While I'm not a big fan of that swiftly growing subcategory of children's video in which entrepreneurial minded parents film their adorable, pre-verbal, uncoordinated babies trying to maintain a seated position while (purportedly) brain-expanding (and royalty free) classical music blares on the soundtrack, Little Stars is a little bit different. Unlike Singing Babies [VL Online], in which tots' mouths are electronically altered à la Babe (think of it as Village of the Damned: The Toddler Years) to give the effect of singing canned nursery rhymes, this entertaining production features babies whose voices are electronically sampled to create a soundtrack that actually reminded me of Deep Forest (sucking on helium canisters). Separated into five segments, the program showcases babies playing with food and pets, dressed-up for various jobs (fireman, ballerina, etc.), and doing the "body bop" (pointing to fingers, toes, noses, and so on). The video concludes with a blistering "rock-a-baby" set in which the tykes get down, get loose, and get funky on a variety of pop instruments. Good golly, Miss Molly, I kind of liked it! Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)
Little Stars
(1999) 26 min. $12.95. Big Chief (dist. by Tapeworm Video). PPR. Color cover. Vol. 15, Issue 6
Little Stars
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