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Judy and David, frontrunners for king and queen of Canadian children's TV as stars of the sing-along show
Boombox, subject classic fairy tales to their high-energy high jinks and laugh-a-minute lunacy in
Once upon a Time, an innovative new series of interactive audio releases aimed at kids 3 to 10.
Pigmania, the cutups' clever retelling of "The Three Little Pigs," starts off with a sax-wielding mama pig who's fed up with her full house. From there it follows the paths of Brainella, the smart and sensible swine, and Woody and Frankie, her bumbling, goof-off brothers. All the familiar elements are here: the blowhard Big Bad Wolf happens to be a hungry, menacing hipster. And the pigs take flight, first from the ramshackle house of straw of slacker Frankie (caught up in catching "Swiney and the Squealers" shows, he let his shelter concerns slip), then from Woody's sturdier (though still unstable) wood shanty. Finally, once the voracious villain snakes down the chimney of Brainella's efficiently built and indestructible brick house, he gets his tail torched. Enlivening the souped-up story is the music, which is poppy, plentiful, and apt to keep younger kids--those too little to catch all the piggy puns and goofball gags whizzing by--asking for more. For grownups, even those who don't find Judy and David as irresistible as their kids do, such requests won't seem so terrible. Although this classic tale's charm has been sucked out and supplanted with wackiness, the underlying lesson--the one about responsibility and the value of hard work--remains.
Pigmania's enhanced CD features include printable coloring book pages, a jigsaw puzzle, a bonus music video, and a tour through the song lyrics by the story's characters.
--Tammy La Gorce
Judy and David Gershon's bubbly comic version of "The Three Little Pigs" includes a Big Bad Wolf who's a 1960's-style rocker, Mama Pig plays the sax, the Pig brothers prefer partying at the beach to building wolf-proof houses and it's up to responsible sister Pig to save the day when Wolf shows up with barbecue sauce. A 2000 Parents' Choice® Approved winner.
Reviewed by Lynne Heffley, Parents' Choice® 2000
