Monday, July 10, 2006
Meeska Mooska
Sleeping a little later on the weekends shifts our morning routine forward a bit. And so we end up watching a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse instead of bolting out the door at 8:28 a.m. It's actually a pretty good little toddler show. First, how can you go wrong with They Might Be Giants doing the theme song? It's catchy. (Like the other song they do for the show, the Hot Dog song, referred to by Mickey as only "the Mousekedance.")
Sometimes I think the Mouseketools are a bit of a stretch, like using a bubble machine to slow down the giant who was chasing them (and scaring the bejeezus out of my Petunia, thank you so much for that, Disney Channel!). Really, wouldn't some tar on the ground or a fog machine or a blindfold have gotten the job done better?
And I've already seen two episodes that use "a baby elephant" as a Mouseketool. One time, the elephant weighed down a hot air balloon that had floated too high, and another time, the elephant used his very efficient trunk to blow up a bunch of balloons for Minnie's surprise birthday party. Who knew having a baby elephant around could be so helpful?
Sometimes, I feel like the Clubhouse is pushing the education/interactive thing a tad too far. It seems like the story line can't progress at all until my kid screams out the correctly shaped key or the chicken with the biggest beak or the smallest of the screws in Mickey's hand. I get that they want this to be a learning experience for tots, but it could stand to be a little more fun sometimes.
Thank god the show ends with that Hot Dog song so we can get up and dance without answering one more flippin' question from Mickey.
