Longtime readers will know of my love for the soundtrack to Hoodwinked, an excellent soundtrack that was out of print for awhile but is now easily available.
So now the long-delayed sequel, Hoodwinked Too!, is in theatres, and I'm wondering whether I should go with the family to see it. (We've subsequently acquired a copy of the original on DVD, and we like it quite a bit.) I was nervous because despite the original's director and creator Cory Edwards' assurances that the sequel was good (he's a co-writer on the new movie), I wasn't getting a good vibe from the trailer, and, what's worse, Todd Edwards, who was responsible for the soundtrack, is nowhere to be found on this film.
Instead, what we have is this, courtesy of Hayden Panettiere, brought in to replace Anne Hathaway as the voice of Red:
Hayden Panettiere - "I Can Do It Alone" (from Hoodwinked Too!) [YouTube]
Sigh. So... generic. And so not intriguing to me. (Oh, and the video would appear to give away a major plot twist, so foo on that, too.)
Finding clips of the first movie online is obviously a little difficult, but I would just direct you to...
A year ago, Jacob Stein and Jason Rabinowitz, the duo better known as The Pop Ups, were attending Kindiefest and handing out copies of their debut album for kids Outside Voices. The rest is history.
Now as they get ready to play Kindiefest this weekend, they've finished their first video. It's for "Balloon," a story told via reggae and in video form, unsurprisingly, by puppets and cardboard. It's lo-fi in just the right way. We're happy to world-premiere it for you today.
The Pop Ups - "Balloon" [YouTube]
It's less than a couple months until the release of Recess Monkey's latest album FLYING!, which means the band is starting to crank out another series of awesome low-budget videos for songs on the new album. The first one for the album is for the song "Sidekick" and it features Mayor Monkey, who I had just thought of as a band manager and talk show host. Oh, how wrong I was.
Bonus points if you can identify the other RM video Professor Schnoz -- if indeed that is his real name -- appeared in.
Recess Monkey - "Sidekick" [YouTube]
I am not a "Beluga Grad," but for many reasons, I am an ardent fan of Raffi. I find the putdowns of his music to be sort of like putdowns of the Beatles -- sure, you can say it, but to somehow suggest that Raffi (or the Beatles) wasn't a) very successful, and b) very talented is to be c) very stupid lazy in your criticism. (We try not to use the word "stupid" 'round here.) People sometimes use Raffi and Barney interchangeably, which makes me wonder if they've ever listened to either of them.
Now, I totally get some of that criticism, and I am not a huge fan of Raffi's later work (especially as compared to his first three albums, which still get played at our house). But the man had a knack for simple but effective arrangements and, oh, that voice. In more recent years, Raffi has given up recording music for kids, and turned his attention to a variety of projects, including the Center for Child Honoring, a non-profit group Raffi founded "dedicated to advancing Child Honouring as a universal ethic, an organizing principle for societal transformation." I haven't enjoyed the music he's recorded recently very much, but the song he recorded in the wake of Egypt's social uprising, is, I think, a reminder of both his songcraft skills and his emotive voice.
Raffi - "Tweet Me Right" (The Cairo Tango) [YouTube]
The Okee Dokee Brothers may be only a month away from heading down the mighty Mississippi, but in their latest video, they visit the modern equivalent of the gathering spot the Mississippi was in the 19th century -- New York's Times Square. And for their video for "The Naked Truth" they come up with the genius idea of incorporating The Naked Cowboy, who definitely would've been chronicled by Mark Twain if he'd been around 125 or so years ago. This is joyous and totally safe for kids, but it's probably as close to a NSFW video as I get around here...
The Okee Dokee Brothers - "The Naked Truth" [YouTube]
I can't say that "Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step?" was my favorite song off Dog on Fleas' Beautiful World CD (or even their Bestest of the Best greatest hits collection. (In fact, I much prefer "The Moon Song," heard in the intro to this video and found on the greatest hits CD as well as their please-get-it-post-haste When I Get Little.)
But is this a way cute video that makes me appreciate the song much more? Most definitely. (I particularly dig the ending.) Consider it the sequel to Newsies.
Dog on Fleas - "Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step?" [YouTube]
Longtime readers will know of my love for the soundtrack to Hoodwinked, an excellent soundtrack that was out of print for awhile but is now easily available.
So now the long-delayed sequel, Hoodwinked Too!, is in theatres, and I'm wondering whether I should go with the family to see it. (We've subsequently acquired a copy of the original on DVD, and we like it quite a bit.) I was nervous because despite the original's director and creator Cory Edwards' assurances that the sequel was good (he's a co-writer on the new movie), I wasn't getting a good vibe from the trailer, and, what's worse, Todd Edwards, who was responsible for the soundtrack, is nowhere to be found on this film.
Instead, what we have is this, courtesy of Hayden Panettiere, brought in to replace Anne Hathaway as the voice of Red:
Hayden Panettiere - "I Can Do It Alone" (from Hoodwinked Too!) [YouTube]
Sigh. So... generic. And so not intriguing to me. (Oh, and the video would appear to give away a major plot twist, so foo on that, too.)
Finding clips of the first movie online is obviously a little difficult, but I would just direct you to...
