Busy Little Engine
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| The Busy Little Engine | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover image |
|
| Directed by | Desmond Mullen |
| Produced by | Desmond Mullen Helena Mullen |
| Written by | Desmond Mullen |
| Narrated by | Desmond Mullen |
| Starring | Busy Little Engine Pig Desmond Mullen Lorrie Guess Sheep |
| Music by | Jimmy Magoo |
| Cinematography | Desmond Mullen |
| Editing by | Desmond Mullen |
| Distributed by | Squirrel Tracks |
| Release date(s) | December 12, 2005 |
| Running time | 34 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $52,000 (est.) |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Busy Little Engine (and his friend, Pig)[1] is a 2005 children's DVD written and directed by Desmond Mullen[2]. It was selected for the 2006 San Diego International Children's Film Festival and reviewed in the professional library journals Booklist[3], School Library Journal[4], and Video Librarian[5]. The Busy Little Engine was picked Best DVD by Parenting[6] Magazine in July 2006.
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".
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 raw goods, finished materials and basic railroad operations along with esoteric topics such as pretending, taking turns, and learning from others.
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[7] 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.
[edit] References
- ^ The Busy Little Engine at IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-03-16..
- ^ Desmond Mullen's Filmography at IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-03-16..
- ^ 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..
- ^ Parenting magazine. Retrieved on 2007-03-16..
- ^ review of The Busy Little Engine at DVD Verdict. Retrieved on 2007-03-16..
