Charlie & Lola: Volume 1 (DVD)
Charlie has this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny. Lola will NEVER eat a tomato! She is also not sleepy and will not go to bed. And how will she cope when she is not well and may never smile again? It falls to Charlie to win her around, and he uses every trick in the book logic, humor, but mostly, the power of his imagination. Using 2D cel animation, paper cutout, fabric design, photomontage and archive footage, all the distinctive style and exuberance of Lauren Childs award-winning picture books come to life. Glorious music and sound effects help to conjure up fantastical worlds that only a child could invent, while realistic dialogue, voiced by children, ensures these magical adventuresreally resonate with kids.
Amazon.com Charlie and his spirited little sister Lola are the best of friends and, like most siblings, the pair must employ a little ingenuity and a whole lot of creativity to maintain a healthy sibling relationship while conquering their individual problems and fears. When Charlie's Mum solicits Charlie's help getting Lola to eat her dinner in "I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato," Charlie must call on his creativity to convince his extremely picky sister to eat her peas, potatoes, fish fingers and tomatoes. Lola gets a chance to see what being responsible for a dog is like in "We Do Promise Honestly We Can Look After Your Dog" and Charlie joins forces with Lola's invisible playmate Soren Lorenson to help Lola conquer her separation anxiety in "I Love Going To Granny and Grandpa's It's Just That. . . . " Other predicaments visited include keeping a secret, being sick in bed with a cold, a fear of spiders, and cooperative play. Based on the Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child, this 84-minute compilation of BBC programs features simple images, universal themes, a delightful smattering of British pronunciations and colloquialisms, and bonus features that include English subtitles, an interactive jigsaw puzzle, outtakes, and several hidden video snippets. (Ages 2 to 7) --Tami Horiuchi
