Genre: Childrens/Animated/Stories
Run Time: 32 minutes
Narrators: Brian Cummings, Linda Gary
Production Company: GAGA Communications, Illuminated Film Company, Scholastic Productions
Studio: Walt Disney Video
DVD Release Date: January 3, 2006
Based on the best-selling children’s books by Eric Carle, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories" contains unabridged narrations of the following five stories:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells the story of a caterpillar who eats and eats all week long, finally turning into a butterfly on Sunday.
- The Very Quiet Cricket follows a young cricket learning to communicate in the world of insects.
- The Mixed-Up Chameleon visits the zoo and envies the traits and qualities other animals possess.
- Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me depicts a little girl who wants to play with the moon, and her Papa’s attempt to fulfill her wish.
- I See a Song portrays the wordless book wherein a violinist evokes colorful abstract images as he plays.
The VHS version of the DVD has been available since 1995 in the UK, but Disney has re-released the title with new narrators and a special bonus feature game.
The real value of the DVD lies in the simple and beautiful stories and illustrations from Eric Carle’s works. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and other stories by Carle are celebrated not only because children love them, but also for the literary value they provide. His books are rich with literary elements such as predictability and repeated phrases which help early readers grasp underlying concepts of reading and storytelling, and his stories follow a clear pattern of subject, plot and resolution while imparting nuggets of knowledge about life or nature. In addition, he illustrated the book distinctively using a wonderful collage of hand painted paper.
Through Carle’s imaginative stories, children can learn about numbers, shapes and animals among other things. The DVD allows children to experience these wonderful stories in a new way, and will probably make them excited to read the books again and again.
DVD Features:
- Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
- Game time: Eating through the week
