Kenn Viselman,Eileen Potrock, Scott Stabile Greet Writers in San Francisco.
Where is Lassie? That’s a question I asked myself for a while. I mean really, Where is Lassie? It’s been a question that has been in my subconscious for years. Don’t know if the recent reoccurrence was fueled by the need to entertain my three innocent grandkids or my own need for a good G-rated movie to assuage all the years of the onslaught of violence and negativity on my sensibilities via media.
I have been longing for the G-rated days of Lassie, “Come, here girl,” and “Rin Tin Tin,” “That a boy!” Anyone else want to fly in the “Good Ship Lollipop?” “Where is Lassie?” The answer from the new interactive film for kids “The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure,” in theaters Wednesday, August 29th, resounds “Lassie is on the way,” figuratively speaking that is.
“The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure” directed by Matthew Diamond is a G-rated movie. The cast includes: Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, Chazz Palminteri, Jaime Pressley. Visit http://www.imdb.com/
Thanks to Pam McDonald of Cultural Cross Currents and Terry Hines and Associates, I got a chance to hear and see what I’ve been waiting on, a real G-rated flick for family. You say Hollywood has been making kids and family movies for years. Au contraire. Think about it. So-called child movies have had the mother killed off with an explosive bang in the first few minutes of the film, grief of a miscarriage, and ferocious animal fights. Does “Bambi,” “Up” and “Brave” to name a few, come to mind? Too many children’s movies pander to the adult minds that bring the children to the theater; assaulting the sensibilities of the young, robbed too quickly of their innocence by children’s entertainment. But in this case, "Oogieloves"
As director Kenn Viselman, writer Scott Stabile, and marketer Eileen Potrock spoke at the screening about providing “conflict without darkness,” a light went off in this “Grammy’s”
Here in the dog days of August (if that’s possible in “cool summers San Francisco”), I experienced a truly serendipitous moment, seeing toddlers and their moms dancing and singing during the movie. The film gauged for kids 3-5 years old encourages children to get up, move around, dance and sing when at most films you have to “shut up” (“That’s a bad word, Grammy,” my grandkids tell me. Can’t say “shut up” around them.), “sit down” and “be still.” Mrs. Obama and the Let’s Move campaign are sure to love this film (http://www.letsmove.gov/
Here’s the backstory from the website www.ogieloves.com:
Moms now there’s a movie to take the kids that deals with the reality of all that bundled up energy. Check out the listings near you. You may want to get the DVD as soon as it’s available. Visit www.oogieloves.com for more information.
http://www.youtube.com/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
