Dr. Donna's Review

About the Film

This month at Kidtoon Films brings a double feature with two movies about the adventures of Holly Hobbie. Each movie is discussed below.

“Surprise Party” The story opens with Holly, Robby, and their mom at the train station waiting to get the train to Clover where they will help Uncle Dave put on a surprise birthday party for Aunt Jessie. Uncle Dave picks them up at the train station and explains that because it is berry-picking season, Jessie is busy at home making pies to fill all of the orders. Indeed, there are pies all over the kitchen. Both Holly and Robby are happy to be in Clover. Robby goes off to find his friend, Kyle, with whom he is planning to communicate with “aliens” and Holly goes off to find her friends Amy and Kerry with whom she will make and deliver invitations to Aunt Jessie's birthday party. Mom stays to help Aunt Jessie with the pies and the two sisters begin talking about when they were young. They are looking through an old trunk when Holly comes back. Holly is intrigued to see a bonnet that once belonged to her great grandmother. When she tries on the bonnet, everyone is amazed to see how much she resembles great grandma. Holly goes to the attic to look at the things in another trunk. She envisions her great grandmother and how much they might be alike in spite of the many years between them. She sings a song entitled “Just Like You.”

In the meantime, the boys are trying to set up their alien communications system. Holly thinks they are being silly and decides to play a trick on them. She convinces Amy and Kerry to help her cut a crop circle in Mr. Scranton's corn field to fool the boys into thinking that the aliens have landed. Holly doesn't realize that Amy, too, believes in aliens. Amy's feelings are hurt by the way Holly makes fun of the alien idea and she doesn't want to play with Holly and Kerry anymore. When Holly tells Aunt Jessie about what happened, Aunt Jessie explains that you don't have to agree with someone else's point of view but you need to respect their right to their beliefs. Holly decides she needs to apologize to Amy. The girls get back together and agree that in order to be best friends, they must be able to tell each other “anything.” They decide to form a secret club that they will call “Hey Girls.”

When Robby and Kyle find the crop circle, they are convinced that the aliens have actually landed. They are both disappointed that the aliens left without communicating with them directly. The boys go back to the cornfield at night hoping to meet the aliens. They don't know that Mr. Scranton has decided to use his thrashing machine to cut the corn at night. They boys are right in the path of the on-coming thrashing machine when Holly, Amy and Kerry run to their rescue.

Finally, the night of the party arrives. Everyone from Clover comes to see Jessie ushered into the town square in a blindfold. When the blindfold is removed, she is treated to the big surprise that includes Holly, accompanied by Uncle Dave and his band, singing “Thing that Make You Special,” and an eleven layer chocolate cake.

“Christmas Wishes” Holly and her family travel to the country village of Clover to spend the holidays with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dave. They arrive to find lots of things going on and soon become involved in some very special activities. Everyone in Clover is busy preparing for the Clover Holiday Decorating Contest. This year Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dave are making a special effort to win. In addition to the excitement about the decorating contest, Holly learns that she has been selected to sing the midnight solo at the Clover Christmas Pageant. Holly's brother, Robby, and his friend Kyle decide to get special presents for their parents but when they check on the cost of gifts they realize that they need to earn some money so they set up a Santa visiting station with Kyle dressed as Santa and charge the visiting children to have their picture taken with Santa. Holly and her friends, Amy and Kerry, decide to help local mom, Kelly and her twins get into the Christmas spirit when they learn that Kelly's husband died a year ago and the family has been struggling with the loss. The girls take the twins along to the pond to ice skate and along to watch the practice for the pageant. When Holly finds out that Kelly's family doesn't have a Christmas tree, she and the girls deliver a fresh tree to her house. Holly is hurt and surprised when Kelly says that she doesn't want a tree in her house this year. Through a conversation with Aunt Jessie, Holly comes to understand that it will just take time for Kelly's feelings to heal. Holly's indomitable spirit and desire to bring Kelly out of her sad mood can't be squelched. She comes up with a plan – she pretends to have laryngitis and asks Kelly to take her place singing the midnight solo. Kelly finally agrees and performs a rendition of “O Holy Night” that not only raises her own spirits but also, with her beautiful voice, thrills the residents of Clover. Meanwhile, Robby and Kyle have purchased gifts for their parents when they discover that the shop carries “earwig farms.” They know that this is exactly what the twins want for Christmas. They purchase two farms to present to the twins. And, finally, to everyone's surprise the judges for the Clover Holiday Decorating Contest choose Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dave's decoration as the winning entry.

About the Kids
Both films will appeal to girls across the Kidtoon age range of 3 to 9. The films will also appeal to some younger boys who will identify with the antics and humor of Robby and Kyle.

Film Content and Features
Both stories are straightforward dramas told through appealing animation with very up-beat, age-appropriate songs that highlight story themes. There are many examples of age-appropriate humor that will appeal across the age range. Holly's little dog, Doodles, and Kyle's pet pit, Cheddar, provide several opportunities to laugh. There is some tension when Robby and Kyle are threatened at night by a thrashing machine driven by a hard-of-hearing old man. This segment, however, is brief and will be manageable by most children.

Things to Talk About
Both stories are simple morality tales through which Holly learns basic lessons about friendship, generosity, loss, sadness, and family history. There are many themes that parents can discuss with children after seeing the film. They include:

• Children are fascinated with stories about when their parents were children. The movie, “Surprise Party,” contains many examples of Holly learning about her family's past. Talk with children about the relationship between Holly's mom and Aunt Jessie. Holly knows these two as adults but once they were little girls who played together the way that Holly plays with her brother and her friends. Help children understand similar relationships in their own families. For example, talk about aunts and uncles who once played with mom and dad as children. Hearing these stories helps children find their place in the long continuum of the family.

• Similarly, stories about family members that encourage understanding and curiosity about history can be very valuable to children. Holly's fascination with her great grandmother's bonnet could be a starting place for a discussion of pioneer times. Start discussions of, for example, topics as transition from farm to city, immigration from other countries, etc., through stories about family members who lived the experience.

• Holly hurts Amy's feelings when she makes fun of the idea of “aliens.” Amy is not as convinced as Holly that the idea is silly. Amy has the right to explore the idea at her own pace and come to her own conclusion. This message is summed up by Aunt Jessie who urges Holly to respect Amy's right to her own beliefs. Discuss this point with children and encourage them to remember a time when they might have shown disrespect for someone else's belief. Help them to understand the importance of being respectful – even when they might not agree.

• In “Christmas Wishes,” Holly, with help from Amy and Kerry, goes out of her way to bring the spirit of Christmas to the home of Kelly and her twin boys. Talk with the children about why Kelly was so sad. What happened to make her so sad? Death is a difficult subject to address; some children may not have understood that there was a death in the family.

• Another aspect of “Christmas Wishes” that might be discussed is the extent to which Holly pursued her objective to get Kelly re-engaged with the community. Even though Aunt Jessie cautioned Holly to understand that it sometimes takes a long time for such feelings to heal, Holly couldn't step back and wait. She came up with the plan to get Kelly to sing in the pageant. Was that the right thing for Holly to do? The ending was happy but could it have been a mistake for Holly to push so hard? Share your feelings about the situation and how you feel about the action that Holly took.