Recess: All Growed Down

I love Recess, for me it is one of the last "good" Disney shows. And generally I liked All Growed Down, it is not as good as the show or School's Out but it is better and closer in spirit to the show than Taking the Fifth Grade. What was it that I didn't like very much? I personally do think that the film could have been 10 minutes longer, it all seemed too brief and short to me. I am also not a fan of TJ's voice, I can kind of forgive Taking the Fifth Grade because he was meant to be older(but only by a year) but not so much here. It lacks spunk and seems too adolescent for a 9-year old schoolboy. But my biggest problem was with Gus, his story is very inconsistent with what we know about him in the show and to me he seemed very out of character as well. However, the animation is bright and colourful, in keeping in style to the show's actually, and the music still manages to be catchy. The writing is smart and funny, not only that but also manages to be true in spirit too, while the story apart from the thing with Gus is cute and charming. All the characters are recognisable and on the most part consistent with the show, Gus in fact I think is the one exception. Apart from TJ, the voices are very good, Principal Prickley, Miss Finster and Spinelli are spot-on. All in all, I found All Growed Down good on the whole, though lacking those extra things to make it great. 7/10 Bethany Cox

My earliest versions forgot to mention that I found the Recess features to be okay.

They link to series for kids and such series typically have a lower quality than many features, but they are appreciated in a rather different way. Consider these cartoon features as in the genre of series for kids then I find that they rate as okay.

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I purchased this because it is an Ashley Johnson. She has completed her films as a girl, and many are not easily available, not uncommon. Lionheart (1990), Annie 2 (1995), Dancer (1998), What Women Want (2000), these tell me that there is interesting stuff there.

Her role here is as the voice of an animated character. This is her as a young woman. I guessed who Gretchen was by glancing at a pic and as soon as Gretchen spoke I recognised her as Gretchen. This is blatantly Ashley, but with something feeling wrong.

Recess, characters such as Mikey and Spinelli stood out as solid. My problem was Gretchen seeming distant and flat, as if her soundtrack was processed wrong. I am used to Ashley J having a very real screen presence, visual and sound, an unusual power that was not singing for me here. Was this me not perceiving this DVD right?

Second hearing, the rhythm felt out, how the individuals blended together. But more of the content was feeling solid. I then assumed that I was experiencing a problem that acclimatisation was likely to calm for me. I found the third viewing to be a whole lot better.

Re-watch it recently, Gretchen actually clicked as okay, just Gus seemed way out.

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How does this portrayal of junior school compare to reality? I am guessing that Billy Madison 1995 might be closer. Except that this includes a stylised portrayal of a Kindergartner regime with quiet and polite children that reminds me of my education in the UK, 1950's and 60's.

In fiction I find such as Paula Danziger, her Earth To Mathew in particular, as strong reminders of quiet and polite not typically being the good health that I thought it to be at the time. I find this a worthwhile topic.

In this, Kindergarten is age 5 and the next step is grade 1. That surprised me as I had thought that grade 1 USA was age 5, as the UK when grades are mentioned here. No. So Scottish Hogwarts of ages 11 to 17-18 as USA grade 6 to 12, and Harriet The Spy, being grade 6 USA, as age 11 going to 12, the year of Hogwarts entry. Stories often assume that this sort of detail is well known, or not relevant?

Things would never be simple? Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Alice series of novels, rather excellent, uses year numbers to show Alice's progress through Chicago and Washington USA middle and upper schools. Years 1 to 13, 13 being grade 12. MK&A's Two Of A Kind has the twins sent away to a boarding school for ages 11 to 18. Blyton's very English stories about Malory Towers is for ages 12 to 18 and raises the question of upper and lower fourth, a reminder of Bunter's 'Remove', maybe these relate to streaming in year 4, 14 to 15.

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The DVD I have has this 58ish minute feature plus three additional eleven-ish minute episodes, which are: The Challenge - The Story Of Whomps - One Stayed Clean

Like all famous Disney series, this is an all-new Playtime. Peering into your favorite characters' pasts, you'll follow the gang's memories when they first arrived at the Third Street school. They are invited by the teacher to spend a day taking care of the terrible Kindergarten. Little ones are impossible: they don't write, they don't play, they're stuck on the playground and they're totally undisciplined. The little ones revolt and, led by Chief Fedorento, "kidnap" TJ. The whole gang panics - TJ is missing. After much confusion, TJ and his friends realize that big boys and little kids can be good friends. After all, one day they were also from Kindergarten. Join in the joy and laughter of THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING. A sweet adventure full of important lessons about new friends, self-esteem and the exciting task of growing up.

I thought this one was even cuter than the first one, the mixture of high school children and kindergarten children, brought me nostalgia, a nostalgia for the time when I worked in a daycare center, something more realistic and cute impossible...

Okay, first thing to note going into this is that, well, don't expect the entire thing to be a completely new story. They actually take what I like to call the old Loony Tunes approach and create a story that's basically an excuse to showcase older episodes, though in this case, they all have a particular theme to them, specifically the kids building a friendship with the kindergartners. As such, we're treated to 3 classic episodes, but what makes this film worth it is the addition of a 4th new story, specifically back when Gus was in kindergarten. For the most part, it's fine. I can at least believe most of it, but there is one major plot hole that kind of removes whatever credibility the writers clearly wanted us to think it had. See, it's revealed that Gus actually had the same kindergarten class as the others, and while this is questionable at first, they not only address the obvious plot hole here but also come up with a generally good reason, that being that the others can only remember a fraction of their kindergarten years and thus it makes sense that they wouldn't remember all of this. However, it does not explain why, if Gus had a good enough memory to remember this, he genuinely had no idea who all five were when he first appeared in the series. I wouldn't mind this so much, except this show is actually pretty good when it comes to continuity. They have a nice concept here, with Gus actually being the one who helped all five of the others find their callings, and even the whole subplot with Mikey picking on the other kids was confusing at first but made sense when you found out why he did it. (It also ties into Randal once telling his father that Mikey used to be a schoolyard bully... that's actually kinda neat) Again, I do feel like that one small detail from the first episode kind of contradicts a lot of the forth story, but it's still fine and I like the setup enough that this is more of a nitpick. Again, maybe if the film had been all new material and the main story tying it all together wasn't so paper thin, I'd recommend this more, but if you're a die-hard Recess fan looking for a nostalgia trip, I'd say this is worth seeking out.

I would have preferred it if the entire DVD was all new material instead of showing flashbacks Recess episode focusing on the kindergarteners that I'm sure we've all seen already on TV more than once; when it does finally get to the never-before-seen part it's basically Gus making up this big far-fetched and fabricated lie about how he was actually in the same kindergarten class as his friends when they were all 5 years old at Third Street School, but then had to be taken out the same day he came and did not return until the age of 9 when the gang were in the 4th grade. He also claimed that he had completely different personality as a little kid and so did all his friends plus classmates until he changed their behavior and made them who they are as bigger kids; I frankly don't believe any word that came out of Gus's mouth during his story since it would make handful of plot holes in the Recess show so there's no way I could ever be convinced that any of it could ever be true, Gus saying that he was at a certain place at some point in time when he was not and saying that he acted a certain way when he never did. But if I had to say something nice about the DVD it would be that even Gus's story was obliviously made up on the spot it's still was interesting for the most part and very original to say the least;also the animation is very colorful and vibrant and the characters are all very cute a little kids, especially T.J. and most especially Spinelli who is my # 1 favorite.

Well that's all folks and thanks reading if you did.