Product Details

• Format: Animated, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Urban Vision
• VHS Release Date: August 27, 2002
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006952S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,969 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa is one of baseball's most animated players, so it's fitting that his inspiring story would come to the screen as a cartoon. This hour-long program charts Sosa's life, from his impoverished childhood in the Dominican Republic to his development into one of the game's premier sluggers, whose 1998 pursuit with Mark McGwire of Roger Maris's home run record galvanized America. This will be a sure hit with "Sammy"-chanting fans of all ages. When it comes to baseball-movie clichés ("Baseball, always this baseball," Sammy's mother sighs), all the bases are covered, but to this program's credit, Sammy emerges in three, rather than two, dimensions. His heroics on the field (his 66 home run MVP season in 1998) and off (his humanitarian efforts) are noted, but so are Sammy's stubbornness, his tendency to showboat, and his refusal early on to accept help from his coaches. There are winning lessons here in perseverance and being a team player. As one sports announcer is heard to exclaim, "What a guy!" --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Skip hop kiss, February 28, 2006

By 

Steven Hellerstedt "SH" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slammin' Sammy - The Sammy Sosa Story (Animated) (DVD)

What a difference a year or two make! Back in 2002, when this dvd was released, Slammin' Sammy Sosa was still the toast of baseball and a demigod in Chicago, belting a prodigious number of home runs for the Cubs (the only player ever to hit 60 home runs in three different seasons - 1998.1999 and 2001) and possessed of a heart-tap kiss-kiss move that endeared him to millions. By 2002 Sosa was sitting on top of his own corner of the baseball world, receiving congratulatory telephone calls from the White House and being award baseball's Roberto Clemente Award for his humanitarian efforts after Hurricane George devastated his Dominican Republic homeland.

That was shortly before baseball began to crack down on steroid use, a substance that would explain Sosa's unnatural growth spurt in his late twenties, not to mention his phenomenal home run production. Sosa was one of the baseball players called by Congress to testify about steroids in baseball in 2005. Sosa's carefully crafted denial of steroid use didn't convince a number of fans, and baseball's stricter anti-`roid policy, introduced in 2003, strangely coincided with a sharp decrease in Sosa's home run production, not to mention the noticeable decrease in the size of the uniform he wore. The only thing that went up, it seems, was the fan and teammate intolerance of a player now seen as a `clubhouse cancer.'

Are there any Sammy Sosa fans left? This kinda feature length animated film is geared toward the pre-teen set. A lot of cute dogs, obedient children and loving parents, and an increasingly outsized Sosa who, although sometimes stubborn, sometimes impulsive, always seems to return to a strong devotion to team and family. Nice values, but Sosa's stock has fallen off the charts and this dvd is only for the diehard fans or, if you're like me, the morbidly curious.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I really liked it, August 18, 2002

By 

Carly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slammin' Sammy - The Sammy Sosa Story (Animated) (DVD)

Any Sammy Sosa fan will want this ~ and because of the animation and the way it's presented, it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It's basically an hour-long display of Sammy Sosa's life, from his days as a shoe shiner in the Dominican Republic to his current homerun hitting success with the Chicago Cubs. It showcases the many challenges Sosa went through and the changes he had to make to turn himself into a star.It's just a really honest and enjoyable story. I recommend it.