TV on DVD: The Mighty B! We Got the Bee

Amy Poehler Makes a Play to
Become Queen Bee
In Nickelodeon's Animated Series
Now Available On DVD

Partially inspired by a character comedienne Amy Poehler notes that "she's been performing over the past several years at Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade," in this refreshingly girl-power oriented Nickelodeon series-- co-creator and lead voice actor Poehler plays the hyper active, overachieving nine and three quarter year old Honeybee Bessie Higgenbottom.

Eager to collect more than four thousand five hundred badges in her Girl Scouts inspired Honeybee Troop #828 which she aspires to conquer, the pint-sized ball of energy is often targeted by the resident queen bees-- namely, the pretty, older, popular, and cliquish Portia and Gwen who con young Bessie at every turn. Whether it's tricking her into babysitting a tot that bounces away like a basketball when she uses too much baby oil, sabotaging her robotic creation for the science fair, or trying to frighten her out of the requisite Happy Camper sleep-away camp badge-- the two girls never give up... but then again, neither does Bessie.



While most kids never tire of asking endless questions, Bessie proves just the opposite-- providing endless answers in the form of lists as she wears down everyone she comes into contact with in the DVD's eight episodes from the first season of the series as she tries to stretch herself one sixteenth of an inch to ride the mega roller-coaster The Punisher, win a dog show by taking on a stray dog named Happy who becomes her affable sidekick, and crashes scores of Bat Mitzvahs with her best friend Penny by reminding her friend to be cool and go with the cover that they're distant cousins from Tel Aviv.



Although her precocious nature and fondness for crafting atom smashers and joining Gwen and Portia's rock group to fit in find her a bit of an outsider in the world of Honeybees, the eager young taffy seller's perpetually optimistic nature and great group of friends including the skater Keenan and her younger worshipful brother (Andy Richter) always help her land on her feet.



Despite the fact that the DVD begins on rather annoying footing by launching us full blast into Bessie's world as the front teeth missing, lisp speaking girl's voice and obnoxious manner grate on our nerves rather quickly--the DVD grows much stronger as it continues and we become more accustomed to our heroine and some of the episodes including the inspired "Bee My Baby" (which finds a baby bouncing in and out of trouble), "Sweet Sixteenth" (as Bessie laments her short status), and especially the "Bat Mitzvah Crashers" all come highly recommended.



Having collaborated with co-creators Cynthia True of The Fairly Odd Parents (who also drew inspiration from a photo of herself at age six in the Girl Scouts) and Erik Wise of Spongebob Squarepants-- Poehler's high quality Nickelodeon production is sure to engage not only former scouts, like yours truly, but also reach the same audience who enjoy Nick's other toons and animation style of series including Rugrats or more recently-- Wayside School.

Winningly female oriented like the channel's wonderfully popular Dora the Explorer series-- while Bessie is probably the last kid you'd like your children to emulate as she always seems to be moving at a million miles an hour-- her sunny optimism, ambition to prove herself at levels far beyond her age, and constant reminder of who her real friends are, along with the visually great San Francisco setting make The Mighty B! of particular interest for this adorable child friendly roughly ninety minute disc.

Featuring a mini behind-the-scenes interview with the cast and creators-- animation junkies will also appreciate watching the original animatic for "Bat Mitzvah Crashers" to see the pencil drawings of the show alongside the phenomenal finished product and children will love the option to sing along (with or without the vocals) to Bessie's "Running With the Rainbow Unicorn" karaoke music video.



Also, conveniently closed captioned for the deaf and/or hearing impaired (or those who struggle to keep up with Poehler's breakneck toothless delivery), this full screen formatted disc utilizing its original Dolby Digital Stereo Sound may initially take a little time to get used to but soon-- just as she does for everyone in the endless quest for thousands of badges and relying on her imaginary superhero alter-ego to help her in her quest-- Bessie wins us over.

And ultimately, more channels should take a cue from Paramount's Nickelodeon by continually striving to offer non-violent, genuinely funny, quality entertainment for both genders and viewers of all backgrounds who can salute their inner bee.

Divided into eight episodes, The Mighty B! We Got the Bee includes the following titles that can be selected individually or played in one marathon viewing:

(Descriptions Courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment)

1) "We Got the Bee"

• "When Portia’s band doesn’t let Bessie join, Bessie starts rockin’ to her own beat!"

2) "So Happy Together"

• "To enter the Honeybee Dog Show and earn the Animal Appreciation badge, Bessie sets out to find a stray."

3) "Sweet Sixteenth"

• "Just the teensiest bit under minimum height to ride The Punisher, Bessie goes to extremes to measure up."

4) "Bee My Baby"

• "To dupe Bessie into babysitting, Portia and Gwen tell her about the non-existent Baby Wrangling Badge."

5) "Bee Afraid"

• "In her quest for the Happy Camper Badge, Bessie goes, well, you know. But it’s scary in the dark. Especially with Portia and Gwen around."

6) "Artificial Unintelligence"

• "Will Bessie’s entry in the science fair finally win her the Mad Scientist Badge? Or just make other people mad?"

7) "Bat Mitzvah Crashers"

• "Bessie and Penny love crashing Bat Mitzvahs, then vow to stop when the partying takes a toll. But can they resist crashing 'the Bat Mitzvah of the century?'”

8) "Super Secret Weakness"

• "The Mighty B is sure to find herself in quite a pickle if Bessie doesn’t help her ‘squash’ her only weakness."

Blu-ray Review: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

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Introduction

As much fun as those zany zoo animals are in the Madagascar franchise, I must admit-- despite being one of the only people on the planet who was absolutely positively bored to death by the Oscar winning film March of the Penguins-- that my absolute favorite aspect of DreamWorks Animation Studio's great series are those military penguins who starred in that amazing animated short on the original film's DVD and Blu-ray.

Much like the little army green toy soldiers used in Toy Story to begin covert activities by spying on the child's birthday party to see which new characters would be moving on into "Andy's Room," these no-nonsense military penguins are essentially the Full Metal Jacket meets Platoon type kids characters-- always scheming yet working as a single unit (they are after all an indistinguishable army of one... due to their adorable "tuxedo" look) and they're such great characters that they're worthy of their own spin-off.

With this in mind it comes to both no surprise and positive joy that I recently learned those commanding waddling soldiers are starring in their very own Nickelodeon series, The Penguins of Madagascar. Including two of the show's episodes on this remarkable Blu-ray-- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a penguin fan's dream (as they also show up in numerous featuettes, Easter eggs, etc.) but before I explore the contents of the Blu-ray, here's a second look at the original theatrical review of the film.

Part I: The Movie
Originally Publication Date: 11/7/08

View the Trailer & Photo Gallery

In 2005, DreamWorks introduced us to a memorable quartet of feisty New York zoo animals comprised of Ben Stiller's beloved, fame hungry Alex the lion who never met a visitor he couldn't charm with his photogenic charisma, David Schwimmer's hypochondrical neurotic giraffe Melman whose greatest fear is being relegated to an HMO, Jada Pinkett Smith's maternal hippo Gloria, and Chris Rock's zebra Marty. And in the first film, Marty's identity crisis of not knowing whether or not he was black with white stripes or white with black stripes found him longing to seek greener pastures outside the zoo which led to a hilariously chaotic chain of events which found the foursome in Madagascar.

The sequel picks up where we left our characters, still stuck in a strange land but when the conspiratorial and ambitiously militaristic penguins repair an old crashed war plane, the group decides to slingshot their way into the sky and make it back to the NYC Zoo. Unfortunately, while first class section of Air Penguin still consists of Vivaldi and better entertainment than the cargo like coach section, their safety track record is less than stellar.

And in a scene right out of Almost Famous as they plummet towards a crash landing, the group all confesses something to one another, culminating in an uncharacteristically brave move by Melman who pledges his love for Gloria. However, par for the course of the unlucky Melman, we quickly realize that Gloria has fallen into a deep sleep. Needless to say when they land in the beautiful yet wild terrain of Africa, he clams up once again as-- much to his horror-- Gloria finds herself being wooed by a Barry White styled hippo, named Moto Moto (Swahili for "hot hot" according to the press notes) who has a thing for "big" and "chunky" women.

While the penguins pledge they will repair the plane in an estimable six to nine months with "grit, spit, and a whole lot of duct tape"-- not to mention an alliance with the "higher mammals" a.k.a. monkeys whom they intend to exploit for their brain power and opposable thumbs-- the rest of the group begins to venture out into the unknown. Following a terrifically exciting and touching opening that introduces us to the origins of Alex the lion who was abducted when he was a cub by profit seeking hunters, Alex is startled to reunite with his birth parents, including his father (voiced by the late Bernie Mac).

While Alex lives to "move it, move it," dancing with gusto to the cheering crowds of Manhattan and posing like Ben Stiller's alter-ego Derek Zoolander (from his model comedy Zoolander), he finds that there's not a lot of call for "razzle dazzle" in Africa where his father, the alpha-lion is trying to be overthrown by his arch-nemesis (30 Rock's Alec Baldwin). Since the arc of the Madagascar 2 mostly surrounds Alex, the film which juggles the plot-lines of more than a dozen returning and new characters does get a little crowded. Specifically Chris Rock is shortchanged with his subplot focused on dealing with the idea that he may not be "one in a million" when he meets an entire herd of zebras identical to himself, but the rest of Madagascar 2 is fast-paced, funny and as creatively inspired as the first film.

Due to the success of the penguins from not just the first movie but also the wonderful Christmas short film available on the Madagascar DVD, they're given a lot of excellent material in the follow-up as they embark on "Operation Tourist Trap," where one penguin takes one for the team, getting hit by a jeep so they can carjack a group of tourists and hot-wire the vehicle to use for spare parts. Additionally, I was thrilled to learn in the production notes that the penguins will soon be getting their own animated series.

Cleverly providing a few extra challenges for the characters as they must deal with the topical environmental issue of lack of water as well as the problems of "group think" and peer pressure, there's also a wonderful subplot surrounding human characters headed up by the vicious elderly woman from the first film who is unafraid of using her handbag as a weapon. The addition of humans adds some unpredictable action and surprising laughs to reinvigorate the film when it threatens to move into overly sentimental territory.

Still culling witty, intelligent humor from pop culture, much like the first film, Madagascar 2 is filled with jokes sure to play even better to adults than children as Alex describes himself as a Fosse protege, pays homage to West Side Story, and the penguins must endure union talks and the possibility of a labor strike when the Darwinian benefited monkeys realize they've been manipulated, along with Gloria lamenting about New York's shortage of men and parking spaces.

Thankfully, a family movie that-- similar to Pixar's brilliant Toy Story films-- adults will be all too eager to take their children to see, Madagascar 2 is further proof of the high quality animated fare being served up by the studio that gave us Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, and Shrek, and one where the passion for the project shines through by the studio right from its tongue-in-cheek opener as the penguins knock out the familiar Huckleberry Finn character fishing on the DreamWorks moon. And while it's safe to say that the kids will want to "move it, move it," you'll be wishing you had a remote control to back up a line here or there to keep up with the joke-a-minute-pace.

Part II: The Blu-ray

After only a few moments of playing the Magascar: Escape 2 Africa Blu-ray, I realized I never wanted to watch another animated film-- especially a CGI based one-- on DVD again. With all of DreamWorks Animation SKG's "feature films...now being produced in stereoscopic 3D technology," the company which has upon this article "released a total of seventeen animated films" has managed to surpass Pixar with an extraordinary transfer that simply astounds.

Due to its original source material and digital background, it's the ideal move to Blu-ray as film is truly 3-D quality, adding incredible depth, a sharper view of all the little details and in-jokes the animators purposely threw in. It's these details and more we discover on the disc's innovative Animator's Corner feature which allows you to watch the film with a visual commentary track showing you everything from scouting out African locations to studio reads by the actors, animators acting out the movements and trying to make the animals more life like, cast interviews, and the impressively audacious journey the process takes from pencil sketches to computer animation to our family rooms.

Additionally, it boasts a trivia track with facts about both the setting and animals of what we're watching but also about the production itself (such as one item that explains that actor Chris Rock provided the voice for every single zebra and his alter eg0 Marty's famous expression "crackalackin'" was his own creation).

While the picture is mesmerizing, the sound is also incredible, even for folks who-- despite the recent upgrade to Blu-ray (as players have been flying off shelves) have yet to purchase the expensive multiple speaker surround sound sets for their screening room as you can hear every single audio detail in the crash from Air Penguin or as the characters run throughout Africa.

With an emphasis on creativity and improvisation, there's a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes including the "It's a Family Affair" look at the cast which shows Jada Pinkett Smith and her daughter side by side in the studio discussing their take on the same character as well as the David Schwimmer's analysis that half of the material in the film comes simply from "riffing" in the studio.

And while of course, the filmmakers state that there is a script, when talents like Ben Stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen are in the studio, sometimes they'll just run off on tangents and new ideas are developed. Amusing anecdotes abound as co-director Tom McGrath discusses playing a Penguin and Alec Baldwin jokes that his character has seen better days but at least he still has his hair-- ultimately as Chris Rock sums it up, when it comes to animated movies "you can really do bad[ly] with talkin' animals," and there's sure to be more to come for this franchise in particular.

Although thankfully this time around as the filmmakers acknowledge the penguins get double the screen time and be sure that-- despite feeling nearly overwhelmed by the amount of bonus material included-- you seek out the bonus Nickelodeon shorts including the great "Popcorn Panic" and "Gone in a Flash."

A film that truly needs the Blu-ray format to appreciate its glory in a visual and audio achievement that far surpasses its theatrical release, DreamWorks' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is not only better than the first film, but it's the best animated work that I've seen so far on Blu-ray and now that I've been spoiled, it'll be hard to check 'em out in DVD.

In other words, pick it up today and in case you need more convincing and also because I couldn't possibly begin to summarize the vast extras, you can find them all listed below courtesy of the fine folks from Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks:

Complete List of Features
(From DreamWorks Animation)

DreamWorks Animation’s
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Blu-ray

The Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Blu-ray will be presented in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby True HD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital with English, English SDH+, French and Spanish subtitles.

Bonus features include:

• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• It's A Family Affair: The Cast of Escape 2 Africa(HD)
• The Making of (HD)
• Crash Landing (HD)
• African Adventure (HD)
• Jambo Jambo: Swahili Speak (HD)
• The Bronx Zoo: Madagascar (HD)
• Alex’s Dance Off (HD)
• Test Flight of Air Penguin Game (HD)
• The Heart of a Lion (HD) – BD-LIVE

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Activision Game Trailer

Music Videos

• "Move It, Move It" (HD)
• “Big and Chunky” (HD)
• “She Loves Me” (HD)
• “The Traveling Song” (HD)

The Penguins of Madagascar

• “Popcorn Panic”
• “Gone in a Flash”

Penguin Easter Eggs

• Move It, Move It
• Hock Shop
• Julien’s Birthday
• Tug of War
• Fully Armed
• No Thanks, I’m Stuffed

Blu-ray Exclusive Content

• The Animators’ Corner (HD)
• Trivia Track (HD)

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

In 2005, DreamWorks introduced us to a memorable quartet of feisty New York zoo animals comprised of Ben Stiller's beloved, fame hungry Alex the lion who never met a visitor he couldn't charm with his photogenic charisma, David Schwimmer's hypochondrical neurotic giraffe Melman whose greatest fear is being relegated to an HMO, Jada Pinkett Smith's maternal hippo Gloria, and Chris Rock's zebra Marty. And in the first film, Marty's identity crisis of not knowing whether or not he was black with white stripes or white with black stripes found him longing to seek greener pastures outside the zoo which led to a hilariously chaotic chain of events which found the foursome in Madagascar.

The sequel picks up where we left our characters, still stuck in a strange land but when the conspiratorial and ambitiously militaristic penguins repair an old crashed war plane, the group decides to slingshot their way into the sky and make it back to the NYC Zoo. Unfortunately, while first class section of Air Penguin still consists of Vivaldi and better entertainment than the cargo like coach section, their safety track record is less than stellar.

And in a scene right out of Almost Famous as they plummet towards a crash landing, the group all confesses something to one another, culminating in an uncharacteristically brave move by Melman who pledges his love for Gloria. However, par for the course of the unlucky Melman, we quickly realize that Gloria has fallen into a deep sleep. Needless to say when they land in the beautiful yet wild terrain of Africa, he clams up once again as-- much to his horror-- Gloria finds herself being wooed by a Barry White styled hippo, named Moto Moto (Swahili for "hot hot" according to the press notes) who has a thing for "big" and "chunky" women.

While the penguins pledge they will repair the plane in an estimable six to nine months with "grit, spit, and a whole lot of duct tape"-- not to mention an alliance with the "higher mammals" a.k.a. monkeys whom they intend to exploit for their brain power and opposable thumbs-- the rest of the group begins to venture out into the unknown. Following a terrifically exciting and touching opening that introduces us to the origins of Alex the lion who was abducted when he was a cub by profit seeking hunters, Alex is startled to reunite with his birth parents, including his father (voiced by the late Bernie Mac).

While Alex lives to "move it, move it," dancing with gusto to the cheering crowds of Manhattan and posing like Ben Stiller's alter-ego Derek Zoolander (from his model comedy Zoolander), he finds that there's not a lot of call for "razzle dazzle" in Africa where his father, the alpha-lion is trying to be overthrown by his arch-nemesis (30 Rock's Alec Baldwin). Since the arc of the Madagascar 2 mostly surrounds Alex, the film which juggles the plot-lines of more than a dozen returning and new characters does get a little crowded. Specifically Chris Rock is shortchanged with his subplot focused on dealing with the idea that he may not be "one in a million" when he meets an entire herd of zebras identical to himself, but the rest of Madagascar 2 is fast-paced, funny and as creatively inspired as the first film.

Due to the success of the penguins from not just the first movie but also the wonderful Christmas short film available on the Madagascar DVD, they're given a lot of excellent material in the follow-up as they embark on "Operation Tourist Trap," where one penguin takes one for the team, getting hit by a jeep so they can carjack a group of tourists and hot-wire the vehicle to use for spare parts. Additionally, I was thrilled to learn in the production notes that the penguins will soon be getting their own animated series.

Cleverly providing a few extra challenges for the characters as they must deal with the topical environmental issue of lack of water as well as the problems of "group think" and peer pressure, there's also a wonderful subplot surrounding human characters headed up by the vicious elderly woman from the first film who is unafraid of using her handbag as a weapon. The addition of humans adds some unpredictable action and surprising laughs to reinvigorate the film when it threatens to move into overly sentimental territory.

Still culling witty, intelligent humor from pop culture, much like the first film, Madagascar 2 is filled with jokes sure to play even better to adults than children as Alex describes himself as a Fosse protege, pays homage to West Side Story, and the penguins must endure union talks and the possibility of a labor strike when the Darwinian benefited monkeys realize they've been manipulated, along with Gloria lamenting about New York's shortage of men and parking spaces.

Thankfully, a family movie that-- similar to Pixar's brilliant Toy Story films-- adults will be all too eager to take their children to see, Madagascar 2 is further proof of the high quality animated fare being served up by the studio that gave us Over the Hedge, Kung Fu Panda, and Shrek, and one where the passion for the project shines through by the studio right from its tongue-in-cheek opener as the penguins knock out the familiar Huckleberry Finn character fishing on the DreamWorks moon. And while it's safe to say that the kids will want to "move it, move it," you'll be wishing you had a remote control to back up a line here or there to keep up with the joke-a-minute-pace.

Semi-Pro

Director:
Kent Alterman

What they lack in free corndogs, the Flint Michigan Tropics make up for in ridiculous stunts whether it’s dancing in family friendly costumes when serving as their own halftime show entertainment or watching the death-defying antics of their player, owner, announcer and coach Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell) as he roller skates over several bikini clad ball-girls or wrestles a bear. Aside from forbidding homemade nachos at the game, Jackie seems to only have one rule when it comes to running his fictitious ABA 1976 ball club and that is “E.L.E.” or “Everybody Love Everybody.” It’s these words he’s tried to personally take to heart with his one-hit wonder “Love Me Sexy,” that he never fails to mention or play with zero to minimal prompting, especially when celebrating with his teammates and their comely groupies at his own private club, decked out like a stereotypical 70’s era pimp, sporting a wild Caucasian version of the Afro.

When Jackie learns that at the end of the season the ABA will merge with the NBA with only four teams absorbed before the rest dissolve, he ignores the rumors that it will most likely be the Nets, Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets and decides to fight for professional glory by trading in the team’s washing machine for Monix (Woody Harrelson), a once-great NBA point guard whose reputation for having at one time either broken the collarbone or punched everyone else in the face makes Jackie’s wish for a Flint Tropics version of a love-in seem far more unlikely. Yet when Monix puts equal dedication into making plays as he is in trying to make a play for former flame Lynn (Maura Tierney), some of team’s most promising players, including Coffee Black (Andre Benjamin) decide that Mr. White Men Can’t Jump should be the one calling the shots in lieu of Elf.

While frankly not nearly as hilarious as some of Ferrell’s alternate frat-pack comedies like the outstanding Anchorman as well as his other sports films (Ricky Bobby) and I know I’ll lose some film snob “cred” for admitting this, I found myself laughing more often than not throughout Semi-Pro. And this was far easier to concede given all of the surprisingly unique gags such as Jackie’s unfortunate choice to overlook the perils of sweat and makeup, insisting the entire team don eyeliner for their televised game, a constantly smoking and drinking Will Arnett who’s so erroneously convinced he was in Vietnam that he’s willing to play Russian Roulette at a spirited poker game, and their constant arguments with the priest-- Father Pat-- who also serves as the referee.

Even though a few of the jokes fall flat and it never quite scores on some of its creatively off-the-wall potential especially when considering the characters played by Tierney as well as smaller, muddled and vaguely written turns by Rob Corrdry, Andy Richter, and Andrew Daly, it’s great to see Harrelson tackling a movie in the same vein as Kingpin, especially coming off of the heels of impressive work in the Oscar winning No Country for Old Men. Still, it’s a Will Ferrell movie first and foremost and his loyal fan base won’t want to miss the chance to see the funnyman trying to encourage everyone to love him sexy while getting tropical in Flint, Michigan.