The Wheels on the Bus

CGI-animated Beep the Bus, along with musical riders Bass, Trombone, Drum, Sax, and Daisy the Dog, shares Sing Song City adventures based on traditional nursery rhyme songs in The Wheels on the Bus, which features "Humpty Dumpty," "Jack and Jill," "Hot Cross Buns," "I Saw Three Ships," and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," as well as the title entry. Updated (read: politically correct) for the times, Humpty Dumpty's great fall doesn't shatter him into pieces (everyone thinks he still needs all the king's horses and all the king's men, but of course he works out the wall-sitting problem for himself), while in “I Saw Three Ships,” the line “on Christmas Day in the morning” has been changed to “on New Year's Day in the morning” (and, of course, Jesus and Mary have been expurgated entirely). The production itself is veddy British, but American Jane Kaczmarek (from Malcolm in the Middle) was hired to narrate the U.S. release. While the scripting seemed cutesy to me, my toddler enjoyed this inexpensive program suitable for larger children's collections. Optional. Aud: K, P. (R. Reagan)