Dozing through ‘dream’ games

The Hollywood “dream team” of Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen opened their DreamWorks SKG production studio in 1994 to produce a variety of theatrical endeavors, including some wonderful animated movies.

Now, some of the stars of those films — Shrek and Donkey from “Shrek,” Sinbad from “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,” Rocky Rhodes from “Chicken Run” and a variety of fish from the soon-to-be-released “Shark Tale” — appear on a Web site that tries to capture the attention of children though some online games and educational activities.

DWkids.com

Site address: www.dwkids.com

Creator: The site was developed by DreamWorks’ Marketing and Web Group by principal designers Kerry Geiger and Sarah Welker. It went live in July 2003.

Creator quotable: “DWKids delivers new, interactive ways to experience popular DreamWorks characters and makes learning interactive and fun,” says Michael Vollman, DreamWorks SKG marketing executive. “With ’Shrek 2’ on the horizon, we’ll be introducing a whole new batch of characters for kids to play with — Puss ’n Boots, the Fairy Godmother, and the King and Queen of Far Far Away, to name a few. The exclusive off-line benefits for Club DWK members will bring these characters to life and provide fun the whole family can enjoy.”

Word from the Webwise: Considering the multimedia powerhouse behind the project, I was floored by the underwheming variety offered to visitors. An interactive opening screen has characters moving in and out of it while upcoming releases are advertised, but no music, snappy repartee or even clever pop-up images are added to elicit a smile.

Children 4 to 12 years old can choose from the sections Games, Crafts and Learn but will find very little to do once they get there.

Under Games, visitors can play a Concentration-type challenge with the “Chicken Run” gang, send an animated “Shrek” e-card to a pal (with the choice of various backgrounds, characters and borders) or do some online coloring on four pages featuring the “Shrek” crew.

Crafts leads to three activities that require junior to print out some pages, hopefully in a color format. Visitors can make a Shrek puppet or a Sinbad bookmark or create a “Shark Tale” mobile.

Finally, Learn offers five areas of online wordplay, including a letter scramble, a fill-in-the-blank story, two word searches and a challenge that involves putting pictures in the proper order after reading a short tale.

Ease of use: This site requires a high-speed connection and the latest versions of Macromedia’s Flash 6 plug-in for viewing and interacting.

Don’t miss: Visitors can sign up for an electronic newsletter. Only the child’s first name and e-mail address are required. Visitors also can access the DWK Club when it becomes active. Sure, it’s a blatant promotional vehicle for the studio, but I’m betting members eventually will get to see some cool behind-the-scenes stuff and enter contests that will appeal to young fans of animation.

Family activity: Adults who click on the Download Education Pack icon, found under the Parents section, will find an educational teaching kit based on the themes and characters of the 2002 animated film “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.”

The 53.5-megabyte PDF file certainly will test the download speed of even the broadest band connection. Why developers felt the need to overwhelm a visitor’s servers for a mere nine-page color document is beyond me. Nevertheless, the “away from the computer” fun ranges from solving word puzzles to classifying horses to discussing concepts based on the film and will challenge the noggins of children in third through fifth grades.

Cyber-sitter synopsis: Children will spend about 20 minutes at DWkids.com in its current format before moving on to robust multimedia sites such as Nick Jr. (www.nickjr.com), Cartoon Network (www.cartoonnetwork.com) and PBS Kids (www.pbskids.org) to find a much more entertaining and enriching learning experience.

Overall grade: C

Remember: The information on the Internet is constantly changing. Please verify the advice on the sites before you act to be sure it’s accurate and updated. Health sites, for example, should be discussed with your own physician.

Have a cool site for the family? Write to Joseph Szadkowski at Webwise, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20002; call 202/636-3016; or send an e-mail message (jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com).