Today I rummaged through the storage boxes and retrieved an old VHS copy of a movie I first saw in first grade: "The Point".

"The Point" (first broadcast by ABC in 1971) is an animated movie set in a world where everything has a point. Everything. The buildings, the trees, and even the people. Except for a little round-headed kid named Oblio.

Banished for his difference (after all, "the law is the law"), little Oblio is left alone except for his trusty dog Arrow. Oblio searches his way through the Pointless Forest, encountering all types of characters and adventures, while back at home the townspeople question the validity of bad laws.

Perhaps it's a stretch, but even through the knee-deep psychedelic symbolism (and some still great and groovy sounding Harry Nilsson tunes) I think it still speaks to today's political/social landscape.

If you get the opportunity, check it out when it premieres on DVD; listen closely for voicework by Mike (Brady Bunch) Lookinland and
veteran voice actor Paul Frees.

Speaking of great tunes, it's worth it to me just to hear my daughters sing along to this song and burst into giggles when the whale, well . . . read for yourself:

"Think about Your Troubles"

Sit beside the breakfast table. Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea and listen to the bubbles.
You can take your tear drops and drop 'em in a tea cup.
Take 'em down to the river side, and throw 'em over the side.
To be swept up by a current, then taken to the ocean to be eaten by some fishes,
who were eaten by some fishes and swallowed by a whale,
who grew so old, he decomposed.
He died and left his body to the bottom of the ocean.
Now everybody knows that when a body decomposes
the basic elements are given back to the ocean.
And the sea does what it ought to, and soon there's salty water--
Not too good for drinking. 'Cause it tastes just like a tear drop.
And you run it through a filter, and it comes out from a faucet.
And it pours into a teacup, which is just about to bubble.
Now think about your troubles!