User blog:WigglesFan82/Here Comes the Big Red Car & It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! Review

Today I’m tackling two videos, and for once I actually have positive things to say about them. The videos I’m talking about are Here Comes the Big Red Car and It’s Time to Wake Up Jeff!, two remake videos from 2006. And it’s the fact that they’re remakes that got them a lot of hate when they came out. Wiggles fans all over the world thought they were officially out of ideas to go back and improve upon previous videos, without even realizing two of their most iconic videos (Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy) were also remakes! And with those they didn’t even try to cover it, they kept the same names and everything. Now, today the hate has died down to a certain extent, but there are still people who just don’t like that they remade Big Red Car and Wake Up Jeff!, and I’m here to stand up for them.

Now, before I continue, I’m going to get rid of the elephant in the room right off the bat. The beach-side songs. Why are they like this? I don’t know. Do they add anything to the videos? Not really. Do they hinder the quality of it? No, so why do people question them so much? Yeah, it’s weird that they felt the need to film random songs like Wake Up Jeff and Havenu Shalom Alechem at the beach, but at the end it’s not like it really matters. Nothing about these songs says they have to be filmed in a studio, so it’s just not worth complaining about.

So what do these videos have to offer that’s better than the originals? Well, unlike the Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy remakes they never re-recorded any of the songs outside of a Our Boat is Rocking on the Sea and Nicky Nacky Nocky Noo. And if it weren’t for the fact that Anthony originally performed Captain in those they probably wouldn’t have even done those. So, that is one complaint that is justified. But what about the videos themselves? Well, for the most part they’re a major step up from the originals. For one, they actually have real sets. With props. And furniture. And a variety in colors. As much as I love Big Red Car and Wake Up Jeff! they had a very, very, very limited budget. The backdrops consisted of one color and occasionally a projection of clouds or a clover or something. The backgrounds used on the prologues here use a lot of small lights to enhance them, and even if they didn’t they’re still really well designed, especially the one for ITTWUJ. As for the songs themselves, they tend to use the Wigglehouse and SS Feathersword interior sets a lot, and again, the detail and design is really cool looking. I’d love to have a chance to be in those sets, too bad they probably don’t exist anymore. Yes, they use a green/blue screen for some songs, but only when necessary. It’s not like early Sam videos where they use it every chance they get. We do get some new songs (or at least new to video), but most of them are with Captain Feathersword and are showcased in Sailing Around the World-type short stories. Well, at least there’s not 11 per video this time taking up the whole thing.

I love both of these videos, and I think they deserve more love then they tend to get. They took two already amazing videos and perfected them. I’d give them both a 4 out of 5. The only thing preventing them from getting 5 stars is that some songs should have been re-recorded, like maybe Di Dicki Do Dum and Bing Bang Bong, but for what the videos are I can accept them staying the same. I’m going on vacation next week, so there will probably be a longer delay than normal for when I make my next full-fledged review, but I have something planned to tide you over until then.