Over the years I have developed great relationships with publishers across the country as I have made myself available to review books they plan on releasing. Recently, I was contacted by Friends & Heroes LLC to complete a review for their Animated DVD Series called “Friends & Heroes“. At first I was reluctant to review for them as I am more of the book reader than a movie watcher but when I popped in the dvd I was quite surprised.
The Friends and Heroes series has been around for several years already however it hasn’t been picked up like many other animated series. To be honest, I don’t understand why. I had the great opportunity to review two different episodes and found them to be just as good if not better than many of the animated media in the christian book stores now.
Take a look at how the creators of this program describe their finished work.
Based in a fascinating and turbulent period of history, 69-71 AD, Friends and Heroes places Bible stories in a vivid historical context. It uses animated adventure stories to introduce a new generation of children, whatever their faith, to the stories of the Old and New Testaments in an appealing, fresh and memorable way. Children love the stories: “Friends and Heroes rocks!” said one recent e-mail. Boys are strongly attracted by the central male characters, the danger and the exciting action! This approach – of setting Bible stories in living contexts amongst the people who kept them alive, by passing them on ‘down the line’ to children – runs throughout the series as a constant motif.
Friends and Heroes is the tale of two young people – Macky and Portia – whose idealism and friendship leads them across the ancient world, from the fabled Egyptian port of Alexandria, to the besieged city of Jerusalem and finally, to the very heart of the Empire: Rome. As they fight for justice and even survival against the might of the Roman Empire, they become friends and then, in turn, heroes. Like our heroes, children will be empowered by what they see and hear, as they share the courage and compassion, the everyday dangers faced by Macky and his friends.
In our ministry, we use a lot of creative video elements that are offered through reThink Group and there isn’t much that really competes with their quality however, I will say that this video series would be a great curriculum supplement for kids in grades 2 through 4. I appreciate the fact that the creative team took the stories from the Bible and interlaced them into the series to not only keep the kids attention but also to teach the timeless truths.
I encourage every ministry to seriously consider purchasing the series, even if it is simply used for those times when there really is no planned programming but childcare is being provided. This is a great way to still be able to get the Word of God in the kids with minimal planning on your part.
Find out more about Friends and Heroes at www.friendsandheroes.com. There’s a special website for children too: www.friendsandheroes.tv.
Friends and Heroes noted this review on their site – http://www.friendsandheroes.com/uk/natefietzercom-endorses-friends-and-heroes
Disclaimer: This blog post is a review written by me for “Friends & Heroes LLC”. They did provide sample DVD in order for me to review their product. No additional payment or offering was accepted. They did offer me the opportunity to freely speak my mind and provide not only positive but also negative feedback.