Voices of Ringo Starr, Mike Lookinland, Paul Frees, and Lennie Weinrib
Directed by Fred Wolf
Music and Lyrics by Harry Nilsson
The Point! began as a studio album by Nilsson that told the story of a little boy from a town filled with pointed people and his trip through the Pointless Forest. It was apparently inspired by an acid trip Nilsson had that lead him to realize everything has a point. The animated movie debuted on the ABC Movie of the Week anthology in 1971 as the first made-for-TV animated film. How does the bizarre tale of Oblio and his dog Arrow look nowadays? Let's start with a more typical dad and son as he insists on reading the kid a story and find out...
The Story: Oblio (Lookinland) is the only child in his point-obsessed village born with a round head. This isn't much of an issue until he and his beloved dog Arrow defeats the spoiled son of the Count (Buddy Foster) in a game of Triangle Toss. When Oblio wins, the boy's livid father (Weinrib) convinces the good-natured king (Frees) to banish Oblio and Arrow to the Pointless Forest.
As the duo quickly discover, the forest isn't really pointless. It's bursting with things that have lots of points - including a three-headed Pointed Man (Frees and June Foray) who pops up to complain about everything else being pointless. After meeting many strange and wondrous creatures and people, Oblio and Arrow finally learn that everything has a point...whether it's a physical point or a real, meaningful part of life.
The Animation: Extremely limited, as per most animated programs of this time. The characters are scratchy, stiff, and simple, even ones like the Fat Sisters who are supposed to be flowing. The animation does have it's good points. Colors are bright primaries that pop off the screen; the oddball zig-zag designs and watercolor backgrounds gives it the feeling of an especially weird Dr. Seuss special.
The Song and Dance: I have some very fond memories of this one running frequently on The Disney Channel during the late 80's and early 90's; in fact, my family recorded one of those broadcasts on video and watched it for years. It's as strange as I remember it being as a kid, with some amazingly creative characters and an interesting moral about nothing being truly pointless. I really like the voice acting, too. The dialogu sounds quite natural and normal, especially compared to the crazy images of plump ladies in pink bouncing around and giant rock people waking from their naps.
Favorite Number: "Everything's Got 'Em" introduces the Pointed Village, it's citizens, and their world. "Me and My Arrow," the theme for Oblio and his beloved sharp-sided pooch, was the fairly popular single release. "Think About Your Troubles" takes Oblio into the Pointed Forest with a dreamy number that flows and swirls like the ocean discussed in the song. "Life Line" is another dreamy fantasy, this time as Oblio contemplates the creatures that live at the bottom of a bottomless hole. "Are You Sleeping?" appropriately turns into a romantic rendezvous while Oblio and Arrow rest and dream near the end of the film. (It can also be heard over the opening credits.)
Trivia: The father and narrator has been performed by four different men. Dustin Hoffman got 20,000 for the initial 1971 broadcast. He was replaced by Alan Barzman for the second broadcast. Alan Thicke played the role in cable showings (including the version my family recorded). Ringo Starr did it for video and DVD, and it's this version that tends to show up the most often nowadays.
There's at least two stage versions of The Point! One debuted outside of Boston in the mid-70's. The other came out in London in 1977 and featured Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. Both productions added songs from other Nilsson albums.
What I Don't Like: The story is pretty simple, and even a little silly, with the limited and scratchy animation common in the 60's and 70's. It's pretty obvious this was inspired by an acid trip. Some of the numbers are more weird for weirdness sake than actually moving what story there is along. I also really wish they'd just gone straight into the story. The dad reading the story to the kid pop in occasionally, but their dialogue mainly consists of the kid being bored and the dad fussing that kids don't do anything he did anymore. (And I would love to hear the other three versions of this again, including more of Hoffman's.)
The Big Finale: Bizarre but charming tale is fun for families and fans of classic rock or Nilsson's other work.
Home Media: This was rereleased on disc this February and can currently be found streaming for free on Tubi.
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