Double Feature: Super Monsters Save Christmas (2019) & My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018)

The next double feature is a holiday themed children features! I don’t know when I started to get into the Super Monsters specials as I don’t watch the normal series anyways but they are a decent 20+ minute long. As for pairing it with My Little Pony, I actually do like My Little Pony, the old stuff and watched some of the newer specials as well so here we are (plus its pretty slim pickings for Christmas kids films that I haven’t reviewed on Netflix…).

Super Monsters Save Christmas (2019)

It’s Christmas Eve in Pitchfork Pines, and the Super Monsters are joining forces to deck the halls, find Santa’s missing reindeer and save the holiday. – IMDB

Super Monsters is honestly geared towards kids. Whether its the characters and their cutesy appearances to the dialogue that revolves around emphasizing the good values to have through the consequences what happens, its all about delivering a positive message (similar to a lot of other kids shows). Its a harmless movie this time about a neighbor (who we learned is related or friends with Santa Claus from last year’s special) who gets overzealous about his Christmas decorations and blows the power for everyone but of course, the Super Monsters try to fix it to soon realize after Santa finally stops by that someone has detached the reindeer and they run off to play hide and seek of all things. Of course, Super Monsters to the rescue again.

There is nothing essentially wrong with this one. It directs its attention solely to its intended audience. Its not quite the entertainment for parents perhaps but it does offer some nice lessons on Christmas and friendship and working together. It has a little bit of singing and music and stays pretty colorful and cheery with lots of Christmas-y things. I’m not a parent but for its length and its quick-paced plot points, it should grab a kids attention.

You can check out my review last year of Super Monsters and the Wish Star HERE.

My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018)

Director: Denny Lu & Mike Myhre

Voice Cast: Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, Ashleigh Ball, Cathy Weseluck, Tabitha St. Germain, John de Lancie

In this one-hour Christmas-themed special, the Mane Six and Spike are each hoping to find the best gift ever for Hearth’s Warming. – IMDB

While I’m not a huge supporter of this new My Little Pony designs with giant heads and such instead of the sleeker design when I was a kid, these My Little Pony movie specials are actually pretty. It does feel like perhaps its geared kids a little older than Super Monsters above.

The movie feels like an actual story with the ponies changing tradition and deciding to do a Secret Santa gift swap. They obviously call it something else but I never quite realized how fun all the ponies have and its not some dumb down dialogue but it does work pretty well even if they do play with some movie references like their take of meshing Sleeping Beauty’s fairies with The Christmas Carol or whatnot. That’s just one example. Its all about the value of gifts and of course the best gift ever is defined here. If you watched some other My Little Pony shows or movies then you might already know what it is because its a big focus all the time.

This one was surprisingly fun to watch and pretty entertaining. Its still not exactly geared towards parents but more to keep kids attention but this is not for young kids so it has more complete dialogue and the music is pretty catchy. I wouldn’t mind watching more My Little Pony movies if its like this one (but then maybe I’m a bit biased).

That’s it for this kids double feature for the holidays!
Have you (or your kids) seen these two? Share your thoughts in the comments below to give a more accurate kids perspective on this one. 

Christmas 2018 Double Feature: Super Monsters and the Wish Star (2018) & A StoryBots Christmas (2017)

Changing the pace a little with the Christmas marathon, its time to jump into some shorter children movie features. Its a perfect pairing to do double features with so I’ve chosen Super Monsters and the Wish Star and A StoryBots Christmas. I’ve never actually seen any of the actual Netflix series so I’m unfamiliar with the characters here but I still decided to give it a chance.  These are both individual Christmas specials.

Let’s check it out!

Super Monsters and the Wish Star (2018)

Director: Jacob Joice

Voice Cast: Elyse Maloway, Vincent Tong, Erin Mathews, Andrea Libman, Alessandro Juliani, Nicole Anthony, Diana Kaarina, Ian James Corlett, Britt McKillip, Kathleen Barr, Gigi Saul Guerrero

Christmas wishes come true for Lobo, whose favorite cousin arrives for a surprise visit, and for Glorb, who wishes he could be everywhere at once. – IMDB

Super Monsters at a first glance is a pretty cute series. Simply from the character designs itself, its very colorful and covers a cutesy version of different classic monsters from Count Dracula or werewolves to Frankenstein just for an example of a few. Its a little darker in the background of the characters they choose for the kids but somehow with the cute designs, it works. Plus, it adds this magical element to it. I’ve never been a huge fan of recent kid series mostly it is in how they talk but I think it has to do with the fact that I’m in my 30s now and while a lot of shows I watched when I was a kid still appeal to me like Arthur and Magic School Bus and such, a lot of the enjoyment is the nostalgia which I obviously don’t have for these new series.

Super Monsters and the Wish Star does work as  a Christmas special. There are a lot of Christmas elements from the decorating to different Christmas traditions between the characters and sharing a little message about being decisive and making choices but also being helpful to others. Its also very musical which is a winning  point for me. I thought the songs themselves were quite catchy. It doesn’t take a lot for me to enjoy something like this especially in a less than 30 minute dose. Plus, there is this transformation element of them changing to monster form at night and the transformation screen reminded me so much of Digimon, which is a show that I desperately want to rewatch. I’m not sure I’d go and sit through the Netflix series but this Christmas special was enjoyable that I did end up watching it once and putting in the background a second time afterwards as I was doing something else.

A StoryBots Christmas (2017)

Director: Jeff Gill & Evan Spiridellis

Voice Cast: Judy Greer, Erin Fitzgerald, Fred Tatsciore, Jeff Gill, Gregg Spiridellis, Evan Spiridellis, Edward Asner, Jim Meskimen

When Bo mistakenly thinks that her friends don’t like her gifts, she heads to the North Pole to ask Santa for help making better presents. She learns along the way that Christmas is about far more than just the toys. – IMDB

StoryBots is a mix of real characters like Santa Claus (Edward Asner)and New York City and then there’s this sort of puppet animation when we see the elf and then the rest of show is pretty much animation. It is very reminiscent of child shows and the idea behind it is pretty good. The StoryBots design is fairly colorful and appeal to watch however, there is this odd way that they talk and humor that I’m not sure I’m completely appealed to. However, the message behind this one is pretty good. Its a lot about the meaning behind gifts on Christmas and the spirit of giving and what makes the best present. There is some silly parts like polar bears struggling over opening a soda bottle. It has a nice message about friends and being with the ones you love during Christmas.

Its an okay Christmas special and its pretty short running at around 25 minutes or so. Its a quick and fun time and there are lots of Christmas elements here especially as they go to New York City which is very much decorated. There is this fun humor behind it in some moments especially in the city that works in bits. It has its moments for sure. I don’t really have much to say about this one. Its pretty enjoyable and for a quick Christmas special to occupy the kids, it could be fun enough. Especially with the ending Christmas song that wraps the story which is a fun little bit that really warmed my heart and had me tapping my feet.