“Pop Goes the Classroom”: Groovy ’70s School Films & Snacks | SF

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Oddball Films and guest curator Lynn Cursaro present another edition of Pop Goes the Classroom: School Films from the Golden Age of Groovy.

$10 with an RSVP required to: 415-558-8117 or programming@oddballfilm.com

A wide range of 1960’s sensibilities trickled down to educational films, from far out editing to groovy imagery, with weird, wild and beautiful results. Facts and dates gave way to concepts, color, song and action. As usual, home-baked pop-centric gingerbread will be among the complimentary treats from the curator’s kitchen.

Featured films include:

Toes Tell (1969, color)
One girl, two feet, ten toes . . . and so much to explore. These little piggies venture forth unshod and ready for anything, be it fuzzy, squishy or sticky. Although this barefoot adventure was distributed by the folks at Encyclopedia Britannica, it’s loaded with free-wheeling hippie aesthetic. Must be seen to be disbelieved.

Free To Be…You and Me – When I Grow Up (Color, 1974, excerpt)
From the Emmy Award-winning TV adaptation of the quintessential hippy parenting guide, Free to be…You and Me, Roberta Flack and Michael Jackson play young children, imagining a future with their current physical shortcomings. The late great MJ croons “And I don’t care if you’re pretty at all and I don’t care if I never get tall. I like what you look like and I’m nice small. We don’t have to change at all.”

A Slice of Bread (Color, 1970)
Learning is going on everywhere in young Fred’s life. At school, he is learning how the food we eat grows and gets to go on the best field trip ever: a big bread factory! At home, our young hero learns the lesson of compassion as he rescues an injured bird and nurses it back to health. It all comes together with some sharp intercutting of our young hero’s rich inner life as he puts all these lessons together.

Baby Rabbit (Larry Klingman, Color, 1971)
Baby brothers and baby rabbits not so different when you get down to it, although bunnies might be less annoying. Drawing parallels between the love and care parents give their children and the joys and responsibilities of keeping animal friends, Baby Rabbit is jam packed with warmth. Extreme cuteness warning: if the bunnies don’t get you, the darling trio of siblings will! Music by Country Al Ross.

Night People’s Day (Bob Kurtz, Color, 1971)
The look at the hidden workdays of nocturnal workers would be fascinating on its own, but this narration-free film adds human-made sound effects! A chorus of youngsters bloop, swish, crunch and whirl along as postal workers, produce market jobbers, bakers and other moonlit tradesmen go about their workaday routines and share their thoughts on their topsy-turvy workaday nights.

Sun (Stelios Roccos, Color, 1970)
Sunny, Schmunny! The sun has many moods, after all it shines on just about everything. Beautifully shot scenes of summer fun share the screen with vocab-building text to make learning sight words fun and filmic.

Ball Skills (Color, 1969)
Do playthings confuse you? Are you completely stymied about the sorts of fun activities you can enjoy with a ball? Not sure about bouncing? Just because you can learn these things on the playground doesn’t mean it’s not a dandy subject for film! Overly analytical, this look at standard game skills balances its unneeded narration with kids in bright Nixon-era playwear.

Pamela Wong’s Birthday for Grandma (Color, 1977)
Grandma just moved from Hong Kong and today is her very first American birthday which is special because they don’t have birthday cakes in China. As helpful Pamela runs a few errands for mom we get a lovely tour of Chicago’s Chinatown and some of the special shops there. But is Pamela up to such a grown-up task? The ending may drive you insane! One of A/V Geeks’ Skip Elsheimer’s favorite educational shorts.

Lopsideland (Color, 1969)
If any city can be considered a colorful character, it’s San Francisco! Has the laissez-faire attitude of its denizens shaped the city, or have all those hills and crannies shaped us? This delightful short doesn’t even pretend to know the answer!

Wheels, Wheels, Wheels (Color, 1969)
Why have some dry narrator explain the properties of wheel when this action-packed montage of motion is the perfect excuse for a smoking soundtrack The brass fueled score complements the big, the fast and the industrial, but some very tiny wheels are here too. If it goes round, round, round it’s where it’s at for these groovy filmmakers.

For early arrivals:
Blue Jean (Color, 1971)
From the goldfields of California to the classrooms, playgrounds and catwalks of the world, denim is where it’s at! A smattering of history, a pinch of cost analysis and a “comic” linking skit all combine to provide kids with a soft, worn-in perspective of the no longer humble “working man’s pants” and their ubiquity.

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