Madeline Fretz - Sorry I haven't been posting as of lately - I had more important things to do, but I'm back here once again to review what has to be my favorite Baby Einstein video. Behold - Baby Van Gogh.
This video was released in August 2000 as a follow-up to Baby Shakespeare. The video teaches the colors of the rainbow - yellow, green, orange, purple, red, and blue, through funny puppet shows and romantic-era music.
After the infamous "Cactus Cha-Cha" and a puppet show with a possessed Vincent Van Goat, we are treated to an opening number set to Bizet's "La Toreador" from Carmen and featuring things with the colors we're going to be seeing today. Nice way to start off a great video I must say!
After the opening number, our first color is yellow. A duck runs around in a hill with yellow flowers to a fun poem narrated by founder Julie Aigner-Clark and then we are treated to yellow things like toys to the William Tell Overture. The William Tell Overture is undeniably a classic and it was no surprise it was included in here. It also suits the color yellow well I must say.
Oh, and then we see bug finger puppets. And then a shape-sorting red car toy.
Now it's time for the color green. Vincent catches a turtle bouncing green balls, the turtle swims around in his pool to yet another poem, and then there's a montage of green things set to Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Murrgosky (sp?).
After green comes what is by far my favorite color, orange. There's a puppet show in which Baby Bach's clone pops up from a magic hat, the aforementioned orange rabbit playing in fall leaves to another poem, and a montage of orange things set to my favorite classical music piece, The Blue Danube Waltz. Glad it was included!
After orange comes purple. Vincent and a female pink goat named Vivian have fun in the garden, Vivian plays with balls to a poem, and a montage of purple things is set to Maurice Ravel's underrated "Bolero," which is quite catchy and pretty if you ask me.
We're into our last two colors, as well as the most popular, now folks. A red moose represents red by wearing a cape and jumping around his bedroom to a poem, followed by a montage of red things (including 3 moose!)
Our final color is blue. Misty Mouse (you're gonna see a lot more of her, folks!) makes blue stew at night to yet another poem and we are then treated to montage of blue things to the all-too calming Brahams' Lullaby. Perfect classical music piece to represent the color blue!
Afterwards, there's a finale set to Murrgosky's The Grand Gate at Kiev and then come the credits, set to a less-scary version of Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and featuring all the kids who appeared and most of the puppets.
With all that said, Baby Van Gogh is a wonderful Baby Einstein video, and one you (and your children for that matter) should definitely check out. It's truly a perfect introduction to colors! And if you want a piece of the 2000 nostalgia cake, just watch this video and you'll feel like a little kid again. Chockful of great moments I must say!
Basically, Baby Van Gogh took a spark and turned it into a flame - Baby Einstein was still a small company before, but Van Gogh was the first video to be distributed by the now-defunct Family Home Entertainment, which made the company even bigger. Peace out, Baby Einstein fans, and more reviews coming soon, I promise!
