Saturday, August 9, 2014

On The Air: The 7D (2014)

Of late, Disney has been rebooting classic fairy tales for new audiences. In the movies, Rapunzel was adapted into "Tangled". The Snow Queen became "Frozen". Perhaps it's to protect themselves in terms of copyrights, and, so far, it's worked.

And so it is that their latest reboot was made for television. The beloved Seven Dwarves now have their own series, albeit as The 7D.

DisneyXD is pushing this show pretty hard this summer, as it airs weekday mornings as well as on Sundays. That's how much they believe in the series. Factor in 2 former WB producers from that studio's rebirth in the 90's, Sherri Stoner and Tom Ruegger, and you have a formula for a whimsical half hour that works for every member of the family.

The only quibble I have is in how the guys are now dressed. Too colorful, almost like a troupe of clowns. Yes, they now look much younger than they did in "Snow White & the Seven Dwarves" in 1937, but, then, I read somewhere that this is supposed to be some kind of prequel to that classic.

Anyway, the 7D are always on call for the Queen of Jollywood, foiling the plots of the husband & wife sorcerers, the Glooms, to take over the kingdom. Mrs. Gloom's voice is done by singer Kelly Osbourne in her cartoon debut. Whoopi Goldberg (The View) is heard as the Magic Mirror, but otherwise the cast is comprised of the usual voice-over standouts, such as Maurice LaMarche, Scott Menville, and Dee Bradley Baker.

Here's the open. Full episodes are not yet available on YouTube:



Parents, once your kids are used to these dwarves, ya might wanna grab a DVD of "Snow White" to show them how they used to look. They'll love it.

Rating: A.

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