Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! A Tale of Tails

Reviewed by: Stephanie Rollins, Parish Rollins (age 4), and Isaac Rollins (age 2) for ReviewYourBook.com 10/2008
Nick Jr.
As a parent, this cartoon is a bit difficult to watch. Kids love it. Isaac insisted that we take it on vacation with us, so he could watch it in the van. Parish is just as excited about it.
Wubbzy is a yellow square that has a springy tail. He is a bit wacky and gets into silly situations. The simple story lines and simple animations draw kids in. There are underlying morals in each cartoon.
The cartoons are short, so kids do not become bored. Parents may not enjoy this, but they will enjoy the fact that it keeps kids entertained.

Laying in bed trying to fall asleep, and what is my mind doing... you got it "wow wow Wubbzy, Wubbzy Wubbzy wow wow" ARRGGHHH I suppose there are worse things that could be replaying over and over again in my mind and far worse things my 4yr old could adore.

While I wouldn't consider this as scholarly educational as some other children's shows (Blues Clues for instance) it does still manage to not only keep you singing and dancing along but teaches valuable life lessons in a fun and upbeat way that has my little girl glued to every word.

Wubbzy isn't her all time favorite as sometimes it's a bit much for her (she prefers quieter shows such as Little Bear & Clifford) but the show is definitely in her top 5 and always brings a smile to my face as well.

Also the packaging on this disk is great, a 3D style front which ended up glued to a magnet and on our fridge was a nice bonus.

I don't see the appeal, being from a time where cartoons were more life-like, or at least more animal-like, but whether it's the cool colors and graphics, or the wacky shapes of the characters, it keeps the kids fully engulfed. Lots of episodes and a long run time are also a plus. A very nice kids DVD, recommended for ages 3-8.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy is an animated preschool show on Nick Jr. This DVD contains several episodes from the first season, which include Wubbzy's best pals, Widget and Walden. Although my three children are a bit too old for this kind of program, my wife runs a daycare business out of our home and is always looking for something to keep the youngest children entertained. When playing this DVD for the first time, all of the daycare children were immediately immersed in the wild, wacky world of Wubbzy. The music had them rocking in place, and one little girl actually stood up and started twirling and dancing around the room. My wife was extremely pleased with how "locked in" the kids were to the show, and she immediately sat down to enjoy the brief period of relaxation this video allowed from her normally hectic afternoon.

One has to wonder what a Wubbzy is. He lives in a tree and he has a bendy tail (and he likes it that way!), but that is about all the description I can gather about this character. Some of the kids think he is a cat, while others think he is a bear. One little boy even thinks he is a sponge, like Sponge Bob Square Pants, and another said he looks like cheese with a tail. Heh-heh, I just love children's imaginations. I don't believe the DVD ever explains exactly what a Wubbzy is. Then again, I guess it doesn't really matter; especially to little kids. =o)

This DVD contains 8 episodes, which is noted on the back cover as being 6 episodes with 2 bonus episodes. The included episodes are as follows:

- A Tale of Tails
- Special Delivery
- Widget's Wild Ride
- Attack of the 50-Foot Fleegle
- Come Spy with Me
- Wubbzy Tells a Whopper
- Mt. Fizzy Pop (Bonus Episode)
- Puddle Muddle (Bonus Episode)

Other bonus features include music videos, and some fun activities you can perform on your computer, such as a ring toss game and some printable coloring pages and party invitations. When you launch the "Click to Play" HTML file on the DVD (from your computer), it basically takes you to a Nick Jr. website, where you and your children can participate in some interactive games and activities. This is pretty standard fare for most small child targeted DVDs. It is interesting enough to check out once or twice, but it loses its luster fairly quickly.

After playing this DVD a few times, over the past three weeks or so, my wife and I have found that it has lost the attention of the children. They still like the music, but the shows themselves just don't hold their attention anymore. One could assume that anyone would get sick of watching the same program more than once or twice, but this just isn't true with other DVDs, like Sponge Bob Square Pants, and Blue's Clues. I think "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! - A Tale of Tails" is a very entertaining and somewhat educational DVD, but don't expect hours and hours of play time from it. Kids will watch just about any cartoon adventure show once or twice, but Wubbzy just doesn't seem to have enough flair and excitement to warrant repeated viewing. I would recommend having your children watch Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, on Nick Jr., to see if it grabs their attention before buying the DVD. As the price of the DVD seems to remain fairly low, I do recommend it for parents and childcare providers, as a low cost form of entertainment for children under the age of 5 or 6. It is cute, funny, and contains some really catchy tunes that get stuck in your mind and tend to drive you near insanity. We will be putting our copy on the shelf for a few weeks or months, but will pull it out again once the kids have had a chance to miss it enough to want to sit and watch it again.

For those that wish to check out the bonus games and other activities included on this DVD (and much more), you can find them on the following Nick Jr. website:
http://www.nickjr.com/shows/wubbzy/index.jhtml

My young son loves this show, so was eager to share this with him. He enjoyed watching the collection of cartoons over and over again, but could not elaborate much about why he liked it. But it's a nice little show and it isn't as annoying or overly offensive as some of today's somewhat cynical kid's cartoons. The best thing about it is that we can let the kids watch this on DVD and not see the questionable clusters of ads and promos that Nick Jr. slips in with their preschool shows. We like many of their shows, but avoid watching broadcast version because we can't trust them to restrain from buckshot advertising.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy looks to me to be created in what is known as "flash animation," a computer-based process that moves shapes and characters digitally rather than with cel animation. It looks like late 50's/early 60 animation, much in the style of "Tom Terrific," but with a more flowing feel and a kind of early video game style thrown in. Since one of the people behind the show is former Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert, it makes me wonder if, had HB stayed its own entity, if we would have seen Flintstones and Yogi cartoons done this way.

Grey Delisle, the voice of Wubbzy, is one of those highly skilled but rarely acknowledged voice artists that have more a role in our lives than we think. You've probably heard her and not realized it, since she does so many commercials and cartoons. My kids first heard her voice as toddlers when she was the voice of a little Teddy Bear in a Jump Start educational computer CD-ROM. She reminds me of Bernice Hansen, who was the specialist in child voices in the 1940's, particularly as Sniffles in various Warner cartoons.

My personal favorite part of the cartoons are the delightfully bubblegum pop tunes between the stories. You can also select a series of them to play as videos. I'd buy a CD of these songs in a heartbeat, since I'm an Archies fan from 'way back.