Curious George. Harold and the Purple Crayon. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Classics each and every one. Call it a babysitter in a box or call it a great tool for educating your children, either way what we have on our hands here is 19 hours of story books new and old converted to a digital medium. Some of these genuinely are treasures reincarnated in an animated medium while others are newer stories that have yet to prove their heirloom mettle. However, your average tot won’t care as much about the legacy of a given story as they will about the presentation. A majority of the stories found on these 16 discs have received the full animation treatment from the humble illustration origins, but there are a few in the collection which are little more than scans of the pages being panned over by the camera. Depending on the age of your child the two different styles will entertain accordingly.
What makes the collection worthwhile for the parent with a mind for educating their youth is the feature which on any other film might be more annoying than meaningful: the subtitle. With these stories the subtitles provide a read-along interaction that allows each cartoon to simultaneously entertain and teach; for most parents that’s a dream come true. Turning to the babysitter in a box approach, each disc features a “play all” button (awesome) which allows the parent who needs an hour of peace to flip it on and let the stories enrapture the child. While not the most responsible way to parent the box affords the possibility to the parent – maybe in better occasions like road trips or airport treks.
As an odd bonus, when the set says “100 Storybook Classics” it’s misleading the casual consumer – but in a good way for some. In fact, the set is 100 stories with ten of them translated into Spanish (making the grand “total” 110). Additionally, and this will be more of a bonus for the adults, a few actors have lent their voices to the narration including Andy Richter, Michael McKean, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Randy Travis, Hank Azaria, Helen Hunt, Tim Curry, Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Lithgow, David de Vries, James Earl Jones and Chevy Chase.
Before we undertake the grand task of listing each story in the set, there is a minor issue to be considered. No restoration or remastering has been performed on the cartoons meaning some of them definitely show that they haven’t been touched up since originally being created. The stories whose pages were just scanned and not animated are the biggest culprits on this front. When the set says “100 Storybook Classics” it’s misleading the casual consumer. In fact, the set is 100 stories with ten of them translated into Spanish (making the grand “total” 100).
The stories:
Alligators All Around
The Amazing Bone
Angus and the Ducks
Angus Lost
Apt. 3
Arnie the Doughnut
The Beast of Monsieur Racine
Cat and Canary
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog
Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Chicken Little
Chicken Soup with Rice
Chrysanthemum
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
The Cow who Fell in the Canal
Curious George Rides a Bike
Danny and the Dinosaur
Diary of a Spider
Dinosaur Bones
Dot the Fire Dog
Drummer Hoff
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Emily’s First 100 Days of School
Five Chinese Brothers
Five Creatures
The Foolish Frog
Fourteen Rats and a Rat Catcher
Frog Goes to Dinner
The Great White Man-Eating Shark
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Harold's Fairy Tale
Harry the Dirty Dog
Here Comes the Cat!
Hondo & Fabian
Hot Hippo How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?
How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon?
How do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
How Much is a Million?
I Stink!
I Want a Dog!
I, Crocodile
If You Made a Million
In the Night Kitchen
Inch by Inch
The Island of the Skog
Let’s Give Kitty a Bath!
A Letter to Amy
Lon Po Po
Make Way for Ducklings
Max’s Words
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Millions of Cats
Moon Man
Mouse Around
The Mysterious Tadpole
No Roses for Harry
Norman the Doorman
Officer Buckle & Gloria
One Was Johnny
Owen Pet Show!
Peter's Chair
Pete’s a Pizza
A Picture for Harold's Room
Pierre
Princess Furball
Rapunzel
The Remarkable Riderless Runaway Tricycle
Roberto the Insect Architect
The Snowy Day
Stanley and the Dinosaurs
Stars! Stars! Stars!
The Stonecutter
A Story—A Story
The Story About Ping
The Story of the Dancing Frog
Strega Nona
The Swineherd
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
T is for Terrible
The Talking Eggs
Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman
Time of Wonder
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
Trashy Town
The Trip
The Ugly Duckling
Waiting for Wings
Wallace’s Lists
A Weekend for Wendell
What’s Under My Bed
Where the Whild Things are
Whistle for Willie
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
Wild About Books
Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens
The Wizard
DVD Bonus Features
Well, to be fair, about a quarter of the stories in the list above are considered by Scholastic to be “extra” despite being part of the 100 story collection. If any real extras are to be had at all, it’s the French version of Where the Wild Things Are, the interview with Maurice Sendak (included in the separate DVD release for the Where the Wild Things Are…and 5 more stories by Maurice Sendak) and two paper copies of an activity booklet. The latter is somewhat minor and will maybe keep the kids occupied for an additional half hour; otherwise the entire set is really the prize.
"Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics" is on sale October 27, 2009 and is rated NR. Children & Family. Written and directed by Various. Starring Andy Richter, Chevy Chase, Danny Glover, David De Vries, Hank Azaria, Helen Hunt, James Earl Jones, John Lithgow, Meryl Streep, Michael McKean, Patrick Stewart, Randy Travis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tim Curry.
