Lifestyles of the Purple and Famous

Video

Come On Over to Barney’s House. Lyrick Studios. $15; (DVD: $25). 45 minutes.

Barney, the purple stuffed toy whose modus operandi is to transform into a giant, pillowy dinosaur dispensing hugs and leading feel-good sing-alongs, has been around long enough to have become a staple of toddler and preschooler life. He’s the same giggly and mushy nice guy as ever; the twist in this new video is that, for the first time, viewers see where Barney lives.

They visit him in his magical house, where there are rooms just for bubbles or butterflies, where a blue jay plays blues harmonica, and surfing the Net is done with

the help of a (computer-animated) mouse with a surfboard.

Kid dino pals BJ and Baby Bop join human kids in songs and dancing, and Barney’s visitors include the Big Bad Wolf (he’s persuaded to use his huffing and puffing to blow up inflatable toys), Wee Willie Winkie, and Jack and Jill. Can you say, “song cue”? BJ’s rock ‘n roll band amps up the volume a tad, but traditional nursery songs still rule and so does Barney’s feel-good, “I Love You” message.

Pumpkin Man. Pumpkin Pictures. $13. 30 minutes. https://www.amazon.com

An unusual Halloween video, created not just to provide a few chills but also to reassure and support young children who are struggling with insecurity and self-doubt due to their parents’ divorce.

Written by Jennifer Farmer, it features screen pros Denise Crosby as a newly divorced mom, Phil Abbot as her wise and sympathetic live-in dad and Milton Creagh as Sam, a mysterious neighbor rumored to have a bloody past. During a night of trick-or-treating, with strange goings-on involving a pumpkin-headed ghost, it’s Sam who finds the right words to reach Jason, the confused boy who’s trying to figure out how he could have kept his dad from leaving.

Christopher Ogden, who looks like a teenager, appears a mite old to be playing Jason--the part seems to have been written for a much younger boy, and the show wears its heart on its sleeve. But its message is a strong and loving one, and the spooky pumpkin transformations are pretty cool.

It’s the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown. Paramount Home Entertainment. $13; (DVD: $20). 25 minutes.

Music is all important in this gentle and humorous new “Peanuts” video, the last to be written under the supervision of the late Charles Schulz. In it, Snoopy takes on the role of a concertina-playing Pied Piper to rid a storybook town of “sports mice.” That’s how Charlie Brown tells the tale to sister Sally, who needs a lesson in keeping promises.

The soccer-playing, dirt bike-riding, ice-skating, Irish step- and line-dancing mice are driving the townspeople crazy, so Charlie Brown, stepping into the story with other Peanuts’ pals, offers Snoopy’s services. When Snoopy does the job and then is denied his payment of a year’s worth of dog food, it’s the mayor and his council who disappear into the sunset under Snoopy’s concertina spell, singing “Down by the Old Mill Stream” and “Goodnight Sweetheart,” barbershop quartet-style.

David Benoit, who provides the musical arrangements and performs, does an outstanding job combining soft jazz, plaintive melodic strains, old-time songs, a bit of Beethoven and the classic, lively “Peanuts” piano theme.

Audio

Blue Suede Shoes, Elvis Songs for Kids. Music for Little People. CD: $16; cassette: $10. (800) 409-2457. https://www.mflp.com/.

This is the third in Music for Little People’s series of well-produced classic rock song collections, slickly re-recorded with talented child singers and experienced adult musicians. The first in the series, the surprisingly appealing “All You Need Is Love, Beatles Songs for Kids” is still the best (the second was “Catch a Wave, Beach Songs for Kids”). This one’s a sing-along kick for kids, though. With a tiny lyric adjustment for child-appropriate content (in “Baby, Let’s Play House,” sung in the adorable voice of a tiny tot), these songs are true to the King’s spirit, with terrific instrumentals and kids of varying ages singing their hearts out in energetic, Elvis-inspired renditions of “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” “All Shook Up,” “Jailhouse Rock” and nine other Elvis hits.