Stop Lookin', Listen

This blog focuses on visual media for children that I, in my infinite personal bias, would say falls outside the mainstream. Truth is, my kids spend more time listening to audio books (and reading), than watching, and I think that's a good thing. Limiting sensory input to one channel often deepens the waters.

This brings me to a plug for the short-story podcasts of The New Yorker. I've been listening to them during downtime lately, and this week I had to pull my kids into my bedroom to have a listen to Jonathan Franzen reading "Coyote v. Acme" by Ian Frazier. Frazier's parody of a legal brief, contrasting the formal, deflective language of legalese and the slapstick antics of the famous Warner Bros. cartoons is deft, hilarious, and affectionate. My children greatly enjoyed it.

Another good one for children (8+up, I'd say) is George Saunders reading "You Must Know Everything," by Isaac Babel. There's plenty to explore in the free podcast area of iTunes, from Selected Shorts and This American Life to more independent efforts—a free library for a rainy day or long car trip.

Musik und Zaubereien & Märchen und Fabeln

250 minutes, released 2007

150 minutes, rel. 2006
Lotte Reiniger
Black & white shorts compiled on DVDs
All ages

If you've seen The Adventures of Prince Achmed (scroll down, it's there somewhere), you and your children will no doubt be delighted that more of the work of Lotte Reiniger, the brilliant German animator who lived from 1899 to 1981, is available on DVD. The delicate silhouettes, in black & white, tinted, and in color (though they're best with the more muted backgrounds), enchant in these versions of popular fairy tales such as "The Golden Goose," "Cinderella" (note for younger viewers: the sister slices off her heel and makes a bloody mess!) and "Jack in the Beanstalk." Musik und Zaubereien gives us a Magic Flute with the best bits of Papageno—as he sings, women turn to birds and fly away, eggs hatch to reveal Papageno & Papagena's babies. "Carmen" has a happy ending and a feminist spirit that infuses many of Reiniger's short films. Hours of stunning animation here, mostly suitable for all ages. These may be hard to rent but can be ordered from Amazon.de—I was surprised to find that my U.S. account and password transferred without a hitch.

Beckett on Film

19 plays, four DVDs
Various directors, 2002
Produced by Michael Colgan and Alan Moloney
Age 6 and up

A couple of years ago my children created a drama in which they pretended to leave home with picnic lunches, traveled in a circle on a sofa for a while, and then began to sink in quicksand while trying to eat. "This is just like Beckett," I thought to myself. In the years since, they've become fans of Buster Keaton and the leap to Beckett is a natural one. Beckett on Film offers the perfect opportunity to explore his plays with your youngster, with directors like David Mamet and Atom Egoyan and actors including John Gielgud, Jeremy Irons, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Juliet Stevenson, & John Hurt. As we view the discs, I'll share our recommendations. They can be rented one at a time, at least from Netflix.

Disc 2: Includes "Krapp's Last Tape," "What Where," "Footfalls," "Come and Go" and "Act Without Words I." I recommend trying anything on this disc. My daughter watched all of "Krapp's Last Tape," while my son got bored during the second half—but they both loved the slapstick, which included John Hurt slipping on a banana peel. They both liked the silent "Act Without Words I." My son watched "Footfalls" twice, which I found somewhat surprising, but you never know, which is why anything appropriate and worth viewing, is worth trying with kids. Disc 4: "Act Without Words II," "Rockaby" and "Play" are recommended. "Play" has a few bad words but the characters, who are sitting in urns and brilliantly played by Juliet Stephenson, Alan Rickman and Kristen Scott-Thomas, speak very fast. The other two discs are less compelling to kids, I'd say.

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames

Five-Volume Set
Years various, genres various

Those who admire Charles and Ray Eames for their industrial design, art, or architecture but don't know their films should rush right out for this DVD collection. The jewel of the bunch is Powers of Ten, a 1977 short that starts with the aerial view of a man sleeping on a picnic blanket and travels out into the universe and back, then into the man's hand toward the reaches of the infinitely small, all by powers of ten.

The Eames team made dozens of films, and your kids will find their own favorites. Check out Blacktop, a meditation on the beauty of water splashing across asphalt, or Toccata for Toy Trains (both from vol. 2) or the antique spinning tops of Tops (vol. 5), scored by Elmer Bernstein.

All ages.

The Puppet Films of Jiri Trnka

1951, Dir. Milos Makovec , Jirí Trnka ,
156 min., color animation

Every child should be raised on honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned stop-motion animation, and Trnka, who died in 1969 at the age of 57, was an innovator whose films create rich settings for moving, delightfully playful stories. This DVD collection includes The Emperor's Nightingale (1951, 67 min.), based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale and narrated by Boris Karloff. Short Subjects: Story of the Bass Cello (13 min.), The Song of the Prairie (21 min.), The Merry Circus (11 min.), A Drop Too Much (14 min.), The Hand (18 min.), Jiri Trnka: Puppet Animation Master (Documentary, 12 min.)

My children's favorite is The Hand, a political story of an artist whose studio is invaded by a giant hand that directs him to make a statue of it and abandon the clay pots he's been making for his plant. To an adult this piece has frightening resonance, and it does end with the artist's death, so your mileage may vary with respect to the kids' reaction. The Emperor's Nightingale is beautiful and effective. The Merry Circus uses stop-motion mixed with flat posable characters that cast shadows. My favorite, Story of the Bass Cello, has chiaroscuro lighting and a contemplative atmosphere. My only complaint about the bonus feature, a documentary about Jiri Trnka, is that it's much too short.

Potentially for all ages; but note that A Drop Too Much is about drinking and driving, and The Song of the Prairie, a hilarious send-up of westerns, involves gun play amid much Nelson Eddy-style singing.