Long Lost 90's: Eyewitness

By: ThatDudeintheHoodie

When it comes to educational shows the main issue is that it is assumed that if it's educational it is boring. Which in the nineties with shows like Bill Nye, Beakman's World, Magic School Bus and many more it's safe to say that this isn't the case. So with that I feel what we are looking at deserves a bit more recognition than it has been given. This is Long Lost 90's: Eyewitness. Let's get started.

Running from January 3rd 1995 and ending on November 24th 1997 Eyewitness is an edutainment show where the balance of learning and fun is more direct with the lesson. However the visuals give the show it's own unique look. With animals, skeletons and even planets in the museum setting. The visual freedom was limited to the subject of the episode. This series, unlike most other shows, used computer animation and editing for a majority of it's visuals. The rest is filled with sets they have made, footage based on the subject and animals performing for the camera with seamless integration and transition. I personally enjoy this show to this day, though mostly for nostalgia and visuals. I will admit some of the science is outdated since it has been twenty years since these first aired.

There are two different narrators for this show. The narrator for the United Kingdom version is Andrew Sachs and the Narrator in the American version was Martin Sheen until Andrew Sachs took over for both versions in 1996 using different accents for both versions respectively. After listening to both the American and United Kingdom versions I feel that the switching of accents while understandable was unnecessary. As long as kids understood what was being said, accent shouldn't really matter.

There was also a spin off for just animals that was meant for a younger demographic. It is called Henry's Amazing Animals, or otherwise known as Amazing Animals that started from April 16th, 1996 to July 6, 1999. It played out like Eyewitness, but with a different dynamic. We have a CGI Gecko named Henry voiced by Eric Meyers and a Narrator voiced by Tom Clarke-Hill that was more of a teacher/student dynamic. This to me wasn't bad, it was right for the demographic. Though it does get stale after a while. I saw it a few times in first and second grade and I still watch it today every once in a while.

Overall this series is worth remembering for it's visuals at least. The special effects still manage to impress me each time I return to the series. While some of the science is out of date, like the others, for basic science it isn't a bad thing to show this. So does this deserve to be vaguely remembered? No, but with what this series is, it doesn't surprise me. That's all for this time, so until then. Live Life and Live Nostalgic.

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