The Tale of the Bookish Babysitter
- Episode aired Feb 12, 1994
- Not Rated
- 22m
A babysitter shows a boy who loves TV that books are just as exciting.A babysitter shows a boy who loves TV that books are just as exciting.A babysitter shows a boy who loves TV that books are just as exciting.
Photos
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the fourth episode, where the portayals didn't make any more appearances. The first episode was "The Tale of Locker 22". The second episode was "The Tale of the Frozen Ghost", the third one was "The Tale of Apartment 214" and the fifth one was "The Tale of the Virtual Pets".
- GoofsThe fish in the aquarium are revealed to be fake since they never move.
- Quotes
Belinda: [blocking the door so the witch can't get in] That should do... for now.
Ricky Winter: For now? What do you mean 'for now'? Make it go away!
Belinda: [giggles] Sorry, can't.
Ricky Winter: You CAN'T?
Belinda: You are INTO the stories now, you have to finish them. But, since you burned my books, you're going to have to use YOUR imagination, IF you don't want to end up being HER dinner.
Ricky Winter: What do I do?
Belinda: I'd finish off the story, fast.
Ricky Winter: But the book's gone!
Belinda: Then make it up!
Ricky Winter: Make it up?
Belinda: Sure, go for it, it's YOUR story now.
- Crazy creditsNickelodeon Stripe logo (rare) after end credits
- ConnectionsFeatured in Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Feel the Fear (1994)
- SoundtracksAre You Afraid of the Dark? Theme
Arranged and produced by Ray Fabi
Really like the premise which once again gets at meta fiction, on what you read coming to life which is cool. I like the babysitter Belinda, she's a mysterious sot with wearing all the black she wears and her books which are magical. She's sort by her nature a guardian angel character (well a dark one at that but hey whatever works) as she's is really sent no so much to babysit the kid, but to teach the kid a lesson in life.
The kid Ricky whom I'll admit looks a little too old for a babysitter which I'll admit is one ink blemish in this episode; this actor might have been a little miscast as the role was probably meant for someone a little younger. But like I said a little blemish and the actor does a good job all the same. Anyway, when we meet him at first he's a bit unlikeable as he is on the lazy side, watches too much TV let alone eats way too many potato chips, just one look at that bit bowl that is just not healthy. His laziness is so bad that he can barely read one sentence. We all known kids like that in our schools that don't like reading, thinking it's a waste of time, boring, just not in to it, blah blah blah..... Some of these kids (and I mean some) really aren't bad kids at all, they feel that way about reading because their just unmotivated from too much visual medium which is easily making them misunderstand what entertainment is about; though I feel in the school most times the literary world is presented or handled wrong which makes it easy to see why most kids are put off.
Anyway, we see as he has read the stories a little bit each figure or creature in it comes to life. Unfortunately there is one catch, each story has to be finished otherwise they'll never go away. Which makes sense, whenever you begin a story it comes to life in your mind, but at first you only have a fragment or two of story, you continue to read to put them all together.
Really like the sequences with the characters come to life, sort of reminds me a bit of the film "Jumanji" (which of course was based on a book) where character in a board game come to life and attack the players; here it's characters in books, we see each is trying to attack this kid as we see a close call or two, I'll admit the witch and some ghost/banshee were creepy looking. It then gets the final half which I thought was cool sort of a wish fulfillment aspect for any reader as he is transported into this fantasy world where Ricky's only hope in getting rid of the monsters is to use his imagination. On a side note there was one funny moment, when Ricky tries using his imagination and then says he'd be armed with an uzi; of course due to kid show standards Ricky having one would never happen. But it makes sense it didn't just appear to him because Ricky wasn't really using his imagination he was trying to cheat his way out of the story, so sorry Ricky your going to have to imagine harder.
I like that the book he has is a blank book but then as he is going along and doing things in this world, we see there is text appearing. Here he is learning the importance and power of the written word, to use his imagination, create his own story which is to me the best thing about reading.
Sometimes the best stories created are your own.
Rating: 3 and a half stars.
- hellraiser7
- May 11, 2018
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color