Plot Details: This opinion reveals no details about the movie's plot.

My toddler and I love Baby Mozart, so I expected to be equally pleased with Baby Bach. Unfortunately, while it’s not a bad video, it suffers in comparison.

The Baby Einstein videos (which include Baby Mozart and Baby Bach) were originally inspired by the "Mozart Effect," a theory that learning, or even intelligence, can be enhanced by listening to Mozart’s music. I don’t know if producer Julie Aigner-Clark thought the same effect would apply with other classical music, or if she simply wanted to make another video with a different composer. The Mozart Effect theory has fallen out of favor, but the videos are still a wonderful way to entertain and even educate your child.

Like Baby Mozart, Baby Bach is a 30-minute “video board book.” It features various video clips and still photos, mostly of toys, set to simple arrangements of Bach’s music. The toys include puppets, kinetic sculptures, wind-up toys, and other visuals such as fiber optics. Much of it is very engaging for young children and even older ones. However, the visuals in Baby Bach are simply not as fun or interesting as those in Baby Mozart, or are not presented in an interesting way. For example, some of the toys featured are musical instruments. It would be easy enough to show someone playing the instruments, but they are simply presented as still photos.

I also dislike the way the Clark daughters are featured in the video. They appear very briefly in Baby Mozart – the youngest is an infant who reaches for one of the toys, and the older one plays with puppets in the credits. But in Baby Bach, the girls are the stars – the older girl makes faces, tells a joke,* dances with her sister, talks about being in the video… all of which would be quite entertaining if this were a Clark family home video. But it’s not. I know babies like to watch babies (though my daughter never seems interested in the Clark girls). But if they wanted to feature children, I wish they had not limited it to these two blonde little girls (newer Baby Einstein videos do feature both boys and girls of different races… along with the Clark girls, of course).

My major disappointment is that Baby Bach doesn’t provide the same “teachable moments” that Baby Mozart does. There aren’t as many obvious colors or objects to point out. I could say a lot about Baby Mozart’s colorful train going through tunnels and over bridges, or the puzzle of basic shapes in bright primary colors. Three bears playing musical instruments, while cute, doesn’t give you as much to talk about. There is no familiar song to sing along with (I realize this couldn’t be helped, since Bach didn’t write/adapt a classic children’s tune, but I still miss it). The still photos don’t show common everyday objects and therefore aren’t as suited to compare to objects your child already knows. When we see the still photos of fruit in Baby Mozart, I can talk about the apples and bananas we saw at the grocery store this morning. A drum that looks like a lollipop doesn’t really lend itself to that kind of connection.

The video does have its good points. The music is enjoyable. And I must admit my daughter seems to like it as much as she likes her other Baby Einstein videos. It just doesn’t work as well for the parent who wants to do something other than sit and watch. I would like it more if I wasn’t comparing it to Baby Mozart. But then again, I’m not the intended audience. ;-) If you haven't purchased either of these videos, I strongly suggest starting with Baby Mozart. You can read my review here: http://tlbwriter.epinions.com/content_10117025412

* Why did Mozart get rid of all of his chickens? Because they kept saying “bach bach bach.”




Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4