Children's Movie Review: Iesodo Joy Cartoon -a Nativity Retelling!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this product, free of charge, from Zaya Toonz, via Edify Entertainment, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

Miss Grace LOVES the Iesodo cartoons,

so she was only too happy to review the latest release:

SYNOPSIS

Iesodo (Yay-Sa-Doe) is a wise white dove whose name means “The Way of Jesus.” He and his feathered friends bring your favorite New Testament stories to life in a whole new way including this special re-imagining of the Nativity story. Let your heart take flight and tweet along to holiday carols and all-new songs!

Festivities are in full swing as the flock prepares to celebrate  Iesodo's birthday! The Cypress Tree is decked out with holly berries and excitement is in the air. Everyone gathers as Rocky shares the incredible story of Iesodo's birth.

Iesodo  is a highly acclaimed Telly and Accolade Award winning series featuring a cast of animated birds who live in a Cypress Tree on the shores of Galilee. Sound familiar yet? Presented with cutting edge imagery, Iesodo, which means “The way of Jesus”, is a wise and gentle dove that shares Jesus' tales and biblical teachings, in a very accessible, entertaining way for children. 

“Children learn from, and sometimes even emulate, the actions and personalities of loveable animated characters such as Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, and we want them to do the same with Iesodo,” said executive producers Jared and Natalie Hankins. “The Iesodo character is a representation of Jesus, and the stories shared throughout each episode are based on Jesus’ teachings.They are universal principles we hope all parents wants to instill in their children, such as loving one another, conquering fear, sharing and being kind.”

Directors for the series include Brian E. Ray whose credits consist of Muppet Babies, My Little Pony Tales and Ed, Ed, and Eddy, as well as Colin Brady, whose credits include Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life. Brady also served as the former animation supervisor for Pixar Animation Studios. Producer Eric S. Rollman, President/CEO of Rollman Entertainment, formerly served as President of Production for Fox Kids and Marvel, and writer/producer Rob Loos is an Emmy Nominee and writer/producer for McGee and Me! Christmas Lamb, Kids 10 Commandments and Touched by an Angel. The Iesodo series also features the voice of Erin Bethea (Fireproof, Amazing Love) as Maggie.

Check out the trailer:

Review:
Miss Grace sorted out all her DVDs a couple of weeks ago and culled the heard so to speak, of DVDs she still watched, those she has outgrown and those she didn't want to keep. It was a daunting task and I had to smile when she grabbed her Iesodo DVDs to her heart and told me "I LOVE these, I will never get rid of them! They go with the ones I watch a lot (aka the lower shelf)". She may be 7, but these videos still resound with her, bring her joy when she watches them. That is so amazing for parents! We LOVED this retelling of the nativity story! Miss Grace's class is starting to practice for their Christmas program, so she is already WAY in the Christmas mood! Plus the priest and her had talked about advent at her First Communion lesson this past Sunday, so she was pointing out the representations from all the bible stories to me as we watched the video. Sorta like a running director's dialogue! LOL. We watched the included Christmas Sing a Long three times in a row! She couldn't wait to watch it again! like the previous DVDs, Joy has a parent discussion guide included on the disc. The guide is helpful to check your child's understanding of the story, and to use for bible study in relating to the DVD. 
We love this latest addition to the Iesodo line, and can't wait to see the next one!
Purchase:
Each DVD runs about 50 minutes, and retails for only $14.99! The videos are available online via Amazon, or at your local Christian retail stores or Walmart stores. 

Be sure to check out the activities page on the Iesodo website for some great DVD related activities, perfect for the holiday season, including ornaments and an advent calendar! And don't forget to follow the series on Facebook and Twitter, so you know when more activities are posted, and videos are available! We can't recommend these videos enough for your own kids, or for kids you love, and with the latest video, they are perfect for Christmas giving!
*****

Zaya Toonz LLC is an animation studio based in Los Angeles, California dedicated to producing high quality animated content that will enlighten, encourage, and excite today’s kids. Founded by Jared Hankins, Mike Hofferth, and Eric Rollman in 2010, the company’s first DVD series is the groundbreaking faith-based project ‘Iesodo.’

Capitol Christian Distribution, the market leader in Christian and Gospel music distribution, as well as chart topping Christian films and books, distributes theIesodo DVD series.