The official trailer for Disney's The Princess and the Frog is out.
It's impossible to judge a Disney Princess movie without hearing the songs, especially the "I am [Princess], behold my trying circumstances, and my dream to overcome them" ditty. Think Snow White's "Some Day My Prince Will Come," Aurura/Briar Rose's "I Wonder," Cinderella's "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," Ariel's "Part of Your World," Belle's "Belle," Pocahontas' "Just Around the River Bend," Mulan's "Reflection," QED. (Technically Jasmine is a Disney Princess TM, but Aladdin's not really about her. The "here is my deal, I have needs" song from that film is his, and it's "One Jump Ahead.") Anyway, minus Tiana's anthem, I'm unable to render meaningful judement on the film. On the plus side, I like classic 2-D style animation, and the film sure looks pretty. On the concerns side, Disney's track record with racism and racist caricature makes me a little nervous when I see stuff like that toothless firefly.
What do you think, PopWatchers? Are you puckering up for The Princess and the Frog?
If you didn't catch Sesame Street earlier...congratulations. You've had a very productive day. But no one deserves to miss Paul Rudd, Earth Father, making sweet lip-curling love to the camera during the opening bars of "Earth Rocks." His rather limited range of hand gestures make Rudd's performance quality even more adorably awkward than what he had going on during I Love You, Man's "Tom Sawyer" chronicles. Props to Videogum for the most excellent still image, below.
Rudd serves as Master of Ceremonies for the "Earthathon" in Sesame Street's special Being Green DVD, on sale now. You can preview his other wrist-flailing ditty, "It's Easy Being Green," on YouTube.
You might not have noticed if you don't have a young kid in the house, but Nickelodeon's Yo Gabba Gabba!, currently in its second season, is totally huge. A third TV season green-lit, a live tour coming this spring, a feature film in the works: Those brightly-hued oddballs are a phenomenon. "We've been trying to develop this idea of Yo Gabba Gabba! for such a
long time," exec producer Scott Schultz told Variety yesterday. "To all of a sudden have squishy pals and plush toys in
stores...it's humbling."
The show has booked some legitimately cool guests for the first two seasons, including Jack Black, Andy Samberg, the Shins, and Chromeo. So, as the Yo Gabba empire continues to expand, now's the time to ask: Which stars would you like to see cavorting with Brobee, Foofa, Plex, and Co. when season three comes around? Personally, I'm pulling for Danny McBride doing atoned-down version of his Kenny Powers shtick. Very toned-down. C'mon, he's hilarious with kids. (Okay, maybe that one is a little too edgy even for Yo Gabba.) On the music front, I wonder if Jay-Z (pictured) might be interested in one-upping his wife's upcoming Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! arc. Or, considering the hipster cred the show has already accrued, maybe Yo Gabba's producers should give Animal Collective a call. Those guys seem like they already live in a manic cartoon. What do you think?
Beyonce will guest-star in four new episodes of Nick Jr.'s Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! starting Monday, April 27, and we have an exclusive clip! She's the blonde in the middle. Obviously. Awww, the usually unadorned Wubbzy got all blinged-out (blung?) to become the likely Jay-Z-inspired (just a hunch) "Wubb-Z." No one falls off a stage and into a heap of abandoned orchestra instruments better than Wubb-Z, y'all! Press play below.
Usually, I can't stand precocious children in movies or sitcoms. You know, the ones that pop into a scene and obnoxiously deliver a line that's unnaturally funny for a child their age. (I'm looking at you, any child to ever appear in a CBS sitcom!) But I turned a new leaf last night during the young Bobb'e J. Thompson's cameoon 30 Rock as Tracy Jr. (brother to George Foreman). Now, I loved the kid during Role Models -- he practically stole the entire movie -- but his hysterical blink-and-you-missed-it appearance on last night's show proved he's the funniest kid to break out in Hollywood since Spanky McFarland. Seriously, Thompson held his own against Alec Baldwin! And he looks great in a suit! Even though Thompson has some movies lined up, I'm a selfish person: I want to see the kid nab his own TV show so he can grace my TV screen each week. Who's with me? Who thinks Thompson deserves his own series?
Jack Black will join the Yo Gabba Gabba gang -- possibly his original ancestors; investigation ongoing -- for the kiddie show's April 3 episode, "New Friends." Press play below for a sneak peek of the episode's ending: Black's transformation into a schlubbier DJ Lance and his dramatic, Grease-like exit. You can also check out an exclusive clip of Black's disco-inspired "Dancey Dance" teach-along over at People.com.
I hope Black gets to do a few of those "drive-by" transition shots on tricycles and elaborately decorated gurneys, 'cause when the glassy-eyed toddlers do it with their limp, disinterested half-waves, I gotta be honest: I freak the f--- out.
It's that anatomically perfect, American icon's 50th birthday today, and in honor of it, we've decided to dig up a few crazy facts (from Barbie's official website) about the 11.5 inch-tall, 7.25-ounce doll to remind all of you out there just what kind of an impact Barbie has had on pop culture since her birth on March 9, 1959 at the International Toy Fair in New York:
• During her first year in stores, about 300,000 Barbies were sold at $3 a pop. • The average price it would cost you to get one of those original dolls in good condition today: $27,450.
• Three Barbies are sold somewhere every second (and sales total around $1.5 billion a year). So just in the time it took you to read this sentence, about nine dolls were sent on their way home from the toy store.
• The best selling model ever? 1992's Totally Hair Barbie. Yes, as in the one sporting a Pucci-inspired mini-dress, hot pink stilettos, and hair flowing all the way down to her ankles. (I'll admit it -- I owned one! Only I'm the moron who cut her hair, thus negating her purpose in the first place.) • In her 50 years, Barbie has tried out more than 108 different careers. Among my favorites: pet doctor, Miss America, and Rock Star.
• The toy has represented 50 nationalities thus far. That's more than most TV networks can say.
Due to the fact that its used somewhere around 105 million yards of fabric to outfit Barbie, Mattel is considered one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world.
• Barbie, it seems, spends more time at the "salon," than most females do: her hair is made up of seven shades of blonde, weaved together to get that token golden look.
• Ninety percent of little girls in the U.S. (ages 3 to 10) own at least one Barbie. Still, being a fan of the doll herself isn't limited by age: There are about 8 million Barbie collectors in the world today.
Basically, Blondie has ingrained a giant place in history for herself, and her popularity seems to be continuing to grow (there apparently are 1,000 YouTube channels dedicated to the girl. Who knew??). PopWatchers, do you hold a special place in your heart for Barbie as well? Or are you surprised at all of the above numbers because she's, well, just a freaking doll?
Happy birthday to Theodore Geisel, the author formally known as Dr. Seuss. He'd have been 105 today, and some of his most famous characters have taken over today's Google nameplate. Whoa, I'd kind of love to read a Dr. Seuss book about the Internet. Actually, this passage from Oh, The Places You'll Go! could easily apply:
You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.
That's the spirit! Anyway, head over to Seussville.com's Playground to achieve remastery of some really basic vocabulary. My favorite activity was the Horton Hears a Who! StoryMaker (pictured), but you may prefer the rather more challenging One Fish Two Fish Concentration, which is a dead ringer for the "Bonus Game 4: Match Cards" level of Super Mario 3. I'm cool.
If Beck and Deee-lite teamed up to make a kids show, it would probably be a lot like Yo Gabba Gabba. Featuring a freaky DJ named Lance Rock and a cast of colorful creatures who (seriously) live in his boom box, the Nickelodeon show is packed with references aimed straight at 30-something ex-hipster parents: a drop-in from the Shins, an extended riff on 2-Tone ska, regular segments featuring Biz Markie and Mark Mothersbaugh, etc. Today's episode, which airs at 1:30 p.m. ET, is especially packed, with appearances from Roots drummer ?uestlove and SNL's Rachel Dratch, along with a performance from excellent '80s R&B revivalists Chromeo (pictured).
My 2-and-a-half-year-old son is absolutely obsessed with the show (his favorite phrases, in order of importance: "No," "I want Yo Gabba," "I don't like that"), so this morning I threw on a DVD of today's episode and had him weigh in. Overall, his reaction was mixed. An early segment with some nasty-looking cartoon germs scared the hell out of him ("I don't like that, Daddy. Turn it off!" he said, burying his head in the chair), but he went nuts for a hair-washing sequence with a talking shampoo bottle ("that's funny, Daddy!"). As for the celebrity guests, well, he thought they were okay. ?uestlove's drumming demonstration was short enough to keep his interest, and he managed to tolerate Dratch's "dancey dance" (less so his father).
Oddly, he didn't have much of a reaction to Chromeo, whose typically funky tune about hand washing -- performed, naturally, inside a sink floating in outer space -- was easily the episode's highlight, at least for those of us less easily amused by animated bathing products. "Nice and Clean" boasts vintage beats straight out of a Klymaxx song and a funny breakdown moment when one band member chastises the other for forgetting to wash his hands before touching the keyboard. Maybe you had to have been into Midnight Star in 1983 to get it (did I just admit to that?). Or maybe my son's just more interested in funny creatures than bearded old-school beat-crafters. Either way, it's his loss. Now he's downstairs throwing plastic balls at his mother's head. I'm gonna go watch that Chromeo song one more time without him.
Who else enjoys Foofa, Plex, and the gang, with or without their kids as an excuse?
Nickelodeon just announced the Favorite Movie contenders for its annual Kids' Choice Awards (airing on March 28). And the nominees are....
High School Musical 3 Iron Man Bedtime Stories The Dark Knight
If you're like me, you did a double take at the last title on this list. Is Dark Knight really a kid pic? I've got no beef with parents who let their children see it; the movie's rated PG-13, after all. But this is the same show that nominated George Lopez as Favorite Male Movie Star for his "role" in Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Do nihilistic terrorists (i.e. the Joker) and talking dogs really have the same entertainment value for kids today?
What do you think, PopWatchers? Is it just me, or is Dark Knight a little too dark for the Kids Choice Awards?
Usually, I can't stand precocious children in movies or sitcoms. You know, the ones that pop into a scene and obnoxiously deliver a line that's unnaturally funny for a child their age. (I'm looking at you, any child to ever appear in a CBS sitcom!) But I turned a new leaf last night during the young Bobb'e J. Thompson's cameo on 30 Rock as Tracy Jr. (brother to George Foreman). Now, I loved the kid during Role Models -- he practically stole the entire movie -- but his hysterical blink-and-you-missed-it appearance on last night's show proved he's the funniest kid to break out in Hollywood since Spanky McFarland. Seriously, Thompson held his own against Alec Baldwin! And he looks great in a suit! Even though Thompson has some movies lined up, I'm a selfish person: I want to see the kid nab his own TV show so he can grace my TV screen each week. Who's with me? Who thinks Thompson deserves his own series?
It's that anatomically perfect, American icon's 50th birthday today, and in honor of it, we've decided to dig up a few crazy facts (from 
Happy birthday to Theodore Geisel, the author formally known as Dr. Seuss. He'd have been 105 today, and some of his most famous characters have taken over 
Nickelodeon just announced the Favorite Movie contenders for its annual 
