Back in February Disney Junior introduced the new series Miles from Tomorrowland. Representing the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (a shout out to the Disney theme parks), Miles Callisto and his family work together exploring the universe and solving whatever problems they encounter along the way. Now a collection of ten stories (nearly two hours) has been released on DVD – “Miles from Tomorrowland: Let’s Rocket”. Purchase at Amazon.com
While it isn’t as clearly educational as PBS Dinosaur Train that offers direct lessons from a paleontologist, Disney’s Miles from Tomorrowland does weave in various space and science trivia into the story whether its referencing Jupiter’s moon Io or the Horsehead Nebula, the name of their double-headed superior, Admirals Crick & Watson or even explaining the “Goldlilocks Zone”. Miles is more about the dynamics of family and provides a healthy model. The Callisto family works well together although they bring varying styles to problem solving. Mom captains the ship and approaches problems in a more systematic style while simultaneously serving as group cheerleader. Dad’s the ship’s pilot and engineer and bit more free-spirited in his style of problem solving. Their daughter Loretta is quite skilled with computer gadgetry and more inclined to research for the answer yet prone to panic while Miles offers creative fly by the seat of your pants problem-solving and an adventurous spirit.
In “How I Saved My Summer Vacation” the Callistos arrive on a planet for their beach vacation only to discover its oceans and therefore its beaches have vanished. While the parents enjoy a massage instead the kids opt to explore the planet’s alien ruins with a robot guide. The robots explain that the beaches vanished for unknown reasons shortly after they arrived to setup the vacation spot. On their adventure the kids discover that the robots unknowingly gathered a series of rocks that served as keys to an underground waterway system created by the planet’s previous inhabitants that diverted the water flow and led to the disappearance of the surface water and beaches. I appreciated the message to be cautious when we explore new areas as our actions can cause unanticipated consequences. Working together the kids restore the planet’s ocean.
“Miles from Tomorrowland: Let’s Rocket” Recommendation
The “Miles from Tomorrowland: Let’s Rocket” DVD arrival couldn’t have been timed better in our household. Using a NASA website, we recently stepped outside shortly after sunset and watched the International Space Station travel across the skies above. Coupled with a toy store purchase of our solar system’s planets and our library offering air launched rockets as an “end of summer” activity there has been a lot of talk about planets, moon and galaxies around here and Miles’ family has only served to further fuel curiosity about the skies above.
Miles from Tomorrowland: Let’s Rocket is available now at various retailers including Amazon.com