I’ve got a bit of a video project in the office right now… I’m digitizing a video from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety called “Otto the Auto – Rachel in Space.” It’s a tape from one of those movies that you used to watch in school. It was always kind of cool to walk into the classroom and see that things were set up to watch a film. All the blinds would be closed and the teacher would thread the film into the strange mirror-box projection system set up in front of the desks, smelling of greasy dust and hot projector bulbs. There’d be a rumbling “BLAAAAT!!” sound from the speaker, the film would start, and the enthusiasm would drain right out of the room as we watched “Living with Leeches” or “Your Friend the Mollusk”.
This video is one of those life-sapping animated spectaculars about the importance of wearing a seat belt. It stars an anthropomorphic jalopy named Otto and an annoying girl named Rachel. Rachel is destined for a short journey through the windshield of her family car until Otto puts her on a rocket ship and shows her that seat belts aren’t just for babies, because astronauts wear them.
Then they sing.
The whole thing is targeted directly at the low end of the K-5 set, so I’m probably not the best person to review it. But somehow I’m cynical enough to think that today’s kids won’t be terribly impressed by the lyrical instruction: “If you give your seat belt a try / your seat belt will give you a hug.”
Anyway, here’s a still from the movie… It’s the dramatic moment when Otto angrily confronts Rachel about her reckless lifestyle:
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