
1986 VHS box artwork
Old MacDonald's Farm and Other Animal Tales (aka "3 Richard Scarry Animal Tales") is a Golden Book Video. It was released in 1986.
Stories[]
- Old MacDonald's Farm: An original story utilizing various illustrations from Richard Scarry's Best Picture Dictionary Ever, Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go and Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever. The titular farmer pig named Old Macdonald specializes in growing pickles, and his family's three triplets Mac, Matt and Mike throw a fit about not taking a bath or going to bed. Then, they decide to throw a reunion for their parents to bring some excitement to the farm, inviting relatives Dingo Dog, Farmer Hee-Haw, Doodledoo and his family, and Grandma Cat and the others from Catville. The celebration cumulates in them all singing the classic "Old MacDonald" song.
- The Wolf and the Kids: Adapted from a story in Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever. Mother goat warns her kids NEVER to open the door to strangers, but the Big Bad Wolf tricks them. However, Mother Goat and Billy soon have the situation sewn up and the wolf has the worst day he can remember!
- The Musicians of Bremen: Adapted from a story in Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever. Starstruck, Donko and his friends set out to become musicians in Bremen. But this musical version of an old tale has a new twist. In the end, the musicians discover that their real joy is to share their work, fun and songs!
Notes/Trivia[]
- Old Macdonald's farm features pigs throwing a fit about bath time and bedtime. This is the only Golden book adapted video to be rated TV-Y7 for frequencies of rough play.
- The Wolf and the Kids also uses some illustrations of the wolves from "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood" stories in Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever , modified so they all have the Wolf's outfit from The Wolf and the Kids. An additional illustration from "The Three Little Pigs" is used of the cat merchant at the county fair, with her farm stand passed off as a grocery store the Wolf steals a box of powdered sugar from. When the Mother Goat boards a bus and the Wolf runs through traffic, illustrations from Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go are utilized.
- Goldbug makes a cameo in The Wolf and the Kids, via an illustration from Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.
- The Wolf and the Kids adds some material not in the original Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever version; there is a part with the Wolf trying to sweeten his voice with powdered sugar stolen from a grocery store and getting hiccups and a stomachache from it (the voice-sweetening is in most versions of the tale, but not in the book this comes from), the flour used to disguise the Wolf's paws gets in his nose and makes him frequently sneeze, and when the Wolf sees the stones in his sack a policeman comes to his house to arrest him for stealing the powdered sugar, and escapes out the back with the stones in an attempt to drop them down a well but goes down with them too (again, the wolf falling to his demise thanks to the stones is in most versions of the tale, but the book version just ends with the wolf packing up his things to go to his mother for supper.)
- The Musicians of Bremen has part of the story changed; in the original Richard Scarry's Best Nursery Tales Ever version, Donko knows right away that the four characters inside the small cottage are robbers, and he and the others scare them away with their "singing." In this video adaptation, the four mistake the robbers for friendly fellow singers and unintentionally scare them away when trying to sample their "singing" for them.
Gallery[]
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