For four fact filled seasons from 1994 to 1998, "The Magic School Bus" paved the way for kids to believe that science was cool. As the television landscape continues to devolve, it's refreshing to see the Bus resurface in this Complete Series collection. Charming and educational, this animated delight is comprised of 52 thirty minute episodes. Ms. Frizzle (voiced by the distinctive and invaluable Lily Tomlin) takes her class of enthusiastic students on trips filled with fantasy and wonder. Astronomy, biology, geology, physics, chemistry, paleontology, and just about every other "ology" gets a visit or two through the course of the various field trips. However, if you're shopping "The Magic School Bus: The Complete Series," you probably want to know what is included with your investment.
Packaging: The box set looks great. The cover is done in a 3-D lenticular design that already ups the cool quotient. Each of the eight DVDs is enclosed in its own case within the set with complete episode information for easy access. Each individual season has thirteen episodes over two of the DVDs.
Content: 52 episodes at approximately 22 hours of complete running time. Recommended ages 4-10. English or Spanish language options.
Bonus Material: A 24 page kids activity guide is a nice addition (though not the most sophisticated presentation I've ever seen). More valuable is the Parents' Guide. This tool helps you orchestrate lessons with your kids and makes this an invaluable teaching tool. I, personally, love that "The Magic School Bus" advocates parent involvement as opposed to being just another TV show to plant your kids in front of (although that's certainly an option too).
Easily recommended, but perhaps cost prohibitive, there are smaller packaging choices available if you're on a budget. The ones I'm listing are new sets to DVDs (although episodes will overlap if you have previously released compilations). That is a potential pitfall to this buying strategy. If you want to collect "The Magic Bus," there are past DVD releases and new DVD releases and, if you're not diligent, it would be very easy to purchase some of the same episodes under different titles. The Complete Series choice will eliminate this possible duplication and offers every epsiode (some never before on DVD).
These two lower price compilation have an assortment of 12 episodes each:
(1) Blast Off! From Sea To Space
(2) Field Trip Fun and Games
Or even smaller, these four sets have about 90 minutes of content that bring episodes relating to a specific topic together:
(1) The Human Body
(2) Super Star Power
(3) Takes a Dive (coral reefs, tidal zones, etc)
(4) Takes Flight (weather, flying, etc.)
I love and respect "The Magic School Bus." Educational TV can be interactive and entertaining! KGHarris, 8/12.
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