Ni Hao, Kai-lan – Super Special Days! (Nickelodeon DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: B-

 

 

In another winning TV show from Nickelodeon, Ni Hao, Kai-lan follows the successful formula and child-friendly tradition of a main character who is friendly with the child audience by breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audiences with all kinds of concerns.  The twist here is that she is from China and even shares Chinese words (not mandarin, we guess) with their meaning and communicates her new world very well.

 

This also includes other characters, human and animal, but is consistently stimulating for developing young minds and this is the first time the show has hit DVD.  I believe it will become another one of their classic hits as global ideas and communication grows and proves that the Internet alone is not sufficient for our children to get these ideas and concepts.  Four very anti-xenophobic shows are included and adults could even get some ideas from this.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is nice, clean and colorful, even more so than usual since China is known for color richness.  Kung-Fu Panda just showed us in a more complex way how animation addresses this, but this is a fine companion to that hit.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is nice and clean, even without surrounds, you can tell is a recent recording.  Extras include stills with explanations of the characters and (for a change cute) Music Video for the song “My Favorite Places”.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo