BLUE'S BIG CITY ADVENTURE (2022)

From Nickelodeon, a BLUE’S CLUES Live-Action/Animation mix musical too enjoyable to be entirely wasted on youth.  Not that the target audience (toddlers to twelve?) won’t enjoy the fast-paced silliness & fourth-wall breakage as puppy-dog Blue and puppyish pal Joshua Dela Cruz head to NYC for his big B’way audition.  But without remembering to bring the theater address, how will they ever find it?  Moving steadily forward via fun visual effects, a simple goal, good friends trying to help (local New Yorkers & lively inanimate objects on a rescue mission from home), and a pure heart, they sing & dance their way thru a brightly lit city with special attention paid to the Main Public Library at 42nd & Fifth (the one with lions Patience & Fortitude), Food Cart pretzels, and the pathways & public spaces of Central Park.  Looking spectacularly crisp, sunny & clean (wait till the kids get Mom & Dad to take them to the real locations!), with pauses for intimate asides to ask viewers for help spotting those ‘clues,’ the film misses a trick by sticking to all production numbers all the time, even when the show’s big finale seems to call for a quiet, thoughtful change-of-pace solo for Josh.  But wait, the creatives think so too, swapping bold & brassy hip-hop for a lovely little solo encore for him back at home.*  (Worry not, the credits bring on one more up-tempo number.)  Sweet-natured stuff, without being saccharine.  Writer/producer Angela Santomero has been ‘Blue Cluing’ forever, but newbie director Matt Stawski already fits right in.

ATTENTON MUST BE PAID/LINK:  *Adorable enough to steal focus from an animated blue puppy, ultra-high energy Joshua Dela Cruz could easily turn Tommy Steele (HALF A SIXPENCE/’67) cringey, but instead is more like Donald O’Connor at his SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN/'52 best.   He even does an O’Connor signature move using a wooden chair as a ‘dance prop’ tip-over step.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/08/half-sixpence-1967.html

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: It’s been a long time since Tim Burton saw similar breakout potential for a kids’ film appealing to grownups in PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE/’85.  (Note similar titles.)  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/pee-wees-big-adventure-1985.html