The Busy Little Engine
The Busy Little Engine | |
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![]() DVD cover image | |
Directed by | Desmond Mullen |
Written by | Desmond Mullen |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Narrated by | Desmond Mullen |
Cinematography | Desmond Mullen |
Edited by | Desmond Mullen |
Music by | |
Distributed by | |
Release date |
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Running time | 34 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $52,000 (est.) |
The Busy Little Engine is a 2005 children's DVD written and directed by Desmond Mullen. It was selected for the 2006 San Diego International Children's Film Festival and reviewed in the professional library journals Booklist,[1] School Library Journal,[2] and Video Librarian.[3] The Busy Little Engine was picked Best DVD by Parenting Magazine in July 2006.[4]
Plot[]
The preschool-age DVD tells the story of a wooden toy train who pretends to be a real train. The main character, Busy Little Engine, appears alternately as a wooden toy train in a playroom and as a full-scale-size train in real-world backgrounds. With its intentionally gentle pacing and static camera work, it has been called "a young child's picture book come-to-life".[by whom?]
Busy Little Engine pretends to be a real train but does not actually know what real trains do. This presents a problem which is soon solved with the help of Busy Little Engine's puppet friend, Pig, and the off-screen narrator.
Through the course of the show, Busy Little Engine and Pig explore the everyday world using role-playing and imagination. Viewers learn about tangible topics such as , and basic railroad operations along with esoteric topics such as pretending, taking turns, and learning from others.
Cast[]
- Desmond Mullen as Busy Little Engine and the Narrator
- as the Prologue
Reception[]
The Busy Little Engine was selected for the 2006 San Diego International Children's Film Festival.[citation needed] It was picked Best DVD by Parenting Magazine in July 2006.[4]
Inspired, in part, by Richard Scarry's book, What do People do All Day? and other children's picture books, the DVD uses static framing to its advantage. DVD Verdict's review[5] said:
Yet the three kids I've shown it to have been rooted to the screen. Creator Desmond Mullen, formerly of Industrial Light and Magic and a current producer for the Morehead Planetarium, makes an interesting observation: Pans, cuts, and other cinematic shorthand are not natural. We have to learn what they mean. Kids don't intuitively understand that a jump cut means something. Pig's straightforward manner and The Busy Little Engine's static framing mimic the way a child interprets the world. The proof is self evident: Kids dig this DVD.
References[]
- ^ Booklist magazine at the American Library Association. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Review of The Busy Little Engine at the School Library Journal. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Video Librarian magazine. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Parenting magazine. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
- ^ Review of The Busy Little Engine Archived 2006-12-12 at the Wayback Machine at DVD Verdict. Retrieved on 2007-03-16..
External links[]
- 2005 films
- English-language films
- 2005 direct-to-video films
- American direct-to-video films
- American films
- American children's films