Editor's Note

Our review of Go Diego Go! Great Gorilla, published July 2nd, 2008, is also available.

The Charge

Let's Samba!

The Case

Diego, the cousin of Dora the Explorer, is an animal rescuer who goes on all sorts of wacky adventures with his animal friends. The popular Nickelodeon production coughs up four episodes for this collection. If Diego's squealing, too-happy voice doesn't prompt you to jam steak knives into your ears, I'll be impressed.

• "Diego and Porcupine Save the Pinata"
It's Porcupine's birthday and Diego and his friends make him an awesome piñata. Unfortunately, the Bobo Brothers, who are apparently as stupid as their names suggest, tie way too many balloons to it and floats away. How are they going to possibly salvage this catastrophe? With your help of course (providing you're 3). Along the way, Diego and Porcupine will have to untangle trees, repel a storm cloud, fly down a zip-line and face man-eating pumas that recoil at the sight of a small boy and woodland creature dancing. Um, don't try that at home kids.

• "A New Flamingo Mami"
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: accompany Diego as he embarks on a mountain rescue to save Mami Flamingo. See, Mami went to the caves to find a rattle for new baby or something and got lost. That's not the worst of it. Her baby egg is currently being threatened by rising lake water.

• "Macky the Macaroni Penguin"
Diego is searching for a baby penguin that just hatched from her egg. He needs to track the wayward newborn amidst snowball-throwing Arctic monkeys (?!) and death-defying downhill body skiing and return her to her Spanish-speaking penguin mom at Penguin Island.

• "Linda the Llama Saves Carnaval"
It's time to party as Diego plans a Carnaval celebration complete with a parade and Samba dancing. Linda the Llama, tasked with carrying musical instruments gets stuck in the mud and drops the baskets filled with the Carnaval goodies. Your goal: Samba off, clapping like an idiot, to find the baskets before the animals awaiting the Carnaval grow desperate for entertainment and go on a killing spree.

In true Dora-ish interactive fashion, this is an interactive experience, with Diego constantly throwing out questions from the TV and awaiting your child's responses. You also get songs and dances and Spanish lessons. I found it all just as annoying as the Dora flim-flam, but as is usually the case for these hugely popular children's shows your offspring will probably delight in Diego's misadventures. The DVD: full frame, 2.0 stereo and the most basic set-top game I've ever seen (you count animals).

Similar Decisions

• The Snowy Day And Other Ezra Jack Keats Stories
• Maggie And The Ferocious Beast: Puzzles And Picnics
• Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales And Legends: Pecos Bill
• Gargoyles: The Complete First Season

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