Television Review: Wunderkind Little Amadeus
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this animated series aims to
educate kids about classical music while entertaining them with
cute cartoon antics. There's no iffy content to worry about.
That said, although the producers do seem to get a lot of the
details about Mozart's life correct, they also take some
liberties with his story so that it works with their ongoing
series.
Families can talk about how accurate this series is. Do you
think all of the characters in the show really existed? How
could you find out more about the real Mozart? Why do you think
TV show and movie producers sometimes bend the truth? Families
can also discuss what kids learn from watching this show. Kids:
Do you think of this series as more of an educational show or
more of an entertaining one? Why?
The real Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy who wrote his first symphony at the age of 4. He was also reportedly quite the prankster, a fact that this series -- which aims to interest children in classical music -- runs with, making a genial 8-year-old scamp out of the historical figure. In each episode, Amadeus, as he's known to his family and friends, gets into scrapes and faces off with the jealous Lorenzo Devilious while using his musical ability to save the day.
WUNDERKIND LITTLE AMADEUS is fairly standard animated fare, with a regular villain and fun-but-spunky heroes (the soundtrack, provided by one of the world's greatest composers, lifts things up a notch). The good news is that it seems to have a strong footing in the actual history of the day, in spite of the odd anachronistic language -- it's a bit jarring to see someone in a wig and knee breeches refer to something as "lame," for example.
The only question is whether kids addicted to Pokemon , Batman, and the like are going to put their cards down for this gentle little show about a type of music that plenty of folks (both old and young) find boring. Which is too bad, because both the music and the show are worth enjoying.
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