The Donut All-Stars

And now, for something completely different.

That's right, I'm reviewing a live action direct-to-video program. The Donut Man (Rob Evans) in The Donut All-Stars! I know this completely not a cartoon, and don't worry, I'll still keep reviewing cartoons in the future, but at least we have a Duncan puppet. Now, I won't exactly ruin the video for you, so, I'll just give you the basic premise. The first half takes place at the park in Texas, where The Donut Man, Duncan, and the Donut Repair Club practice for a big baseball game against the Mighty Warriors. With all their hearts, and souls, they trained and they trained, until they were all prepared for the big competition! I have no idea how they did it all in one day, but it doesn't matter. The second half has the club battling against the Mighty Warriors at the baseball stadium, ultimately winning. Now for my review.

What I like about this video is that, it's educational, funny, and has puppets performed by Steve Axtell of Axtell Expressions. Steve Axtell was a regular in the Donut Man video series, as the voice of Duncan. I especially found a funny version of their adaptation of David and Goliath, doesn't beat the VeggieTales version, but it's still very good. You have Andy Evans as David, and Steve Axtell's puppets like Lloyd as Goliath, the Lion from Camp Harmony, and a lamb. Complete with a baby lamb plush, it's all really funny! The video also knows how to slow down too, like after all the practicing, Matt Taylor (played by Matt Bell), tells The Donut Man the saddest news ever, his parents got divorced last winter, which would explains why Coach Taylor never showed up, after all, he was Matt's dad. The Donut Man understands about Matt's situation and explains that his parents got divorced when he was Matt's age, and he remembered in Church that there's a father in heaven who would never leave us, that of course, being God, leading to the heart-wrenching song of the video, "In His Arms." But I'm getting ahead of myself.

All that aside, with Matt's courage and confidence, he helped the Donut Repair Club win the championship from The Mighty Warriors! If I were to find some problems, there's only one, having an old man named Rick Randell be the sports announcer! I mean come on, he's too old to be a sports announcer, he's not like Mike O'Malley, Chick Hearn, or even Kirk Fogg. Heck, when he says "What's gotten into these kids?" he wheezes, and coughs, leading em to think "Why did they hire him?" Has he been the announcer for Donut Sports Network for many years:? Again, it's a nitpick, I'm just trying to look fro problems. Anyways, here's a fun fact for you. Bet you didn't know that one of the girls in the Donut Repair Club was actually Pia Manalo, who also portrayed Min on Barney and Friends. Isn't that ironic? Pia Manalo being in a Texas-related project I like that doesn't relate to Barney the Dinosaur. Heck, some of the crew of Barney and Friends worked on this video, like Jay Burney and Victor Sosa the director of photography. Pia Manalo was a part of the Donut Repair Club from 1992 to at least 1995.

So, overall, this video is great! You can really cheer on for the Repair Club in the big battle, and you can also admire the song during the competition called "Don't Be Afraid." It was a great triumph song. It's not like David Glen Eisley's "Sweet Victory," or Queen's "We Are the Champions," but it is still good.

If you want to learn more about the Donut Man, check out the link right here.

http://www.donutman.streamlinenettrial.co.uk/

Or if you wanna learn more about Steve Axtell's puppets, click here.

http://www.axtell.com/ (some of those puppets on that website were also used in the Donut Man videos)

Or if you wanna see the entire video for yourself, here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfcmVg2U2Do

This video is a production of Integrity Music Just for Kids. Songs that teach, songs that praise, with the Donut Man.