Seuss and Love: What More Could a Kid Want?

Video

Dr. Seuss’ My Many Colored Days. NotesAlive! StoryConcert Video Series. Minnesota Orchestra Visual Entertainment. 45 minutes. $20. (888) 666-6837.

It almost mesmerizes at times, this combination of dreamlike 3-D computer animation, otherworldly Dr. Seussian rhyme and the shifting music and colors representing a child’s changeable emotions.

Based on a story by the late children’s author Theodor S. Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and narrated by Holly Hunter, the video centers on a little boy and his dog passing days that range from a “slow and low, low down” day in shades of brown to a serene green one and a day of exuberant yellow.

Black, blue, gray--each mood color has a musical complement in Richard Einhorn’s score, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra.

As do other NotesAlive releases, the video also features glimpses of the musicians playing and a look at how the animation, music and story came together, with interviews with Geisel’s widow, Audrey, and with animators, orchestra members and the composer.

Mama, Do You Love Me? Sony Wonder. 30 minutes. $13 (VHS), $25 (DVD). https://www.sonywonder.com

The animation is pedestrian but the message is loving and true in this video set in a frozen Alaskan landscape, based on Barbara M. Joosse’s children’s book and the illustrations by Barbara Lavallee.

A little Inuit girl named Nyla needs reassurance that her mother still loves her even when a mischievous runaway puppy gets her in trouble.

Nyla tests Mom with a series of fanciful “what ifs”--what if Nyla turned into a polar bear, what if she put a salmon in Mom’s parka, what if she makes her mother sad, anxious, angry or scared? No matter what, Mom responds with a hug and a smile, she will always love her “dear one.”