Summer requires children to be indoors and there's only so much you can do inside. There's books, television, movies on videocassette, and board games. Possibly the most convenient thing is movies on videocassette. Here are three movies that children might enjoy. Two of them have characters that are in a movie that came out this summer, and the other is a Disney movie. If your children enjoyed the new Star Wars movie, they may enjoy this one. These are also great alternatives to seeing some of the Disney animated movies that children like.

First is a movie called "The Muppet Movie," it was the first of three Muppet movies put out during the late 1970's and early 1980's. The plot is pretty basic, it focuses on Kermit the Frog's journey from the swamps of Florida to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Along the way, he meets his various other muppet characters such as Fozzy the Bear, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy. There's various comic adventures throughout the movie, like Gonzo buying a bunch of balloons and then flying away and Kermit and the others having to chase him. For the adults watching with the kids, they will enjoy the various cameos by some famous stars. There's Richard Pryor as the balloon salesman and Steve Martin as a waiter in a restaurant. I mention this so you'll be ready to answer the children's "Who's that?" questions. The movie is very music intensive so some older children might find it somewhat boring, but the songs are short and have that ability to stick in your head.

Length: 97 minutes (1 hour 37 minutes)
Rating: G

The second movie is "The Great Muppet Caper." The plot is again basic (just like all muppet movies) in that Kermit and Fozzy are reporters, and Gonzo is their photographer and they volunteer to go to London to interview a fashion designer about the theft of some of her jewels. From that point on, it takes place in England so kids get to experience a new country from the points of view of characters that have never been there either. Later in the movie, they learn about someone who plans to steal the fashion designer's biggest jewel. This movie has fewer cameos than "The Muppet Movie" with the only one that adults might recognize is John Cleese as a totally clueless homeowner. The movie has fewer musical numbers, but they are longer than the ones in "The Muppet Movie" and will definitely not hold older children's attention. I find the most interesting part of this movie is how they managed to get some of the muppets to do some of the things they do in the movie.

Length: 97 minutes (1 hour 37 minutes)
Rating: G

Finally, there is the movie "The Black Hole." This movie is a science fiction and a little bit of mystery tale about the crew of a small ship that is exploring space and happens upon a ship that is sitting at the edge of a black hole, apparently abandoned. When the crew investigates, they find that it is a long lost ship of a "mad" scientist, and he's still alive. They meet the scientist, and they explore the ship finding that all of the crew is gone and has been replaced with robots to handle things like security and other normal functions of the ship. By the end of the movie, they have exposed the scientist and his project to go through the black hole. The movie is really for children that like movies like Star Wars. They might like some things like the robots VINcent, Maximillian and old BOB, or the mystery elements. The only thing that might be hard to explain is the end of the movie, so watch it first and talk with someone that might be knowledgeable about these sorts of literary elements, or you can e-mail me at the address above and I'll give you my explanation.

Length: 97 minutes (1 hour 37 minutes)
Rating: PG (Disney's first PG rated movie, ever.)

That about wraps up this segment of summertime fun. Most of these videos should be for rent at your local video store, or if you want to chance spending the extra money, then you should be able to find them at your local Target or Best Buy stores for about $10 or so. I know it was kind of late in the summer to do this sort of thing, but you take a summer class in math and try to crank out an article and see how you come out.

[As always this work is to be posted on the Collector Times web site and no where else. If I find any of my articles on another web site without my permission, the person who does such a thing will find a size 19 shoe where the sun don't shine, and that's the bottom line!]