The Baby Human

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Episodes: B

 

 

If you are sick of seeing babies that talk through digital animation, or are totally digital, The Baby Human – Geniuses in Diapers (2002) has been shown on the Health Channel division of The Discovery Channel.  This would sound like (and from the cover look like) something all parents to be should see, but it is terrific beyond that.  Tamara Bemier is the narrator, and her voice is a bit unusual a first, but as it goes along, she turns out to be just right for this series.

 

We see the experiments and research that are involved.  It is initially disturbing to see weird hats and wires put on these kids, but it makes total sense and is far from disturbing afterwards.   Much trouble was gone to in making this program, because it has a ton of information within it and footage of many babies had to be gathered from all over the place.  There are genuinely funny and remarkable moments, made more so by the voice-over.  The three segments here are:

 

To Walk

To Think

To Talk

 

They are simple and self-explanatory, but the shows are obviously more complex, like their subjects.  This could have been boring or everything we have heard about before, but The Baby Human is better than that.  More people need to see this.

 

The 1.78 X 1 image is not anamorphic, but is still clean and clear.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds that are not bad for a TV production.  The few extras include two text sections on names and their meanings, plus “baby trivia”.  This is one of these cases, like the main programs, where the quality is above the usual quantity.  The only other aside is the idea of artificial humans or intelligence.  After watching this, if science goes for this, they have got far more work on their hands than Spielberg’s most problematic film would have you believe.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo