Baby Einstein (DVD)Kindly check the description at www.babyeinstein.com
Combines Baby Einstein's 26 DVDs, with 26 titles.
Baby Einstein is a line of multimedia products and toys that specializes in interactive activities for children aged 3 months to 3 years old. Subjects such as classical music, art, and poetry are prominently explored. These products are currently made by a division of the Walt Disney Company, marketed under the slogan, "Where Discovery Begins".
In August 2007, researchers at the University of Washington published a study which found that the use of Baby Einstein DVDs/videos correlates to smaller vocabularies in children 6 to 18 months old. The Baby Einstein Company and its parent, the Walt Disney Company, have taken issue with the findings of the study.
The Baby Einstein Company was founded in 1997 by Julie Aigner-Clark at her home in suburban Alpharetta, Georgia. Aigner-Clark and her husband, Bill Clark, invested $18,000 of their savings to produce the initial product, a VHS/DVD video called Baby Einstein, later sold as Language Nursery.
The original video shows a variety of toys and visuals interspersed with music, stories, numbers, and words of many languages. Eventually, the video was marketed across the United States. Other videos followed, some featuring the Clarks' two daughters, Aspen and Sierra.
Baby Einstein became a multi-million dollar franchise; its revenue grew from $1 million in 1998 to around $10 million in 2000. Aigner-Clark sold a 20% stake in the company to Artisan Entertainment in February 2000 and sold the rest to The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed amount in November 2001. The franchise is named after and pays significant royalties to the estate of deceased physicist Albert Einstein, putting him in the top 5 of most earning dead celebrities, according to Forbes.
As a subsidiary of Disney, the production budgets were increased and the concept was expanded to teach more complex topics that would appeal to preschoolers, including Baby MacDonald, a video about agriculture. Titles currently available include Baby Bach Musical Adventure, Baby da Vinci From Head To Toe, Baby Monet Discovering The Seasons, and Baby Newton World of Shapes. A line of educational toys was also developed. In 2005, the franchise inspired a Disney Channel animated television series called Little Einsteins.
The official Baby Einstein website is available in 7 languages, with specific content for 12 different countries.
On January 23, 2007 The Baby Einstein Company was mentioned in the State of the Union address by President George W. Bush. Aigner-Clark, along with other notable U.S. citizens, was invited to sit in the gallery during the speech, and was recognized by Bush during his presentation to the nation. Bush has been criticized by the left for his recognition of Aigner-Clark, whose claim to fame is the creation of a media franchise which "plays off the status anxiety of neurotic parents."[citation needed] Agner-Clark's Husband, William E. Clark, had donated $5,150 to the Republican National Committee and Bush in 2004.
Although Julie Aigner-Clark no longer owns or operates the company she founded, she is visibly active as a consultant and spokesperson for the series, and maintains Julie's Corner, a blog hosted at the Baby Einstein website. In each video, she can be seen in advertisements promoting the series. Since selling to Disney, Aigner-Clark has been working on "The Safe Side," which instructs elementary-aged kids about safety around strangers. The video teams her with John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted.
