Customer Reviews

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Choo-Choo Express

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the father of twin three year olds who are enamored with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series, this DVD seemed like a reasonable gift. The number of repeat viewings at our house has outnumbered those for Mom or Dad's DVDs, so I feel qualified to write a review.

PROS

The quality of the episodes shares the same strengths of the series in general. Bright, colorful computer generated graphics are used in conjunction with simple plots. Mickey and his friends are friendly, interesting characters that our little guys have enjoyed since their twos. There are a few bouncy songs, but adults probably won't find them cloying or otherwise Barney-esque.

The main feature obviously focuses on Mickey's train, which is a natural theme for toddlers. It seems to be a holiday-themed episode, given the presence of snow and cameos by two icons of the Christmas season. The main feature runs at twice the length of a typical episode. It is accompanied by an extra, unrelated episode featuring "Willy the Giant".

And speaking of big people, there is a new song from They Might Be Giants -- always a plus!

CONS

While the production values match the high quality of the rest of the series, this particular DVD entry is not as inspired as some of the others. Disney may describe this is a full length feature, but in reality it is two episodes strung together featuring Mickey's train. The "bonus" third episode has no connection to the main story, and could have been randomly selected from previously aired episodes.

As far as the value offered by this DVD, this does not measure up to previously-released discs from the series: Disney DVDs are not cheap, and this one does not offer as much bang for the buck. Some of the previous discs have offered four episodes from the series. At least one other disc also presented the "double episode plus one bonus episode" format, but presented a bonus episode that was a brand-new unaired episode, rather than one that regular viewers had probably seen already. The product gives a vibe of having been rushed to be put together for store shelves (virtual or otherwise) in time for Christmas.

Disney excels in marketing, and this episode seems a little more commercial than others. Specifically, the "Choo Choo Express" is also being sold as a toy train set.

SUMMARY

All said, my kids probably could care less about anything I've listed as a Con. They enjoyed the episode, and as I mentioned, they have requested multiple replays. My advice: if you want to buy only one or two "Clubhouse" DVDs, check out other entries before this one. Rather, go to the "Big Splash" or "Storybook Surprises" for more episodes per disc (four episodes each) or the "Adventures in Wonderland" (very creative and a more cohesive story).

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has changed a lot since I first saw it years ago. Mickey and his pals, Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto are in their own half hour cartoon to teach young children colors, alphabet, numbers, shapes, cooperation, friendship and more. The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express was a special episode of the show and was an hour long instead of the usual half hour.

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express episode started with Professor Ludwig Von Drake coming to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to talk to the gang about snow. The Professor loves snow but hates that it melts when it gets hot. So the Professor is going to go to Mistletoe Mountain to experiment and make snow that does not melt when it is hot so that everyone can play in the snow anytime they want. Before the Professor leaves though, he says he doesn't know how he will get all the snow back to the clubhouse; he needs a train. So out comes a picture of the Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express train that Mickey and the gang need to search for so they can bring it out to Mistletoe Mountain to bring back the special snow to play in. Off the Professor goes to Mistletoe Mountain while Mickey and the gang get the Choo Choo Express train out of storage and ride in it on their way to get all that lovely non-melting snow.

The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express is led by a locomotive with Mickey Mouse as the engineer. Then comes the train cars that are each in a different shape and color; pink circle, yellow triangle, blue rectangle, green square caboose, then red heart, pink hexagon, blue diamond and eventually a yellow star. As they chug along, the railroad tracks come out of the "mouth" on the train locomotive in different colored sections. They have adventures and problems that kids have to help the Mickey Mouse gang solve with the help of special Mouse tools.

Once they get to Mistletoe Mountain, they pick up the special snow that Professor Von Drake created and take it back to the Clubhouse, then they must take the train and go pick up guests for their snow party. They chug along to pick up Clarabelle cow and her dog Bella, then Chip and Dale and finally a couple of mystery guests who turn out to be Santa and Mrs. Claus.

There is plenty of up-beat music and singing throughout the episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express. I sat cuddled up with my four year old special needs grandson and we watched the episode and laughed and had a good time. He didn't want me to sing along with the songs though, guess he knows his grandma pretty well! At one point he broke out in hysterical laughter when Mickey Mouse skied down a mound of snow and snow flipped onto Donald Duck, making him look like a snowman Donald.

I would definitely recommend Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo Choo Express for any young children, mostly those under six years old. My four year old grandson loved it. He loves trains and the episode completely captured his attention. My eight year old grandson watched the episode from beginning to end but I didn't hear him say a lot about it and the ten year old wasn't into it at all.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Choo-Choo Express

"MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE" is a children's television animated series (presented in CG) that airs on the Disney Channel's "Playhouse Disney" block targeted towards pre-school children.

The series is created in a similar style as "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer" in terms of the main character interacting with the viewer. "MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE" features Mickey Mouse as the main character communicating with his friends and then occasionally looking towards the viewer for help in a variety of adventures. Mickey uses a variety of tools and a compass inside the clubhouse to help them solve their problems and get from point A to point B. And then during the mission, Mickey offers various ideas of paths they can take and asks the viewer which path should he take.

For this DVD release of "Choo-Choo Express", the theme of this series features Professor Von Drake coming up with an idea to make snow that never melts. But he needs to go to Mistletoe Mountain and needs a Choo-Choo train to get there. So, Mickey and friends needs the viewers help to find out which parts would be needed to make a choo-choo train and how the train can make it through the snowy terrain.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE" features colorful CG animated episodes for the children. Nothing too detailed but simple and clean enough for the young children to enjoy. Presentation this time around is in Widescreen (1:78:1), previous DVD's were in full screen (1:33:1).

As for the audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound plus French and Spanish language tracks. The main feature includes "Choo Choo Express" sung by They Might Be Giants.

Subtitles in English SDH are offered.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Choo-Choo Express" features the following special features:

* Game Time - Adventure Mode - Using your remote, viewers can take part in a game in which Mickey and friends go on an adventure but need the viewer's help to make decisions. There are two levels in this game.
* Mickey's Big Job - (23:55) A bonus episode is included on this DVD. In this episode, Mickey is paid a visit by the Willy the Giant. Willy needs to visit his mother and asks Mickey to look after his farm. So, Mickey and friends try to take care of Willy's giant farm but Micky needs the viewers to help him make the right decisions in taking care of the farm.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: Choo-Choo Express" is a straightforward, educational animated DVD release for parents to watch with their children (or assist the children in helping them make decisions) or a standalone DVD in which Mickey actually helps the viewer make the right decisions.

The main feature gives children a chance to help Mickey and the gang help the professor get to Mistletoe Mountain on a choo-choo train while the bonus episode features Mickey asking the viewer to help him and his friends maintain Willy the Giant's farm.

The DVD is targeted towards parents who have children that are around 3-5 years old and each episode is educational and enjoyable with the storyline being adventurous, fun, humorous but yet simple, straightforward and non-frightening.

So, the series is toddler friendly with Mickey Mouse and the others encouraging the viewer to help out during the adventure.

If you are a parent looking for a DVD that can be educational and fun for your young children and/or looking for a DVD that allows for parents and children to work together as a team, you can't go wrong with "MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: Choo-Choo Express".

My 17 month old grandson loved this DVD. He loved the music, and the characters, especially Pete!

My 3 year old son loves this episode. We saw this on demand before it came out on dvd & he would watch it over & over & over. It's a little under an hour & keeps his attention. The songs are catchy - we're gonna choo choo boogy - I have this song stuck in my head. This is an educational show & this is one of the better episodes that I've seen. My son loves it. It is perfect for toddlers & preschoolers.

My kids love this movie, we watch it around the holidays!!! Great family movie!!!! Educational and we motor skills!!!! 5 stars, awesome price!!!

Received product in a timely manner. Product has very little to no scratchs and my son loves the movie! I would order from this vendor again if neeed in the future.

My grand daughter 2 loves this. It is adorable and fun to watch with her. Learning shapes is fun too!

Our 18 month old wouldn't sit still to watch anything except MM Clubhouse DVDs. Now that he's almost 2, "Choo-Choo Express" is still his favorite, and it's the only movie he requests. The DVD offers excellent animation, learning (shapes, numbers, etc.) and music, and it also entertains our 6 year old. Note: This DVD is a great complement to Mickey's Magic Choo Choo toy.

What can I say the smile and the full attention that my nephew pays when watching this cartoon, its priceless.