Rio 2 Blu Ray and DVD release – a party at London Zoo

If you have had it up to here with Anna, Elsa, et al, and you are desperately searching for a change of film (and climate!) to see you through the summer holidays, fear not, because Rio 2 is now out on Blu Ray and DVD.

This upbeat, tropical sequel is based in the Amazon, and follows Blu, Jewel and their family on a jungle adventure.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, you don’t need to have seen the first Rio film before watching Rio 2.

Last Monday, Arlo, Rory and I took a trip to London Zoo to attend the Rio 2 release party and watch a special screening of the film.

Two observations I’ve made from our numerous trips to London Zoo:

1. The journey is always hideous (one child on foot, one child in buggy, spiral staircases and tube escalators VS only one pair of hands…this deserves a post of its own, really).

2. It’s always a lovely sunny day when we go.

This particular trip to London Zoo was correct on both counts.

The party:

The event kicked off with a live performance from the Barbatuques, whose song Beautiful Creatures features on the Rio 2 soundtrack.

The Barbatuques are a ‘Body Music Ensemble’, exploring the rich musical traditions of Brazil by making all of their music using only their bodies. It’s a really interesting concept, and something I would love to have watched live, but unfortunately our ridiculous train delays meant that we missed the Barbatuques performance, so we have been making do with reliving it vicariously through Youtube.

Here’s a video of the Rio 2 party – it was a really great morning, the boys and I had a lot of fun:

What did Arlo and Rory make of Rio 2? They did as predicted and managed half an hour of concentration before opting to run around at the back of the room, scoffing as many parrot-shaped biscuits as they could.

Rory is, of course, far too young to hold any decent length of attention span, he was just along for the ride with his big brother. And Arlo has yet to sit still for anything other than an hour-long Thomas film.

But even though it always seems like he isn’t really watching, it amazes me how much he still seems to take in from the screen. Since Monday he has been asking a lot of questions about Macaws and Brazil.

We’ve still got over a month until the new preschool term starts, so Rio 2 will definitely be ‘coming to a screen near us’ more than once this summer holiday.

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If you want to blog about the Rio films, Brazil, or the Barbatuques (even if you didn’t attend the Rio 2 release party), add your blog post to Mumsnet’s linky to be in with a chance to win a copy of Rio 2.