Grandpa's Magical Toys

Let me preface this by saying my little sister used to watch this...this...thing. Constantly. And, it is by far the most annoying, obnoxious video of all time. If you think I am being theatrical or going overboard, watch it. Then watch it again. You've now watched it twice, approximately .2% of the number of times that I've seen it.

It is horrible in the tradition of Barney, yet the children are more frightening in their gleefulness. And who's the costume director for this? If I would have worn electric red Ked's to match my red polo shirt, I would have had my ass kicked on the playground in two seconds flat. They (the children) are also the smug, smarmy happy types who grow up to become like that annoying guy waiter in Office Space.

What is my point? Only to attempt to spare the siblings of any children that you are considering buying this for. To the point that I would threaten to run a kitchen magnet over my sister's tape if not faced with the consequences imposed by my parents. My plan finally settled on putting the tracking out of whack on the VCR when she'd watch it and then tell my parents she must have worn the tape out after once she began screaming. Thank God for technically unsophisticated parents, but be forewarned if you are a sibling in today's world, your parents most likely bought it on DVD and you're probably screwed.

If you loved playing with toys as a child and you may still do as an adult, this Wee Sing video might be for you. Join Peter as he explores his grandpa's toys with his friends, Sarah and David, and get shrunken down to miniature size as the toys come to life. Follow in the music and magic as they search for a special golden key that holds the secret of being young at heart.

The choreography for some of the songs like "Punchinello" and "The Hokey Pokey" were really cool, and I really like those toy characters such as that clown himself, the Dutch Girl, the Farmer in the Dell, and that Scottish Lassie. I even like the jump rope rhymes seen in that video.

No matter how old you get or what age you are, as long as you learn the secret of being young at heart, you'll always remember how to have fun. That's what Peter and his friends learn in this Wee Sing video. Be sure to check out my other Wee Sing reviews on IMDb.

So back home in Atlanta, a select group of friends and myself have secretly been huge fans of the movie Grandpa's Magical Toys ( I usually refer to it as Grandpa's Magical Toy Chest..I don't know why...). We memorize the songs, we recreate the dances, we practice the hand claps. And although we are all truly terrified of the scene where the beaver gets up close to the screen and shouts "HAMBONE!" we watch it over and over again. So when I arrived at Georgetown University and met my roommate it wasn't exactly the kind of favorite movie you would bring up the first day of conversation. But as the weeks passed and we became closer, I casually referenced my favorite movie of all time. To my utter joy and surprise, my roommate was also a HUGE fan. And now we can share in the glory of the best musical sing-a-long children's movie ever created. It brings laughter, tears...I just can't even describe how wonderful this film is. I truly believe that it will forever live on in movie history in all its cinematic glory.

I saw this at school once in music class, and as an adult, it looks cheesy, but I remembered this was made for younger kids.

So, this is part of the Wee Sing line of videos aimed at younger children, which all focus on singing songs aimed at preschool and kindergarten levels. In this, three kids, Peter, David, and Sarah visit the grandfather of Peter as the toy maker is looking for a special key. While checking out the toys, David bumps into the bookcase, opening the music box and shrinking the three to toy size, which also causes the toys, led by Punchinello the clown, to come to life.

Yeah, this may not look good in today's standards, but it is a good video. The cast of characters are charming, from Punchinello, the friendly clown, to the Muffin Man, to a talking cookie jar, the costume designs are well done for a kidvid. Also, the movie teaches a good lesson about friendship and being young at heart, no matter how old you are, and has some good songs.

The story has a decent plot and some good life lessons. My 1 and 2-year-old watch it from beginning to end. Songs are plentiful and some might stick in your mind for awhile. Some actors crossover into other Wee Sing titles (Punchinello, crayon, etc.), while others are world-class talent. One of the better Wee Sing titles. All in all, a timeless kid video - comparable to Barney. Most songs should be familiar.

Synopsis: Grandson and two friends are magically miniaturized in a room filled with living toys (mostly dolls and animals). They all enjoy singing songs while playing games. All the while, they look for Grandpa's missing key. The toys all come together in the end to help find the key and get the kids back to normal size.