AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
Ghost Canyon

'Caillou: Caillou Goes for the Gold'
(DVD / TV-Y / 2016 / PBS Kids)

Overview: Caillou and his friends have a lot of fun participating in sports together! With patience and practice, Caillou becomes more confident as he gets better and stronger. When Caillou realizes that winning isn't the most important part of playing the game, he develops a healthy love of sports.

DVD Verdict: Since 1997, 'Caillou' has brought us the entertaining misadventures of a four year old boy - named Caillou. Each day he discovers something new and interesting with his mommy, daddy, and Rosie. Between Caillou segments are other segments featuring Caillou's pet cat Gilbert, Caillou's teddy bear, Teddy, and Caillou's toy dinosaur, Rexy; in puppet form.

Complete with 11 sports-celebrating fun stories the whole family will love this brand new DVD. Indeed, all the fun sports-themed adventures will most certainly help empower preschoolers to try new activities with their friends and family, me thinks.

'Caillou: Caillou Goes for the Gold' was released on DVD on July 19th, 2016 via PBS Kids, has a run time @ 60 minutes, and the delightful stories featured on the DVD are listed below:

“Everyone’s Best” - When Clementine shows up with a swimming ribbon on her chest, Caillou really wants to have one too. Grandma comes up with some very silly games with ribbons for prizes. Caillou imagines he’s an athlete and has a lot of fun trying his best. He finally does win a ribbon in the straight face contest!

“Caillou’s Big Kick” - Caillou’s big friend André has come to visit. André’s a soccer player and Caillou wants to play too, only Caillou isn’t very good at kicking the ball. Sometimes he misses altogether; sometimes it only goes a few inches. He wants to give up, but André and Dad encourage him and eventually he makes the biggest kick of the day.

“Caillou’s New Shoes” - Caillou goes with Mom to buy a new pair of shoes. On the way he sees Sarah running fast. He decides he wants a pair of shoes he can run in. First, the salesman has to measure his feet. Eventually he picks exactly the right pair and he shows Sarah just how fast he can run.

“Caillou Learns to Swim” - Caillou goes to the swimming pool with his family and Daddy teaches him how to swim. After a few lessons he’s getting better and better. Pretty soon, he wants to swim by himself and although it starts off with a bit of a scare, everything ends up just fine. Caillou can swim now.

“Caillou Plays Baseball” - When Caillou notices that Dad and Grandpa are captivated by a baseball game on TV, he wants to get in on the excitement. Dad and Grandpa are eager to teach Caillou how to play the game. At first, Caillou’s discouraged by how difficult it is, but lots of practice and some good coaching from Dad and Grandpa make it a little easier for him. The end result? A backyard baseball game with the whole family and Mr. Hinkly joining in on the fun.

“Caillou Tries Karate” - Leo comes over to play at Caillou’s house. They have fun pretending to be bears until Sarah shows up wearing a gi (white Karate outfit). Dad had promised to drive her to her Karate lesson. Sarah introduces Caillou and Leo to Karate and demonstrates a few moves. While she is at her class, the boys have their own pretend Karate game. When Sarah comes back, she gives another lesson to the whole family.

“Caillou’s Gym Day” - Caillou gets a special invitation to go to André’s gym class. A little intimidated at first, Caillou tries his best and ends up having great fun. When they make a rhythmic coordination exercise, Caillou discovers that not everything is easy! Caillou finds the leap-frog exercise difficult but he keeps trying and finally succeeds. Back home, André and Caillou play gym class and when Caillou finds a toy whistle, it’s his turn to be the gym teacher!

“Backyard Bowlers” - When Caillou and Rosie stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, Grandpa uses pop bottles and a rubber ball to create a kid’s bowling alley in the backyard. Grandpa teaches Caillou to bowl, but when he is called inside, it’s Caillou’s turn to teach as he shows Rosie how to play. Rosie and Caillou have a great time playing together and when they come in for a snack they have another surprise: Grandma has made a little bowling trophy for each of them.

“Games in the Park” - Caillou is excited when Miss Martin takes him and his friends to the park for some special activities. They have a beanbag race: a relay race using one beanbag per team. All these rules are not easy to grasp, and the kids have a few comical mishaps in the process. Caillou discovers that you don’t always have to win to be proud of yourself.

“Caillou’s Mini Marathon” - Caillou wants to run a marathon, just like Daddy. His father explains that marathons are for grown-ups, but Caillou insists he can do it! Caillou and Daddy go running together, and Caillou discovers it’s harder than it looks. When he sees Rosie dawdling along, Caillou realizes that everyone runs at their own speed and ability – and he decides to run a mini-marathon instead!

“Caillou Goes Bowling” - Caillou is hesitant to try bowling, until he gets to the bowling alley and sees how much fun his friend, Sarah, is having while bowling. Caillou gives it a try ... and he likes it!

As you would expect from a PBS Kids show, 'Caillou' (in general) deals with issues like fear of the dark, patience, being a good friend, being a good sibling, and other important facts of life. Here in 'Caillou: Caillou Goes for the Gold', our central character may well get to have a sports-tastic time, using his imagination and creativity to advance his stature amongst his friends, but ultimately he also gets to learn the true meaning of friendship and sharing therein.

BUT, be warned as Caillou can come across as simply the biggest brat you've ever sat your children down in front of! Allow me to explain further. Caillou is constantly whining and disobeying. Granted, his parents do correct him eventually, but that all comes late in the day, of course.

Anyway, and aside from the vocal characterization of Caillou - whose whiney little voice is like nails on a chalkboard (personal opinion, sorry!) - 'Caillou: Caillou Goes for the Gold' does provide good story lines and creditable outcomes for kids. These are all Widescreen Presentations (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.PBSkids.org





...Archives