Great Googly Moogly! by David Lambert (All reviews)
9/02/2002
"Well, I am a Ferocious Beast..."
Maggie and the Ferocious Beast used to air weekdays on the Nickelodeon/Nick Jr. cable TV lineup (it's not on the current schedule for now, but could return). For those of us who worked at that time, or perhaps haven't had cable television (gasp!), we might well pick up this DVD in the store and wonder about the show, and it's characters.
Who is Maggie, and why does she have a Ferocious Beast for a friend? Well, as is typical of most kid video DVD releases, especially from Columbia, things on the first disc released seem to start in the middle of the series' story, so it's hard to know. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the DVD publishers for mixing up the episodes, or if the show producers air the shows this way in the first place. It's hard for both kids and adults to know the background story here.
Fortunately, the production company – Nelvana (also known for many other properties, as diverse as Magic School Bus, Franklin the Turtle, and Medabots) – has excellent background information available online for confused parents like me. There, they tell us a lot about Maggie and her friends:
Based on the children's book by Betty and Michael Paraskevas, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast is set in an imaginary place called Nowhere Land. It's a place our heroine, five-year-old Maggie, has drawn on a map where she takes her favorite stuffed toys, Hamilton Hocks and the Ferocious Beast. Maggie loves Beast and Hamilton so much that she has created a whole world for them to explore! Together, they climb the highest mountains, cross the widest deserts, and have tons of fun.
We can also dig deeper and find out a lot more about The Beast himself:
The Ferocious Beast is warm and cuddly, like an oversized puppy dog, who thinks that playing with Maggie isn't just good, it's "GOOGLY MOOGLY!" He takes great pride in his red polka dot spots, and those dots seem to have a life of their own. Whenever Beast sneezes, the polka dots fly off in all directions! Sometimes his size gets him into trouble, although he never means any harm, and his soft, warm tummy is like a giant comforting blanket that you'd love to cuddle.
There are a number of other characters that Maggie meets in her travels: The Moo Sisters and Sidestep Crab, both of whom are absent from this disc; The Jelly Bean Team, who appear briefly; and The Big Duck, who we (and Maggie and friends) meet for the first time in the Adventures In Nowhere Land set of stories.
My son (age 4) had never seen this show at all when I received this DVD for review purposes. He didn't seem to be thrilled about the idea of watching it with me; I guess it looks like a "girl disc". He now seems to be a big fan of Maggie and The Beast. Now he's thrilled just to pick up the box and name off all of the characters. Spinning the disc is a real treat for him!
The DVD: "Adventures in Nowhere Land"
The DVD that Columbia/TriStar released for Maggie's first digital outing contains 6 episodes of the Nick Jr. show:
Beastly Picture
The Big Duck
Hamilton's Pet
My One and Only Box
Mr. Shivers
The King of Nowhere Land
Note that, due to a typo on the back of the box (an extra bullet point in the red box), it might appear to be seven episodes at first glance. There are actually six adventures, which can be played one at a time, or you can use the "Play All" feature. When this is activated, you can choose to run through all episodes once, or choose for them to run continuously until the disc is stopped (excellent for long trips, if your vehicle is equipped with a mobile player).
Video
The show is presented in its native 4:3 "standard screen" format, with sharp clarity and brilliant colors throughout. The producers of the series made graphic choices that are a mixture of styles, which will interest the eye. The characters are drawn in a standard, classic animation style that will look like those in many other shows. The background sky will often look like an actual skyscape, with great fluffy clouds against a blue sky. But the other background objects, like trees and rocks and so forth, will usually be simpler drawing that reminds one of something an older child - perhaps around 7 or 8 - will draw in school and bring home to put on the 'fridge. Perhaps this reflects the world that Maggie has drawn to have her adventures in. It works, looking great and holding the attention of its audience.
Audio
The sound is a slightly above-average reflection of what is presented on television: digitally mastered, it is presented in 2.0 Dolby English. The fidelity and dynamic range is clearer on this than on other similar kid fare, but I'm not sure that the average person – or anyone with an average setup - will notice the difference. My child certainly didn't react differently on repeated viewings on an older set with average sound capabilities built-in. But kudos to the producers for the extra sound effort here.
A Spanish dub is also present as an alternate track, and English subtitles are available for the hearing impaired.
There is only one supplement on this DVD: bonus trailers. More advertisements than trailers, there are 4: Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Jay Jay The Jet Plane, Kermit's Swamp Years (an upcoming new made-for-video about Kermit the Frog's pre-Muppet Show years), and Bear In The Big Blue House.
Summary
The show turns out to be entertaining, with nice educational values thrown in for the ride. Despite any outward appearances, I assure you this is not "girlish" entertainment, and will be satisfying for both genders. With six fun stories, it will probably appeal to most children from age 2-3 up to age 7-8.
The biggest sticking point for most parents is likely to be the price versus the DVD's running time. The running time is 46 minutes for all six episodes. The street price of this disc will be about $15 in most places...perhaps even a bit higher.
For purchasers who have kids that are giant fans of the show, this price probably won't matter much. But for the parents I described above, who've never happened to catch the series, it's obvious that there are children's videos available in the same price range with much more content. It think it would be much more appealing if it were in the $9.99-$12.99 street price range.
I can definitely recommend the adventures on this disc, if you can find the DVD for a price you consider to be affordable and reasonable.
