I have no problem whatsoever with artists working in the service of a religious creed. One does not have to be a Christian to appreciate Handel's "Messiah."
Unfortunately, "The Reppies" does not quite rise to the same level of technical excellence as Handel's "Messiah."
"Barney and Friends" would seem to be the obvious target here... the metaphorical Cadillac against whom the creators of "The Reppies" hope to field a metaphorical Lincoln.
"Barney" is not a particular high bar to set in the area of production values; Barney and his pals - for all their endearing qualities - have unrealistic mouth movements, unblinking eyes, etc.
So, if you haven't actually seen "The Reppies," you may have trouble imagining how much worse than "Barney" it is. But it definitely is worse.
Every craft is guilty here, from make-up to homiletics. The cringe- inducing, quasi-cool musical numbers are bad enough; when combined with an unhealthy dose of heavy-handed moralism they turn the stomach. What we have here is not medicine for the Christian soul, it's chemotherapy.
Even if you do get anything good from it, there will be plenty of nausea along the way.
The overall result is very 1980s in its feel, and this owes a lot to the photographic media used. (I originally wrote "the photographic media selected," but then it occurred to me that when one buys the absolute cheapest thing available, a "selection" per se has not really been made).
To summarize, if you want your children to be taught basic good behavior by dinosaurs, than I can recommend a fine product to you by the name of "Barney and Friends." The crude imitation thereof which is reviewed here is not comparable in quality; in fact, it's basically devoid of value beyond its palatability to certain sectarians.
