droolicious : Disney

Star Kid: Who's A-Rod's Baby's Baby?

SunnyChanel — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Alex Rodriguez was spotted with his ex-wife and 4 ½ year old daughter in New York City the other day. A-Rod and his daughter Natasha were all hugs and kisses, that is when she wasn’t tending to her own baby. Who is it that she’s strolling? A baby princess of course. Here Natasha strolls a Disney My Baby Princess Cinderella doll by Playmates. This 12” doll comes with a brush, bottle, bluebird and a set of play keys. You can pick one up here for the secondary market price of $79.98 via Amazon.

First Look: Disney Organics by Disney Baby

Nicole Feliciano — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Disney delivers organic baby fashions.

Earth Day garnered a lot of attention last week, but green parents think about the environment all year long. To the delight of many wallets, there are more and more value-priced options that are doing away with pesticides and chemicals. Disney is jumping into this green marketplace with a line of organic cotton baby clothing.

Disney Organics by Disney Baby is a line of well-priced, subtly-styled clothing. These tasteful fashions are embellished with the lovable Winnie the Pooh (no day-glo race cars or glitter princesses in this collection). What could be sweeter than this boy’s coverall with matching hat in a blue and cream? Girls’ items include sleepers and dresses paired with bloomers. Find them at JC Penney stores and JCPenney.com. The suggested price of the pieces is $26.99, but we found them on sale for $19.99.

Roll Out the Royalty With This Toybox

JeanneSager — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

We have entered the realm of the Disney Princess obsession, and I'm afraid there is no escaping it. But as we work on our daughter's room makeover, I've been looking to incorporate her favorites in small ways rather than let a character take over.

Her favorite new addition? Her Princess toybox that rolls out of its organizer and around the room for easy clean-up and fun play around the room.

From Delta products, the three-tiered organizer is surprisingly easy to put together (alas, I can't lie and say I did it - thank you honey!) with each piece well-labled, holes pre-drilled and dowels already in place. It's also sturdier than most of the particleboard toyboxes I've found (the one downfall to this box, it is particleboard rather than real wood), able to withstand a preschooler packing it full of EVERYTHING she owns.

The roll out toybox uses the organizer as its "lid," so there's no need to worry about a lid getting beaten up with the constant up and down and no fear of fingers getting pinched. This gets bonus points for the three plastic organizing bins on the second shelf, each of which comes out separately so they can keep cars separate from little action figures and so on.

Better still, this is a small set, which easily fits into a corner of the room and at under $50 doesn't cost you an arm and a leg for something they'll soon grow out of. Get it at Target.

Star Baby: How Does Kingston Get Around?

SunnyChanel — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:30:00 GMT

Kingston, the 2 ½-year old son of Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, was spotted with mom at the BNP Pribas Open (part of the ATP World Tennis Tour). How does young Kingston get around (when not be carried by mom)? In his Cars. His Disney Cars Clogs that is. Here Kingston sports a pair of Croc-ish Disney Cars Toddler/Little Kid Lightning Clog. You can pick up a pair of these red hot slip ons here for $11.91 from Amazon (regularly $19.95).

Photo: Celebrity Baby Scoop

First Look: Meet Disney's Newest Princess: Tiana

Nicole Feliciano — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:30:00 GMT

The hottest Disney-style chick flick of '09 delivers the ultimate dress-up outfit.

For the past 70 years little girls have been infatuated with Disney princesses. Snow White, Belle, Ariel...if you've got a little girl it's nearly impossible to keep her from falling in love with these damsels and divas. This fall Disney will début the latest in the lineup of glittery and brave girls: Tiana, the heroine of the upcoming movie, The Princes And The Frog.

Anika Noni Rose will be giving the voice to Disney’s first African American princess (hmmm, could it have anything to do with those two cuties in the White House?). The 2D animation film will be set in New Orleans and has loads of musical numbers. But we know most girls will crave what she's wearing so here's a look at Tiana's gown. Our prediction: Princess Tiana gowns will be selling BIG this Halloween season in anticipation of the film event. Available in Disney Stores late summer ($89.99). Tiara sold separately.

Star Baby: Heidi Klum Has a Handle on Princesses

SunnyChanel — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:26:00 GMT

Heidi Klum held on tight to her princesses the other day in Los Angeles. And when I say princesses I don’t mean her daughter, son and husband Seal. In her right hand the super model clutched a Disney Princess Food Container by Zak Designs. These reusable food containers are sold in a set of three and are made from 100% recyclable material. Each container will hold 25 ounces of yummy snacks. You can pick them up through Amazon for $5.75 here.

Star Kid: Brad & Angelina Take the Kids to The Little Mermaid

SunnyChanel — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:30:00 GMT

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are on Broadway! No, they’re not starring in a revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, they took most of the brood out to an evening at the theater. This super star couple took 5-year old Pax, 7-year old Maddox, 4-year-old Zahara and 2 ½ year-old Shiloh to Disney’s stage production of The Little Mermaid.

When leaving, I’m sure most kids would spy the jam-packed gift shop and sing a rendition of “look at this stuff, isn’t it neat.” No telling if the Pitt/Jolie gang bought any show merch, but if I had my pick I’d go with the Dinglehopper Fork Brush. A perfect way to tame your own Little Mermaid’s mane. You can pick one up from the Playbill store here for $10.50.

Photo from Celebrity Baby Scoop

Star Kid: Suri Watch – Costumed Cutie

SunnyChanel — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:58:00 GMT

You gotta love a kid in a costume. And little girls adore nothing more than dressing as a princess, and odds are their royal choice will be one of the Disney variety. Little fashionista Suri Cruise is not immune to this little girl phenomena.

When her folks, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, escorted her to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, she lost the Burberry/Juicy Couture/ Bonpoint aesthetic and opted to get in the spirit of things in her very own Cinderalla costume. You can get your own cutie a Cinderella outfit similar to the one Suri wore, here from Leaps and Bounds for $49.95.

Trumpette Socks: Seven Dwarfs for Seven Days

SunnyChanel — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:13:00 GMT

What is my daughter doing this very moment while I try to get a little work done? She’s watching Snow White. It’s one of her absolute favorite films and she wears her Snow White costume pert near every other day. She even has a pension for offering me apple slices and saying, in all seriousness, “they’re not poisoned”. Needless to say, we have a bit of a Snow White obsession going on around her.

Trumpette is now addressing the love for all thing Snow White-ish with this Disney Seven Dwarfs sock set. Sadly, the socks are just made for the under one set, but if you know you have a Snow White fan on your hands, you can pick them up here. Seven colors for seven days for $25.

New from LeapFrog: Run, Jump and Dance with Disney Characters!

elizabeth leach — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Introducing The Zippity Learning System; LeapFrog and Disney’s exciting gaming partnership. This is the first TV based gaming system for preschoolers that integrates education, music, full body movement and, of course, fun! Lots of fun!

Enjoy Playhouse Disney with dancing, jumping, running and learning preschool skills like math, music and language. The toy consists of a floor mat and a tummy high joystick that work wirelessly with the Zippity console. Zippity comes with eight games with characters from The Mickey Mouse Club, Little Einsteins and Winnie the Pooh, to name a few. Additional games are available for $24.99 each. For ages 3-5. Available this summer for around $79.99.

For Your Really Mini Mouse

SunnyChanel — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Instead of waiting for your child’s first trip to Disneyland to obtain their classic Mickey Mouse ears, pick up a baby worthy pair from Trumpette. Trumpette who is known for their adorable and ridiculously popular Mary Jane and sneaker like baby socks has gone from toes to head with this cozy and cute hat for babies. They also make a pink Minnie Mouse with for those girly girls. You can pick one up from Forest and Zoe for $13 here.

CES 2009: Blank CDs and DVDs Get The Disney And Marvel Comics Treatment

Chris Ford — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Many people are saying that recordable media (blank CDs, DVDs, Blueray discs and the like) are on the way out and in the future it's going to be all about streaming and downloading content. But people haven't thrown out their CD and DVD burners yet. KDT USA makes blank discs with all sorts of DIsney and Marvel Comics characters and brands printed right on the top, for a blank disc that's just a little more special.

The Disney licensed discs come in all sorts of themes, the best selling of which are (not surprisingly) Disney princesses, Spiderman, High School Musical and Hannah Montana. They cost $1.39 individually or $8.99 for a ten pack. It seems to me if you're thinking about a party favor for your kid's birthday party or something like that, you could do a lot worse than a mix of your kid's favorite songs with a Spiderman or Hannah Montana picture on the cover.

They should be available in stores, and you can check out the manufacturer's web site at KDTUSA.com

CES 2009: New Pyramat Disney Gaming Chairs And Sofa In Q3 2009

Chris Ford — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:00:00 GMT

The cool thing about CES is sometimes you see stuff that hasn't been seen by anybody before. And when I do, I then get to introduce it to you. Pyramat, maker of gaming chairs we've written about before, have announced a new partnership on a couple of new products with Disney.

The Disney Chairs (prototypes pictured above) and Disney sofa (pictured kind of in the background to the left) have the usual Pyramat stuff built in (two speakers at the head rest and a sub woofer in the seat) and will of course have fabric designs by Disney. The other cool thing is that they will also fold flat for storage (to go underneath a bed for example). The sofa has a speaker that raises out of the back, and again has the same subwoofer seats that we love.

The chairs should retail for around $120 and the sofa for somewhere in the $700 to $900 range. More details will definitely be available in the future, as they're looking for a September 2009 availability.

Read all of the posts from CES 2009 the Consumer Electronics Showcase on Babble.com here.

Pay a Visit to Never Never Land

SunnyChanel — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:27:00 GMT

My kid totally has a total Peter Pan fetish. Not that she dresses up in green tights and tries to recruit kids to run away with her to Never Never Land. She just mistakes all the Holiday lights up in the neighborhood as being the work of Tinkerbell and will watch the classic Disney movie over and over, and yes, over again. With such a love of all things Pan-ish, it’s pretty much a given that she’ll love the Simon & Schuster Pop-Up book engineered by the artist Robert Sabuda.

This ain’t your regular one trick pony pop-up book; this is a pop-up book of epic and endlessly entertaining proportions. There are beautifully constructed pages with action that leaps off the pages as well as smaller books within the book which contain their own smaller, but no less stunning, dynamic pop up action. With a book like this, I think I’m going to get my own Peter Pan fetish. You can pick up your own three dimensional visit to Never Never Land here, and on sale, for $19.79 (regularly $29.99).

Holiday Videogame Roundup: 5 Games for Girls

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:52:00 GMT

Off to adventure in Bella Sara for Nintendo DS.

First, a disclaimer: There are approximately 8 zillion kid-friendly video games currently available for boys and girls -- 4.2 zillion of which came out in the past month alone. But we're all about helping you narrow down your choices here at Droolicious, and in this guide, we've pulled together five of the better new titles for the girl gamer on your list.

All of these games have been kid-tested, and all of them scored big in a few select categories: ease of play, young-child-appropriateness of content, and intentional girl appeal. Don't worry, parents of little boys: Your list is coming soon enough.

Bella Sara (buy it at Amazon)
Rated: E
Systems: DS, PC
Based on the hit trading-card game and website of the same name, Bella Sara gives players their own virtual fantasy pony to care for and accessorize. As you move through the Bella Sara world, you seek out more than 200 different virtual horse and accessory cards to add to your stable, and thanks to the real trading card that comes packaged with each copy, you can unlock even more items separately through the Bella Sara site. The game's Wi-Fi element also allows you to trade virtual cards with other players, much as you would in a real-world card game, and beyond the cards, there's a whole world of minigames, show competitions, and other fun activities to explore. While boys are certainly welcome to play Bella Sara, this one in particular has girls in mind: each of the game's six playable avatars is female.

Littlest Pet Shop (buy it at Amazon)
Rated: E
Systems: Wii, DS
Though it features 32 of the adorable, bug-eyed pets so many of us are accustomed to stepping over in the playroom, Littlest Pet Shop keeps all of its critters confined to your screen. Players move through the Littlest Pet Shop world, exploring colorful new environments (each of which gets its own game in the different DS versions) and playing various minigames. Accessorizing and caring for your pets are also key features, and each completed minigame lets you unlock goodies ranging from accessories to playsets (many of which you'll recognize from real-world toy shelves) to new pets to love and play with. Little gamers should have no trouble figuring out the basic concepts here, even if Mom or Dad may have to guide them through reading some instructions. Plus, the game's adjustable difficulty levels also help to make Littlest Pet Shop appealing to older players.

Build-A-Bear Workshop: A Friend Fur All Seasons (buy it at Amazon)
Rated: E
System: Wii
Sure, the Build-A-Bear Workshop in your local mall has a number of $10 animals on sale this season, but considering the $40 Wii version of said workshop nets you the ability to customize eight different animals and outfit them with some 80 different accessories before you even start the game, we're seeing a bit more bang for buck here. You're headed to a Build-A-Bear party, but first you need to work your way through 20 different easy minigames in order to collect the four map-unlocking puzzle pieces that lead you to the fun. The concept is simple enough that kindergarten-age players can grasp it, even if that also means older kids will tear through it in an afternoon.

My Baby Girl (buy it at Amazon)
Rated: E
System: DS
It seems a little crass to think of a baby as a virtual pet, but that's pretty much the experience My Baby Girl (and its baby-blue Boy version) offer -- although in each game, you have to do a lot more than simply feed and soothe your little one to keep it happy. My Baby makes you the caretaker of a kewpie-doll-like infant that comes complete with a daily routing of feeding, napping, playing and filling his or her diaper. As you nurture your baby -- playing with her, taking her for routine checkups and talking or singing to her (a particularly cool feature offered by the DS' mic), she grows into a healthy, happy older child. Of course, such constant levels of attention may be more than your littlest gamer can handle, so proceed with caution before handing this one to kids who aren't yet old enough to look after their real brothers or sisters for a spell.

Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell (buy it at Amazon)
Rated: E
System: DS
Launched in tandem with the animated movie starring the newly made-over (and at-long-last vocal) Tinker Bell, Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell is much more than a licensed-character cash-in. For starters, the game links you to Disney’s free DGamer community and its chat, avatar and stat-sharing functions -- all of which, thankfully, feature major parental/content controls. The game itself puts you into Neverland’s fantastical Pixie Hollow, where you fly about the world collecting items, completing tasks and using your inherent tinkering powers to help other characters complete their own challenges. Action happens in (kinda) real time, with seasonal and time changes reflecting as you move throughout the game, and there’s a major fashion and customization element in the 100-plus different items you can collect to build Tinker Bell’s wardrobe.

Fairies, stuffed bears and magical horses not your thing? Check out another of our recent game guides, 5 Kid-Friendly Music Games That Aren't Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

Amazon Deal Alert: Macy's Clearance Means Great Deals On Kids Clothes

Chris Ford — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Apparently Macy's sells clothes through Amazon.com, because right now they've got a ton of great clothes on clearance. Granted, most lean towards spring/summer appropriate stuff, but if you look hard there's a ton of great deals to be had, with prices starting at $1.49. Seriously.

The brands are all the typical kid stuff you'd find at Macy's, like Roxy, Disney, Guess and Puma but there are loads of others (67 by my count). For instance, you can pick up a Hannah Montana t-shirt for $3.30, Roxy Jeans for $5.92 or even this Small Paul "footed sleeper" (we call them feetey pajamas in my family, pictured) for $36.

But hunt around yourself. You're bound to find something cool.

Check out the kids section of the Macy's Clearance Sale at Amazon.com here.

Big Deal: Disney Princess and Cars Rug On Sale At FLOR

Chris Ford — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:58:00 GMT

I'm a big fan of the interchangeable carpet tiles from FLOR, but one design that they have that is almost never on sale is now on sale. The six tile Disney Princess rug and the six tile Disney Cars rug are now 44% off.

Each rug is 3 feet by 5 feet and is compatible with other FLOR tile colors too, in case you'd like to use it as a part of a bigger floor covering design. I've had FLOR tiles in my home now and I love them. Now I have to make sure my daughter doesn't see these or she'll be bugging me for her own princess rug.

Disney Area Rugs - Princess or Cars by FLOR, $59.99 (was $99.99) at the sale page of FLOR.com

Babble Giveaway: Win a LeapFrog Didj + Hannah Montana Game! (Ends 12/1)

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:04:00 GMT

When we first got some hands-on time with Didj, LeapFrog's new learning-game system designed to knock that learning-averse DS Lite out of your kids' hands, we went gaga: Not only does Didj play like a typical high-quality handheld -- which is to say, it blows away the simplistic graphics and gameplay usually associated with learning games -- but it also packs enough character-based kid allure to keep little ones returning to it.

This week, in fact, LeapFrog announced the latest in its series of licensed games, a Hannah Montana title aimed at girls in 3rd through 5th grade, and we've got a copy of the game and a Didj to play it on ready to give away to one lucky Droolicious visitor!

To enter the contest, just email your name, address and daytime phone number to us at babblecontest@gmail.com. On Dec. 1, we'll draw one winner from the pool of entries to receive a brand-new Didj ($89.99 value) and Hannah Montana game ($29.99 value).

Here's the skinny on the game -- which helps to teach multiplication, division, vocabulary, and time management skills -- straight from LeapFrog:

Help Miley study so Hannah Montana can take the stage! Miley is scheduled to perform as Hannah Montana this weekend, but only if she passes her big test at school on Friday. With four days to go, can you help Miley make the grade? Use your skills to fly through quizzes and puzzles so the show can go on! Earn points as you play to customize the game with outfits, dance moves and special effects for Miley's concert, and choose the skills you need to study for school!

For the full specs on Didj and the LeapFrog Learning Path online tool exclusive to all three of the company's "LeapFrog Connected" systems, visit the LeapFrog shop.

SafetyTat Temporary Tattoos Are More Than Just For Show

Chris Ford — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:57:00 GMT

A lot of kid-related email rolls into my inbox each day, and a lot of it isn't worth reading. But sometimes you see something that you have to check out not because you've heard of it before, but because you're not sure if you're reading it correctly. A promotional pitch from SafetyTat temporary tattoos for kids was one of those emails. As it turned out, it was an email about a product that's a pretty cool idea.

SafetyTat temporary tattoos are basically labels you can put on young children that contain contact information, medical information or anything else you might want an adult to know if you and your child were separated for some reason. For instance, you and the family are going to a theme park and you're worried your over-excited son might get lost. With your cell phone number on the tattoo, your child (in theory) would be reunited with you much more quickly.

There are two different kinds of products, one with pre-determined contact info you provide when you purchase the tattoos (these work more like traditional temporary tattoos). And another that's kind of an adhesive "stick-on" tattoo that you can write any information on and are designed to be more portable. They even have products for children with allergies, medical alerts or for children with special needs (autism, autism non-verbal etc.).

It's a pretty cool idea I think, and for the right family it's probably a pretty great idea. Check them out at SafetyTat.com.

Sleeping Beauty Released From Her Deep Slumber In The Disney Vault Tomorrow

Chris Ford — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Tomorrow is a big day in our household. Sleeping Beauty, the favorite princess of my eldest daughter, is finally being released from the Disney vault tomorrow. Sleeping Beauty the movie that is, not the princess. But where is the best place to pick up your copy (assuming you haven't already pre-ordered it)?

If you're looking for extras, Best Buy has a special promotion going on for the release. If you purchase the movie (in either DVD or BluRay), you will get a free Sleeping Beauty Alarm clock (exclusive to Best Buy). If you purchase Sleeping Beauty with two other Disney releases (Tinker Bell and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning), you'll get a "free lithograph of the classic film's theatrical release." The price for the DVD at BestBuy.com is $14.99. Here's a link to the info about the promotion.

Amazon.com doesn't have any special promotions going on, just the same low price of $14.99 for the DVD and $23.95 for the BluRay edition (which also comes with a bonus DVD of the movie for playing in the car or in the kid's room).

Interestingly enough, the Disney Store online is selling the DVD for $19.99 with no special promotions, though I was in a Disney Store last week and they were offering a free lithograph (which quite frankly didn't look that great) with every Sleeping Beauty pre-order.

So I think the choice is clear. See you at Best Buy tomorrow.

7 Days of Video Games: Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Chris Ford — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:03:00 GMT

If you've got a Wii and a little girl who is really into princesses, then chances are you've probably looked this game over. And while in my experience it's not really a very good video game per se, it does have one thing that makes it better than most of the games on the Wii we have (and I'm not just talking about the fact that it features the Disney princesses). It's a game my three year old daughter and I can actually play together, which is what it's really all about.

The game is pretty simple. You get to be a princess (that you customize with hair, dress, jewelry etc.) that goes around and helps all of the Disney princesses. There are Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel "stories" that you become a part of, and you run around their respective kingdoms helping defeat bad goblins that turn into butterflies with your magic. Sounds mind-numbing, right? Well, it kind of is, but my daughter loved it not just for the stories, but because she could play too.

The game is played with the Wii "Nunchuck" (the thumb controller that attaches to the normal "Wiimote" controller) and the "Wiimote." You use the Nunchuck to run around in the game, and you use the Wiimote to wave your wand and shoot magic at the bad guys. The way my daughter and I played it was she was in charge of the wand and I was in charge of running our character around the map. The system worked out really well, and after a few weeks of playing it here and there we even finished the game.

The game itself doesn't seem to be written very well. It has lots of glitchy moments when you can't figure out where you're supposed to go, the audio levels are all over the place making it hard to hear the story sometimes, and to play you have to be physically much closer to your television than most other Wii games I've played. It also doesn't look nearly as polished as most other Wii games out there, but if you're looking for a game that you can do with someone who quite frankly isn't coordinated or old enough to play a video game by themselves, then this is a game you might want to check out.

Ultimately, it's a good example of how well the unique Wii controller system works, and how it's the best video game system out there for families.

Buy Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey for the Wii for $19.99 (cheap) from Amazon.
And shop Amazon for a Wii System (if you can find one).

Crocs on Sale!

Meredith Broussard — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:29:00 GMT

After reading Redsy's post on Strollerderby today about Crocs heading for the hills, I wondered if everyone's favorite fugly footwear was on sale.

I got distracted by the inventory, which includes a pair of DISNEY PIRATE CROCS FOR ADULTS. Who the hell wears these things? I get that adults like Disney, but seriously? You are old enough to have a driver's license, but you still want to wear Pirates of the Caribbean SHOES?

If you care, these are on sale for $29.99 at Surf and Dirt.

7 Days of Summerwear: Crocs

Chris Ford — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:06:00 GMT

After thinking long and hard about what to write about for "7 Days of Summerwear," I kept coming back to one thing: Crocs. Sure, it's obvious. Sure, lots of people love them and lots of people hate them. And sure, they're everywhere. But the thing about Crocs is, they're good with socks or without, easy for a toddler to put on themselves, and are fairly durable. From my perspective, all that equals perfect summerwear.

There are lots of things I don't love about them, namely how they seem to attract dirt like magnets and how absolutely ugly they look on adults. But my girls love them, and after confirming they can walk perfectly well in them, I can't really argue.

If the old standard Crocs don't do it for you, the Crocs web site has a lot of new products to check out, including a whole host of Disney versions (including the Minnie Mouse mary janes (pictured).

Check out all of the new products at Crocs.com, including the Minnie Mary Janes, $34.99.

Disney's WALL-E Robot to Break Fourth Wall This Summer

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:03:00 GMT

The dialogue-light, visual-rich CGI robot flick WALL-E is still a few months off from hitting theaters (trailer here), and by the time it arrives, you may be able to take home your own real-life version of the animated droid. At a suggested retail price of $189.99, Ultimate WALL-E will cost a tad more than movie tickets and a round of snacks for the family, but factor in his sensors, remote control and environmental-response capabilities, and the little guy'll surely deliver more bang for your buck. The robot marks a first-time partnership between Disney and WowWee, whose robotic pandas and quadrapeds we've drooled over previously. [Gearlog via Gizmodo]

Pretty Pretty Princess Game

Chris Ford — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:28:00 GMT

Let me say first that there is nothing "cool" or "modern" about this game. But if your young daughter is a princess-loving little girl like mine is, you'll definitely want to check it out. Pretty Pretty Princess is the most basic of games. But even basic games can still be fun.

This is how you play - you spin the wheel and land on an item of jewelry. Then you take that piece of jewelry out of the box and put it on. The person who gets all the pieces of jewelry first wins (there are a few pitfalls here and there, but basically that's it). I realize it sounds mind-numbingly dull, but remember, it's not for you. It's for your little girl. It does help with learning to take turns and being a good sport about not winning, but it's pretty far from an educational toy. And I think some things should just be about doing something fun with your mom and dad.

Pretty Pretty Princess Cinderella Edition, $14.95 from Amazon.com (And for a little girl's birthday, this game and a book are one of my go-to present ideas).