Village of Idiots

No, this is not a walking tour of Washington, D.C., but rather another elegantly wacky cartoon from the National Film Board of Canada, the king (and queen, and royal pet aardvark) of animated short subjects. Co-directed by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove, Village of Idiots, which is based on a familiar Jewish folktale, is a strikingly drawn tale of a dim-watted (say, 15) guy named Shmendrik, who leaves his village to look for knowledge and discovers another village exactly like his own. Not only do the streets look very familiar, but Shmendrik finds a house virtually identical to his, inhabited by kids who are "brat for brat, just like my own," and a woman who bears a remarkable resemblance to the shrew he is accustomed to bunking with each evening. Less like X-Files than Gilligan's Island, this charming take on the old adage that "the grass is always greener on the other side" offers an enjoyable if rather predictable story. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)