Videos make good holiday gifts for kids. They can entertain or teach and in the best of all worlds whet a curiosity for books. Videos are relatively inexpensive gifts, small enough to fit inside large carefully hung stockings or the branches of trees and certainly a cinch to wrap.
Here is the pick of the litter from this year’s reviews, along with prices and suppliers, for viewers up to age 12:
There was no contest this year as to which were the best videos for nippers. Continuing a trend begun last year, Disney released two more “Spot” videos, easily grabbing the 1994 top spots (so to speak). Based on the books by author/illustrator Eric Hill, co-produced by Disney and England’s King Rollo Films Ltd., they are proof that there is no substitute for superb writing, animation, gentleness and intelligence. These combine sweet music and voices with superb animation, bright colors, minimalist artwork and Hill’s droll writing.
Best of the Bunch goes to “Spot Goes to School” (Buena Vista Home Video, 1994, animated, color, 30 minutes, closed captioned, $14.98), which illustrates that, without doubt, going to school can be fun. Spot’s first day as a student begins as he arrives at school, lunch box in mouth. He’s a little shy, but Miss Bear, the teacher, invites him in. His mother, Sally, is left standing alone outside the door, a moment of anguish and relative joy every parent can identify with. There are four other stories, including Spot’s visit to the playground.
“Spot Goes to a Party” (Buena Vista Home Video, 1994, animated, color, 30 minutes, closed captioned, $14.99) starts off on an exciting note when Spot receives an invitation to a costume party. Spot goes as a cowboy (“Yippee!”), and the party is great fun. Helen is dressed as a large yellow cat. The biggest surprise is a spotted horse. Inside are Steve the chimp and Tom the alligator, who give Spot a ride home. There are four other stories.
Other top videos this year include:
“Basil Hears a Noise” (Children’s Television Workshop, 1994, live action with puppets, color, 28 minutes, closed captioned, $9.98). “Basil” is classic Muppets, featuring great songs, a substantial guest appearance by Elmo and the usual fuzzie-wuzzie supporting cast. The video opens with Basil, Elmo and their friends Louis and Dodi sacked out in a tent in the wilderness. Basil, a rather timid bear, has heard a noise outside that scared him. He is sitting upright and his startled look rouses the others. Dodi, soft, green and maternal, asks: “Would you like me to tell you a story?” “Please,” Basil begs. And the story within the story begins: “Once upon a time there lived a shepherd bear who had lost one of his sheep. . . .”
“The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash and Other Stories” (CC Studio/Wood Knapp, 1994, animated, color, 35 minutes, $14.95). The video’s title (and lead story) are taken from the book by Trinka Hakes Noble. Its opening sequence is a jewel: A mother welcomes home her young daughter and asks, “How was your class trip to the farm?” “Ohhh, kind of boring,” the girl replies, “until the cow started crying.” And Jimmy loses his pet snake and all hell breaks loose. An unlikely plot? Perhaps, but in this perfectly told, perfectly illustrated tale, bringing one’s huge, laundry-munching reptile to a farm seems perfectly plausible. There are three other stories of equal quality and delight.
“Heidi” (Walt Disney Home Video, 1994, live action, color, 167 minutes, closed captioned, $19.99) is the Mouse’s finely wrought version of Johanna Spyri’s timeless tale of a young Alpine child shunted between this home and that, a true little survivor with an indomitable spirit and a humanity that changes the lives of all she touches. With Jason Robards as her cranky grandfather, sweet Noley Thornton plays a Heidi equal to the classic and beloved 1937 version that starred Shirley Temple. This is a mountain of delight.
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Walt Disney Home Video, 1937, animated, color, 86 minutes, closed captioned, $26.99).
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
Oh let me so bold to say/that, despite its creaky age today/Few videos have offered such delight/to equal this, the best:/”Snow White.”
“Barney’s Imagination Island” (The Lyons Group, 1994, live action, color, 48 minutes, closed captioned, $14.98) is the best Barney production in years. This delightful tale begins, literally, as a storybook adventure and ends with Barney and the gang on their nifty brig landed in the palm trees of a deserted island following a terrible storm at sea. Don’t worry: It all makes sense once you’ve seen the video. Anyway, they discover on the island a peculiar, selfish, toy-making genius who himself discovers-along with the Barney gang, of course-the advantages of share and share alike.
“The James Marshall Library” (Children’s Circle Home Video, 1994, animated, color, 40 minutes, $14.95) is a wonderful anthology from one of the nation’s best studios by one of the nation’s best artists and storytellers. Marshall is the author of the “George and Martha” series, and while those worthies do not appear here, there is plenty to appeal to young viewers. Among the highlights: “Harriet and Winnie,” two belles, who happen to be chickens, fall into a hilarious, tawdry plot.
