The Point

How wonderful that The Point is now available on DVD!

This 1971 TV special tells the story of Oblio, a round-headed child born into a world of pointy-headed people. He faces discrimination, is banished, and then returns at the end to teach an important lesson to the town.

The cartoon works on so many levels its a joy to watch and re-watch. The moral lessons come fast, furious and they're so enjoyably and subtle that it makes you feel good. "Everyone must have a point!"

A lot of the early '70s mentality is embedded in The Point, and the tone and lessons remind us that the '60s and '70s WERE an ideal time, filled with great ideals. The Harry Nielsson songs are outstanding, and the animation is a cross between Peter Max and the folks that did Rocky & Bullwinkle.

I snagged the Disney version on VHS more than 10 years ago, and let my small children watch it several times. I'm looking forward to enjoying it on crystal-clear DVD now.

I cast my vote not only for a DVD release of The Point, but also for it to have (a) the soundtrack remastered with the respect it deserves and (b) Dustin Hoffman restored to the narration. I was lucky enough to see it once by accident on TV during the school holidays in the mid-seventies and, over the years, I have proclaimed its many virtues (e.g, the soundtrack, the moral, and the fine use of a real boy, instead of an actress, for the boy's voice).

I kept hearing about this movie a lot for quite some time, and when I saw the video at my local library, I decided to check it out to see if it was any good.

Little did I know what I was in for!

In other words, I loved every minute of it. I have this thing for semi-obscure non-Disney animated movies, and 'The Point' was just adorable. Never before have I seen a lead character quite as endearing as little Oblio, or a cuter dog than Arrow (I just loved his expressions). The Rock Man was just too cool... with that beatnik-like voice and wisdom.

I loved the songs, and there's a very strange one about death, which shows a whale decomposing... it's the weirdest part of the movie, and has to be seen to be believed. The sequences to a few other songs aren't much more normal, actually. But I mean all of this in the nicest way possible.

'The Point' will for sure have a place in my cartoon collection soon. Anyone who loves strange cartoons or Harry Nilsson should see it.

I also watched this movie as a kid in the early 1970's. I think I first saw it at home (around '72 or '73) and a couple of years later saw it at school.

I imagine it was used to promote peace and harmony not only among the races, but also among conservatives/liberals, and the like. Oblio was a kid who was born (the only one) without a point on his head. He goes into exile and is determined to find "his point" with his dog Arrow. Eventually, he returns to town to see if they will accept him along with his differences and is stunned to find out he now DOES have a point on his head. The only problem is that the town now has round heads, but they take him in warmly. Excellent movie to teach about racism or how we are all different, but we must all be accepted.

Its hard to fathom right now, but at the end of the 60s, the nature and future of narrative was in the hands of The Beatles.

They had consciously experimented with new forms based on underlying mechanics that today would be called "new age" and considered bogus. Their White Album was based on the kabbalistic structure of Alice in Wonderland, obfuscated by superficial stories and elaborated by hallucinogenic dynamics.

One of the "best friends" during this period (friends of John and Ringo) was Nilssen. Out of that relationship came this.

It preserves some of the mechanics: the relationship of small form song narrative to a larger assembly; the hallucinogenic imagery in word and film; the references to Pepperland and Alice, and even after a period of fighting for Ringo, he appears as the narrator. But as Harry was essentially a sweet drunk, it lacks the underlying ambition of The Beatles: to re- invent the common cosmology around less destructive geometry.

Taymor would mine this for her visual exploration of the Beatles.

And because Nilssen was a sex addict as well, much of the key imagery follows that, allowing for the transmission through the director/artist. (This whole thing was written during a series of sexually enhanced acid trips.) For instance, the first "pointless" thing with a point after the stoned guy is three dancing fecund redheads. Check out redheaded Marijke, the Beatles' Tarot reader of this period.

As with Beatles songs, this is appreciated for its small form sweetness, and the larger aspiration is ignored or discounted as naive.

Except for perhaps the inescapable notion of going to the forbidden, unknown and risky "forest" to discover self.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.