Yo Gabba Gabba!: The Dancey Dance Bunch

So. Yo Gabba Gabba.How to describe this show? Start with the title, which is inspired by the The Ramones' timeless Teenage Lobotomy creed, then add DJ Lance Rock, who resembles an anorexic Raj from "What's Happening!", and put him in a giant orange wig and striped jumpsuit that makes him look like the complete opposite of a Buckingham Palace guard. DJ Lance Rock then walks onto a white background with a magical boombox (of COURSE there's a magical boombox) towards a long buffet table displaying Gabbaland - or as normal people see it, a minidioramma that seems as if it was made by a 5th grader with a really short attention span. DJ Lance Rock proceeds to open his boombox, revealing a bunch of generic cartoon monsters that get magically transported to Gabbaland, where they transform into generic actors dancing around in monster suits (2 of which proudly display the zipper on the back).I love this show.Why? First of all, the music is catchy. Repetitive? Oh yes. Oh yes. But in a good way. You actually don't mind finding yourself unexpectedly humming these little ditties sometime during the day. Then there's the cartoon interludes, which rival anything out of Ren&Stimpy, Spongebob Squarepants, and anything else dreamt up by a stoned college frathouse with basic computer animation skills. Then there's the clips of 5 year old kids either dancing (and reminding you "I like to dance"), riding random toys, or scanned into Intellivision games from the 1980's.Then there's the frequent visits from actors and musicians who seem to be "in on the joke." In 3 minutes, you can easily bounce from Plex the Magic Robot teaching your kids how to brush their teeth, to Mark Mothersbaugh from 80's alt-punk group Devo instructing you in the finer points of drawing a fish. Skip next to Biz's Beat of the Day, where Biz Markie invites your kid to learn his latest beatbox riff, followed by an animated adventure of Super Martian Robot Girl that would make William Hanna and Joe Barbera cry, then on to Nathan who "likes to daaaaance!" (and grooves like he's in a Kanye West video), which leads to the Yo! Gabba Gabba characters singing and dancing about sharing, follwed by Elijah Wood sharing his Puppetmaster dancey dance. DJ Lance Rock then takes us out of every episode by inviting us to look back, and remember what we did today. This consists of quick vignettes of everything covered in that episode, which naturally is mixed into a techno/hip-hop number that includes NYC nightclub electronica/rave special effects in the background.And somehow, somehow it all comes together. It WORKS. It works for the kids and adults alike. It is at all times a wholesome children's show, an inside joke to gen-Xers who grew up in the 80's, a manifesto for the current Spongebob college crowd, and a useful tool for parents who want something that the kids will enjoy while learning valuable life skills, while making them laugh a little bit inside about how goofy the whole process of parenthood can truly be.

My teenager grew up watching this when they were younger, and now my toddler enjoys it as well. It is genuinely one of the few kids shows as an adult that doesn't start driving me crazy from being on repeat at times. Lots of great episodes on this DVD compilation!

I swore up and down that I wouldn't be a parent who let his kid rot his brain watching TV. But now that I actually am a parent instead of an I-know-it-all-even-though-I-don't-have-kids, I'm really glad to have this DVD as a tool in my tool kit. Because God forbid that I actually eat one meal in peace.Specifically for Yo Gabba Gabba and this DVD in particular, it's great. YGG is one of the very few kids shows that I can watch and actually enjoy. It's quirky and witty, and the songs are pretty catchy. Watching my kid dance along with the show just cracks me up. There's also a very tongue in cheek retro vibe to the show that makes it more appealing to 30 somethings.Aside from the pop culture coolness, I like the show because it's so different and original. The show riffs on itself and is almost a parody of a kids show. I think that also makes it more appealing to adults. It's not that Sesame Street takes itself too seriously, but when I watch that show I kinda get the impression that the SS crew almost expects kids to believe that there's actually some street in New York where all of this stuff is taking place. I feel like if I told my kid that Elmo wasn't real, it would break his heart. Whereas if I told him that Muno was a guy in a rubber suit, he'd say "yeah, that makes sense".I CANNOT stand Barney or the Wiggles. It's like torture for me to watch or listen to them, but I've seen this DVD about 30 times with my kid and I could probably go for 30 more. If you do any significant amount of driving, I'd also recommend a portable DVD player for the car. I can tell you from experience that it really sucks to circle an airport looking for your in-laws while your kid is fussing in the back seat. Yo Gabba Gabba to the rescue!

What is there NOT to love about Yo Gabba Gabba? It features Mark Mothersbaugh, Biz Markie, fat beats from DJ Lance Rock, real kids doing real kid stuff (exploring their worlds through movement, learning social conventions, developing sense of self), and strangely relatable "Gabbas" (Muno is tall and friendly, but he also sometimes is clumsy...Brobee is the little green one, but even he forgets the time-honored edict about personal space). From a curriculum standpoint, the themes for each show are concrete for young children--"fun", "eat"--and the even mixture of live action with the Gabbas plus animation and music are reminiscient of old school Sesame Street (when it was really cutting edge and nitty gritty for small children, not the Abby Cadabbified saccharine it has morphed into). I have a child with an autistic spectrum disorder, and she has internalized a number of social skills that I see the Gabbas displaying--the magic words of please and thank you, remembering to greet a person when seeing them as well as how and when to say goodbye, how to introduce yourself using your own name. I also like that DJ Lance Rock is an adult African American male who is trustworthy and positive--it is critical that all young children regardless of race see black men (not just our new President although that is a great start!) as someone they can relate to, who can be meaningful in their lives. The animation in the show is just beautiful--if you can catch the Christmas show in rerun I recommend it--it was especially well done. All the episodes on The Dancey Dance Bunch are terrific.