Customer Reviews

Sesame Street Presents Elmo's Musical Adventures - Peter & The Wolf [VHS]

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This video is brilliant, but I had not realized how brilliant until a few days ago when we picked up a book version of the story. [We have owned this tape for about 2 years.]

As we were going along my 3 year-old son was humming various --and appropriate!-- sections of the music that corresponded to the action on the page.

In addition, my 5 year-old daughter was telling me about what instrument was used to portray the characters. When I was humming she reminded me that I should try to sound more like an oboe (for the duck).

So Five BIG Stars for this video. Not only does it tell the classic Prokofiev tale, but it opened the doors to musical composition in ways that I had not even dared to hope for. Bravo!

Pam T~

I am completely in love with this DVD, as is my 2 year old daughter. I picked it up wanting not only to entertain her, but also educate. Happily, this does both, and it will still be watchable when my little ones are older.
Baby Bear is taken by Papa Bear to see the Boston Pops Orchestra perform Peter and the Wolf, and the story is set in motion as Baby Bear listens to the music and imagines his Sesame St friends as the characters. Each character is followed in the story by a Boston Pops member playing the instrument respective to them, which will give children a clearer understanding of how the instrument voices the character. Elmo is adorable as Peter, Big Bird plays Grandfather, Oscar and Zoe accompany Elmo on his hunt as the Cat and Bird, and the wolf is of course, the Wolf!
The Boston Pops are at their finest here, and everything about the instruments, musicians, and the musical work itself are explained in a fun, funny, and educational way. One of the most wonderful things about the story was a slight change made in the fates of the Duck and the Wolf - when Telly (Duck) discovers he is to be eaten in the story, he is a bit shocked and decides to sit out, (a particularly funny moment!). And rather than shooting the wolf, the creative team here decided to catch him with butterfly nets and ropes and capture him without violence. For this mom, that was a welcome surprise.
For anyone with kids 2 to 12, Elmo lovers, or an adult like me who just appreciates great music and loves to see their little ones smile at a great show, pick this one up today.

This is cute and clever and my older son, who is four, truly enjoys it. This may not be the best choice, however, for younger toddlers who are just discovering Elmo. It was given to my older child when he was 18 months-old and it sat unwatched until he was three because it didn't hold his attention. I've had the same experience with my youngest son, who is now 18 month-old. He adores Elmo and enjoys other Elmo videos very much, but the segments in this story where Elmo himself isn't present, and there seem to be a lot, don't seem well-suited to very short attention spans. The musical segments are a bit more sophisticated and the storyline itself requires a bit more maturity than the other Elmo videos.

This isn't meant as a criticism because it is charming and educational tale, it's just a caution that, in my experience, this one is better suited to the video collections of older toddlers and preschoolers.

Elmo videos can vary quite a bit in quality, but I have to say that this is just about the best one. I hope they do more like this in the future. My 2 year old son absolutely loves it -- pretty much demands to see it every day now -- and what's more, *I* like it too. Great sets, good humor, and the Prokokiev music is integrated perfectly with the performance. This is fun AND intelligent.

This is one of the few videos I've seen to describe orchestra instruments, and how an orchestra works, to a very young audience -- it even nudges kids into understanding to comport themselves at a concert (i.e. by Baby Bear making every faux pas possible...).

This is by far one of the best children's videos ever produced. It was so masterfully "orchestrated" . The way the concept of an orchestra was presented along with the instruments, the translation of sounds of each note by instrument to each character, the magical storytelling of Peter and the Wolf, and how the learning process presented by Baby Bear related to the unison of a music band, especially the "teamwork" concept. My son is only 17 months and is already LOVING every minute of it. He even gets into the suspense of the story when Peter (ELMO) is trapped and tries to find a way to get to the wolf. This musical production deserves an OSCAR!!!! By the way, my HUSBAND even looks forward to this video now everytime my son pops it in.

It's an amazing video for kids! Without being formal, SS places the instruments into the musical and video story line. They engage kids with a charming story and add a few jokes adults will enjoy too. In addition, they have included extras such as games, listening to the music while viewing the instruments instead of the story, and just listening to the music with the SS voices removed. It includes important messages about group cooperation, responsibility, and recognition of others. From this video, my daughter has learned the look and sound of the violin, flute, french horn, and drums. She knows the melody of each voice and identifies it within a few notes of being played. Now, still at two, she wants to see an orchestra perform, practices conducting, interprets music she has never heard, and acts out plays. Kids are amazing.

Our 19th month old son LOVES this DVD. We are sesame street fanatics and this is probably in the top 5. We also recommend
Kids's Favorite Songs 2, A Magical Halloween Adventure, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street & Sesame Street's 25th Birthday.

...also one of the best visual versions of Peter and the Wolf, itself. The humor is infectious. Sesame Street gets around the issue of the wolf eating the duck quite well. This is one of the videos that my son and I can sit down together and watch over and over with enjoyment. A wonderful way to introduce little ones to the world of classical music. I hightly recommend this tape. The Boston Pops are excellent, and the introductory and closing materials involving Sesame Street characters and their attempt to form a band is also well done.
Bravo to all concerned.

This is a really great video for kids. It exposes them to classical music in a fun way. I read the one review where the person said there was a pop-gun in the video. I don't know what he or she was watching, but it wasn't this video! There are absolutely NO guns, or anything even remotely resembling a gun, in this video! The wolf is chased with butterfly nets and the ending is resolved NON-VIOLENTLY. It's the only adaptation of the story I've ever seen that actually omits the guns (no small feat, since the music for the hunters is drums, traditionally represented by the hunters gun shots. That is cleverly avoided in this video).

I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with a little music lover, or just a fan of good storytelling.

This was my son's favorite video for close to a year--he has recently turned three, and become enamored of Elmo's Wild Wild West. The story that brackets "Peter and the Wolf" is entertaining in its own right, and manages to convey information not only about music, but such other things as cooperation and good theater behavior. The reviewer below who took the video out a few minutes in after seeing a muppet (in the part of one of "Peter's" hunters) carrying a pop gun, should have watched further. Great care has been taken to remove violent or too scary elements from the original story. All in all, this video is a great introduction to classical music for children, and easy for the grownups to sit through as well.