I should start by saying my daughter and I don't have the same taste in kids’ shows. She's more of a Dora girl; I'm more of a Yo Gabba Gabba dude. I guess I can't blame her; I mostly like Yo Gabba Gabba because it’s just so strange. I can’t expect my four-year-old to share my cultured and detached sense of irony. Yo Gabba Gabba frightens my mother, which makes it a great kids’ show in my book.
What’s This Show About?
So my daughter, Jillian (age 4), and I recently sat down to watch the Imagination Movers a new show featuring a quartet of musicians who dabble in problem solving. The Imagination Movers live in the world's cleanest garage; you could eat an omelet off their work floor. The Movers’ are comprised of four dudes whose acting ranges from merely super excited to psychopathically enthusiastic. They make The Wiggles look like their hopped up on Quaaludes. In other words, just the right tone to get a girl Jillian’s age jazzed.
The Tone
With the Imagination Movers, we’re really in it for the music. So how's that? The Imagination Movers are billed as alternative rock for preschoolers. On their website the they describe themselves as “what would happen if the Beastie Boys collaborated with Mister Rogers.” This comparison isn’t quite accurate, the Imagination Movers don’t rap (the jury’s out on Mister Rogers rap skills). However, they do wear similar jump suits to those worn by the Beastie Boys in their Intergalactic Planetary video. The website further claims the Imagination Movers songs would be right at home on an MTV countdown, which is also misleading. I’d say they were more VH1-y if it weren’t for the fact neither of those music channels play any music. Personally my gold standard for kids’ music is The Backyardigans, with its loopy, surrealistic lyrics and limitless range of genres, from surf rock to folk music. That said, where do the Imagination Movers fit on a scale of kids’ music ranging from The Wiggles (insufferable) to Backyardigans? In the upper registers of the scale, catchy even. I can imagine listening to the Imagination Movers on a long trip and not wanting driving us all off a cliff, high praise indeed.
Details
The Imagination Movers have all the requisite secondary characters: a cutesy girl who drops by regularly, a puppet mouse that lives in their walls and a beige clad man named Knit Knots who represents the utter banality that apparently is anyone who isn’t as peppy as the Imagination Movers. There was a learning factor (they taught us about sound and how it travels in waves) and the show encouraged movement and problem solving. Oh, and the Imagination Movers had enough gadgets to make Bruce Wayne envious, which is a big draw. Gadgets are cool.
The Verdict
But what I think is just a bunch of noise. What did my daughter think? We sat down Ebert and Roper style to hash it out.
Me: How much did you like it?
Jillian: (Opens her arms wide) This much.
Me: Who was your favorite character?
Jillian: The guy with the long hair and the cool goggles (the most psychotically enthusiastic one).
At this point Jillian wanted no more of my questioning, and asked I play the show for her again. This time she walked up closer to the screen and danced along. The show also caught the attention of my normally amuck 2 year old for the duration. So I'd say we’ll be seeing more of the Imagination Movers in our house, and from the dad perspective, it’ll be a welcome addition.
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