Well Deserved Praise

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This tape contains two stories by Marcus Pfister, The other being "Dazzle the Dinosaur". The first story is about a rude and self-centered fish who alienates everyone around him. When no one wants anything to do with him, he goes to see an octopus for (bad)advice. In my opinion this octopus is sort of a "Karl Marx of the Ocean". Instead of telling him to stop being obnoxious and have more consideration for others, he seems to say his problems arise from the fact the fish "has more" than the others and things can only be right if he gives everything away so every one is equal. I found the socialist theme of this story disturbing and discussed better solutions with my children. The second story is a little better, centering on themes of family, friendship and courage. Two adventurous dinosaurs take it upon themselves to reclaim there family's rightful property that has been taken by a larger dinosaur. If your looking for morality tales for children, you can do better than this tape. Try for instance "Adventures in the book of Virtues."