David & The Magic Pearl

David (who sounds like a graduate of the Evelyn Wood speed-talking school) is a kid from Chicago who, along with his Mom and Dad, is spending the summer in the jungle. As he narrates at warp speed, we learn that the evil Mr. Stealmore has sent his blonde assistant Fran to "steal" the animals of the jungle. While Fran is running around chasing pink elephants, etc., David explains about the "spacers", small cylindrical metallic objects that fly around in search of a missing magic pearl. Meanwhile, at home, David has enlisted the aid of two new friends: a dog named Pips, and a baby eagle named Sandy. The powers of good battle the powers of evil, etc. Some of the sequences are fairly clever, but much of this feature length cartoon is merely routine. Too, since the material is pitched towards kids, David's parents are pretty much portrayed as vapid morons. Occasionally engaging, David & the Magic Pearl is nevertheless too frenetic for younger children to follow, and too corny to appeal to older kids. Not recommended. (Available from most distributors.)