Writers: John Tartaglia
Cast: John Tartaglia, Heather Asch, Leslie Carrara, Tim Lagasse, Carmen Osbahr, James J. Kroupa, Natalie Venetia Belcon
Rating: G
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Finding a children’s show that has a human lead and either an animated CGI character or some puppets is pretty common. From Sesame Street to shows like Blue’s Clues the concept has been done before. However, when you add in music, things become somewhat trickier. Many parents swear off shows like Barney because of his tendency to be frickin annoying. Even if you let your child watch it you never really like to watch it with them. It’s more of an obligation. Sure, you know all his songs and can sing them on queue, but you never really have a good time doing it. Enter Johnny and the Sprites to change all of that.
I had no idea who John Tartaglia was when I popped this in. Nor did I have any idea how catchy this show would be. As I sit here now, writing this, I am singing the theme song because it gets in your head and it doesn’t seem to want to leave. It’s okay though, I’ve certainly had worse music stuck in there. John has this amazing presence in front of the camera, coming off as both incredibly warm and larger than life. It was what I could only describe as a Musical Theatre presence. I was so sure that I was right that I headed over to Dominick, otherwise known as Mr. Broadway in our house, for a confirmation.
I asked him to watch the episodes that I had already watched and see if he could tell me that John was one of those Musical Theatre guys. I knew he sang much too well to be just another guy, so maybe it was just that I wanted Dominick to like this show as much as I did. Either way, it took him all of six or seven minutes to exclaim “That’s John Tartaglia!” I am somewhat ashamed to admit, I wasn’t sure who that was, but then my Broadway experience is limited to every song in Rent and the basic shows that everyone else on the planet has heard.
He politely put me in my place by explaining that John had won awards for his work on ‘Avenue Q’. So, I was right. The more important point though, is that it is his presence that lights up the show and will make you want to laugh, play, and dance right along with Tartaglia and the sprites on this enjoyable and entertaining DVD.
Release Information:
Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites airs on Playhouse Disney and is one of their most inventive and entertaining shows for both parents and children. Created by John Tartaglia, a man who is no stranger to performing, Johnny and the Sprites mixes music and dynamic characters to foster creativity by using music to offer a fun and safe environment for your children. Tartaglia was the youngest person to work as a puppeteer on Sesame Street, even having a chance to be the stand-in Elmo, when needed. He has taken this experience and knowledge and put it into Johnny, as well as the smash hit ‘Avenue Q’, which also uses puppets in a way that most people would never think of on their own.
Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites is a short DVD meant to introduce the show to children and adults that have not yet had a chance to watch it on Disney. In fact, there are no full episodes on here. Instead there are five segments from five shows. There are normally two segments in each show. Instead of airing both here they have just taken one from each episode. There are also a handful of special features to create a DVD well worth purchasing. Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites was made available on March 18, 2008 by Walt Disney Home Video. You can pick this up at most major retailers that sell children’s DVDs, including Amazon where you can purchase this for just under $17.
The Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites Plot
Without John Tartaglia, Johnny and the Sprites would not be nearly as entertaining. Tartaglia is amazingly charismatic and it translates beautifully into this show. He is fun to watch and rather infectious making you want to sing and dance right alongside him. Johnny and the Sprites is addictive, causing people that love music, happiness, and puppets to embrace this piece of pop culture wholeheartedly.
In the show, Johnny plays a songwriter who moves into a house in the woods. The backyard of the house is home to some magical creatures known as the Sprites. The Sprites are creatures that can only be seen by Johnny and now you and the other viewers. The Sprites and Johnny are friends and the more time they spend together, the more they get to learn about each other’s worlds. This is the essence of the show. Each episode offers some form of conflict or innocent mishap that leads to a lesson in the end. Naturally, the Sprites are usually at the hand of the mishap and Johnny helpfully offers a solution to their problem or a bit of wisdom that, more often than not, occurs in song.
Each of the Sprites has their own personality and something about them that most children can relate to. There are four main Sprites including Ginger, Lily, Basil, and Root. The Sprites live in the woods behind Johnny’s house in a place called Grotto’s Grove. The episodes on the disc include “Ginger’s Antenna Dilemma”, “Root’s Dadoots”, “Where’s the Water, Lily?”, “Basil’s Band”, and “The Sprites and the What?!”
The music is one of the biggest focus points for anyone that has surpassed preschool. Though Tartaglia gives an amazing performance it is the music that will draw you in. One of the reasons that the music is so popular has to do with the people that composed the songs. Broadway composers Stephen Schwartz (‘Wicked’, ‘Godspell’) and the team of Alder and Walker (‘Alter Boyz’) contributed songs to Johnny and the Sprites.
Kids might have a great time watching it, but it’s highly likely that you will have just as much fun singing along with them, as well. Johnny and the Sprites is one of those rare shows that do not come around too often. If you have been looking for something modern and entertaining for your children to watch, you should check this out. You won’t be disappointed.
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Audio/Visual:
Whenever I see an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 I expect a fairly standard release. It’s not that bad transfers always end up here. It’s just that it’s usually standard with not much excellence to report. However, this is one of the exceptions to the rule. Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites looks fabulous. Children will love the vibrant colors and the attention to detail. There is no grain or softness that is noticeable throughout the DVD. It looks fabulous from start to finish. Disney did a nice job on this.
The audio was an important part of this disc, especially with all of the musical elements going on here. The DVD was given Dolby Digital 2.0, but things sound fine. The dialogue and the music are not so grossly different that you spend all your time playing with the remote based on the segment. In fact, no volume toggling was needed, at all. Just pop in your DVD and after one possible volume adjustment according to others (though mine did not need one) you are off and running. The songs sound perfect with this audio. They are easy to understand and fun to sing along with. In addition to standard audio, English subtitles are also offered.
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Bonus Features:
While it’s true that a lot of children’s DVDs do not come with the kind of special features that leave you clamoring for more, Johnny and the Sprites doesn’t do a bad job in this department. My favorite bonus available is “Music Time”. This gives you and your kids a chance to watch each episode with sing along lyrics during songs so that you can all sing together and learn the words, if you haven’t during the regular episodes. Even though I caught most of the words the first time around, I found this special feature quite handy and kids will love it.
Five shorts that show what the series was based on are also included. The shorts introduce us to Basil and Ginger, the two original Sprites. They are a little bit different obviously as this was the phase where things were being worked out. For example, in the shorts there is a neighbor (a man who plays a woman and does so quite amusingly) that is constantly telling Johnny to be quiet. This neighbor was cut from the show, but it’s amusing to see the differences that were once a part of the show, but eventually trimmed down. Like the original episodes you can have these shorts play with the sing along lyrics, as well.
As this is a Disney disc, FastPlay is included so it’s just a matter of popping the disc in and letting it play. No work has to come from you unless you wish to use the menu, which is accessible through the menu function of your remote. The only other feature available on this disc is previews. At last count there were about eleven of them for various Disney and Pixar films and shows.
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Bottom Line:
The only disappointing thing about this DVD is that it’s not the full season of the show. After seeing these few episode segments I am aching to get my hands on a more complete set and I am sure most children would be, as well. As a parent, this was one show that I really didn’t mind watching. In fact, I had a lot of fun. I cannot wait for a better set to come out, but until then this is definitely worth the purchase. It is one of the best options for a musical based show for young children, though older ones just might like it, too, even if they don’t want you to catch them watching it.
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Technorati Tags: DVD, Review, Johnny and the Sprites, Creatures, Animated, Muppets, Puppets, Singing, Children’s Show
Written by Ashtyn Evans – Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.
