Disney presents "Discover Spot"

Cute animated series that also spawned their own books. Adorable for both kids and adults; An homage to Eric Hill.

Mark this review as a little corner to chill out and ease yourself from the troubles other people has given you. It's impossible not to lighten your heart with an adorable puppy named Spot going through experiences and lessons he's learning while he's young. You can't get any more sweet than this.

My first, and only, fanaticism to Spot was through his books so it's was a treat to finally have this on video. Let me tell you: It's even more smile-inducing watching this full-length tape. Not only is this perfect for young kids, but adults who still feel like a kid at heart truly will love this series.

This volume features 13 different stories of Spot doing the normal things any kid would do while learning how to go about them, solving them and properly developing a responsibility in doing it. Before we get to that, let's go through the trailers and advertisements in this video. They feature the following: The Tigger Movie, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Winnie The Pooh, Spot, Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney.

Now onto the feature presentation. The movie starts with such a heart-warming introduction theme that goes like this:

"♪ With a smile and a laugh he can light up your day,
Like the Sun peekin' over the hill.
And his tail wiggle-wags 'cause he's ready to play,
Come along, it'll be quite a thrill.
There's a great big world to discover, let's uncover what he's got,
Everyone is having lots of fun with a friend named Spot.
There's so much to learn it's amazing, oh, my everything is so new,
It's rather nice to have someone to share it all with.
Hey, how about you?
Let's begin our adventure with somebody who,
We all like a lot!
He's a friend named Spot. ♫"

Seriously, that's the cutest introduction I have ever seen. I won't be surprised over the load-off people get when they watch this, especially those who remember watching this series as a child.

Onto the stories, and they are:

• "Spot's Show"
Spot's friends come over to play dress-up and put on a stage show for his parents—Spot's parents are named Sally (mother) and Sam (father). His friends' names are Steve (monkey), Tom (crocodile) and Helen (hippo). While setting up for their "broadway musical," Sam tries to find his morning newspaper only to find it cut up into Spot's crown.

As for the kids, Tasha and Nancy, they try to find what's in Spot's box and they play dress-up as well.

• "Spot's Treehouse"
Spot says hello to the bird atop a tree. Spot's father Sam brings the tools and Spot helps out as they both build a treehouse together. Spot's mom Sally serves Spot breakfast on his new treehouse.

For the kids, Jessica and Emily complete Spot's puzzle by finding animals that fit in their natural habitat.

• "Spot's Breakfast"
"Bumpity, bumpity, bumpity, down," as Spot climbs down the stairs (a catchy phrase which surprisingly hasn't caught on yet). Spot wakes up only to find his parents still sleeping, and decides to make his own breakfast. Clumsily, Spot drops an egg, spills the bread, gets a bowl of cereal but pours too much and spills the milk. Spot's mom wakes up and tells Spot to clean the mess, but was proud he was able to set up breakfast for himself. Spot's dad also wakes up and is proud of Spot for setting up breakfast and cleaning up his own mess.

The kids, with their names not mentioned, find out what the animals in Spot's yard are eating for breakfast.

• "Spot's Hobby Horse"
Steve stops by Spot's house and plays outside with him on his new hobby horse. They both eventually run into Helen who, too, wants to ride the hobby horse. Using their imaginations, Steve and Spot find elongated objects resembling a hobby horse and use that. After they are done, Steve and Helen go home while Spot puts away the broomstick and the hobby horse back in the closet for next time.

The kids, Naomi, Dale and Blake, ride their own hobby horses.

• "Spot's Grandpa"
Spot happily awaits as his Grandpa comes over to visit (this Grandpa is Sally's father). They both go out to the park while Spot sees some things asking his Grandpa what they may be. With the help of his Grandpa, Spot finds a tulip and a ladybug. Grandpa sees a gray cloud approaching over yonder indicating rain coming soon. They both go back home, and after Spot's bath, Grandpa reads him a bedtime story.

The kids, again without their names mentioned, try to find a ladybug in Spot's garden.

• "Spot's Umbrella"
Seeing that it's raining outside, Spot grabs his umbrella from his box. He asks his mom if he could go to Tom's house with the aid of his umbrella. Reluctantly, she allows Spot to go out, as he greets various animals along the way. Spot makes it to Tom's house as they both play with cars. Seeing that it's time to go home, they both see a rainbow but Spot brings his umbrella just in case. Spot makes it back home safely.

Little kid Jack tries to find which animals live in the pond.

• "Spot's Band"
Spot and his father walk to the park as they hear and see a band performance. Spot runs into his friends who were excited to watch the band perform. Helen makes mention that her mother is in the band playing the tuba. Spot then wants to construct his own band as they all go back to Spot's house. Going through Spot's box, Tom will play the drums, Steve will play the trumpet, Helen will play the cymbals—using pot covers that Spot got from the kitchen, to which his mom thinks he was going to cook something—and Spot chooses to be the conductor. They all perform in front of Spot's parents and they both loved the performance.

Children then learn about instruments and how to go about making noises/sounds with them.

• "Spot's Bath"
His mother reminding him it's bath time, Spot plays with his toys and does so a little bit longer. While Spot's mom prepares his [bubble] bath, Spot gets his rubber duck, fish and his boat to complete his bath time. After his bath, Spot dries up and his mother reads him a bedtime story.

The kids test which objects float and sink in the bathtub.

• "Spot's Tent"
Spot's friends, Tom and Helen, come over to stay at Spot's tent. His father happily setting up the tent and giving Spot a flashlight for guidance, the trio go inside to make space and who is sleeping in what side of the tent. After their brief nap, the trio wake up and see a cat, an owl and a frog during the night. Then, Tom goes back in the house to get a glass of water, Helen forgot to brush her teeth and Spot decides to brush his teeth as well. The trio eventually stay inside the house instead and sleep in (what happened to the tent?).

Kids, Jack and Amy, find Spot's friends to have them say goodnight.

• "Spot Cleans Up"
Spot and Steve are playing with the toys, as Spot's mom walks in to remind the kids to clean up because it's getting late. They both clean up and Steve leaves hoping to play with Spot again. After being told to brush his teeth, Spot can't go to sleep without finding his favorite teddy bear. Rummaging through his entire room again, and making that same mess in the first place, Spot's mom finds his teddy bear hiding underneath his blankets. Spot promises his mom he'll clean up first thing in the morning (good boy).

Helping Spot clean up his room, the kids pick up toy balls and placing them in the colored boxes in their matching colors. This segment looks like something you'd see from Nickelodeon's show Double Dare.

• "Spot Helps Grandma"
Spot goes over to visit his Grandma, when Grandma offers Spot to help her around the house. After tidying things up and cleaning, Spot gets cozy being told a bedtime story by his Grandma.

The kids then find an object and what pairs with it (i.e. eyeglasses pair with its eyeglass case).

• "Spot's School Trip"
Spot's parents wish Spot a happy school trip to the Aquarium. Miss Bear chaperones the youngsters as they all explore various aquatic animals; Spot finds hi to his new favorite which is a yellow fish. Miss Bear then gives the group paper and pencil to draw their favorite underwater animal. Spot arrives back home to show his parents the drawing of his new, favorite animal.

Kids complete the puzzle on what animals live in the aquarium.

• "Spot Plays Hide And Seek"
Wanting to play Hide and Seek, Spot sneaks past his mother, who is washing dishes, and pops up in surprise when she walks by. Out by their garden, Spot and his mom play hide and seek. Sally asks Sam where Spot is but both can't find him. Spot's friend Steve shows up and decides to play Hide and Seek as well, trying to find Spot. Steve finds Spot hiding in one of the furniture.

Kids try to find animals hiding in Spot's garden. Video ends with credits.

I can't recommend a better volume for children to watch and learn. Besides, who doesn't love puppies? As for the adults, Spot is a perfect choice for that special gift to someone in your life.

Of all the years I've lived currently, Spot always puts a smile on my face. Heck, it should create a soft "spot" in your hearts for animals as well. With that being said, this series does two good things to viewers and fans.

While it's targeted toward parents, teachers and/or guardians as a fun way to teach children to take on responsibilities, I still highly recommend this a lot!

It is with this I say: Now that this review is up for the public, film studios will tamper with this series hoping for a more modern take. Also, it saddens me to know that memes will be, and likely be, created about this cartoon ruining the overloaded cuteness this series has provided. It's reality, and that's all it has come down to. Still, it shouldn't deter you from watching this.

(I dedicate this review personally to the creator himself, Eric Hill. While my parents lent my sister and I the books of "Spot," it has gotten us to adore the little puppy, AND have a curious care for dogs in general. Having finally watched the animated series, it's just as cute as the books were. Now, here we are. Would've been nice to interview you as well on our website, but it's way too late, sadly. Rest in peace, Mr. Eric Hill and I, along with the entire KCU Network, will make sure to continuously spread the word about Spot. The real world always provides some challenges yet induces a significant amount of stress, but it's very pleasing to know that all that pain goes away watching a video about good ol' Spot. You will truly be missed, Eric Hill. Long live Spot!)

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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