Goodnight Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales

I play this for my 4 year old and 18 month old daughters before bed! They know when this comes on it's time to wind down! We love this and it explains dreams so well for my kids to understand.after watching this over 200 times we all know it word for word when the part comes up for the little girl who made up her own lullaby my daughter falls asleep happily after singing it with her and now she's trying to write her own lullaby. This is such a gem upset I never knew about this until recently when my husband put it on and saying he watched it all the time when he was a kid now we have the same traditions with our daughters!

This is a great compilation of bedtime stories, songs and interviews with kids all about sleep and dreams, centered around the Goodnight Moon story. The animation is magical! My daughter loves it, and it calms her down before bed. My favorite song is Hush Little Baby sung by Lauryn Hill, the animation that goes along with it is so soothing. Also great is Tar Beach read by Natalie Cole, and Aaron Neville's lullaby. Susan Sarandon reads the classic Goodnight Moon story beautifully, whispering at all the right parts. The kids that are interviewed are very articulate and precocious. It's almost hard to believe. Their stories can bring me to tears at times. A must have kids movie for going to bed time.

This wonderful family special was the very first HBO thing that my older brother and I ever saw!!! In fact, I'm 21, and yet I still own my childhood VHS copy of it that I watched over and over when I was 2 (I have not used my VCR in 15 years, if I'm being honest, but my dad's gonna hook it up sooner or later, and it should still work). And when I first revisited it by getting it out of the library on DVD when I was 8, it brought back so many wonderful memories.

This is a really, really good HBO production, full of excellent bedtime stories and classic lullabies. The animation in each one is absolutely magical, and extremely faithful to the original books' illustrations, especially the main one, Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon! The animation is gorgeous, and flawlessly matches Clement Hurd's fabulous illustrations, elevated by terrific dynamic "camera movements". Same with Little Critter creator Mercer Mayer's There's a Nightmare in My Closet, and Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach, which both showcase phenomenal animation that's totally in line with the books' illustrations. In addition, the animation for the opening credits, and the lullabies is very soothing, and helped along by very appealing character and scenery designs.

And I must mention the performances. Susan Sarandon, a lovely actress, narrates Goodnight Moon so perfectly. She recites the book's words at such a calm pace, savoring every syllable and even whispering the last lines. There's a Nightmare in My Closet is narrated by Billy Crystal, who's best known for voicing Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc., and Monsters University, and he does a spectacular job. In fact, this was LOOONG before I ever even saw Monsters, Inc., so I didn't even know it was him. Not to mention, I can't even hear Mike here at all! It really shows what extraordinary range he's got. Natalie Cole (gone WAY too soon) narrates Tar Beach terrifically. She sounds like she's really musing on flying, and she's just so enthusiastic. In regards to the lullabies; swing legend Tony Bennett (may he rest in peace) sings the opening credits lullaby "Hit the Road to Dreamland" so fantastically. His buttery-smooth voice is so fitting to the tender melody and quirky-yet-pleasant lyrics. Lauryn Hill sings a VERY catchy, bouncy and rhythmical acapella version of "Hush, Little Baby". R&B wiz Aaron Neville lends his dreamy and very high voice to "Brahms' Lullaby". And don't even get me started on Patti LaBelle! Nobody can belt out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" as angelically as she can in this, and her beautiful, incredible voice fits perfectly to the visuals.

And in between the wonderful stories and songs, we get a series of really funny and adorable interviews with elementary school-age kids, who talk about sleep and the importance of dreams, and what they mean, and what not. We also get little clips of kids who explain security blankies and dreamcatchers. For the record, THIS was where I first heard of dreamcatchers! Of course, over the last 13 years, this special has gained far more recognition on the internet specifically because of its particularly amusing post-credits clip at the very end, of a cute kindergarten boy, Joe Cirkiel, who attempts to recite the "Have you ever had a dream...?" quote from Hercules (Good movie, by the way. I'll need to rewatch it on Disney+ at some point.), only to hilariously stumble over his words, which has become an internet meme. Thank you, Joe, for gracing us with something so cute and funny!!!

Now, let me wrap things up by saying a few words about the music. I've already talked about the lullabies, so I'll leave it there. John Debney's music for Goodnight Moon is absolutely beautiful and enchanting. Marco Beltrami's music for There's a Nightmare in My Closet is terrific, in that it starts out creepy and edgy, but takes a much more soothing, sweeter turn at the end. Tar Beach's music, by a group that I can't find anything about called the Simon 7 (that's what the end credits say), is wonderfully fitting, and heavily enhanced by Lisa Hunt's soulful vocals. And to cap it off, the end credits feature The Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do is Dream", which not only perfectly reflects the topics of dreams and sleepy time, it's an amazing song in its own right, and has stuck with me ever since I first watched the special.

Everything considered, Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales is an absolutely wonderful special for the whole family to enjoy! To think HBO, a TV service that mostly specializes in really raunchy stuff (for instance, one of my brother and me's favorite shows, Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm), would produce something so emotionally rich and yet family-friendly as this! Parents, believe me when I say your kids will enjoy this special every bit as much as me and my brother have and still do!!!!!!

Ten years ago this was my son's favorite tape to watch. Now as he sits down to watch the DVD with his baby sister, he loves it for all new reasons, & so do I.

It's the perfect mix of "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" & a star studded variety show. You are first transported to dreamland by Tony Bennett's short & sweet lullaby. Then Susan Sarandon narrates Goodnight Moon, one of the greatest children's books ever written. It feels like you crawl inside the book to go exploring. And if by this point in the show you haven't been completely sucked in, then there's just no hope for you. The celebrity narrations and songs are separated by adorable kids talking about what they think dreams are and where they come from. The kids unrehearsed chatter is my daughter's favorite part.

The best thing about this DVD is that it passes the parents test - it can be played over and over again without driving Mom and Dad insane.

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine!