Search - Mozart & Friends (2pc) (W/CD) on DVD

More mesmerizing than stimulating - overall mediocre

12/18/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I have a rather complete library of infant stimulation / development videos, including all of the 'So Smart' Series, Baby Einstein Company's videos, and the BabyScape videos. I decided to try the Baby Genius series for some variety for my infant daughter. The overall tone of the Mozart & Friends is more clinical and sleepier (even though it is supposed to be an infant 'stimulation' video). I have reviewed many other videos in this category, so, I will compare this with what I consider to be the 'state-of-the-art:' the Baby Einstein Company's latest production: Baby Van Gogh. First, Baby Genius's "Mozart & Friends" relies much more heavily on animation, and less on real world objects. My infant daughter is much less interested in the rather mundane animation. The musical score is superb, but it is not interspersed with other sounds / voices which would bring an infant's attention back to the video - unlike Baby Einstein company's videos. One thing Baby Genius does 'right' (in addition to the musical score) is to include shots of animals which is a real attention-getter, but for older infants / toddlers - definitely NOT the 1-5 month age group. There is a lot of counting & recitation in this Mozart & Friends (in a sort of "Brave New World" tone), which is absent from Baby Einstein's products. I am not a specialist, but I really doubt that rote memorization of the alphabet and numbers helps overall intellectual development in any way at an infant / toddler stage. I would also note that babies generally like to look at other babies / kids. Baby Einstein shows pre-schoolers that directly engage the viewer, while the Baby Genius video shows infants / toddlers just playing in an un-engaging way (from the viewer's perspective). Another 'downside' of the Baby Genius tape is that the information for parents clip is at the front end of the tape, while on Baby Einstein it is at the end. So to watch Baby Genius, there is inevitably a lot of fast-forwarding and an fidgety infant / toddler to deal with. My recommendation is that this is not a great video for infants under the age of about 4-5 months. The best videos for this age are the baby Einstein Company's products. From about that age (5 months) to 12 months, the Baby Genius' "Mozart & Friends" might be nice for variety (my daughter became interested in the Teletubbies at this stage, too). But at the age of about 10-11 months, my toddler became more interested in videos like Elmo's World and BabySongs. She still likes Baby Einstein, Baby Shakespeare and Baby Van Gogh (from the Baby Einstein Company) too. Baby Genius' strong point - their musical scores - might be best appreciated in their CDs: I don't think the video media is their best venue. As a change of pace the video is OK, but having viewed it repeatedly with my daughters, and with the frequency it is actually watched, I would not have spent my money on it - in retrospect."

NOT Baby Einstein

KAZ Vorpal | Brighton, IL | 03/19/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you have purchased all of the real Baby Einstein videos and are searching anything similar, buy these, otherwise buy Baby Einstein first, they're better.I felt defrauded when I realized I had not purchased another Baby Einstein, but another company which had chosen a nearly suspiciously similar name.This became painfully obvious when the tape started, because of the annoying, intrusive introduction and low-quality "animation" (more like bits of drawing slid around the screen) which interrupt the flow of the video every few minutes.Overall, these videos are as similar to the "real thing" as the name (read; unoriginal), but the few differences hurt instead of helping. Quite a shame."

Mothers, lets be frank.

terry | 05/19/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"To be frank--music good, video non engaging.
To compare--videos that are worse:
So Smart Series
Baby Einstein vol. 1 Baby Einstein
Bee Smart Baby Series
Baby's First Impressions
Brainy Baby Videos that are better:
Baby Dolittle 6 months-3 years
Baby Know-It-All Smartypants 6 months-3 1/2 years
Baby Know-It-All Lil Bloomer 6 months-3 1/2 years
Baby Van Gogh 6 months-1 1/2 years
Blues Clues Big Musical Movie 1 1/2 yr. plus
Blues Clues Arts and Crafts 1 1/2 yr. plus
Bilingual Baby any of them 1-2 1/2 years"

Best baby videos avaliable

Samantha Salsizeto | Great Lakes Area | 06/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Our baby boy (16 months) really gets into the Baby Genius videos with such enthusiasm, no comparrison to the other baby videos we purchased and are now stuck with. Wish we had known about Baby Genius before we wasted out time and hard earned money on the other baby videos we tried, they all put our child to sleep with boredom. The Baby Genius folks really did their homework for their two videos, we really want to see more volumes soon ! If your reading this Baby Genius Company....MAKE MORE VIDEOS...PLEASE!"