Featured TV on DVD Review: Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Mateys Away!

September 25, 2011

Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Mateys Away! - Buy from Amazon

Jake and the Never Land Pirates made its debut on February 14th of this year and was an instant hit with 2.2 million viewers for its first episode. The show, as the name suggests, is based on Peter Pan and set in Never Land. It's first DVD release, called Yo Ho, Mateys Away! hits the home market this week. But how is the show compared to others aimed at the same market? And is the DVD worth picking up?

The Show

The show tells of the adventures of three pirates: Jake, the oldest of the three pirates and the leader who fights Captain Hook with his trusty wooden sword; Izzy, the middle of the three and a girl, who uses her bag of Pixie Dust to get out of emergencies; Cubby, the youngest and the navigator; and Skully, their parrot / lookout. (They occasionally get help from Marina the Mermaid.) Captain Hook and Mr. Smee are the main bad guys, but fortunately, Hook's not much of a pirate and he's lost most of his crew. (He's down to just Sharky and Bones, who also show up in live action to sing a song at the end of the episodes.)

Each episode is split into two 11-minute shorts, starting with...

  1. Hats Off To Hook!/Escape from Belch Mountain
    In the first short, Captain Hook loses his hat and it washes up on the beach in front of the pirates' hideout. So Jake and the rest head off to return it.
    Jake is rocking out on the beach on his guitar, but he is so loud that Captain Hook can't sleep. When Captain Hook steals the guitar, he plans to throw it into Belch Mountain.
  2. Hide the Hideout!/The Old Shell Game
    Captain Hook wants a hideout, so he's going to find the Never Land Pirates hideout and steal it. The pirates see him coming and close all the hatches, but Hook won't give up so easily.
    When Izzy finds a really cool sea shell, Captain Hook steals it. Now the Never Land Pirates have to get it back.
  3. Izzy's Pirate Puzzle/The Never Land Games
    Jake and Cubby are putting together a puzzle when Izzy comes by and solves it really quickly. She's a fan of puzzles and has a special puzzle box that can only be opened a special way. When Captain Hook sees it, he assumes it's full of treasure and steals it. But will he be able to open it before Jake and the Pirates get it back?
    Jake and Skully have set up pirates games and the Never Land Pirates will have to compete against Captain Hook and his pirates to win a trophy. At least that's the plan. Captain Hook first tries to steal the trophy. And when that doesn't work, he competes, but without the rest of the pirates, because he doesn't need a team.
  4. Off the Hook/Never Say Never!
    Jake finds a skateboard washed up on the shore, but before Izzy or Cubby get a turn to use it, Captain Hook steals it. Now they have to get it back.
    There's an accident on the Jolly Roger, Captain Hook's ship. In order to fix it, he needs the Izzy's Hula Hoop. Captain Hook gets the Never Bird to steal it for him, but then the bird decides to keep it. Now the two groups of pirates are in a race to see who can get it back first.
  5. Cubby's Sunken Treasure/Cubby's Goldfish
    While fishing, Cubby catches a message in a bottle. It's a hint to Captain Fisher's lost treasure. But while they are looking for the treasure, Captain Hook is following them hoping to get it first.
    Captain Hook is complaining about the state of his fish tank when he spots a glorious goldfish. That fish is Gilly, Cubby's new fish that he's trained to do tricks. He decides to steal it, but the Never Land Pirates will try to get her back.
  6. Happy Hook Day!/No Returns!
    It's Skully's birthday and the other Never Land pirates are throwing him a party. It doesn't take long before Hook steals the presents, and the pirates have to race to get them back.
    The pirates find a boomerang on the beach, but while playing with it, Captain Hook catches it are sails away. The pirate are off to get it back, but after Captain Hook hurts himself a few times, he decides to give it back. Giving it back turns out to be more dangerous than he expected.
  7. The Sky's The Limit/Bucky Makes A Splash
    It's a windy day and the pirates of flying kites. Of course, Captain Hook steals them, but while sailing away, he loses control of the kites and they fly away on their own.
    Jake and the Pirates and making sure Bucky, their pirate ship, is in ship shape. When they go off to gather palm leaves to make a broom to sweep the deck, Captain Hook steals Bucky. But when he witnesses all that Bucky can do, he thinks the ship is haunted.

The Extras

Extras start with a five-minute featurette on how to be a pirate, complete with instructions on how to make a pirate hat, how to talk like a pirate, etc. Next up are seven songs you can sing along with. The DVD also comes with a CD with seven songs and an eye-patch, which I'm currently wearing. Arr.

The Verdict

Jake and the Never Land Pirates should be a hit with most of its target audience and has plenty of adventure and enough interactivity to engage the younger ones. Yo Ho, Mateys Away! is great value for your money when compared to other shows aimed at preschoolers and includes more episodes than the average single-disc release, real extras, a bonus CD of songs, and the eye patch. Worth picking up.


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