Yes, this is new Hi-5 news, as opposed to old Hi-5 news. Which would be, um, olds?

Anyway.

I’ve got a few things to share about the group’s latest retail accoutrements, which will be of interest if you happen to have a kid who’s a fan of the perky fivesome. (And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, go check them out. I’ll wait.)

First of all, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s tons of new Hi-5 merchandise available at the Ty’s Hi-5 store right now. The new new clothing is adorable, though I am partial to the blue cape, I think.

Next, you may have noticed that Ty’s currently has three different Hi-5 DVDs in stock. That’s great news if you and your children are just discovering Hi-5; but what if you already own all three DVDs? What if you appreciate the learning that Hi-5 offers your preschooler but you think that if you have to watch one of those DVDs even one more time that you may just have to blind yourself with the spout of the nearest sippy cup?

Don’t fret! Help is on the way:

Well Go USA has announced two volumes of Hi-5 for release on December 5. Both volumes are single discs, and run for 50 mins. The first volume, “Action Heroes,” includes these songs:

• Action Heroes
  
• T-E-A-M
  
• Underwater Discovery
  

While the second volume, “Move Your Body,” includes these songs:

• Five Senses
  
• Move Your Body
  
• North, South, East and West
  

Both sets will include:

• New DVD Carrying Case
  
• Never Before Seen Hi-5 Fun
  
• Karaoke Special Features
  
• Hi-5 Stickers
  

Suggested retail price is $19.99 each.

This news may come as a great relief to you, and just in time for the holidays, to boot. Heck, my kids sing the “North, South, East and West” song all the time, and they’re not even preschoolers. It’s possible they just do it to see my eyelid twitch. But that’s a different entry altogether.

Have a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan on your hands? Then you’ve got to check out the “Design Your Destiny” Card Contest. 4Kids Entertainment wants to turn your child’s great idea for a new Yu-Gi-Oh! monster into a real card to be included in an upcoming booster pack.

My son has designed hundreds of trading cards in his spare time. Most of them line the hallways and trash cans of my house, and most of them look the same, to me; but he always insists that he can tell them apart and can always rhapsodize at length about the particular merits of each one. (Though he was not amused by my suggestion of a monster with a deadly kiss attack.)

It’s possible that my son is just a freak in this way, but I suspect that most kids who enjoy the monster trading cards are already old hands at designing their own. Why not try to win a prize for what they’re doing anyway?

From the official press release:

Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will be given the chance to submit their original drawings and name for a new Yu-Gi-Oh! monster in hopes of getting their design made into an official trading card to be included in a Yu-Gi-Oh! booster pack! Itââ¬â¢s that easy — name it, draw it, and send it!

Contest winners will be selected from three age categories, ranging from ages 3 to 17, and submissions must be received by 4Kids Entertainment by November 3 for consideration. A panel of 4Kids judges will take all of the submissions into careful consideration in order to choose one “Design Your Destiny” winner from each of the three age groups. The winners will be announced on-air in early January 2007 on 4Kids TV. Along with getting their card published in a Yu-Gi-Oh! booster pack, set to hit shelves in 2007, winners will receive a Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force Video Game, by Konami. Additionally, once the entry period is closed, 4Kids will post some of the top submissions in a viewing gallery on www.4kids.tv. At that point, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will have a chance to nominate their favorite design in an array of fun categories.

You can read the complete official rules and then download the official entry form. But hurry—entries must be postmarked by November 3rd (that’s this Friday) to qualify!

If you’re like me, you put off buying Halloween candy for as long as you possibly can. Not because you don’t have the holiday spirit, understand, but because you perhaps experience the holiday spirit too fully and find yourself munching on the goodies.

I have a solution to this dilemma, of course. I buy a few bags of lollipops and a few bags of chocolate candy (Snickers, Heath, Twix, etc.) so that I have a variety to offer the children who come trick-or-treating. Or maybe just so that after I eat all of the chocolate, I still have some lollipops to give out. (”Hey, you smell like chocolate!” “Shut up and eat your lolly, kid.”)

My two main objectives in purchasing Halloween candy are 1) finding it cheap and 2) buying something I don’t particularly like. I can’t help it; I don’t normally keep sweets in the house and bagsful of my favorite candy are a temptation I cannot be expected to withstand. Neither did my children find it a brilliant solution when I suggested we give out pencils.

In the spirit of the season, today I offer you some candy-related links for your perusal.

First off, Candy Blog is running a section about having a Green Halloween. If buying fair trade is important to you, check it out. Buying fair trade is important to me in theory, but in practice it’s not really as important to me as having grocery money for the week (which is approximately what some of those yummy offerings cost). So I’ll continue drinking my fair trade coffee with my slave-labor (but so delicious) mini candy bars. At least for now.

Next, I can almost quell my appetite for the forbidden goodies when I ponder which is more disgusting: Candy Scabs or Hose Nose Candy. I just don’t know. On the one hand, the Hose Nose Candy was feature on Jay Leno. On the other hand, the Candy Scabs are feature in this video, which is pretty horrifying in its kitsch. I can’t decide.

Tell me about your Halloween candy proclivities. (I won’t tell anyone; it’ll just be between you, me and the Internet.) What will you be handing out?

It’s a happy time for Cartoon Network fans when a holiday rolls around; there’s no shortage of special episodes and movies coming up in the next week or so. (Although, it needs saying—if any Cartoon Network executive-types are reading this—we’re getting a little bit tired of Scooby Doo: Pirates Ahoy. I’m all for showing a great movie a few times so that folks don’t miss it, but seriously, enough.)

Now I see that the special Ed, Edd n Eddy Halloween episode, “Ed, Edd n Eddy’s Halloween Boo Haw Haw” is slated for 8:00 tomorrow night (Friday, October 27th). And I’m intrigued.

(The premise of the series, and, indeed, the wiggly-line animation, is nothing I ever thought I’d enjoy. But I’ve found myself drawn in by the characters and laughing along with my kids. Stupid is funny. Over the years I’ve grown to like the show in spite of myself.)

Animation Insider has a review of the episode that discusses the series in general and this newest chapter in particular:

Ed, Edd, n Eddy’s Boo Haw Haw deals with our three amigos as they embark on a journey to discover the ultimate trick-or-treat neighborhood. Eddy–dressed as Zombie Elvis for Halloween–has received word that the elusive “Spook-E-Ville” is a legendary locality that is heavy-handed with the Halloween candy, and he feels that it’s up to him to grab all that he can; but, as I’m sure you can guess, Eddy and the others can’t snag the treats from “Spook-E-Ville” if they can’t find it. And henceforth comes one of the largest dilemmas of Ed, Edd, n Eddy’s Boo Haw Haw. While Eddy’s hand-drawn map (half of which is illustrated in crayon) directs the guys here and there by the way of bent stop signs and broken down hearses; Double-D is dressed as the Bubonic Plague, and Ed the lovable lump has become delusional from hours of watching horror flicks.

Just re-read that paragraph and savor it for a minute: Double-D is dressed as the Bubonic Plague.

I love it already.

So did the reviewer, incidentally:

Ed, Edd, n Eddy’s Boo Haw Haw is another great sugar-inspired adventure. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the show, or if you’ve been only slightly interested in Ed, Edd n Eddy over the years, or if you are a casual animation fan looking to find something interesting to watch this fall, this is a good TV special to catch.

Finally, he concludes:

Plus, when you have a television special where a character like Nazz is tempting an innocent guy like Double-D by saying: “Want a handful of my sugar-coated bon bons?” — how can you not watch it?

How, indeed. Set your clocks or set your recording devices, but don’t miss it.

(I wonder if I still have time to whip up a Bubonic Plague costume for myself…?)

Look at that face. Can you look at that little face and not melt into a puddle of viscous goo? I certainly can’t. My keyboard is going to short out any minute now.

It’s bittersweet, for me, because I grew up on the original Charlotte’s Web movie. When I heard they were making a new version I may have groaned a bit. Did Hollywood run out of plots? Can’t they go ruin a movie I don’t cherish? I wasn’t terribly excited at the prospect, is what I’m trying to tell you.

Indeed, I’ll have to wait until Christmas to find out if the remake does more than come up with some fancy special effects. Although I do have to admit that the cast is stupendous (Kathy Bates and John Cleese? Oprah as Gussy the Goose? and the list goes on) and I suspect it would be difficult for the result to be a flop. So I am hopeful.

I’m also impatient. Which is why I was so tickled to visit Pop Candy and see that we, uh, I mean, our kids can go worry about saving Wilbur while we’re waiting for the premiere. You can sign the petition to save Wilbur, learn about great alternatives to eating pork products (apparently the best alternative is to plant your tongue firmly inside of your cheek; you’ll have to check it out to see what I mean), test your knowledge of piggie trivia, and download items to show your support for the plucky little pig. And—of course—you can follow the countdown until the movie opens.

It’s a fun little site to share with your kids. Just don’t expect them to appreciate you calling them “Some Pig!” (Some pigs around here have no sense of humor.)

TitansGo.net once again brings us the latest and greatest information for anyone hooked on the Teen Titans. Their interview with J. Torres is a fascinating peek into one of the great minds behind the Titans, as well as containing some teasers about upcoming “Teen Titans Go!” issues.

I encourage you to read the entire thing. It’s informative and entertaining and totally makes me want to hang out with J. Torres and maybe just chat and shoot some pool. Because my children love Teen Titans, of course. Ahem.

I can’t help it; I just love his enthusiasm and obvious love for what he does:

TGn: So “Teen Titans Go!” is a natural gig for you.

J. Torres: I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying till I die I bet you, TTG was the best book to offer me as my first monthly series. Not only is it all-ages and fun, but it’s based on a cartoon that I love which is based on characters and a comic series that I loved as a kid myself, a comic that really got me into comics, so it comes around full circle rather nicely.

And it’s not as though I doubted he had a sense of humor (really, could you write for “Teen Titans Go!” and not?), but this made me laugh out loud:

TGn: Does DC give you much freedom for writing TTG’s stories? Were there ever any ideas you had to toss out?

J. Torres: So far no. And yeah, they’ve given me a lot of creative freedom. But it’s not like I’ve tried to do anything too violent or crazy, you know? I’ve tried to keep TTG true to the cartoon.

There have only been two or three occasions that I can recall when my editor has said “let’s tweak this”. One had something to do with me writing a line for Starfire about eating toothpaste, and another was an appearance by Arella that he didn’t think fit in with the story. But don’t worry, we’ll finally be seeing her in TTG shortly.

No eating toothpaste though, kids!

The interview points out that you can also have an early look at TTG #36 over at jtorresonline. The issue is due for release tomorrow (October 25th), but if you can’t wait, check it out.

If you’re a fan of the television show but not already a reader of the “Teen Titans Go!” comics, this interview should convince you that the series is quite true to the TV version (and all-ages suitable). It doesn’t have the ease that your kids would enjoy from vegetating in front of the set, I suppose, and might, perhaps, better their reading skills (oh, the horror!), but it’s a workable subsitute.

And with heart-warming messages like “don’t eat toothpaste,” how could you not love it?

I’d been so busy fending off my daughter’s pestering to please please oh please please PLEASE let’s go see Flicka, that I nearly forgot that one of my favorite movies was back. (Do you see what a tween girl can do to your brain? It’s damaging.)

Of course, you may have seen The Nightmare Before Christmas when it came out in 1993. I remember thinking it was a pretty cool film, even then, but then being somewhat disappointed when my kids didn’t seem too interested in it a couple of years ago. I was all ready to share it with them, and they were perhaps a little too young.

But my kids are older now, and Nightmare is back on the big screen—in 3-D! I can’t think of a better way to get ready for Halloween. Heck, I can’t think of a better way to spend a couple of hours regardless of the season, but that may just be be. You could say I am just a wee bit fond of Tim Burton’s work.

If you missed Tim Burton’s appearance on Leno last week, never fear; YouTube to the rescue:

 
(I especially like how he always looks like he just woke up, maybe from a nap in the dumpster out back. All geniuses seem smarter when they appear to be just a step or two away from complete dereliction.)

Want more background? ToonZone posted a great interview with producer Don Hahn about the 3-D remake. I found the interview right after I’d figured out that Nightmare isn’t playing anywhere in my area, and I was busy being befuddled (and, frankly, annoyed) when I read this:

TZN: As far as getting the film in theatres, do you need special projection equipment, or can any theatre project it?

DH: No, it does need special projection equipment. It’s a digital cinema projector, so it’s projecting at a really high frame rate. It also is a silver screen so that the 3-D effect has integrity by the time it’s projected on the screen and comes back to your eyeball. You wear lightweight 3-D glasses to decode what comes back to your eye. That process does require a special installation in all the theatres that are showing it.

Part of what makes this Disney digital 3-D thing work is it’s an incredibly stable image. A lot of the older 3-D, especially if you go back to the 50’s and the Dial M for Murder era, it’s really terrific and it’s great to watch but it was usually 2 projectors and you had to wear the red-blue anaglyph glasses, and it was a headache-inducing experience. I think what’s great about this technique is it is a stable image. The glasses are not red and blue, they’re just the standard neutral polarizing glasses and because of the high frame rate and because there’s no shudder (or) gate weave. It’s a really pristine experience. You can sit there and watch a feature-length film without getting the usual kind of residual headache you might have gotten 50 years ago when you watched original 3-D.

(That’s all well and good, but I want it at my local mall. Hmph.)

And just when I’d resigned myself to maybe just missing it, I discovered that The Nightmare Before Christmas has garnered the highest review score I’ve ever seen at Rotten Tomatoes. Well. That settles it.

You know what this means, right? Road trip!

If Nightmare is showing near you—or if you’re willing to drive a bit just for a pair of goofy glasses and a great movie—get out there and see it. After all… tis the season.

TGIF, and welcome again to another edition of What The Heck Movie Is Opening This Weekend That The Children Will Demand To See! Perhaps you don’t play this game, at your house, but we consider it just good clean fun around here.

(Bonus points are gathered for movies that have extra-annoying commercials that run every five minutes.)

Anyway, as you might imagine, there is currently a battle raging at my house. My daughter has decided that she simply does not have the will to continue living without an immediate trip to the cinema to behold Flicka. It has a girl! And a horse! She! Must! See! It!

My son begs to differ. In fact, my son begs to not be subjected to this Festival of Estrogen. Flicka is a “girls movie,” according to him, and he wants none of it. (And why are horses the domain of girls, exactly?)

As for me, I sit squarely in the middle of this debate. I am Switzerland. So far the reviews have been split; plenty of folks are unimpressed, while others feel it’s a solid family film.

Variety’s Todd McCarthy is suitably impressed:

To call this the best horse-and-kid picture since “The Black Stallion” a quarter century ago is true but misleading; it’s not really either an animal or a kids’ film but rather a young adult drama that rings emotionally true, with nary a manufactured note struck.

(He does go on to predict mediocre box office performance due to insufficient marketing, which is another topic entirely. I’ll be curious to see if he’s right, though.)

On the other hand, Frank Swietek of One Guy’s Opinion doesn’t mince words:

The sad fact is that “Flicka” makes “Dreamer,” the last mediocre girl-and-her-horse movie, seem almost brilliant by comparison.

[…]

“Flicka” tries—but fails miserably.

(Other than that, Mr. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?)

Whether you plan to head out to Flicka this weekend or not, it’s always entertaining to do your movie research over at Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, after I do some reading over there, I often conclude the movie cannot possibly be as entertaining as the reviews, and I should quit while I’m ahead.

Have a great weekend, and keep your eyes peeled for wild mustangs!

No time to sit down on your couch and chill out while watching your favorites on Cartoon Network? No problem:

[…] Turner’s Cartoon Network is being made available for consumer downloads through the Nokia Content Discoverer client, embedded in millions of Nokia devices currently available in markets around the globe.

Under a multi-country agreement between the companies, mobile subscribers will be able to browse, download and purchase over-the-air Cartoon Network games, video clips, and other content from a dedicated Cartoon Network mobile content “storefront” available to consumers through the device-resident Nokia Content Discoverer client, part of Nokia’s complete mobile content ecosystem.

“Mobile content ecosystem,” huh? That makes it sound so much more like a special foreign land with a lush rainforest and rare animals than, say, another way to spend your money and out-gadget your pals.

The new agreement provides a simple method for people to quickly access and enjoy Cartoon Network entertainment on buses, at school or in the office, according to Phil Lawrie, Vice President, Commercial Distribution & Digital Media Sales, Turner Broadcasting.

“Turner is delighted to offer a Cartoon Network catalog as part of the exciting Nokia Content Discoverer initiative,” said Mr. Lawrie. “Accessing and buying mobile content can often be challenging for the end-user. Having an embedded showcase for our Cartoon Network content as part of Nokia Content Discoverer will eliminate these barriers and provide a shop window for games, video clips, wallpapers and much more in the future. In a nutshell, it’s content purchase made easy - with a positive commercial outcome for all stakeholders: Turner, Nokia and the network operator. And our consumers will now be just a few key-strokes away from Cartoon Network favorites like The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory.”

Heaven knows I have nothing against The Powerpuff Girls or Dexter. Heck, get some Jimmy Neutron in that catalog and I may be congratulating Nokia on their brilliance, myself. For real. But I am troubled by this mobile storefront thing.

Do you have a cell phone? Do you have a kid? Has your child ever accidentally called Yugoslavia on your cell phone?

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

I don’t want to be “just a few key-strokes away” from purchasing stuff on my cell phone. Rather, I don’t want the sticky fingers that find their way into my purse to have that sort of ease of access.

Oh well. There’s no stopping the onward march of technology and progress. I may find myself eating my words someday while trapped in traffic or otherwise requiring the distraction that this may provide.

Until then, I’ll be relying on my favorite cell phone feature: the keypad lock.

I love this story. I love it so much, I may have actually squealed a little while I was reading it. If Walt Disney were alive today I would hunt him down and kiss him on the lips (and quite possibly slip him some tongue)*, that’s how much I love this story.

I read it in The New York Times yesterday (registration required to view article) and in addition to cheering, I am also saying, “Finally!”

Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen will not be endorsing junk food much longer.

Walt Disney, addressing the growing concerns of parents over child nutrition, said yesterday that it would curtail the use of its name and characters with food items that did not meet new nutritional standards. The new guidelines would limit how much sugar, calories and fat could be in snacks and foods marketed by companies that Disney has licensing relationships with.

Setting aside my incredulity at seeing a dangling preposition in the NYT, this was welcome news. As a mom, I have to say that I pretty much despise the concept of a meal that comes with a toy for about a billion reasons. But it does exactly what everyone involved hopes it will do—drive consumer dollars to an establishment because Junior wants the latest and greatest offered baubles (nevermind what the food is).

What a lovely change of pace to see a corporate giant using their muscle to encourage socially responsible change in other businesses. And the icing on the cake? No “do as I say but not as I do” for the brand, either:

In addition to the licensing restrictions, Disney said its own theme park restaurants would change the default options for side orders from French fries to a more healthy choice, like carrots or applesauce.

[…]

All trans fats are to be eliminated from food at restaurants located in Disneyââ¬â¢s theme parks by 2007 and from licensed food items by 2008.

The NYT article takes issue with the absence of plans to restrict advertising of unhealthy foods on Disney-owned television channels, but I find myself feeling uncharacteristically charitable on this oversight. The announced measures are a huge step in the right direction. I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to see them take it that extra mile, of course. Just that I’m willing to give credit where credit is due, and it’s due here. This is a brilliant move on Disney’s part. Bravo, Disney!

*Let’s pretend I didn’t say that, about kissing Walt. It feels a little sacrilegious, even compared to the relative evilness of Happy Meals.