M*I*C*K*E*Y M*O*U*S*E (Disney Channel)

Member Name: clairebear1984

Product:	Disney Channel
Date:	17/09/08 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps the children entertained

Disadvantages: None

Today I will be reviewing the playhouse Disney channel just basically because it is never off in my house and my little girl adores it. Playhouse Disney is definitely for the younger of children but there is also a normal Disney channel available for the bigger kids.

Unfortunately playhouse Disney is not a free view channel but you will usually have access to it if you have sky or cable television. I am currently with sky and they do have very generous offers available for example if you have children you can add all of the extra children's channels at a reasonable price.

Anyway back to playhouse Disney as I said before it is never off in my house. Some talk over the last year has indicated that television can be harmful to children if they watch it too much, but I have been more than impressed with playhouse Disney. The cartoons are very educational as well as fun for children. My daughter is 2 ½ and I love watching her sing and count along with the Disney friends.

Here is an insight of the cartoons available on playhouse Disney at the moment.



Mickey mouse clubhouse:

Mickey Mouse has to be the most famous cartoon on playhouse Disney. Children can join in the fun with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Mickey has been going for so many years now and the cartoon graphics and quality have obviously changed so much. Mickey mouse clubhouse always gets the children involved by counting along and singing with the characters. Children can also get an understanding of tools that can be used in conjunction with each other or tools required to complete a certain job. Children can get up and join in with the hot dog dance at the end of each episode.


Overall Mickey and friends gets a thumbs up from me


My friends tigger and pooh:

Join in all the fun with Derby, Tigger, Pooh, Rabbit, Roo and buster as well as many other characters in this show from Disney. Winnie the Pooh is a well loved honey loving character, I can remember going back years you would see winnie on his adventures with Christopher Robin and now he has found a new friend and companion in Derby. In this cartoon Derby, Winnie and tigger are the super sleuths who solve the mysteries of the 100-acre wood.

Overall another great cartoon.




Handy Manny:

I must admit this isn't one of my daughter's favourite shows, which is actually a shame as it is quite educational. In this cartoon we see Handy Manny and his talking tools Dusty the saw, Felipe the screwdriver, Pat the hammer, Rusty the wrench, Squeeze the pliers, Stretch the tape measure and turner who is a flat headed screwdriver. Manny is always there to help with repairs around the town and is well loved by the other residents. You will see him often visiting kally in the hardware store where he gets supplies to do his work. Manny is Spanish and although he speaks most of the cartoon in English he and his tools do use Spanish phases and advise what they mean in English.

Overall a good cartoon.




Little Einstein's:

This has to be the most educational cartoon on playhouse Disney, we join June, Quincy, Leo and Annie on their adventures round the world where they can see everything from pyramids and the great sphinx. The little Einstein's make their travels in Rocket, which is basically their spaceship. Music from composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonin Dvorak. Children are encouraged to recognise items and stories that took place many years ago aswell as associating with classical music.

Overall great learning show, children can sing along and use hand movements and claps to copy the little Einseins.





Franny's Feet:


Franny is a little girl who hangs around with her Grampa in his shoe shop. Customers will bring their old broken shoes in to be fixed. Once Franny puts on the various shoes she is whisked away into adventures all over the world where she will experience different ways and means of living. Children can get an understanding of how others live in the snowier colder regions.

Overall this show is ok and Franny is rather pleasant, not annoying like some of the other cartoons.



Higglytown heroes:

To me you can't find a show more annoying than this one but it's for children at the end of the day and not myself. In this show we can see the characters joining in with parades and competitions, they express ideas to the rest of the group especially Twinkle who has a very vivid imagination. The guys in Higglytown give children an insight into peoples jobs and how they do them, they class all workers as heroes and advise children that whatever job an adult does they are a hero to somebody.

Overall I like the concept of having children appreciate everybody but the singing and the dancing on can be a tad annoying from an adult prospective.



Bear in the big blue house:

In this cartoon we can listen along as bear talks with us we are introduced to his friends Tutter, Luna the Talking and signing moon, Treelo, Ojo and Pip and Pop. You can also see Shadow she is another friend of bears and she is indeed a talking shadow which in my opinion is a bit creepy.


Bear is ok but he does more talking that actually getting the children involved.




There are a few other shows available on playhouse Disney:

Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs
Imagination movers
Bunnytown
Johnny and the sprites
JOJO circus
OOH and AAH
Stanley
Five minutes more
Happy monster band

I am sorry that I cannot review or give my opinion on the above as I have not seen enough of them to comment.

Playhouse Disney also has a plus channel too so if you miss something you can catch it on the plus side 30 minutes later.

You can view playhouse Disney all day too sometimes you will get a repeat through the day but genuinely the episodes will be new so you don't feel like you are watching the same thing day in and day out. Children don't mind this but it drives us adults mad.


If your children are big fans of the Disney characters then this channel is definitely worth investing in but be warned once they start enjoying the programmes you will find yourself in the Disney store buying all the available merchandise and believe me its not cheap.

Summary: Plenty of good educational shows