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For those who may be too old or too young, SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK was a series of interstitial shorts during the early part of the 1970s, which aired during Saturday morning cartoon blocks on TV. For the even younger viewers, the major network channels actually aired cartoons all Saturday morning. The SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK shorts were educational lessons on various subjects about the U.S. government or grammar. The most famous and successful of the shorts was I’M JUST A BILL.

A little bill chronicles the long and tiring road to becoming a law. Jack Sheldon lends his wonderful New Orleans-twinged voice to The Bill, who is introduced leaning back on the steps of the Senate. With its simple, appealing design work, the look is uncluttered. A great example of less is better than more. Mixing funny dry asides with an unforgettable song, the short is an exemplary example of how to make an educational film that melds information with entertainment. I still remember how a bill is made from watching this short as a kid. Unlike some of the other SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK shorts, the music isn’t hampered by dated trends, so kids can enjoy it equally today as when it was first produced.

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The fourth installment of Michael Apted’s brilliant documentary series finds it’s subjects, which it has followed every seven years since they were seven, about to move into their 30s. Many have families now and most seem to have truly found themselves. For people who have not seen the series before, entering at this point is not impossible, because the filmmakers give us recaps of the past, however I wouldn’t it. This is the first installment to not feature all of the participants from the previous films, but we do get caught up on the two missing members as well. Sit back and enjoy catching up with old friends.

First, we meet up with Tony, who grew up in the East End of London. His dream at seven was to be a jockey and was able to enter in three races, one of which featured racing legend Lester Piggott. Outside of the birth of his children, he lists this as the best day of his life. Now he’s living well as a cabbie (his fallback position when he was seven). Most of his rough and tough attitude has faded into a more reflective look on life. He seems to have accomplished what he set out to do and doesn’t need to prove himself as much anymore. He’s even taken up acting on the side.

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Michael Apted’s brilliant documentary series has checked in with the same group of people every seven years since they were seven. As the title suggests, this installment is the third in the series. Now as young adults, some of the subjects have stronger opinions about the way they are portrayed in the previous two films. Some have stayed the same, while others have taken surprising turns. Being older, the young men and women begin to comment on the others, as well as their pasts.

In the first film, John, Charles and Andrew were attending the same lavish pre-preparatory school. John and Andrew have gone onto the same colleges they said they would attend at seven. However, John, the most conservative of the group, points out that the films make it seem like they’ve had it easy, underplaying the hard work that went into how they got where they are today. Charles didn’t make it into Oxford as he planned at seven, but rather enjoys avoiding the pre-prep to Oxford conveyor belt. Since the first film, both Charles and Andrew’s parents divorced. While Andrew seems reconciled to the split, Charles seems to struggle with how it really has affected him. When asked about their opportunities in life, John believes it’s his duty to give back to England, which has given him so much. Charles agrees, but adds that they have no more opportunities than any of the others in the series.

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In 1964 the WORLD IN ACTION TV series followed a group of children in England from different backgrounds. The half-hour program was meant show the potential future leader of the country in 2000. Later a researcher on the project Michael Apted stepped into the director’s chair to see how the children had grown seven years after the first film. Apted has checked in with the subjects for a new film every seven years since, giving the world a filmic time capsule of these individuals and the times in which they lived.

John, Charles and Andrew were young boys at the same pre-preparatory school in the first film. All three in the second film are attending the schools they said they would be attending in the first. While all three came off fairly snobbish in the first installment, only John retains a conservative pretension, while the others seem more progressive, especially Charles who finds the pursuit of wealth to be a road to unhappiness because of all the people you have to ruin to get there. John, on the other hand, wants fame and power, but doesn’t believe he has to be ruthless to get it, only smart. Suzy, a girl from a wealthy, sheltered background, at 14, lives on her family’s Scottish estate. The distance and indifference from the first film has only grown. The other wealthy child in the film was Bruce, who at seven wanted to be a missionary, but by 14, decided that he wouldn’t be good at it because he isn’t good at public speaking.

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Taken at face value one might not see the significance of this film. Put in context, as the start of a continuing series, it takes on the status of an epic undertaking that Roger Ebert once called “an inspired, even noble, use of the film medium.” Directed by Paul Almond as part of the WORLD IN ACTION TV series, SEVEN UP! wasn’t intended to be the first chapter in a series. Based on the Jesuit phrase, “give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man,” the half-hour program was supposed to be one-off look at a group of seven year olds from different economic and social backgrounds. Original researcher Michael Apted transformed the first film into what it has become, the chronicling of the same lives every seven years since.

For this film, 21 children were chosen, but only fourteen become central subjects. John, Charles and Andrew attend the same pre-preparatory school and seem to have their lives all planned out. Suzy goes to an all girls’ school and is from a very wealthy family. Her sheltered world hasn’t only left her clueless about the world around her, but seemingly shell shocked. Jackie, Lynn and Sue are good friends from a working class neighborhood, who have no clue that they’d be consider the poor kids by others in the group. Tony is a tough kid from the East End of London, who has a girlfriend named Michelle, who he often disagrees with. Paul goes to a charity-based boarding school and his parents are divorced. Simon also goes to the charity-based boarding school and is the only non-white child in the group. Nick attends a one-room school in Yorkshire Dales and observes that he likes to go to town on holiday while city folk like to come to the country. Peter and Neil go to the same middle-class Liverpool suburban school and both want to be astronauts, but don’t think they need to go to university for that. Bruce attends a prestigious boarding school and feels that the most important thing in life is to serve God.

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HORTON HEARS A WHO! was animation legend Chuck Jones’ second collaboration with Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss, following 1966’s animated classic HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! HORTON isn’t as successful as the GRINCH, but this Seussian fable is still entertaining and as relevant as ever.

One day, Horton the elephant (Hans Conried aka Snidely Whiplash) hears a voice coming from a speck of dust. Discovering a whole society of Whos living on the white piece of fluff, Horton dedicates himself to protecting his new tiny friend Dr. Hoovey (Confried). However, the folks of Horton’s world, especially Jane Kangaroo (animation legend June Foray aka Rocky J. Squirrel), think he’s a little nuts, as do the Whos of Dr. Hoovey when he claims their world lies on the trunk of a peaceful pachyderm. Fearing that his radical way of thinking will destroy their way of life, Jane enlists three devious monkeys, the Wickersham Brothers, to steal Horton’s Who haven.

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Buy It Now!

This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!

Ralph Bakshi is best known for his adult animation FRITZ THE CAT. But in 1989 for Turner TV, he mixed his sensibilities with those of pre-school icon Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss. The result is one of the best Seuss adaptations ever made, and sadly one of the most overlooked. Even Seuss himself felt this was the most faithful adaptation of his work. Considering he adapted the script, he of course had a big part in that.

A grandfather (Charles Durning, TOOTSIE) tells his grandson a tale of the Zooks, who live on the other side of the wall and butter their bread butter side down. Yikes! So as a patriotic Yook, the grandfather in his younger years patrolled the wall keeping an eye out for any upside down buttering behavior. During a patrol, a Zook uses a slingshot to break the grandfather’s tough-tufted prickly snick-berry switch. This begins a race for bigger and bigger weapons to threaten the other race with.

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Buy It Now!

This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!

This 1995’s adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ book is a fairly straightforward rendition of the story. The brightly colored Emmy-nominated Hanna-Barbera production takes the color palette and design right from the books. It doesn’t have the energy of some of the other Dr. Seuss adaptations, but it also avoids some of their mistakes.

The Cat in the Hat (Henry Gibson, THE ‘BURBS) narrates the tale of Mayzie McGrew, who one day sprouts a daisy from the top of her head. At first her fellow students ridicule her. Her teacher, principal, parents and various other townsfolk are baffled by what has occurred. But when agent Finagle (Tim Curry, ANNIE) shows up, he lures Mayzie to sign a contract, promising fame and fortune. But as these kinds of tales often go, fame and fortune aren’t always fun and fancy-free.

Like other Seuss TV specials, this one includes songs. But the lyrics are based on the words from the book, which combine the music from Philip Appleby well. Many of the tunes are solos introducing supporting characters, which works by not being too intrusive. To stretch the story to a half hour, some uninspired slapstick was added, which is better than disruptive songs any day.

As a faithful adaptation of the book, the special captures the themes of tolerance and proper priorities well. The production doesn’t have any individual flare, relying on the Seussian poetry. For some this will be enough and for me it’s certainly enough to recommend.