Easy Bein’ Green With Environmental Catalogue

Looking for a video on topics related to the environment can be frustrating. Where do you begin?

Certainly not at your local video store, since most carry few non- theatrical tapes and steer clear of anything scholarly or educational, since they’re not likely to be big sellers.

But there is a solution: the Environmental Video Collection, which has been available since early fall. Seventh Generation, a mail-order distributor of environmentally responsible products, developed this mail-order catalogue, the brainchild of National Video Resources, a project of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Of the 39 titles, most are in the $25 to $30 range, including documentaries, kidvid, music videos and a few features. Many of these videos aren’t for sale through conventional video outlets and have been available mainly to scholars and hard-core environmentalists.

“Schools, organizations and special interest groups can get these videos, but it hasn’t been easy for environmentally conscious people in the mainstream,” said Seventh Generation’s chairman Jeffrey Hollender.

What were the guidelines in assembling the catalogue?

“Offering titles that the general public might like and not getting too scholarly,” he replied. “Also we wanted to include videos that were both educational and entertaining and--most of all--not too expensive. We wanted to keep nearly all of them under $30.”

“We want to be educational but we also have to keep an eye on the commercial aspects too. We want this to be a success so we can keep offering the catalogue and so we can expand it.”

So far, Hollender said, 100,000 copies have been printed.

Here are some of the titles included:

* “Lost Man’s River” ($25): Primarily a fascinating, informative one-hour travelogue, exploring the Florida Everglades with author-naturalist Peter Mathiessen, who wrote “At Play in the Fields of the Lord.”

* “Osprey” ($30): Spectacular wildlife footage highlights this documentary about a Scottish bird, the osprey, that was on the verge of extinction until a dramatic rescue by a repopulation program.

* “The Lorax by Dr. Seuss” ($15): A half-hour, animated tale that cleverly indoctrinates children about the evils of deforestation.

* “Help Save Planet Earth” ($15): An invaluable guide to non-toxic housekeeping with tips entertainingly delivered by celebrities, including Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg.

For catalogue information: (800) 456-1177.

Disney and Henson: Industry insiders are still buzzing about the recently announced distribution deal calling for Jim Henson Productions products to be distributed by Disney’s Buena Vista Home Video. In 1989, Disney was in the process of acquiring Henson’s company but things were beginning to sour before Henson’s death last year and dissolved into a barrage of lawsuits. After the dust cleared this year, a lingering bitterness between the two caused many to believe that a deal was nearly impossible.

But the Henson company still didn’t have a home-video distributor for about 30 years’ worth of Muppet TV shows never released on video. It made sense for the warring factions to make peace so that the Henson estate could make use of Buena Vista’s enviable kidvid sales and distribution network. Also, Disney didn’t want to pass up a share of such a potentially lucrative home-video package. So Disney sweetened the deal, promising to finance Henson made-for-video programs.

The deal, mostly for programs never before released on video, will last five to six years. It calls for distribution of Henson productions like “Fraggle Rock” but does not include programs featuring “Sesame Street” characters.