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P&G Productions will release their new film, “Change of Plans” on Saturday, January 8, 2011 on FOX at 8 PM and 7 PM Central. As we’ve reported, P&G and Walmart have teamed together to create new family-friendly movies that tell positive stories the entire family can watch together. The first three aired on NBC. Change of Plans will air on Fox. In creating movies that meet this objective, P&G is trying to walk a tightrope between films that are so insipid that adults will squirm, and tales that a small child can get caught up in, without resorting to inappropriate language and violence. This is not an easy task, especially given other alternatives, as well as a modern tendency for every member of the family to retreat to their own corner to enjoy entertainment made especially for them. Leave it to P&G to invest heavily in this type of venture, as they did with the creation of the Soap Opera, to claim turf that is especially vital to their commercial interests. Previous films have been Secrets of the Mountain, The Jensen Project, and A Walk in My Shoes.

The other films I’ve seen in this project have failed, but we have found each one better than the last, with progressively better scripts, acting and production values. Change of Plans is another step forward in the right direction.

Change of Plans tells the story of a dynamic young couple who have a life-changing experience. Jason is a jet pilot and engineer and his wife, Sally, is an aspiring singer/musician on the verge of huge musical career. They have an action-packed life, symbolized in the credits by hot cars, an in-house recording studio, scuba gear, and vacation plans in progress. Just as the happy couple are about to get away from it all, they get a phone call with life-changing news: an old friend has died in a car crash leaving four kids behind with nowhere to go. The couple then makes a quick decision to cancel their vacation plans to take the kids in, until a suitable foster family can be found. The additional plot twist is that the four kids come from the four corners of the globe, including South America, China, Africa and North America.

Most viewers, at this point, can imagine what happens next, with the expected clash between the busy lives of Jason and Sally and the emotional needs of multicultural kids adjusting to a new life after being suddenly orphaned. The director, John Kent Harrison, does a good job with a script that packs way too many stories into a 88-minute film. Competing for attention are the emotional complexities of no fewer than eight characters, on top of a back story of why the deceased parents had collected one child from each country they visited while in the Peace Corps. While both my daughter and I were teary-eyed during the expected happy ending, it was more a programmed response than because we had enough time to truly be invested in the characters.

Contemporary viewers may feel slightly manipulated by the full representation of almost every ethnic group, as well as a nod to the military, race car driving, and country music. P&G even managed to squeeze in a dinner prayer at one point, which felt more than a little gratuitous. While you have to applaud a large corporation’s devotion to presenting a cross-section of the real America rather than a vision of 1950s America, I can safely say that I’ve never seen a more blatantly politically correct mixture of symbols. The only thing missing was a gay character, but maybe that is still a little too much inclusiveness for P&G and Walmart in 2011.

Joe Flanigan (“Stargate Atlantis”) as Jason and Brooke White (“American Idol”) as Sally are well-cast in these roles. Both have movie star looks but also have everyday folks charm. For the most part, the child actors also do well, especially Clarissa Suwoko as the six-year-old Sung Lee, who is irresistibly cute in the film.

Despite our criticisms, you can do worse for modern entertainment the whole family can watch. And certainly, this is a better option than most chick-flicks out there which only seem to emphasize dating as the major behavior to emulate. Here, the family can discuss what makes a family, how families stay together, and maybe even the sacrifices parents make of their own dreams, for the good of their kids. I am optimistic that Brian Wells, the Executive Producer of all four films in the project, learns more with each film, and that the studio will find a formula that will work for family night, if not as a movie theatre feature film.

Note to readers: P&G invited me to the set of to the set of “A Change of Plans” in late 2010. While they paid for transportation and lodging, no payment was made for this review, and my opinions are my own and not those of P&G or Walmart.

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The studio sent us a preview copy of the new Toy Story 3 DVD. I’ve been waiting a few months since both my son and I missed the theatrical release and my daughter has been raving about it. The family was not disappointed.

First of all, we do not have 3D, but we did spring for a Blu-Ray player after our old DVD gave out a few months ago. Since Netflix doesn’t do Blu-Ray, this was actually my first time watching, and it was undeniably clearer. This is one beautiful movie, in terms of color and clarity.

As for the plot, I have to admit to being somewhat cynical. I can be very sentimental, but I found most of Toy Story 2 to be lachrymose to the extreme, and I found myself anxious for it to end. Having heard that Toy Story 3 was also “emotional,” I wasn’t looking forward to a big tear-fest. Lucky for me, this movie is anything but. As many of the reviews have said, this movie starts in the middle of the action and keeps going for the next 90 out of 100 minutes.

We loved it. The interactions among the characters (T-Rex, Potato Head, and Buzz) are familiar and, as always, you’ll enjoy seeing favorite toys you probably haven’t thought about for years (or since Toy Story 3). But, what is always the most fun is watching the characters do the kind of stunts that Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise only wish they could do. The final escape and chase scene is inspired for all the things these little toys can make themselves do, using the full power of their unique toy features.

My only complaint, and it’s a big one, is the end. We may all have different opinions on what should happen to old toys when kids grow up (attic, charity, or trash?). But we were surprised that is no dad in the story. As Andy finishes packing and leaves for college, he shares a big hug with mom, but there is no dad. I don’t recall seeing any in the whole movie, even as background at the school scenes. My ten year old daughter noticed it before I did. “But where’s the dad?” she exclaimed. There was no plot reason for the omission unless Disney, after years of killing off the mom character (moms of Bambi, Nemo to name two of about 20), has decided to start inflicting the same punishment on fathers.

Dads should also know that, like Nemo, the film does include a lot of action and violence. Adults will say that it’s only cartoons, but it will not seem any less frightening to kids. My six year-old spent a good amount of the movie pacing nervously, or cuddled in my arms because he was really worried about how things might turn out. There is mention of the possible death of some of the toys, as well as a torture sequence. I’m not suggesting this is politically incorrect, but too often parents go to these movies with no knowledge beforehand of what their kids will see, whether enacted by cartoons or not.

Despite the lack of a father figure, we’d still recommend this movie. It’s that rarest of all beasts, a family film that the the whole family can really watch, rather than all just tolerate together. And that alone, makes up for it’s one major flaw.

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Disney Pixar’s Up is coming out on video on November 10. I saw this with my wife, kids and their grandma and everyone had a great time. Up! is another winner in classic Pixar fashion, with incredible graphics, a fair amount of sentimentality (the first part is a little too maudlin for me) and a lot of good humor. No, it’s not a post-modern wink at popular culture like Dreamworks films like Shrek, but there are some very very funny parts in here that will keep everyone entertained and repeating key lines for weeks afterwards.

If you’ve seen any of the ads, you’ll know this is a key shot from the movie. And it certainly stimulates the imagination. Here are a few fun facts from their publicity agency that might come in handy when your kids quiz you on why they don’t fly away when they get a balloon on their birthday, or how many balloons it would take to lift a small child.

Balloon science:

Have you ever wondered how many helium balloons it would take to lift different objects Up into the air?

• Helium has a lifting force of about 1 gram per liter.
• An average size party balloon is approximately 30cm (one foot) in diameter.
• It can hold approximately 14 liters.
• That’s 14 grams of lift power per balloon.
• Estimate and subtract the weight of the string and the latex balloon.
• Formula: 1 balloon = 10 grams of lift power.

How Many Balloons Would It Take To Lift:

Your Neighbor’s Dog?
A happy Labrador Retriever dog weighs in at about 32 kg (70 lbs). It would take approximately 3200 balloons to lift this furry friend off the ground.

A Bicycle?
The average bicycle weighs approximately 19 kilograms (or 42 lbs). You will need approximately 1,900 balloons
to turn a 2-wheeler into an air-bike.

A Sumo Wrestler?
The average weight of a Sumo wrestler is approximately 148 kg (or 326 lbs). That means it would take about 148,000 balloons to send this guy Up.

A Small House?
This figure can vary in terms of quantity of balloons given the size and scale of the house. Let’s say the house in Disney/Pixar ’s movie Up weighed about 46,000 kg (that’s 101,413 lbs). That means it takes approximately 4,600,000 balloons to send Carl’s home Up and away!

Just in time to help you maximize the few minutes left before Christmas, here are the top 16 holiday movies captured in their most famous scenes.

This is just enough of a dose of some of them to make you fondly remember your first viewing and save you from a trip to the video store. Many of them, in my opinion, are a bit too cloying for re-viewing again now. And for cynics, read today’s excellent article in the New York Times on the sad dismal life of George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. The writer, Wendell Jamieson, opines that the world would have actually been a better more prosperous place without George, citing his felony theft, upstate New York economic trends, and the dismal conformist life that George in which George is forced to find meaning. If you’re mumbling “bah” around this time of year, this is a fun article to read.

As I mentioned in a previous post, our family enjoyed the short 22 minutes Shrek the Halls for its brevity, slapstick and adult humor, and insight on the real meaning of Christmas (as Donkey says, “It’s not Christmas until somebody cries.”).

But back to the video. You may want to send this one from Grandparents.com on to friends and family.

Merry Merry.

This is amusing, but also makes me think of other funny videos we’ve laughed at with our kids. I’ll post more.

This video is meant to be viral – watch until the end for the serious message about the disappearance of bees. Scientists now think they have figured out the mystery, but do not know how to solve it.

The link at the end takes you to a Haagen Daz site, so important message on bees with a commercial sting if you act.

A tip of the hat to MEGO.com for finding this one.