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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Pinocchio : DVD Review and Giveaway

I'm feeling a little bit soap-boxish today.  I'm feeling that itch and twitch that means I am in desperate need of some serious venting (or sedation).

Today's rant is bought to you by cartoons.  To be specific, modern day cartoons.  In fact, to go back to generalising (might as well offend many, as opposed to a select few), any program aimed at kids under the age of 8.  Which is all of my kids, and often myself since my humour and maturity dips to that level on a regular basis.

The twins and Miss5 watch Ben 10 obliterate giant monsters.  They then try and obliterate each other.  There's nothing sweet, cute, nice, or educational about it.  While I'm not critiquing the content or merits of the cartoon itself, the 10 minute coffee break is the most positive aspect, in my opinion.

Miss5 has been a mega Dora The Explorer fan for some time.  I applaud the counting and educational content, the storylines with a meaning/moral - only Miss5 is now trying to speak in Spanish.  Poorly.  Making up words, claiming they are Dora-esque.  Particularly when being questioned about suspicious stains emitting a distinct nail polish aroma.  She mumbles something barely audible that includes a hola and an amigo and finishes with a vaminos! before dashing off to avoid sentencing for her crimes against fabric (and fashion - if you'd seen the colour of polish she was painting over her skirt...a total clash of colour schemes).

This got me to thinking.  Modern day cartoons are, for the most part, about killing aliens or monsters or robots or monster alien robots.  For the girls, there seems to be a push towards animated tween figures, in tight jeans and midriff bearing tops, talking about makeup and clothes and nothing of substance or relevance to a CHILD and not a TEEN.

There's not a lot that is nice, friendly, happy, innocent.  And with so much on TV doing absolutely nothing to promote kids being kids, it made me think about what I watched as a kid.

Y'know...just a few wee years ago...

I'm talking back in the days of big heavy box style TV's - none of this PLASMA, LCD, 3D stuff.

As you know, I'm a big subscriber to the parenting-via-technology method.  I go into total meltdown if we have a power blackout.  The house instantly turns into an episode of Survivor as we all get antsy and feral and scared over the lack of television and Wifi.  Until we bale out and head to Macca's.

Recently, I took Miss5 to see Tangled.  Great movie.  Kiddy-friendly, and a decent amount of humour for adults.  Not a midriff in sight, no laser emitting robots or blowing stuff up.

Winnie the Pooh - It can stop the twins dead in their tracks, mid civil war, and instill a sense of peace and calm for 40 minutes of DVD viewing silence and serenity.

I can recite much of the Toy Story series, on account of how they play in our house more than the daily News.

What do these preferred animated movies all have in common?  Disney.  They are all Disney movies.
Insert seamless segue from ranty soapbox moment into DVD review and giveaway....


Pinocchio

The story of a toy who wants to be a real boy, with an underlying moral lesson about telling lies.  Totally pertinent to me as a child, since I religiously bluffed my way through "Show and Tell" each week as a 6yr old, with grand tales of the elephant my parents hired to get me around for the weekend, since the chain had come off my bike.  A bit of a stretch on the credibility-factor, when you live in a small town of around 400 people, and your teacher is your sister who lives 3 doors down from you.  God love her sisterly loyalty for never calling Bullshit on me.  Perhaps she should've since it did get a wee bit out of hand when I created an epic fib to get out of Sports one Friday, by telling the teacher I was too upset to play netball since my parents were getting a divorce (I'd just learnt that word).  Imagine how quick that one spreads around a town of 400....oops.

Anyway....moving on to the upside of my ranty soap box moment



Each year the Disney Vault opens to release Walt Disney Classics on DVD and Blu-ray.  We're talking digitally updating the old-school VHS cassette to sharper images, better sound quality, and instant rewind (because how much does it shit you that a VCR cassette takes FOREVER to rewind?).

Bet you can't guess which two Disney classics are being digitally remastered and released as we speak?

Go on, try....

Yep, that's right - for a short time only - live, to your living room

Pinocchio (celebrating it's 70th Anniversary - can you believe it was first released SEVENTY years ago?  That's a true classic when it's still around and being re-released today)

and

Snow White (a lady never tells her true age, so we'll just say she's around 25, like me...)

The best part?

Thanks to Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Porter Novelli, I happen to have a copy of each to give away.

It's taking all my willpower to do this - as they make awesome presents, and I have a number of birthday parties coming up.

Note: Snow White DVD Review and Giveaway will be posted next week.  This competition is solely for Pinocchio.

How do you win your own piece of timeless Disney Classic history?

1.  Follow this blog (because if I'm super nice they may give me other cool stuff to give away)
2.  Follow me on Twitter or Facebook (because I make an excellent twit...)
3.  Comment below confirming you're following
     AND tell me the best white lie you've heard or told

Entries close midnight (WST) Tuesday 26 April
   

T&C
Entry is open to Australian residents only
Winner drawn by random.org
Entry closes midnight (WST) Tuesday 26 April.  Winners announced Wednesday 27 April.


Good luck!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this DVD courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment via Aussie Mummy Bloggers. No financial payment was offered nor accepted for this post. All opinions expressed are purely my own.

35 comments:

  1. Following on Twitter - chocfreckle28
    White lie I tell my kids: Alarm sensors in house are Santas Cameras, when the red light comes on it means hes watching so you better be good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Following your blog and following you on twitter..
    Best white lie would have to be telling the kids if they peed in the pool a blue ring would surround them! Lol it was also told to me as a child..

    My kids haven't seen this movie yet do I'd love to win a copy.

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  3. Following you on Facebook, as I am yet to have discovered Twitter!
    Best white lie: If you pick a guinea pig up by its tail, its eyes will fall out. Believed that one for at least a decade, until I realised that guinea pigs don't have tails...

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  4. Following blog & on Twitter :o)

    White Lie, so many heard and told... Favourite would be " I'm 5'9 blonde, blue eyes and 115 lbs " lol

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  5. Following and Shared you on Facebook like I'd like to share the Pinocchio Story with my Kids - the biggest White Lie MMMM - I told my husband I was going on a work training weekend and he had the kids by himself for the weekend but instead run away with some friends to Daylesford for some serious pampering!

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  6. follow the blog and on facebook :0

    best white lie, telling my mum dad had fallen off a ladder and she had to race home.
    she walked into a surprise 50th party 3 weeks early :0 best lie ever

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  7. The Tooth fairy doesn't visit weekends - its considered overtime. (I ususlly forget the duties on the weekend)

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  8. following on twitter and liking on facebook-my fave white lie-told my kids years ago that i was 10 years younger than i am-they still believe me at 20 18 13 11 and 9:-)

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  9. Following on FB & Twitter. The best white lie: the music playing on an ice-cream van means it has run out of ice-cream :o)

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  10. Stalking you everywhere - and Miss 5 is desperate for Pinocchio! The best white lie is that this mummy has Santa's Elves and the Easter Bunny's phone numbers in her phone ;)

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  11. the best white lie i was ever told was that eating carrots will make you see in the dark. i follow you on both fb and twitter. :)

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  12. (I am following you on Facebook and following this blog)

    The best white lie I told was that I had to clear out the pantry due to an ant problem....couldn't tell hubby that the real reason all the chips were gone was because I had eaten them all!

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  13. Following on facebook -

    Best white lie i've told - of course mam isn't going to tell you you're adopted as she knows you wouldn't look after when she she's incontinent!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Following and the Best white lie I told was when I smashed my Dads Motorbike and Blamed our Huge alsation for knocking it over.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I follow on FB & Twitter.

    Straight faced hubby looked into his mothers eyes and said "No mum, your bum does not look big in that".

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  16. I told my kids they weren't mine that I found them on the beach and if they misbehave I was going to return them.

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  17. Following you with GFC and Twitter. The best white lie I have told my kids is that chick peas are magic beans!

    mmalavec@med.umich.edu

    ReplyDelete
  18. following on both fb and twitter (kibby72)
    When i tell my kids "if you tell me truth i wont be angry"....newsflash kids yes i will self combust before your eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I follow your blog :)

    Telling my daughter that Santa & the Easter Bunny exist ... she is a big believer and I even helped her seeking easter eggs today ...

    ReplyDelete
  20. (follow on facebook)
    Telling my brother he was adopted as he has darker skin than myself and my other brother!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am a follower (babycakequeen) My lie is one I tell my students all the time. I am a highschool teacher and my phone number is in the White Pages. I'm scared of them finding me and prank calling me, or worse still the thought of them turning up to see me out the front in my ugly pj's!
    I tell them that I live near a beach in the richer area of NSW. They always ask me questions about it and I play along! No body gets hurt!

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  22. I told my daughter when she was very young and just starting to learn to lie that when she told me a lie, I could see a special twinkle in her eye that let me know she wasn't telling the truth. That caused her to never make eye contact when she told a 'story' so I can still tell when she's trying to pull one over on me and she's now almost 8!

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  23. Telling my mother in law she didnt look sick at all when of course she looked dreadful. Hope to cheered her up.

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  24. Telling my girls that if they kiss a boy they will get boy germs ...it did work until they got to High School !!


    Following of twitter lucky790 ..fan on FB

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  25. That the car won't start unless everyone is buckled in. I just jiggle the keys in the ignition until the last belt clicks.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Following you on Facebook (Sonia Wilson) and Twitter (ZVSTR).
    My Four year old recently told me that the Kids from Toy Story hit him on the head and bashed him silly!

    ReplyDelete
  27. New follower with google friend and networked blogs
    New FB Fan :)
    Best lie I have ever told - From a very early age I told the kids that Mr Whippy truck - he sold vegies . Everytime they would heard the bell - oh its the vegies mum lol :P Worked for a lil while lol

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  28. The best white lie I've told is........that would be telling!

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  29. I told my kid's their eyes changed colour when they lied and they believed me.

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  30. New follower on Facebook. I tell my 3 year old teins all the time that od they don't brush their teeth, their teeth will fall out. They think I mean immediately... why spoil a good thing?? I'm not lying, I'm stretching the truth!!

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  31. I told my 4 year old when he tells fibs to me that a big word on his forehead will appear saying ''LIAR'' when I asked him a few weeks ago if he had brushed his teeth he quickly slapped his hand over his forehead and answered ''YES MUM''.

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  32. Following you now on twitter Im AKA_MrFrog! (its my daughters nickname for me haha)
    Best lie I ever told was 'No Mum, Im not pregnant'.
    Only because I wanted to keep it a surprise until Christmas Day ;)

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  33. I told a little white lie when my 3 year old daughter dropped the bomb, "Where to babies come from?"

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  34. Congrats Sonia! Please email me your address, so I can have the lovely types at Porter Novelli send your prize!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Like my Mum before me, I have told my kids if they swallow chewing gum it will twist up their guts! I am already a facebook fan.

    ReplyDelete

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