Product Details

• Actors: Dorothee Berryman, Serge Houde, Kim Yaroshevskaya, Michael Yarmush, Martine Badgley
• Directors: Kit Hood
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Allumination
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2006
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0002GVSGM
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #111,258 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Movie for Preadolescent Girls (& Boys), October 19, 2008

By	Artist & Author (Near Mt. Baker, WA) - See all my reviews

Parents of daughters who are just about to enter puberty should make an extra effort to seek out this movie an show it to their daughter. First, it is one the whole family can enjoy., as evidenced by my five and seven-year-old grand kids - who watched it with their almost eleven-year-old sister. In a nutshell, this movie is about giving up those precious things we enjoyed as a child to start to learn about the responsibilities of an adult.

Maddie is about twelve years old, and she has had a favorite stuffed animal since she was tiny, and this 'friend' was one she could confide in and who 'talked' back to her. The younger children love the movie because of the animation of the stuffed dog to show whatever Maddie was thinking. Maddie gradually learns to depend less on her imaginary friend and to take on the role of an adolescent learning to cope in the adult world.

The great quality of this movie is that it shows Maddie's friends in all the variety of kids just blossoming from being a child to being a teen. Some of the girls have noticeable breasts, while Maddie is nearly as flat as a five-year-old. [In one scene she stuffs cloth in her bathing suit to make it look like she also has breasts.] In another scene, one of her friends is boy-crazy and an older boy, saying she must be at least sixteen, kisses her. Maddie isn't ready for boys, so she thinks it is silly. Still, she has to put up with Feddy, who has a crush on her and seems to turn up everywhere Maddie goes.

The movie also gives a couple of good lessons about the need to obey one's parents, and one that rang home with my grandchildren, that you should always be as nice as possible to everyone because you never know when the situation might change, and you'll be sorry for being mean to him or her.

Parents should watch this movie with their daughters, and use it as a great opening to discuss with preadolescents what is about to happen to them. I reminded my oldest granddaughter that some girl's bodies will mature sooner than others, some will become interested in boys earlier than others, and even that some will become serious students and others will just want to party. Knowing beforehand will make all the strange changes taking place in her body, in her emotions, and in her social framework to not seem so strange to them; they'll know that what is happening is perfectly normal.

There is nothing questionable or objectionable in this movie for traditional values families. It is simply, a wonderful family movie about growing up! If you have a daughter about to enter puberty, she will be glad (even if only secretly) that you showed it to her and talked to her about it.