The ABCs of fun with Giants of playfulness

“Here Come the ABCs”

Disney Sound/

Walt Disney Records

48 minutes; DVD: $12.98

The offbeat rock duo They Might Be Giants (John Flansburgh and John Linnell) crossed over into children’s music with the 2002 CD release “No!,” a collection of original songs as musically innovative as they are playfully surreal.

Flansburgh and Linnell weren’t slumming. After “No!” came a 2003 picture book-and-CD set called “Bed, Bed, Bed,” the theme song for Disney Channel’s new animated series, “Higglytown Heroes,” and now a wild, wacky and, yes, educational DVD, “Here Come the ABCs.”

Although the music has also been released on a CD of the same name, if there’s anything better than listening to these stunningly inventive songs, it’s listening to them while watching as TMBG (appearing as themselves and as puppets), along with talented animators, illustrators and puppeteers, bring the tunes to life on screen.

“The Vowel Family,” with oddly compelling vocal disharmony and accordion accents, is performed by the very cool puppets of the Deeply Felt Puppet Theater, created by Flansburgh’s wife, Robin Goldwasser.

“C Is for Conifer” features beautiful watercolor washes and inky trees; “E Eats Everything” segues into a Pac-Man-style maze chase, when it turns out that the one thing “E” doesn’t eat wants to eat “E.”

Animated pandas paint while penguins pass by; robots recite the alphabet, fast and slow; in a live action segment, actors wearing “Q” and “U” heads are best buds; and a chauffeur who’s lost his “auffeur” and a school that loses its “cool” check out “The Alphabet Lost and Found.”

As in “No!,” the music is TMBG’s sleek blend of techno-pop, country, ‘60s mellowness, country, hard rock and inventive vocals. The smart, funny and poignant lyrics reflect the duo’s unique style too.

Fine art and graphic art styles, bold colors and big shapes, black-and-white cartoons against color backgrounds, black-and-white still photography mixed with cartoon elements -- just about anything goes, but there’s nothing slapdash about it. It’s a terrific mix, and one that never loses sight of its target audience, children, no matter how deliciously far off the wall it goes.

*

“Shelley Duvall’s Tall Tales

& Legends: John Henry”

Koch Vision

54 minutes.

DVD: $14.98; VHS: $12.98

www.kochvision.com

A notable family TV series from the mid- to late 1980s, “Shelley Duvall’s Tall Tales and Legends” makes a welcome return with its first three releases on DVD, led by “John Henry,” starring a youthful Danny Glover as the mythic, steel drivin’ man, Tom Hulce as his irrepressible Irish best friend and Lynn Whitfield as the woman he woos.

The show’s theatrical staging, with Hulce as narrator, has a timeless look, the music -- Thelma Houston sings the famous folk ballad theme -- is memorable, and while nothing runs deep in the way of character development, Glover, in his physical prime, brings sensitivity to the role of a gentle giant who insists that he’s just a “natural man, nothing more, nothing less,” as he becomes the stuff of legends.

This month’s other DVD releases are “Johnny Appleseed,” with Martin Short in the title role, and “Darlin’ Clementine,” starring Duvall, Ed Asner, David Dukes and Michael Richards.