Delightful Tour of a Teddy Bear Factory

Video

The Teddy Bear Factory. Premier Images. 20 minutes. $15. (888) 858-VIDEO. https://www.video11.com.

This tour through a real teddy bear factory packs a surprising amount of entertaining information into a short time. Two toys play host: 25-year-old Grandpa Bear (“that’s 73 in teddy bear years”) and young Freddy Bear. With human helpers and a toy dragon deliveryman, they guide viewers and several real kids through the Basic Brown Bear Factory.

The tour progresses from design- and pattern-making to construction and fluffing stuffing, but the highlight is a film of the kids and Freddy reenacting one of the stories said to have inspired the creation of teddy bears: President Theodore Roosevelt’s refusal to shoot a bear cub. It’s done like an old-time silent movie, in black and white, “Little Rascals” style, and though brief, it’s a hoot.

Audio

Great Big Sun. Justin Roberts. Hear Diagonally. CD: $14. (877) 345-4992. https://www.heardiagonally.com

No “rah, rah, hey, kids” attention-grabbing here. Justin Roberts doesn’t need it. His mellow folk-jazz delivery is James Taylor smooth and his comic and soulful songs have creative, unique twists and turns that parents will enjoy as much as children. The alphabet is a star player: Roberts’ “a,b,c,d,e,” is a dynamically different, rock- and Caribbean-flavored way for kids to sing it. In “Everything Else Starts With ‘E,’ ” letters get a wacky workout: “A is for the applesauce that Mother poured into my bubble bath. . . .”

“Kitty Kat, Kitty Kat” is a terrific dream-like song about a cat, a cow and a pig who not only take an ocean swim but also do it gracefully. Throughout, Roberts plays guitar, and other first-rate musicians join in with horns, drums and strings.

Special note: Roberts will be performing songs from his CD at McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, Sunday at 11 a.m. $3 to $6.