Baby Einstein (The Baby Einstein Company) is a series of videos designed for infants. Founded by Julie Aigner-Clark in 1996 in her Atlanta home, Clark couldn't find a video to share with her first-born child, Aspen Clark.[1] After successful sales in the first five years, Clark sold the company to The Walt Disney Company (Disney), also known as Buena Vista[2] in 2001. After eleven years of producing videos, Disney sold the company to Kids II, Inc. in 2013. The franchise has since been rebranded under Kids II, which primarily focuses on toys and other infant products.[3]
All videos were directed by Julie Aigner-Clark.[4] Following the purchase of the company by Disney, each of the following videos were re-released sometime in 2004-2008, with some alterations.[5]
| Title | Topic | Original release date | Composers | Puppets | Children | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Language Nursery: Voices from Many Lands | Exposure to foreign language | February 1, 1997[6] | Bill Weisbach | None |
| Released originally under I Think I Can Productions as Baby Einstein | |
| 2 | Baby Mozart: Music Festival | Classical music by W.A. Mozart | February 1, 1998[7] | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Released originally under I Think I Can Productions, re-released in 2008, re-released again in 2010 | ||
| 3 | Baby Bach: Musical Adventure | Classical music by J.S. Bach | January 1, 1999[8] | Johann Sebastian Bach | None |
| Released originally under Aigner-Clark Productions | |
| 4 | Baby Shakespeare: World of Poetry | 12 words through poetry by William Shakespeare and other poets | November 23, 1999[9] |
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| First educational video; first video released under The Baby Einstein Company | |
| 5 | Baby Van Gogh: World of Colors | Six basic colors through paintings by Vincent Van Gogh | August 15, 2000[10] |
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| First video with multiple composers' music | |
| 6 | Baby Santa's Music Box | Winter Holidays | November 1, 2000[11] |
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| 7 | Neighborhood Animals: Discovering Familiar Animals | Animals in the Neighborhood | May 15, 2001[12] |
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| Originally released as "Baby Dolittle: Neighborhood Animals" | |
| 8 | World Animals: A Musical Safari | Wild Animals | July 24, 2001[13] |
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| Originally released as "Baby Dolittle: World Animals" | |
| 9 | Baby Newton: All About Shapes | Shapes | March 12, 2002[14] |
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| None | ||
| 10 | Baby Beethoven: Symphony of Fun | Classical music by Beethoven | October 22, 2002[15] | Ludwig van Beethoven |
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| Last video directed by Julie Aigner-Clark until the discovery kits, re-released in 2008 |
| Title | Director | Topic | Original release date | Composers | Puppets | Children | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Baby Neptune: Discovering Water |
| Water | March 18, 2003[16] |
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| First video directed by Jim Janicek and Len Marino, re-released in 2009 | |
| 12 | Baby Galileo: Discovering the Sky | Park Place Productions | The sky and outer space | August 5, 2003[17] |
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| First video by Park Place Productions | |
| 13 | Numbers Nursery |
| Numbers 1 to 5 | November 25, 2003[18] |
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| First video not named after a historical figure | |
| 14 | Baby MacDonald: A Day on the Farm | The farm | March 16, 2004[19] |
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| Re-released in 2009 | ||
| 15 | Baby da Vinci: From Head to Toe | Park Place Productions | Parts of the body displayed through art by Leonardo da Vinci and other artists | August 10, 2004[20] |
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| 16 | Baby Noah: Animal Expedition |
| Wild Animals | October 26, 2004[21] |
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| Re-released in 2009 | |
| 17 | Baby Monet: Discovering the Seasons | Seasons displayed through paintings by Claude Monet | March 8, 2005[22] |
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| 18 | Baby Wordsworth: First Words - Around the House | Mark LaVine | Household items and their sign language | July 19, 2005[23] |
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| Featuring deaf actress Marlee Matlin; first video directed by Mark Lavine; re-released in 2009 | ||
| 19 | On the Go: Riding, Sailing and Soaring |
| Vehicles | October 25, 2005[25] |
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| 20 | Meet the Orchestra: First Instruments | Instruments in the Orchestra | March 7, 2006[26] |
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| 21 | Baby's Favorite Places: First Words - Around Town | Mark LaVine | Places around a town and their sign language | July 25, 2006[27] |
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| Featuring deaf actress Marlee Matlin | ||
| 22 | Baby's First Moves: Get Up and Go! |
| Movement Milestones | October 24, 2006[28] |
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| Re-released in 2009 | |
| 23 | My First Signs: See and Sign with Baby | Mark LaVine | First Sign Language | March 13, 2007[29] |
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| Featuring deaf actress Marlee Matlin; re-released in 2009 | |
| 24 | Discovering Shapes: Circles, Squares, and More! | Shapes | July 24, 2007[30] |
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| Last video directed by Mark LaVine | ||
| 25 | Lullaby Time: Soothing Sounds for Babies |
| Calming Music and bedtime | October 30, 2007[31] |
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| 26 | Baby's First Sounds: Discoveries for Little Ears | Exposure to foreign languages and words | March 11, 2008[32] |
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| All footage of children from this video was reused from older videos.
| Last video to be directed by Jim Janicek and Len Marino | ||
| 27 | World Music |
| Cultural music and traditional instruments around the globe | March 31, 2009[33] | Various/Traditional |
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| Only videos directed by Rick Pendleton and Greg Peterson | |
| 28 | World Animal Adventure | Animals from the seven continents | September 29, 2009[34] |
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| 29 | World of Colors | N/A | Colors around the globe | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | Cancelled video |
In 2010, a series of Baby Einstein box sets called Discovery Kits were made with Julie Aigner-Clark as the director. Later in 2012, they were released as original videos. The nine Discovery Kits came with a DVD, CD with selections of music heard in the video, and a book and discovery cards for small children.
| Title | Topic | Original release date | Composers | Puppets | Children | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baby Mozart | Classical music by W.A. Mozart | November 24, 2010[35] | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
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| Updated version of Baby Mozart |
| 2 | Animals Around Me | Animals in the Neighborhood |
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| Based on Neighborhood Animals and Baby MacDonald | ||
| 3 | World of Words: A Performance by Bard | 12 words through poetry by William Shakespeare and other poets | Ludwig van Beethoven |
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| Previously released as Baby Shakespeare | |
| 4 | Baby Beethoven | Classical music by Beethoven | Ludwig van Beethoven |
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| Updated version of Baby Beethoven | |
| 5 | Wild Animal Safari | Wild Animals |
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| Based on World Animals and Baby Noah | |
| 6 | World of Colors | Six basic colors through paintings by Vincent Van Gogh |
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| Previously released as Baby Van Gogh | |
| 7 | Baby Lullaby | Calming music and images | February 22, 2011[36] |
| Baby Baaach the Lamb | Sierra Clark | Based on Baby Bach and Lullaby Time |
| 8 | Neptune's Oceans | Animals in the ocean |
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| None | Based on World Animals and Baby Neptune | |
| 9 | World of Rhythm | Rhythm |
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