Barney: Jungle Friends (NR)

It's Earth Day in Barney's musical world, and the kids are preparing for the big parade. The kids also learn that the tree that's in their play yard is host to a family of birds. When B.J. and Baby Bop come on the scene, Barney decides to "use his imagination," to travel to the rain forest. There, the group meets Mother Nature (Holly Franklin), a ditsy, squeaky lady who helps them to learn about the plants and animals in the rain forest. But B.J. and Ben (Austin Lux) have not learned their lesson about how to care for the planet; when they kick down the only Higgelty Piggelty Pear tree in the world, it makes Mother Nature very sad. She perks up, however, and plants a seed in order to grow another tree. Back in "real-life," the kids hear that a playground might be built on the land where their favorite tree lives. They gently persuade the playground planner to build on the other side of the park, where there are no trees. And then they sing and dance some more. Whew!

It's a little annoying to the refined ear to hear the tuneless songs in this movie cycled over and over again. But there is a redeeming quality to the content of the songs, since they successfully introduce kids to a host of different animals and plants. Songs about monkeys show visuals of dozens of monkeys, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees, while kids sing their names. A song about plants lists a host of flowers, while it shows kids planting seeds, tending gardens, and smiling among the jasmine. Such exposure to the world's bounty is never a bad thing, even if this lesson is presented by a grinning purple dinosaur who can barely move his arms.