Customer Reviews

Kipper - Kipper Helps Out

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the latest Kipper DVD to be added to our collection. It only has six stories, but they're really good ones.

We didn't get the earlier VHS editions, so all the stories are new to my four year old, who thoroughly enjoys them. As a matter of fact, my two year old nephew is now a convert.

The beauty of the DVD edition is the feature which allows you to choose an episode, or play them all, or play them all continuously, the last being the favorite pick at our house.

In "The Visitor", Kipper looks after a little lost gosling. This is a good story if your kids are really messy, as Kipper is continuously cleaning up after his little charge.

"Pig's Present" tells of Pig's birthday and all the pets he receives as gifts. The part with the hamster going through Kipper's "obstacle course" is great fun.

"The Butterfly" teaches that the best things in life should be free.

"The Bleepers" will have your kids speaking strangely, and eating lollipops.

Arnold is formally introduced in "Pig's Cousin" - I had previously thought they were brothers.

"The Little Ghost" is the most entertaining story of the lot, with the most "special effects" of any Kipper episode.

If you haven't already seen the early episodes, I strongly recommend this one. If not, borrow it just for "The Little Ghost"

Amanda Richards, March 25, 2005

I always love Kipper, probably even more than my 2 1/2 year old, and there are years to come for her to enjoy them. I like the British humor and the simplicity compared to the chaotic cartoons around. And I like how kind the characters are to one another.

Another reviewer complained that all but one of these stories are repeats, but I have every DVD or video Amazon offers in the Kipper series, and there are no repeats on here or on the 'Kipper Waterplay' DVD. But here is a list of the stories on the 'Kipper Helps Out' DVD:
The Visitor
Pig's Present
The Butterfly
The Bleepers
Pig's Cousin
The Little Ghost

Enjoy!

Update: My daughter is now nearing 3 years of age, and she is a HUGE Kipper fan! She always liked Kipper, but lately is very into all of our Kipper collection, can't get enough. You can't go wrong with any of the Kipper DVDs.

While this DVD has a new name, all but one of the 6 episodes are reruns, seen in the other Kipper DVDs and VHS. While this DVD is 109 minutes long, over 60 minutes of that are clips from other HIT shows, or trailers. "The little Ghost" is the only "new" Kipper episode there. Unfortunately, this website does not show that this DVD is full of reruns, so there is no way to know if you are buying something new. The same problem exists with the Kipper show "Water Play", it has all used episodes except for one.

On Kipper in general:
* The art is watercolor-ish with white backgrounds. It's refreshingly clear and calm, not aggressively colored with heavy black lines like most animation for kids

* There is nothing aggressive or scary in these stories, no name-calling, no hitting, no orphans or lost parents, no serious peril. Yet, they're original, funny, and entertaining

* The episodes aren't too long, so you can watch the whole video or just 10 minutes and the kid doesn't feel cheated.

* I'm all for educational videos, but I think it's nice to have funny, charming stories sometimes instead of constantly drilling pre-schoolers and toddlers on their ABC's and 123's. The school-like content in these (i.e. when Kipper figures out what colors he needs to mix to make purple in The Butterfly) is subtle and fits with the story.

* Likewise, I love a good sing-along as much as the next person, but I like the fact that Kipper videos don't break into loud shouting/singing like so many other kid vids. There's just the low-key, jazzy, silly theme song.

On this video we especially like The Visitor and The Ghost

Despite being only 16 months old, my son loves this DVD and he actually sits and watches the stories quite intently, ocassionally talking at the tv screen, or aping the characters' moves. The deliberately slow pace of the stories and slow delivery of the dialogue seems to be easy for him to follow, though he can't understand the words yet. The characters in the stories convey a lot by the expressive nature of their voices, and I think very young children can pick up on this. But, as an adult I found the stories entertaining as well, which underscores the charm of this series of cartoons.

My grandkids love to watch Kipper and his friends but most of the selections on this DVD we had already seen on other ones. (We have three other besides this one.) It is a good DVD for someone who has not already purchased other Kipper movies. I would recommend it to anyone who has not already seen some of the other DVDs.

Kipper, a never ending source of entertainment in our household! I particularly like it for its good language use and word pronunciation; I live in a non-english country and have need of finding other tools (other than my own voice) to assist my 3 year old son with his english vocab. and language. That said, Kipper is a delightful dog with a big heart; he teaches sharing caring and thought assembly. I enjoy all of these movies; this one is my latest and Alex loves it!

every kipper video is simple and easy to watch, with several small episodes per video or dvd. my son has them almost memorize and he loves every one.

This is basically the only TV we let my very active 12-month-old watch. He looooves Kipper, and so do we! While he is impatient and bored with other shows, he is really drawn in by Kipper. I think it is the gentle, simple pacing of the stories and illustrations. When he is tired and whiny, we play some Kipper and he instantly chills out. He even laughs at certain places in the story (although I am not sure what his little one year old brain thinks is funny).

As a parent, I find this show enjoyable as well. The characters aren't annoying, it's relaxing, and cute. Also, I like how the stories are all based around simple every-day events that my child is likely to encounter. I think this brings it more to his level. I also feel like the slow, regular pace of the show is much better for his little developing brain than shows that skip crazily from one thing to another.

Two thumbs up from both of us.

My 2 1/2 year old twin boys LOVE to watch Kipper -- they think this one is especially funny!