The Review

The Latin alphabet. Probably the first thing you remember learning as a child, school-related at least. It’s a learning milestone for kindergarten-age children everywhere, normally put into a neat little song sung to the tune of ”Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. You’ve probably got it running through your mind right now, “A B C D E F G…” That little ditty is appropriately called the ABC Song, and was first copyrighted in 1835. Well that was evidently a little too long ago for John Flansburgh and John Linnell, founders of the alt-rock group known to nerds everywhere as They Might Be Giants (TMBG). The two Johns know a little something about longevity, because they’ve been progressively rocking out since 1982.

So just who are TMBG, and how did they get involved in helping kids

learn the ABC’s? Remember the smash early-90′s animated show Tiny Toon Adventures? Ever heard this song?

Or this one? Yep, if you grew up watching cartoons in the 90′s, you should have those tunes burned into the deep recesses of your brain. Despite TMBG never breaking out as “huge” recording stars, they have performed consistently for the past 30+ years and have a devoted following. If you have kids (and I gather you do since you’re on this site), chances are you’ve heard several of their kid-oriented tunes already. They do the theme song for Disney’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as well as The Hot Dog Dance, the song they close every show with. TMBG also has contributed to several other shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, which earned them a Grammy award.

With all that being said, that brings us back to the union of the alphabet and America’s geekiest band. They Might Be Giants: Here Come the ABC’s is a CD or DVD collection of songs geared toward helping children learn the alphabet. John and John host the video and are represented by puppets bearing their respective likeness. Each of the 29 songs has its own unique visual style. I would say that the visuals are just as vital as the actual tunes, in that it completes the experience. The songs are catchy enough to remember and do get stuck in your head, but the visuals take it to the next level. This DVD is exploding with creativity and originality, the likes of which I have never seen from children’s programming.

Some of the highlights for me include “C Is For Conifers” and “Q U”, the latter of which finds John and John walking around the city in giant “Q” and “U” heads while doing things like riding bikes and eating ice cream cones. “D Is For Drums” is another highlight, and it does something different by combining a song about “D” with a lesson on different drum beats. It’s done very well, and is a great example of what makes this DVD a must have. (See “E Eats Everything” below.)

Everything is different, which means everything is engaging. When you watch a 20 minute episode of Dora the Explorer, you know that Dora and Boots will have a problem, the Map and Backpack will help them get there, and then they will do it. This happens every time. That’s OK, because consistency is important for children, but Here Come the ABC’s gives you 29 different experiences over 40 minutes where each experience introduces you to an image, or a musical beat, or rhyme that will leave you smiling. You can’t walk away from a viewing of this without some of the tunes running through your head. This is not a bad thing. The songs vary in length, and including the random song intros, you get about 45 minutes out of this deal.

The Kids

I have three boys, one is 6 and the other two are 3, and they all throughly enjoy this DVD. My six-year old is growing out of it at this point because he had known his ABC’s for some time now and had seen this show many, many times before (We’ve been force-feeding it to him since 2005). The twins still love it and will sit through it most of the time. If your kids are more reserved, I imagine it would be easy to hold their attention for the full running time. The age range for this DVD is probably in the two to six year old range, and there is no objectionable content.

The Verdict: Queue It!

When it comes to kids programming, it doesn’t get much better than They Might Be Giants and their tribute to the ABC’s. I cannot think of a single negative comment on anything here. It has great music, fantastic, engaging visuals, and strikes a good balance between fun and education. Do yourself and your kids a favor and get this right away.