Davy Jones' Locker: Video & Puzzles Kit [VHS]
Named after the sailors' moniker for the bottom of the sea, this musical  marionette show creates a real Davy Jones and a boy who learns from him. The  52-minute show begins with the backstage preparations of marionette "actors"  who will perform the tale. Then we meet Joey, a boy whose father is obsessed  with winning money and whose mother's mantra is "Happiness makes you rich." A  slip down the stairs and Joey is off on a pirate ship à laThe Wizard  of Oz. The pirates drop the lad down to the sea floor to bring up sunken  treasure, but the wise Davy Jones and his mermaid sidekick arm him with books  instead. The lesson here is obvious, but valuable, and kids will enjoy the  marionettes who border on edgy but stop short of scary. The sets for Joey's home, the pirate ship, and the sunken ship are elaborate and entrancing and the voices match the characters with a precision that earned this video a several awards. Puppeteer Bil Baird, famed for the marionettes ofThe Sound of  Music, created these marionettes as well. (Ages 2 and older)--Kimberly Heinrichs