Out of the Box - Trick Or Treat [VHS]
Out of the Boxis aDisney Channelchildren's series that celebrates imagination and creativity. The premise of the show is that a group of children discover a bunch of empty boxes and, with some creativity and paint, create a wonderful clubhouse. Hosts Vivian and Tony join an ethnically diverse cast of children in the clubhouse and help them look at ordinary things in new and creative ways. "Trick or Treat" finds everyone's favorite holiday, Halloween, drawing near. First the kids create costumes for Vivian and Tony out of some everyday items--an act that inspires a pop-sounding song promoting Halloween safety and manners. Next it's arts and crafts time, and the group makes jack-o'-lanterns, spider webs, and ghosts. Story time celebrates cooperation among four disparate Halloween characters who work together in order to solve a common problem. The parallels between this show and the ever popularBarneyare inevitable: both shows take place in a special house, celebrate creativity and music, and have some sort of bigger playmate that inspires and leads a group of children. The difference here is that those bigger playmates are ethnically diverse human beings who sing with normal voices in a popular idiom rather than a purple dinosaur with a rather goofy voice. (Ages 2 to 7.)--Tami Horiuchi