Jungle Jamboree

The first skit in this live action kidvid bites off more than it can chew, opening with a "don't talk to strangers/my body is mine/tell a grown-up" musical number where the message gets rather confused when the "bad magic stranger" (who is by far the most interesting and entertaining character) turns out to be a good guy just testing the young kids to see what would happen. Call it a psychological bungle in the jungle, if you will, but mixed messages in the area of child safety and stranger danger are not particularly wise. The rest of the program settles down with some harmlessly cute animal puppets, kids and silly-seeming adults singing sweet songs about getting along and kindness. Optional. Also available separately is Jungle Jamboree Sing-a-long ($9.95). (N. Plympton)