Product Details

• Directors: DK
• Format: Color, Full length, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 30
• Studio: DK
• VHS Release Date: June 16, 1997
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0789421526
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,862 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Mothers will want to encourage repeat viewing of this tape which enthusiastically validates the maternal role in nature. When Henry, the series's reptilian guide, ventures his opinion that mothering involves some easy cuddling and not a lot more, the narrator begs to differ. Child viewers are then taken on a whirlwind tour of motherhood that has mama bats giving birth upside down, mother puffins risking death with each of the 10 feedings her offspring require a day, and supermom lionesses juggling the cubs and hunting down dinner, only to be chased off by Dad who eats his fill before Mom and the kids get a serving. If that isn't enough, a better-educated and recalcitrant Henry gives his Golden Gecko award to a revolting-looking toad who lays a multitude of eggs on her own back and whose skin swells and grows to cover them while they incubate. Even after they hatch, the babies live in these oozing pustules until they're mature enough to venture forth into the world. It's a gross, but not-inappropriate analogy that should have young viewers joining Henry when he tell his mom, "I love you." --Kimberly Heinrichs

Product Description

Broadcast nationally on The Disney Channel, Amazing Animals has quickly won children's hearts around the nation. Featuring the lovable Henry the Lizard as the inquisitive object of the narrator's clever questions and insights, each is a riot of humor, live-action footage, animation and information. Children cannot help but have fun as they learn. #1 rated non-Disney program on The Disney Channel(tm) "Fun facts, folklore and animal behavior are rolled into one gorgeous-and entertaining-science lesson."-Publishers Weekly Disney Channel ratings increased 31% for the Amazing Animals broadcast time slot! Amazing Animals: Armored Animals reached #38 on Billboard's Video Retail Charts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Animal Mothers, August 31, 2008

By 

Ellen R. Fissel "aaronfissel" (South Mountain, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Amazing Animals: Animal Mothers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Personally, I think this is a great episode of Amazing Animals. It also introduces Henry's mother for the first time. This is one of many great episodes of Amazing Animals that should be released onto DVD in season sets. Does anyone agree with me?

Our children need something informative and entertaining to watch instead of shows of today.

1.0 out of 5 stars I see how this might have looked good on paper, but..., March 8, 2005

By 

Matt Hetling "Matt" (Bethel, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amazing Animals: Animal Mothers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For a nature video, this production was just horrible, in my opinion. Henry is supposed to be irrepressible and incorrigible, but he's actually annoying and stupid. The structure revolves around interactions between Henry and the narrator, who have some sort of simplistic storyline. In this case, it's an impending visit from Henry's mother, who is sure to criticize the messiness of Henry's home. These scenes take place on a white background, which is also peopled by a seemingly random assortment of live-action animals, which wander in and out of the scene without comment. They are interspersed with two types of digressions; first, there is a series of animated shorts featuring cartoon animals which never speak. The second involves more traditional nature documentary footage, which is explained by Henry and the narrator. The character of Henry is spoiled and selfish. He spends approximately 28 of the video's 30 minutes talking smack about mothers in general and his own mother in particular, coming around in the end to appreciate the value and hard work of motherhood. This isn't teaching any kids anything positive, as far as I'm concerned. The documentary footage is exceedingly brief, rarely focusing on one animal for more than ten seconds, and often flipping through a montage of animals without even naming them, let alone explaining anything about them. The cartoon interludes are somewhat interesting in that the animal characters never speak; they have the feel of a wordless comic strip. But the point of them is questionable, and the educational value is nil. Visually, the video is somewhat interesting, but the mtv-theory of throw lots at the kids to keep their attention has taken over anything of value that this series might offer.