![]() ![]() Saul lives in Los Angeles with his wife Marion and their four children. Saul speaks around the world sharing practical tools for success, meaning and fulfillment in all aspects of life and hosts the inspirational podcast Life of AWESOME! Recently, Saul was the Supervising Producer on the DREAMWORKS hit show Madagascar: A Little Wild. ![]() For NETFLIX, Saul was Consulting Director on the hit show Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures and was Supervising Director on Llama Llama starring Jennifer Garner. Saul has directed high profile commercials for clients such as Best Buy, Dunkin' Donuts, ESPN, Subway, Mercedes Benz, EA Sports & Build-A-Bear and has consulted for animation studios internationally in London, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Seoul, Dublin, Vancouver & China. Saul was a Director on the smash hit DISNEY show Doc McStuffins, Supervising Director on The Numberlys and Consulting Producer on The Stinky & Dirty Show both for AMAZON. Saul also consulted in development on the DISNEY films: Tinkerbell, Fox and The Hound II, Brother Bear II, Cinderella III, and Dumbo II. Shortly thereafter, he re-joined DISNEY, directing the films Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo & Kronk's New Groove - starring Eartha Kitt & David Spade. ![]() He made his directorial debut with the hip action-adventure series Spy Groove for MTV. We could have gotten more narrative and another arc to the storyline, I'm not sure, but I know that this great story doesn't quite work in terms of its structure because it has an ABC app stuck in the middle of a delightful story.Saul began his career as an animator for the WALT DISNEY STUDIOS working on the hit films Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, & Tarzan. I'm stuck wondering exactly who the audience is for The Numberlys*.* It feels like this is a great story and fantastic concept that needed an early childhood adviser or educationalist to say, "This probably won't work for children." And, if that had happened, maybe the ABC section could be shortened or changed. But, like so many apps this is a case of user interface and design not matching the content of any one particular audience. I love the look, the feel, the humor and the charter development. And on the other hand, a six year old who may engage with the opening narrative won't particularly find the game dynamics or learning their ABCs that enticing. They will be clicking the home button and heading elsewhere because the witty narrative and brilliant animation won't impress them. But, I'm not convinced that three and four year olds will appreciate the story enough to get to the section that seems to be designed especially for them. ![]() The games may be a little complex if children get to that section of the app (I'd have to do some testing to be sure). We know that after we play the D game, then there will be E game and I found myself wondering: "Do I really have to do this all the way to Z?" The ABC games are great for younger children: they have appropriate prompts and the audio celebrations of the characters and the little animation sequences between the games would appeal to pre-schoolers who are usually your target market for ABC apps. The issue for me was that the ABC section of the app was way too long, it is a narrative black hole. The Numberlys is effectively an ABC app bookended by an amazing narrative opening and closing inspired by the work of Fritz Lang. But as an adult reader of this app it was disappointing and as a child development researcher I think this app misses the mark in a way that many apps aimed at children do. The animation and their visuals alone make this app worth the purchase and I understand why they chose to go in the direction of creating the app in the way they have with the ABC element. The concept and execution of this storyline is damn good and I take my hat of to the creativity of the concept. They have the ability to tell stories that are as good as the best of them. We don't get 26 individual games for each letter of the alphabet.Īfter this section, we come to a narrative conclusion, which is most satisfying as it again captures the whimsy and wit that Moonbot Studios does so well. The games are cleverly designed in terms of visuals, but are not particularly groundbreaking in regards to game dynamics, and after a while the games start to repeat themselves. We are thankful for everyone who has watched, rated and reviewed Numberlys on. And, suddenly the Numberlys get all Letterly and we engage in a series of interactive games that help the characters to build and shape every letter of the alphabet from A to Z. Seeking something more than numbers, they go about inventing the alphabet. The games are focused on a collection of five delightfully crafted characters who set about attempting to make their world more interesting. The reason for presenting The Numberlys as an app becomes clear in the second half, which turns from pure story to a narrative game. ![]()
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