TV REVIEW : Music Education in a Rabbit Suit

Roger Rabbit helps sell children on classical music in “Disney’s Young People’s Guide to Music: The Greatest Band in the Land” on the Disney cable channel at 7:30 tonight.

It’s the first of two specials aimed at music appreciation. The second, “A Tune for Toon,” will air in the spring.

The sprightly half-hour has a simple formula: On stage is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, a slew of instruments and personable young conductor Rachel Worby of the Wheeling West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. In the audience are members of the under-8 set and their moms.

And there’s Roger Rabbit--that is, someone in a Roger Rabbit suit, with Charles Fleischer providing the voice--who co-hosts with Worby, asks child-like questions and provides comic relief.

Worby helps Roger--and the audience--decide what instrument he likes the best, while offering a quick guide to individual instruments and their sounds.

Will you hear the William Tell Overture? Of course. But you’ll also hear Handel, Benjamin Britten and Mozart. No in-depth education is going on here, just a breezy, unintimidating introduction to beautiful music for the very youngest viewers.