A Mushnail Tale

Featuring a cast made up of computer-animated mushrooms, this fanciful program follows fungi pals Frup Foo, Chup Choo, and Priss Poo on a spirited journey. When a baby is born fitting the description from an ancient prophecy stipulating that a child with “fruity colors” must be taken to the center of the forest, the scared village elders--who claim to be too busy saving the land of Mushnail from drying up to go themselves--enlist the help of the toadstool trio. Nervous because no one's managed a successful trip in thousands of years, the gang sets off in a snail-drawn carriage with flamingo friend Frank, a chicken named Poultry, and a worm in tow, mostly encountering cool background scenery along the way, before completing their quest (resulting in a magical tree restoring lush living conditions to Mushnail). While impressively animated by computer animator Scott Cawthon (see review of his Bird Village in VL-11/00), A Mushnail Tale is not-quite-ready for children's primetime, sporting jokes that will fly over the heads of the target audience (ages 2-7), and some cheesy narrative melodramatics. Optional, at best. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams)