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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Ever lost the thread of your
conversation or felt that you were doing a
meaningless, pointless action? We all feel guilty
for doing things we feel has no payoff or that can
demonstrate an outcome. Harry Nilsson's children's
cartoon and classic album "The Point" that
everyone and everything has a point. He also
points out that if something doesn't that's ok,
too.
Fred Wolf's classic cartoon adaptation of
Nilsson's charming story springs to life on this
DVD of the 1974 film. Narrated by The Beatles'
Ringo Starr, Nilsson's story focuses on a land
where everybody and everything has a point;
there's pointed heads, pointed hills, heck even
the dogs have points. Everybody but round headed
Oblio. At first his parents try and hide his round
little head with a pointed hat. Pretty soon,
though, Oblio runs afoul of the law. His crime? He
doesn't conform to everyone else's standards and
he has no point. Banished from his home, Oblio and
his pet dog Arrow search the land for the point of
his existence and others like himself. His sense
of self discovery, the witty songs and the gentle
message of tolerance make Nilsson and Wolf's film
a joy to watch. I suspected that too much time had
passed for another generation to appreciate this
classic film but was delighted to see children
found "The Point" more entertaining and
enthralling than Disney's latest sad excuse for a
film "Brother Bear."
Nilsson's tenor voice and the melodic lullaby
quality of many of the songs make them
entertaining and soothing at the same time. His
clever, witty lyrics manage to help drive the
story's point home with out becoming heavy handed.
The sharp, nicely realized digital transfer looks
very good despite the numerous bits of dirt on the
original negative. While the DVD has absolutely
nothing in the way of extras (which is a pity as,
according to actor and Nilsson archivist Curtis
Armstrong (Booger The Nerd films and a regular of
the series "Moonlighting") there were many things
in the vault that could have been added. The
popularity of the film and its wistful story line
will hopefully inspire BMG to re-release a deluxe
version of this great film some time down the line
with neat supplementary material. As it is, the
one extra that makes "The Point" unusual is the
song index allowing viewers to skip to their
favorite Nilsson tunes.
The film's rich melodic score and intelligent
script underlines the major problem with most
programming for children today; there's a lack of
subtly and an assumption on the part of film
makers that crassness can somehow replace
creativity. "The Point" may betray its era (it was
originally produced for ABC television in 1974)
and origin but the storytelling overcomes time and
other obstacles to connect with an important,
neglected audience. |
