When you’re a parent, you realize rather fast that you want your child to know stuff. Things start simple at first such as numbers, letters, colors and small words. You want to be able to talk to the kid instead of hearing them cry out without a fully formed explanation. What do they want? As the kid gets a little older, you want them to understand certain concepts, so they show up at preschool with a little bit of a jump. During Kindergarten, you want your kid to understand a bit more when it comes to science. But you don’t want to lecture them with your old college textbooks since that will do no good. You want to find entertaining way to introduce concepts. Sesame Street: Mecha Builders – The Complete Series allows a child to experience STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) problem solving from their Muppet pals without a fear of a quiz.
The show stands out from the regular Sesame Street series since the characters are CGI and not felt. This changeover makes sense since Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby Cadabby aren’t their usual selves. They’re now Mecha (also known as robots to us older folks) along with Elmo’s dog Tango. They’re a trio of superheroes out to protect Sesame Street and adjoining neighborhoods from threats. But instead of fighting them and blowing stuff away with lasers and extendable robot fists, the Mecha Muppets must come up with smart solutions. The 26 episodes each include 2 adventures. “They Sent Us A Pie” has them figure out how to slice up a giant pie from space so everyone on the street gets a piece. “Dust In The Wind” has them deal with a singing statue that is having issues with sneezing. “Mecha Builders Pull Together” gets into what you have to do to lift up heavy objects. “Stop That Train” involves a runaway locomotive that’s hauling eggs. Can they get it to brake without breaking all the eggs its transporting? “The Zipline Sisters of Treetop Woods” has them restore a zipline adventure. There’s a lot of measuring in this adventure.
Sesame Street: Mecha Builders works as a fine introduction to STEM concepts without being too educational. It’s amazing how much a fun cartoon lead to educating kids. Gen X only knows about American history, math and conjunctions thanks to School House Rock. A new generation can now contemplate various STEM activities because Elmo and his robotic pals used them to solve a major problem. They plan, test and find the solution which is what you want your kid to do. By going CGI, the issues at the core of the episodes can be more fully illustrated. There’s also a greater sense of motion to the characters in their robot form. Sesame Street: Mecha Builders – The Complete Series is perfect to get younger kids to contemplate how to get things done before they learn about it later in elementary school.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The CGI looks good on the screen. Since the Muppets are robots, they have metal skin instead of fuzzy fur. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. The kids will hear clearly how the Mecha Builders come to the rescue. The subtitles are in English and Spanish. This can also come in handy if you want your kid to read Spanish.
No bonus features.
Shout! Kids and Sesame Workshop presents Sesame Street: Mecha Builders – The Complete Series. Starring Mecha Elmo, Mecha Cookie Monster and Mecha Abby Cadabby. Boxset Contents: 26 episodes on 3 DVDs. Rated: Not Rated. Release Date: April 9, 2024.
