In the field of children's music videos, the Minnesota Orchestra's Notes Alive! series (On the Day You Were Born [VL-5/97] and The Nutcracker: The Untold Story [VL-1/98]) exist in a multi-award winning class of their own. The latest, Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days, based on the beloved author's 1973 text (released as a posthumous picture book in 1996), features Theodor S. Geisel's witty rhymes pairing a child's emotions with colorful days, wonderful narration by Holly Hunter, top-notch 3-D computer animation, and, of course, a dynamite musical score. Dr. Seuss fans of all ages will delight in watching a young boy and his dog embark on colorful journeys of the imagination: riding make-believe horses on energetic red days, languidly swimming under the sea on quiet green days, feeling "slow and low down" on brown days, and so on. In each of the segments, the film routinely cuts away to watch the orchestra--literally showing young viewers how various pieces of music are used to create a wide range of moods. In what I suspect will be one of my favorite scenes of the year, the orchestra breaks into a nicely choreographed round of hand-clapping and foot-stomping to convey happy pink days. To see this handsomely dressed orchestra cut loose with what is essentially front porch music on a grand scale is a joyous sight. An informative "behind the scenes" shows viewers how motion capture technology is used to create the exceptionally fluid movements of the characters, talks to composer Richard Einhorn, and visits with Geisel's widow. Highly recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)
Notes Alive!: Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days
(1999) 45 min. $19.95. M.O.V.E. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 1-893274-01-2. Vol. 14, Issue 3
Notes Alive!: Dr. Seuss's My Many Colored Days
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