Aesop's Fables of Pride & Perseverance · Carlson Fable Collection

Title

Aesop's Fables of Pride & Perseverance

Description

1986 Aesop's Fables of Pride & Perseverance. The Hare and the Tortoise; The Vain Crow. Golden Book Video. About 25 minutes. ©1986 Dolmatch. Racine: Western Publishing Company. One extra copy.

Simple, even rudimentary animation. The framework is provided by three monkeys, who appear before the first fable, between the two, and after the last. TH features Scamper McRabbit and Thelma Tortoise. Scamper plays a sports announcer. There is a strong element of sports-TV parody all the way through the tape, including slow motion at the end. The tape's narrator clarifies early that "tortoise" is the same as turtle and "hare" as rabbit. Scamper stops for some of the mice's egg-salad at their picnic. Scamper has racing car sounds for his movements. Thelma hums along her way. A rain storm drives the hare to a tree. Scamper catches up to Thelma six times along the way! Scamper gets chased by a fox, loses direction, and finds his way to a bunny fast-food counter. There are many puns along the way. Moral: "Be sure but steady." About ten minutes. In "Vain Crow," King Zeus announces that he will appoint a king of the birds. The crow sleeps as attention goes to the owl and the eagle. The crow notices ducks' feathers in the river. He picks them up and is soon stealing feathers, especially peacock feathers, in funny ways. The crow dreams of himself as king. At the contest itself, the crow shows up late, looks stupid, and gets initial admiration. Zeus declares him the king of the birds. The peacock recognizes his own feather. All gang up and strip away all his feathers. Moral: The crow lost by not being himself, by trying to be what he was not. About ten minutes.