Planet Bonehead

K-Gr 6—Combining a cartoon adventure with live-action documentary footage, this production attempts to educate children about sea turtles and the threats to their environment. It begins with a cartoon about an evil dog who wants to dump thousands of plastic shopping bags into the ocean. The Boneheads are the good guys who mount an effort to stop him. In the midst of planning, one bone character begins lecturing the others about the different species of sea turtles, their habitats, life cycle, the threats from humans, and what we can do to help the turtles survive and thrive, focusing on a sea turtle rescue program. After this 20-minute documentary, which uses video footage of sea turtles and some still images, the cartoon resumes, and the Boneheads save the day. A music video, complete with karaoke style words over images, concludes the program. While the film's message is important, the animation is poor, with rough looking edges and characters that stand still while only their mouths move. The sound levels are uneven throughout, with music much louder than voices. The cartoon segments are slow-paced, and there is not much time given to reinforce the facts that are presented in the documentary portion.—Geri Diorio, Ridgefield Library, CT