Diary of a Worm . . . and 4 more great animal tales (DVD)

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I Lost My Bear
This story by famed cartoonist Jules Feiffer features the brightest colors and a blonde female character in the 7-9 age range who simply can't go to bed until she finds her favorite stuffed bear. Another panic-chain story, the plot has her looking here, there, and everywhere, and finding all sorts of things she'd forgotten she'd lost--finally getting so distracted by all of the old treasures she's dug up that she forgets to look for the bear. This one will especially appeal to girls, not just because of the narrator, but because each object is the kind of thing girls treasure (a big, floppy, stuffed bunny, for example) and she has an older sister as well. Charlie Brown-style combo music, heavy on the bass and piano, keeps this Paul R. Gagne film moving.

The Three-Legged Cat
Every Scholastic release offers 3-4 stories-on-film and 1-2 "bonus stories," though the title always includes the bonus offerings in the count, and the "play all" option takes you through all the stories, bonus material included. That's why I usually discuss the bonus stories here, rather than in the section on extras. Often, the bonus story is one that isn't quite as strong as the rest, or one which might be topically similar but tonally inconsistent. That's not the case here. The story by Margaret Mahy concerns a British widow named Mrs. Daisy Gimbel, who "wanted a cat who would stay put and eat nothing." Well, with a lazy, fat cat with a wooden peg-leg, she got almost what she wanted, though she seemed resentful when he'd clop into the kitchen with that bad leg. Mostly, Tom, her cat, curled up and dreamed of the world--a dream which allows the author-artist to paint the world in fanciful terms and colors. Into the mix comes the adventurous, wandering brother of the widow, who turns up on her doorstep again. She disapproves of his wanderlust and his once-a-year visits that still seem like disruptions. So how else can a story like this be resolved, than by having him leave the house with Tom curled on top of his bald (and sunburn-prone) head as a hat? It's the last line from "Casablanca," illustrated for children, a classic symbiotic relationship in the making.

All in all, it's another strong addition to the Scholastic series.

Video:
As with others in this series, the quality is pretty decent, but of course the older films have more grain. That's particularly the case with the bullfrog story/film, while (no surprise) the sharpest detail comes from the most recent films--the title story and "I Lost My Bear." Kids, of course, won't notice a thing, because they're used to seeing clips for children on "Sesame Street" and other shows that have varying quality, and the graininess isn't so bad that it detracts noticeably from the story.

Audio:
The audio in this series is a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and it's nothing special. At times, given the amount of dialogue and the reliance upon the main center speaker, it even sounds like Mono. The sound, too, varies from story to story, but the engineers did a good job of modulating it for consistency so that parents don't have to keep reaching for the remote to push the volume up or down. Bass and treble balance is also good.

Extras:
The one main bonus feature is the cat story, which I've already discussed. Aside from that, there's a read-along option and auto-play, which parents of small children will appreciate.

Bottom Line:
The experts at Scholastic recommend this one for ages 3-8, but as is often the case with children's DVDs, I find that age range to be excessively optimistic. Seven might be the high end on this one, but I also think that the colors are bright enough and the stories simple enough to where toddlers of 2 might also enjoy it. Some of these collections are weighted in favor of one gender or the other, but this one has balance. Boys will like the more irreverent and silly "Diary of a Worm" and "Frog Goes to Dinner," girls will enjoy "Anatole" and "I Lost My Bear," and both will take pleasure from the bonus story. At least, that's what they'll tell you. Secretly? That's another story!

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