3/5 Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure
  by Dianne Torrey
I thought that this DVD was very well done. The animation is different from the typical Franklin story, even his other full-length stories. The characters are "more animated", for lack of a better description. For example, instead of the usual stone-faced Bear character, he makes funny faces. The music is also different-not annoying like the other full-length stories. Franklin and Harriet are not whiney, spoiled, and annoying like they usually are.
The problem lies in the story itself. Granny is dying of some unknow ailment and it seems that Franklin must find this magic talisman to save her life. That's quite a bit of pressure on a child, I would say. My daughter did not like that at all. We also get to hear Granny's story of hiding this talisman in a time capsule when she was a child, which is fine until you see the forest around her small pup tent erupt in flames, and watch as it creeps closer to her family's cabin where her parents are sleeping. She escapes to a row boat on the lake and watches and waits till the fire is gone. Then she sums up the story by saying that "she lost everything in that fire", and then went to live with some other family member. It's a pretty gruesome way to make the time capsule a challenge to find for Franklin! I wonder what the authors were thinking when they wrote this story line. I thought that killing off parents was just a favorite Walt Disney device. My daughter does not want to watch this again, it upset her so much. And even though it is a very well-done cartoon, I can't say that Franklin is one of my favorites, so it's not likely that anybody else will be watching it again either.

2/5 Not a good story for a 4y.o.
  by mom2jakenallie (Baltimore, MD)
I failed to read the reviews completely before buying this DVD for my 4yo son, who normally loves Franklin, and I regret buying this. I totally agree with the other reviewers who commented on the mature story lines: granny reliving the story of her parents dying in a fire upset my son so much that he did not want to watch the rest of it. I convinced him to keep watching, saying that when movies have a sad part, a happy part is to come, but then there were some sad/scary sub plots as the gang went on the hunt for the time capsule -- Snail gets carried away by a bird and almost eaten! I guess it has a happy ending, but at this point, my son did not want to finish it! The animation is definately different, as well as some of the voices, but this doesn't really make a difference for those who are used to the tv show. Might be ok for kids a little older.

1/5 Do not recommend
  by NewMayMama0508 (Portland, OR area)
I thought this movie was pretty morbid and was missing the careless and normally heartwarming story lines that you expect from Franklin. It starts out nice with Franklin's Auntie coming home for a visit as she's normally out traveling the world as an archeologist and there's a nice family reunion. But the major part of the movie comes next with Franklin's very sad Granny who spends most of the beginning of the movie grieving the loss of her parents as a child. We even get to see a flashback as she tells Franklin and her daughter's Godchild where she watches her parents die in their home as it succumbs to flames from a forest fire. "Granny" the little girl then has to paddle out to the middle of Turtle Lake to save herself as she collapses in tears as she realizes her parents are gone. I find it hard to believe that this was necessary. Then Granny has an "accident" where falls into a coma and is unconscious for pretty much the rest of the film. Because of how morbid I found this movie, I threw the film out before my daughter could watch it. If you want to give this movie a chance, I recommend watching it before allowing your child to watch it.

5/5 Tender Lessons
  by M. Rubin (Orange County, CA)
I was also, a bit surprised at some of the mature areas of this
film, but I felt it had a tender manner of dealing with the situations.
Perhaps this Franklin isn't meant for super small children - yet I didn't find
it offensive at all. My daughter really likes this dvd.

4/5 Franklin
  by mirandabelle (sarasota, florida)
My daughter loves Franklin, so naturally, she loves the movie! It's a very sweet tale; a must for Franklin fans.