by Bill Jahnel

                              Disney Interactive, $29.  Requirements : 68040/PowerPC, 8MB RAM,
                              System 7.1 or later, 2x CD-ROM drive. Contact Disney Interactive at
                              http://www.Disney.com.
                              
                              When it comes to animation, few people do it better than Disney.  While
                              some might see Disney’s Animated Storybook line as a crass push for com-
                              mercialism, the move to interactive storybooks for youngsters comes at a
                              time of increasing sophistication in the book and toy market.  Books no long
                              just pop-up to create interaction but now often come with sounds to play on
                              small pushbutton strips.  The Hercules Animated Storybook does a wonder-
                              ful job of retelling the movie’s story and adding in the interactive elements
                              that will capture a child’s attention and keep them coming back to the story.
                              
                              I suppose that considering that the video is so readily available in stores,
                              the question remains what Disney or any other company can do to adapt a
                              story to keep a child in a storybook setting rather than passively watching
                              on the television.  The Disney Animated Storybook manages to go beyond
                              being just a marketing tool for the movie and really tries to find things for
                              children to enjoy.
                              
                              The main story is told in animated cut frames.  The muses from the movie
                              narrate in rhymed couplets with the sassy attitude that made them so
                              enjoyable in the film.  Their narrations appear on a scroll, so children can
                              associate the written words with the spoken words.  After the narration, the
                              scroll rolls up but is in the corner in case a child wants to see the words
                              again.  The child is then encouraged to explore the landscape (much like
                              Cosmic Osmo and the award-winning Grandma and Me) to get reactions from
                              characters or areas in the scenery.  The reactions of the characters are
                              light, fun, and sure to please.  One of the best aspects of Disney driving its
                              own software vehicle is that it has top animators at its beck and call. 
                              Rather than go the lazy way out and reuse animation cells from the film,
                              they have often taken scenes from a slightly different perspective than they
                              were in the movie, which allows children to feel like they are re-
                              experiencing the film’s actions from a new perspective.
                              
                              However, as much as it might be enjoyable for the sense of wonder and
                              exploration, parents might wonder what the Hercules Interactive title
                              actually might teach a child.

                              Because of the theme, the title emphasizes learning Greek mythology and
                              some word skills.  A number of words in the text on the scrolls are high-
                              lighted where children can click on them and hear and see the definitions of
                              words.  However, since the scrolls roll up out of sight, it is probably best
                              that parents encourage their children to re-open the words and show them
                              the first few words they can click on. This will encourage the idea of going
                              back to the scroll as part of the fun of exploration of being able to "make
                              something happen."
                              
                              One of the best ideas on the CD is a form of Karioke machine with songs from
                              Hercules.  Three of the tunes, somewhat abbreviated in form, are played by
                              Hermes on his stage, and children can sing along with the voice performers
                              or turn off all but the musical background and sing to their hearts content. 
                              The program offers positive feedback to children and compliments them on
                              their singing, though one or two variations on the compliments might have
                              made this seem a little more sincere and less perfunctory.  However, few
                              forms of self-expression and ego-boosting are more valuable and exciting
                              than seeing a child sing their favorite songs, and Disney’s line of sing-a-
                              long tapes has given them vast experience in seeing what children like to
                              see on screen to encourage them to sing out proud.
                              
                              Hercules also tries to offer a few elementary logic puzzles.  There is a form
                              of matching game where Hercules must beat the Hydra by picking the two
                              heads that exactly match.  Since the heads keep popping in and out of the
                              cave, it lands an air of excitement to the activity, and the positive feedback
                              for catching the Hydra makes it a cute activity for kids.
                              
                              For the slightly older side of the learning curve, there is also a chance for
                              children to play checkers against Hades.  Bobcat Goldwaite reprises his role
                              as the demon "Panic" and the computer plays at three different levels of
                              difficulty.  The presentation is snappy and a good introduction to the board
                              game or a chance for children to hone their skills.

                              Another winning activity in the game is a "monster maker," which is
                              mostly a tool for imaginative and creative play.  Children mix and match
                              heads, torsos, and lower bodies in a cauldron until they find a monster they
                              think is suitably scary and then it jiggles around and animates.  If they
                              choose parts that all match a single type of creature, the computer rewards
                              matching skills; if they make a unique creation, the computer rewards
                              their imaginations.  It’s a fun approach and a cute activity.
                              
                              There is only one small quibble in this entire CD, and it’s an activity that
                              seems out of place.  There is a semi-action sequence near the end for
                              Hercules to climb Mount Olympus to rescue the gods, but it is neither
                              complex enough to really work as a problem-solving or logic-skill
                              endeavor (it isn’t really a maze) and is probably too boring for the
                              Nintendo generation.  However, one miss in a series of hits is easily
                              overlooked.
                              
                              This is a great title for younger kids.  One of the difficulties parents face is
                              moving their kids away from the attraction of the tube and passive enter-
                              tainment.  With the tremendous draw of children to Disney’s animated
                              features, products like the storybook manage to get children comfortable
                              with interacting with a computer and excited about exploring the world
                              through a computer.  The game is full of confidence-building feedback and
                              encourages expression.  The underlying message of the story is a good one
                              too: Heroism comes from the heart.
                              
                              And lest the parents in the crowd feel a little left out in the world of
                              Barney, Disney blessfully leaves a couple of things that are jokes just for
                              us adults to understand.  Astute parents might see Pumba the warthog (from
                              the Lion King movie) fly across the screen once.  They also might explain to
                              a child why they started laughing when a theatre that the child clicks on
                              announces as its next feature films are "Greece" or "Bacchus to the Future. 
                              If your child fits in the storybook demographic, the small investment will
                              prove to be a valuable one.  In fact, if your child has been asking for the
                              Hercules Video, perhaps bundling the Storybook with it might be a good
                              idea, to try and combat the underworld monsters of passive entertainment.