Review: Celebrate good fun with 'Elena of Avalor'

Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 4:20 PM Central
Last updated Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 4:21 PM Central

by John Couture

Disney is really doing some interesting things with their breakout new hit Elena of Avalor. They have shown a remarkable ability to adapt with their growing audience by creating content that appeals to a more mature crowd.

Of course, I'm not so sure that I'm ready to use mature in a sentence with my five-year-old daughter, but such is life. While she's no longer in the target audience for 157638{Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and has gotten a bit bored lately with Sofia the First, she can't get enough of Elena of Avalor.

So, when I brought home Elena of Avalor: Celebrations to Remember to review, she demanded that we put it in and watch it immediately. A few hours and six episodes later, we had consumed the DVD and my daughter was politely begging for more.

While she'll have to wait for new Elena of Avalor episodes, that won't stop her from rewatching this DVD ad nauseam. The collection of episodes is fun because as with most things Elena there's a particular Spanish influence that runs through the series.

Not only is this a brilliant strategy by Disney given the increasing Spanish-language audience, but they are capitalizing on the uniqueness of this programming. My daughter is in kindergarten, but she already has a weekly Spanish class that is introducing her to this rich culture.

So, she is learning about Navidad, Dia de los Muertos and Carnaval in school a bit and that is being reinforced with these Elena of Avalor episodes. In other words, Disney knows that children are being exposed to this culture and Elena of Avalor is just another way to tap into this impressionable audience.

As young children are wont to do, my daughter asked me several questions about the interesting holidays and that led to us watching the trailer for Coco, which, gee, is an upcoming film from Disney/Pixar. Yes, I think Disney knows exactly what they are doing in terms of franchise building.

The last thing that tickled her fancy was the included locket that came with the DVD package. She immediately put it on and hasn't taken it off since she got it. Sure, it comes loaded up with a picture of Elena in it and it's branded for Elena of Avalor, but it's a nice little metal locket and I could see us replacing that picture with a nice family shot in the coming weeks.

Elena of Avalor: Celebrations to Remember is a great extension of the Disney brand and will entertian little ones for many hours. As a parent, we relish anything that gives us a moment to ourselves, so this DVD was a welcome addition to our film library.

Elena of Avalor: Celebrations to Remember is now available on DVD and you can buy it now for only $12.93.