This video consists of animation of the adorable puppy exploring the world, interacting with live footage of babies, real-life puppies and dogs, farm animals, and breath-taking images of nature. It features beautiful, soothing classical music selections by Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms and Mendelssohn arranged for children and played on a real piano by an award-winning concert pianist.
This is a charming, calming title to watch with children. Through narration and simple images, the child progressively learns names for animals, colors, shapes, numbers, emotions and other important concepts. This is appropriate for young children and the music compliments the images beautifully, enhancing the impact of the overall experience.
My grandchildren children love this video. They are fond of all the animals, especially the birds. They are convinced that every bird in the video also lives in their backyard. They enjoy going to the children's petting zoo so they can see sheep and other farm animals up close. And they just can't understand why they can't get a new puppy every week.
--Ranny
Max Reynal and Doug Morrione are the co-producers and co-creators of Jack, the Cuddly Dog. In addition to being filmmakers, they are respectively a father and an uncle who decided there was a need for a new generation of baby videos. Inspired by classic baby books such as Goodnight Moon and Winnie the Pooh, they decided to focus on a cuddly animal who would give the videos a warm and "organic" feel. Another artistic differentiator was having music recorded on real instruments rather than the synthesizers many others use.Max and Doug created the character of a puppy named Jack who is learning about the world, scampering about and saying "hello" to the viewers. The filmmakers spent over a year studying early-childhood development. They found that no studies have yet ascertained whether educational videos for children under three help with cognitive development, so no claims are made by the filmmakers to this effect. Instead, with common sense and sensitivity, they have strived to make gentle videos that would delight young children and parents alike.After attending Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Doug received his BA in History and Anthropology from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, and Masters Degree in Media Studies from The New School for Social Research, in New York. Doug recently worked on the Emmy-awarded film, A Yiddish World Remembered, as well as projects for the award-winning production company, StickFigure Productions and HBO. Max has a Masters in Fine Arts in Film and Television from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a BA from Columbia University. He is the proud father of Lucy Rose Reynal, age 6, who along with Kristine Louis, is one of the voices of Jack, the Cuddly Dog. Max's awards include: Gold Award for Best Short Drama from Houston Worldfest (for "The Butterfly Dance" which starred Vera Farmiga of "Up in the Air" fame), Recipient of Warner Bros Post-production cash award, Tisch School of the Arts Dean's Award for excellent acting performance, Official selection at the Denver International Film Festival, selected to be a graduate assistant at NYU, and the Seymour Brick Award from Columbia University for Best Play.