Family, TV Shows

Under the Umbrella Tree: Volume 2: Continuing where volume one left off is this collection of three more regular adventures of the Umbrella Tree gang along with one of the half hour specials.

The disc starts out with an episode I remembered distinctly but had not seen in at least 10 years. Chez Iggy (which translates to Iggy's Place) is the story of Iggy who, after inventing a new salad, decides to open a pretend restaurant in the basement. Unfortunately he learns that restaurant work is much more work than he thought.

Next up is "Hanky Panky" where, as the title suggests, the gang all come down with colds so Holly teaches them to blow their noses on their new handkerchiefs. Unfortunately they end up playing with their hankies more than actually blowing their nose.

After that is The Gingerbread House which is the first story on either of the discs which we already had on our old videos. This is not a bad thing, however as our tapes were not in the best of shape.

The real jewel of the disc is the half hour Valentine's Day special. This one is where the gang really learns what love is and what it means to love. Holly has a secret admirer and Jacob is sweet on Meghan (played by a young but still smoking hot Stacie Mistysyn of Degrassi fame.) It's a lot of fun with some good songs and like the others, I highly recommend it.

Labels: Family, TV Shows

Under the Umbrella Tree: Volume 1: Due to being quite busy this week, coupled with some personal events I had taken a sort of sabbatical from my DVD viewing. This could not last forever as today I received what is perhaps one of my most anticipated DVDs to date.

Back in the late Eighties and early Nineties there was a show on Canadian TV show called Under the Umbrella Tree which, thankfully, was brought to the US via the Disney Channel. As a child my brother, my sisters and I were always glued to the TV whenever it was on and the few episodes we managed to (very badly) record onto VHS were watched so many times that the tape nearly wore out.

When I found out that UTUT had come to DVD I was initially disappointed that it was not in season sets and would be released as "Best Of" collections. Even more disappointing was the fact that the DVD would not be sold via normal retail outlets. Still, I happily handed over the $15 each via the Cinerio website and impatiently waited for the postman to deliver it.

The show is about a woman named Holly who lives with her three anthropomorphic puppet roommates: Iggy, Gloria and Jacob. The show is, in all honesty, much like any other in terms of set up and plots but the real charm comes in the execution. Iggy, Gloria and Jacob are very believable and likable characters. The stories themselves are not always lesson orientated as far too many children's shows insist on being.

Even though it is a pain to order them, I recommend this DVD to anyone. If you haven't seen this, you might not get the nostalgic feel I have but I would then suggest you show it to your kids as they should love it.

Labels: Family, TV Shows