This disk is no different. It is fast-paced, quick-witted and brings out Biblical truth. There are a couple of reactions that I would like to note. When the package arrived, and I pulled out the disk, my two oldest children (A 5 year old and a 3 year old) started to jump around the room wanting to watch the disk right away. The oldest started to sing the song. The two of them love these shows. My wife and I love to see our kids get excited about something that teaches them about God.
I also gathered some of the young people (Aged 9 to 12ish) that I work with for a screening that Sunday morning and they love the show. The thing that I noted from this screening was that it inspired them to want to get back into working with puppets again. Some of the topics that we were discussing were also answered in the shows like what is sin, and what does it mean to repent?In episode 1, we open with Michael and Pierre discussing who gets to be on camera. Michael observes Pierre’s bitterness. This moves to a discussion between Phil Vischer and Buck Denver over what the most important book is, the Phone book, or the Bible. It’s a pretty funny bit, and of course leads us into the themes song. I love the theme song!
We go back to Buck and Phil Vischer talking about the importance of the Bible, and he emphasizes that unlike the phone book, the Bible doesn’t just tell us where people live, but why people live.Pirate Pete... Wow, what an interesting, zany character! Last time to be different, he wanted to sing some songs from a hot air balloon. This time he wants to sing from his submarine. It is a very creative graphic. There is also a funny bit about how he knows things are right because he can feel it in his sword.
One of the points that some of the older audience members will be able to pick up on is the bit between Buck and Marcie about whether the insurance policy covers Pirates.... even law abiding pirates. Each show goes through a kind of review to keep the focus on the Rescue Plan God has for us. This time Sunday School Lady (love how she has a picture of herself on her shirt) uses the magic flannelgraph to show us the timeline of events, and of course that allows her to go over a description of what sin is.I loved the comment from Pirate Pete and how the book of Judges was like a classroom left without a teacher. There would be a bunch of kids with spit wads flying everywhere. This leads us to brief review of Ruth, and leads us into the books for the upcoming shows, 1 & 2 Samuel.
Who was Samuel? We get into who he was, and how he was instrumental in carrying out the requests of the people of Israel to have a king to lead them. As a prophet, Samuel leads based on what God tells him. The Philistines were there threatening them, and they wanted a king to lead them to fight against the Philistines. They kept being beaten and pressed for a king. God relented and Israel’s first king is Saul. Soon Saul became full of himself and was not under God’s spirit. As Saul did more things without God, and going after his own deeds, it came time for David to be anointed as the next king.There is an excellent explanation of the Trinity using a triangle.
There is a great parallel between those space movies and Saul going to the dark side. The writers were good about making sure to emphasize that the space movies were not real, and the story of Saul and David was true history.The episode ends with Phil asking if you want to be part of God’s rescue plan?
The second episode on the disk opens with Michael talking about how he once declared himself the king of the backyard, and he and Pierre got into an acorn fight with the kids next door. Poor Pierre. Michael does what any big brother would do I guess and uses his brother to shield himself from the attack.We go through the process that David went through to get to the point where he became king. We note the time where he was able to attack Saul, but would not. We note the jealousy from Saul about David. I was even pleased to see how they dealt with the David and Bathsheba affair. It was to the point and in a way that a kid could understand.
This gives Pastor Paul the chance to explain what repentance is, and we go through how David is different than Saul. Saul makes excuses and refuses to do as God says. David makes no excuse and begs for God’s forgiveness.This episode focuses on the book of 2 Samuel and then creeps into the book of 1 Kings to cover the good part of Solomon’s life. The story is left as a cliff-hanger for the audience to either look up, or wait until the next disk to see. My 5 year old is still asking me what happens to Solomon. I’m glad he is interested in the Bible.
Do you want to be like Saul or David?There are a few interesting extras on the disk. The popsicle stick theatre performance of The Boy Who Cried Melon Monkey is great. It is a humourous play on the old boy who cried wolf story. The outtakes are always a treat. I love seeing some of the performances without all the computer effects. I love when you hear Phil talking to the puppet and then responding in the Puppet’s voice. I loved the deleted scenes with Michael and how he was determined not to create an outtake scene while he created an outtake scene. On a last thought I went to the Chapters menu and there was a great gag from Pastor Paul and his favourite chapter in the Bible. Very funny.
I was given a free copy of the disk in the exchange that I would review it.