San Francisco - Where is Lassie?  "The Oogieloves" say "on the way."

Where is Lassie?  That's a question I asked myself for a while.  I mean really, Where is Lassie? It's been a question that has been in my subconscious for years.  Don't know if the recent reoccurrence was fueled by the need to entertain my three innocent grandkids or my own need for a good G-rated movie to assuage all the years of the onslaught of violence and negativity on my sensibilities via media.

I have been longing for the G-rated days of Lassie, "Come, here girl," and "Rin Tin Tin," "That a boy!"  Anyone else want to fly in the "Good Ship Lollipop?" "Where is Lassie?"   The answer from the new interactive film for kids "The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure," in theaters Wednesday, August 29th, resounds "Lassie is on the way," figuratively speaking that is.

"The Oogieloves in The Big Balloon Adventure" directed by Matthew Diamond is a G-rated movie. The cast includes: Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes, Chazz Palminteri, Jaime Pressley.  Visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520498/fullcredits#cast  for complete list of cast and crew.  

Thanks to Pam McDonald of Cultural Cross Currents and Terry Hines and Associates, I got a chance to hear and see what I've been waiting on, a real G-rated flick for family.  You say Hollywood has been making kids and family movies for years.  Au contraire.  Think about it.  So-called child movies have had the mother killed off with an explosive bang in the first few minutes of the film, grief of a miscarriage, and ferocious animal fights.  Does "Bambi," "Up" and "Brave" to name a few, come to mind?  Too many children's movies pander to the adult minds that bring the children to the theater; assaulting the sensibilities of the young, robbed too quickly of their innocence by children's entertainment.  But in this case, "Oogieloves" is child's play including dancing, jumping, and singing along right in the theater!  Can I get a "yeah" from all the kids?

As director Kenn Viselman, writer Scott Stabile, and marketer Eileen Potrock spoke at the screening about providing "conflict without darkness," a light went off in this "Grammy's" mind.  Yes, why not?  Entertainment for children without the woes of Grimm Fairy Tales.  There really doesn't have to be a sinister witch or bad men carrying rifles in the forest I thought as he spoke.  Kenn who helped bring the beloved "Thomas The Tank Engine" from the UK to the US, and also a marketer for "Teletubies" and "Eloise" said Hollywood executives booted him out of their offices when he proposed the "G-rated" pioneering interactive film. (CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE STORY.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxchFyoX6IM

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012)