23 out of 23 people found this review helpful.
For tea when it runs in abundance. . .
Date of Review: Jul 19, 2004
The Bottom Line: Buy this DVD for your kids. They will love singing along and dancing to it.
Why am I slightly embarrassed to admit that I love the Wiggles? My kids (aged 10, 6, 2) love them. They write most of their own music, which I respect. Most of the music is catchy. They're colorful and energetic. Must be because they're for kids. Heck, it's not as if I'm admitting to liking Barney. I don't. Really.
They're actually the first "for kids" franchise I could really endorse. Barney is OK, but he makes me queasy sometimes. I could tolerate the Teletubbies, but certain sinister undertones of the program - which have conspiratorial associations I will not go into right now - sometimes left me wanting to turn it off. My kids have shown little interest in other popular kids' franchise fads.
Initially, I thought the Wiggles were Brits, modeled from the Beatles. I later learned they're Aussies and, because they are modeled from the Beatles, seem more like the Monkees. The group consists of Murray (red), Jeff (purple), Anthony (blue, usually), and Greg (yellow). Greg is the singer. He and Jeff and Murray seem to have the most musical ability. Anthony purports to be the drummer, but, as a former musician, I can say with some knowledge that his drumming skills are rudimentary at best; I assume he's a part of the band because he's the best looking. Not that he's my favorite. He isn't. Really.
The Wiggles have several friends, including Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, and Dorothy the Dinosaur. The only one of these friends who really establishes themselves as a character is Captain Feathersword. I find him quite un-masculine and a bit repugnant.
[Note: the credits for the musicians that actually produce the Wiggles music is long, indeed, suggesting that these four are not the most musically talented gents from down under -- that distinction belongs to Men Without Hats, of course]
At any rate, the storyline of the video, such as it is, involves the band and their friends spending a day at the beach. They lose their boat, meet a mermaid, find a magic shell, a gold key, and are rescued by the King -- not Elvis, but Neptune. The story is secondary, really, to the music.
In a way, Wiggles music is not unlike the album tracks from "Weird Al" Yankovic or anything by Oasis: you know they're copying (or ripping-off) someone, but you have to figure out who it is. Most of the tracks here have some touches of surfer movie music to them - like descending guitar riffs - and the lyrics are often about the sea, the beach, or fish. I can't figure out if the Wiggles songs are so catchy because they're so well written, or because they so closely resemble the work of other artists, or because I've heard them over a million times each.
Children will have fun dancing to almost any track on the DVD, but as a critic, I must site what I feel are the strongest tracks. "Dance a Cachuca" is my favorite song on the DVD, mostly because I'm a sucker for good harmonies. "Zing Zang Wing Wang Wong" is a trippy little tune that would have fit right in at the dance clubs of the 60s (then again, so would the songs Mike Meyers performed in his Austin Powers movies. . . ). "Watching the Waves" is the most somber track on the DVD, and it does give the impression of a peaceful day at the beach.
Two tracks, "Rolling Down the Sandhills" and "Running Up the Sandhills" are slow and fast versions of the same song. They're the worst songs I've heard on a Wiggles release and the band should donate their royalties from the songs to a charity.
The production of the video is mediocre, at best. As long as these guys have been at the game, I would have expected more. This isn't High Art, of course, but seeing surfers and buildings in the background, and the fact that it is all-too-apparent they are not rolling down sandhills brings the value down a bit.
So, where do I stand? Its difficult for me to be too critical, because this is a kids video. And if the music is the focus of the video, then I should give a pretty good rating. Additionally, the visuals are flashy, which manages to hold children's attention quite well. Besides, if I get too hung up on the details, I feel I am overthinking the entire issue. Sometimes I think I may be too critical for my own good. . .
I'm going to recommend this video on the grounds that my children love it, and judging from the Wiggles popularity, so do a lot of other kids. And, viewing the video from the perspective of a child, its a hit. Because, as an adult, I would never deign to watch this video by myself. I wouldn't. Really.
