Customer Reviews

Baby Einstein - Baby Galileo - Discovering the Sky

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I don't quite understand what is so horrible about Baby Galileo. Reviewers are saying how aweful it was, but are giving no explanation as to why, so I'm going to explain why it worked for me and my child.

I was extremely pleased with the Baby Galileo video. My daughter is three and a half years old and soaks in anything she sees. Although she is on the older end of the suggested ages for these videos, she still is learning from them and enjoying them. This video was a great way for her to learn the general ideas about the sky. The video opens with puppets, which are a trademark in Julie Clark's videos. There are narrations by children, and 15 different pieces of classical music ranging from Claire De Lune to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. There are several chapters in the video introducing a new concept- those being the sky, the sun, the clouds, the stars, the moon, the planets, the galaxy and space. There are real pictures and video of the sun, moon and others while they are supplemented with toys, graphics and music that go along with the sky/space theme.

I am an early childhood educator, and I see these videos as being some of the most developmentally appropriate videos out there for children to watch. The video expresses many subjects, textures, colors and most of all, beautiful classical music to soothe your child and spark their interest and attention. I'm not quite sure why these videos haven't worked for other parents, but they've been successful in my family and many others that I know. I highly recommend the Baby Einstein collection- at least try them, especially Baby Galileo.

First a brief note on the Baby Einstein series, and then my specific opinions about Baby Galileo. My wife and I are very careful about both the amount and the content of any television that my 17-month-old son views. Our Baby Einstein videos (we have around 8) are among only six or seven shows or videos that play on our TV sets when our son is awake. Other parents have already mentioned one benefit of the Baby Einstein videos: That they can give you 30 minutes of worry-free time to prepare meals or get dressed while your children remain glued to the set. However, I'd like to mention my own favorite benefit of the series: Quality time with my son. When I put on one of these videos, my son crawls up into my lap and remains there for the whole show. (Any of you with 17-month-old boys probably know how rare it is for your son to spend 30 whole minutes sitting in the same place.) During the program, he points to objects he recognizes (gesturing the signs for words he knows), laughs out loud during the puppet shows, and mimics the children he sees in the videos. Throughout the video he looks to me for acknowledgement and confirmation, and I try to teach him the signs and words for things he hasn't learned yet. These videos have proven to me that when used sparingly and wisely, television can be a powerful learning and family-building tool.

As for Baby Galileo, this one is clearly my son's favorite. Baby MacDonald and Neighborhood Animals are probably tied for second place, where Language Nursery and Baby Bach appear to appeal to him the least. The actual puppets of Baby Galileo and his mom are probably the best and most detailed puppets I have yet seen in the series. They both have moving limbs and are very expressive- and they're definitely my son's favorite part of the video. He also enjoys the little clips of other babies and the many images of the sun and moon. I must admit, this is MY favorite of the bunch too, not just because of the music selection, but yeah, I also dig the puppets. I have a single criticism of this particular video: The segment about the moon features a very odd rendition of Debussy's Claire De Lune. It was so different from the Claire De Lune that I know and love that I actually thought it was just a sound-a-like, perhaps for licensing reasons. Basically, the main melody of the piece is almost completely absent. However, the liner notes for the disc do in fact list Debussy as the composer. My wife believes it was an intentional adjustment, because the music in Baby Einstein videos is supposedly "designed for little ears." I don't buy it, but overall I think this is a great video.

I got this title in an audience gift bag at a taping of The View. All three of my children are fans of the Baby Einstein series, so I was excited to take this newest title home. This one lives up to the others (although Baby Van Gogh is still our favorite). The basic theme is the sky, the sun, the stars and the planets. My 4 year old has pretty much outgrown the Einstein videos but he watches this one, along with his younger twin sisters. He likes learning the names of all the planets. Great music too.

My two sons love the Baby Einstein series, but this latest is a disappointment. The heavy hand of Disney has pushed out the whimsy and catchy little visual/sound bits that so engaged my children. The stuffed puppets lack the flexibility to show any type of emotion, the visuals are unimaginative and dull, and the classical music pieces are too long and boring for small children. The combined effect causes the kids to lose attention and wander off instead of watching raptly as they do with the other Einstein videos. The music is a disappointment, since many of the pieces were already used in past videos--with the abundance of good classical music out there, it shouldn't have been too hard to use something new. For example, I am surprised that they didn't use a single selection from Holst's "the Planets"; it would seem a natural fit.

The puppets in this video lack the appealing character, emotion and liveliness of other Baby Einstein videos--like the famous "Bla" dragon. In all, the video comes across as dull and far less creative than past videos. Really a disappointment. I would stick with the older ones, such as Baby Mozart, Baby Van Gogh, Baby Shakespeare, and Baby Dolittle. There was a reason that Julie Clark's videos were so successful initially, and it's a shame that Disney had to go and change it for the worst.

Ever since Disney's takeover, the old original Baby Einstein style is now just the skeleton of this latest addition to the series. The puppetry is completely different, kind of like "Johnny Quest" meets claymation. It's sort of odd to watch at first, but you will eventually get the hang of it (hey, it's for our kids, right?) It's the kind of jerky motion that you'd see in the old claymation cartoons. Well, I think I remember someone complaining about the bad puppetry in the previous Baby Neptune, they have definitely addressed this issue, for now they are moving with less of a sock-puppet feel and more of a marionette. (I kind of miss those sock-puppets!)
It's disappointing to hear them use the same classical music as in the other DVDs, there are *some* new songs, but LOTS of recycled music. With all the beautiful classical music available, it's surprising that they didn't care to find different songs to fit the Galileo theme.

You will also notice the backdrop to be dark. I think they are trying to hone in on the "night sky" feel / Galileo theme compared to the stark white backgrounds from before. It's as if it's been planned by some slick sophisticated advertising executive, it really has a different feel to it.

With the puppet interludes in between various scenes, they use the same (if not completely identical) scene with Baby Galileo (who is a baby kangaroo) holding a balloon and letting it go. Over and over, at least 4 times! It was kind of neat in Baby Beethoven how they had varying scenes with the duck and the dog. If you have Baby Beethoven, you'll see what I mean.

Well, all my criticisms are just MY criticisms. I think the real indicator of whether or not this is a hit is my 14 month old daughter! As with any new DVD, she's a little apprehensive and sometimes scared at first, but with multiple playings, this particular Baby Einstein has been as captivating as the rest of them. This also keeps her engaged, and I guess that's the opinion that really counts! If your child has enjoyed previous Baby Einstein videos, add this one on, they will be sure to enjoy it as well.

At my Mom's urging, I picked up a few of the baby Einstein DVDs. I was originally put off by the series title; in NYC we have lots of yuppie parents trying to breed super-babies and I thought with the title "Baby Einstein" this fed into that whole thing. But they are just really great, entertaining videos for babies. I bought Baby Mozart, Neighborhood Animals and Language Nursery. Of the 4, Baby Galileo is the one that my daughter definitely likes the best.

Weak

We have every Baby Einstein DVD up though Baby MacDonald. The first 10 DVDs directly involved Julie Clark, the creative force behind Baby Einstein. The next three, Galileo, Neptune and MacDonald, reduce her involvement as she concentrates more on the stewardship of the growing company.

This is evidenced by some experimental tinkering with the magic Baby Einstein formula. In the case of Galileo, this tinkering was definitely in a negative direction.

The look of the video is very different, going for a more film-like appearance as apposed to the hard digital video look found in previous editions (except when stock footage is used) I guess this is so the transition from original segments to the stock footage would be less jarring. The children who appear in the video seem to have obvious make up applied which sort of ruins the illusion of innocence. The music production is consistent with other Baby Einstein releases, even better in some areas, but song selection is uninspired.

Production issues aside, my real complaint with Galileo is that is tragically boring. It hits a severe low with the moon segment, which may be ok if you want to put your child to sleep. However, the 'released balloon' transition idea was inspired.

This is definitely one of our least favorites, along with Language Nursery. I'd recommend almost any of the others including Baby Neptune.

Baby Galileo was our first Baby Einstein DVD. It was given to us as a welcome gift for our daughter. I know the recommended age is 9 months and up. But I started watching this with her at 3 months, pointing out the images, talking to her about space and the objects, and humming the music. She has already become a lover of classical music and I think some credit is due to Baby Einstein for that.

We use Baby Galileo as part of our nightly bedtime ritual. My daughter and I sit together and watch this each evening, while she has a snack, just before her bath. It's so soothing and it really helps her wind down from the excitement of the day. Then she has a bath, we read a few books, and she is set for the night. She wakes up the next day and is ready for Baby Einstein again! I recommend just about all the DVDs. Kudos to the Baby Einstein company and Julie Clark!

Well I'm sorry to all the reviewers that are pooh-poohing this DVD, but we really liked it. Our children range in age from 5 months to 4 1/2 years and all of them were captivated for the entire 30 minutes. There are beautiful and mezmerizing images of the sky, planets and stars and soothing music to watch it by. I recommend this for evening viewing when your little go-bots need to slow down for bedtime. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it is somehow different from the earlier movies in the Baby Einstein series, and not in a way that we liked.

I recently purchased this DVD for my 8 month old. He loves the other Baby Einstein titles, even those a little over his age level, so I thought I would get this one. As soon as I put it in, it was apparent that BE had gone commercial. Whereas the other titles have almost a "homemade" video feel to them, this one is obviously filmed like a studio movie. The pictures of cityscapes and sky look too professional and to me seem beautiful but boring. There are some pluses, the kangaroo puppets are delightful, and the classical music joined by a few children's favorites is still there, although the addition of a beloved Disney song is very noticable and out of place. This one is our least favorite of the bunch, with my son only turning to watch the puppetry. I hope the next one is better.