A Fascinating Look at the Realm of ‘Jellies’

If you and yours are interested observers of natural world phenomena--and if you want to see something truly astounding--don’t miss “Jellies and Other Ocean Drifters,” a new home video narrated by Leonard Nimoy and created by Sea Studios and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in collaboration with the Monterey Bay Research Institute.

The first part of the video is a poetic procession of incredibly diverse “aliens” living in their liquid universe, many filmed from an unmanned submersible descended to crushing depths. Nimoy’s dramatic narration and John Huling’s haunting music communicate a sense of awe with a dash of sci-fi mystery as the deceptively fragile, dreamlike beings, never or rarely seen before, reveal themselves to master filmmakers in the most fantastic shapes and sizes.

Trailing diaphanous draperies, feathery fringes or kite-tail ribbons, some are a familiar parachute shape, others look like drawstring purses, flat boxes, zipped-up bags, chains, flattened coils or transparent sheaths. They come in rainbow colors, they glitter and shoot off sparks of self-generated light and some even pulsate within elaborately shaped spider-web dwellings of their own construction.

The mood changes in the second half to a factual, fascinating explanation of the creatures and the technology that allows them to be filmed and studied. While not a children’s video, this well-made film, neither flashy nor funny, is for anyone old enough to feel a sense of wonder about the world.

* “Jellies and Other Ocean Drifters,” Sea Studios/Monterey Bay Aquarium, 35 minutes, $19.95, (800) 727-0009.

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Boppin’ Bugs: “The Huggabug Club,” a popular, live-action musical children’s show in the “Barney” vein that airs on 250 public television stations nationally, is now on home video.

The half-hour, song-filled show with full-body puppets named Huggabug, Auntie Bumble and Miss Oops-A-Daisy, plus a cast of camera-aware kids called “Buggsters,” are sugary enough to make adult teeth ache, but preschoolers dig ‘em. It began airing in July 1995, and is an ambitious effort from its creators, the acting sisters Audrey and Judy Landers, who also host, and their savvy show-biz mom, Ruth Landers. (Locally, it can be seen weekdays at 2 p.m. on Orange County’s KOCE-TV Channel 50.)

The sisters, familiar from sultry roles in TV movies and episodic roles, tone down their adult screen personas to lead young viewers in original, feel-good music and lessons in sharing, cooperating and self-esteem.

* “The Huggabug Club,” Anchor Bay Entertainment at Kmart, Target, Blockbuster, $8.98. Audiocassettes: $8.98.