Product Details

• Actors: Kristen Bone, Shirley Douglas, Leah Cudmore, Olivia Garratt, Noah Reid
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Nickelodeon Network
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 25 minutes
• ASIN: 6305112827
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,795 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Whenever a dilemma comes to their cartoon forest, sensible, unassuming little Franklin puts his best kelly-green foot forward and helps his fellow animal friends forge ahead. It's not that the guileless gem of a young turtle automatically knows the grown-up way to extricate himself from a pickle; instead, he methodically sizes up sticky situations (a staple in this kindhearted, preschool-appropriate series) and puts morals and winning judgment to work. Such is the case in Franklin's Halloween, the title tale in this two-episode, 25-minute video. Franklin and his friends Goose, Fox, Bear, and Beaver are fully costumed and fighting off goose bumps--who'll find the gumption to go into Mr. Mole's haunted house first? Usually it's brave Bear, but this year he's battling the flu. That leaves Franklin, who's no scaredy cat, to face his fears. In the second episode, "Franklin's Fort," the intrepid turtle is forced to come out of his shell when his friends build the ultimate playhouse. The fort is high in the boughs of a tree, but Franklin prefers to keep his feet on the ground. There's lots of stammering and skirting the issue at first, but then Franklin's mom stirs a memory for him: Franklin rode his bike "when he was ready and not before," and the same strategy seems likely to one day send him up the scary tree-house ladder. The simple-to-follow story lines of this gentle series expertly steady the scattershot thoughts of kids 5 and younger. That they also train very young children's focus on problem solving is a bonus that ought to turn scores of caregivers into instant Franklin fans. --Tammy La Gorce