Playhouse Disney Halloween (Just Say Boo/A Spookie Ookie Halloween)
The Book of Pooh: Just Say BooFor those who found the animated Pooh video series a disappointment compared to the original Disney featurettes (compiled inThe Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), theBook of Poohmay revive interest. Its puppetry gives child viewers the delightful impression of their stuffed toys come to life. Although this new Disney Channel series still offers more lesson-oriented storytelling than the whimsy of the A.A. Milne-based originals, it has its own charm. This 46-minute offering contains three fright-oriented stories with Halloween in mind. The first--a double-length episode--focuses on Eeyore's move to the Scary Woods while the rest of the gang dreams up creepy costumes to win the contest at Kanga's holiday party. Piglet finds a black hat he thinks makes him brave and Tigger, Piglet, and Rabbit get spooked house sitting for Owl in the other two stories.--Kimberly HeinrichsRolie Polie Olie: A Spookie Ookie HalloweenTo describe Playhouse Disney's perennial preschool favorite, think Teletubbies meets The Jetsons. This loving, traditional family--Mr. And Mrs. Polie, 6-year-old Olie, sister Zowie, and Grandpa Pappy--are hairless beings with antennas, glassy eyes and noodle arms, set in a fruit-striped computer animated household of living appliances. Okey Dokey? While parents scratch their heads as to what makes this program work, preschoolers are enamored with the soothing storylines, predictable endings and deliberate pace of the Emmy-award winning show. A trio of hardly-haunted tales makes up this celebratory 24-minute video. If Charlie Brown gets the Great Pumpkin, then Olie can dream of the giant orange Spookie Ookie, which he does in "The Legend of Spookie Ookie." In "Oooh Scary," Olie and his pal Billy plan to give Zowie the fright of her life but the shivers come back to haunt them, much to her delight. And in "Zowie Queen of the Pumpkins," the spookie ookiest day of the year!  becomes a sweet memory of dancing with spook-o-lanterns when Zowie meets a midnight friend in the pumpkin patch. (Ages 2-5)--Lynn Gibson