"THE MIGHTY B!: WE GOT THE BEE"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Amy Poehler as BESSIE HIGGENBOTTOM Dee Bradley Baker as HAPPY Grey DeLisle as PORTIA GIBBONS Dannah Feinglass as PENNY Sarah Thyre as MRS. GIBBONS Jessica Di Cicco as GWEN Andy Richter as BENJAMIN HIGGENBOTTOM Not Rated Studio: Nickelodeon Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Bessie Higgenbottom is the most passionate 9 3/4 year old you’ll know. She is determined to earn every badge for Honeybee Troop #828, and stop at nothing to do so. As a superhero in training, also known as The Mighty B, Bessie goes through a series of misadventures in her quest for badges. “The Mighty B!: We Got the Bee” contains eight episodes of the Nickelodeon series: “We Got the Bee,” “So Happy Together,” “Sweet Sixteenth,” “Bee My Baby,” “Bee Afraid,” “Artificial Unintelligence,” “Bat Mitzvah Crashers” and “Super Secret Weakness.”
WHAT I LIKED
I have been a fan of Amy Poehler ever since she came to full mainstream prominence with “Saturday Night Live.” Although often overshadowed by Tina Fey, Poehler is easily one of the funniest women in America. Her presence on a show like “The Mighty B!” adds a certain level of credibility and quality that might be missed in another series.
There’s a fine line to travel when making a frenetic kids’ show like this, and “The Mighty B!” manages to be both funny and clever. It has a ton of energy, which we see in a lot of the programming from Nickelodeon (e.g., “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “The Fairly Oddparents” and “Jimmy Neutron”), but it doesn’t get so over the top that the parents are going to hate it. This might be a result of the show being fairly new, but overall, it’s not hard to watch if you’re an adult.
The range of topics and situations these stories cover offer a glimpse into what can be a relatively broad show. Unlike something like “SpongeBob,” which is limited with its underwater premise, “The Mighty B!” has the world at its disposal.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Although it is by far not unwatchable by adults, “The Mighty B!” does have moments that get to be too much. This DVD does allow kids a chance to see some of the earliest episodes if they missed them on Nickelodeon (although that’s hard to believe considering how many times shows are rerun on the modern cable stations), so it’s nice to see where Happy comes from and Bessie’s earlier adventures.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD with a selection of bonus features that are pretty hefty for a one-disc children’s release. Included is a meet and greet with the creators and cast, the original animatic for “Bat Mitzvah Crashers” and a karaoke music video for “Running with the Rainbow Unicorn.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the Nickelodeon slate of kids’ shows.
