Play Safe is a 10-minute educational film about electrical safety, released in 1978. Three of the four segments that make up the film were also broadcast as standalone public information films.
The plot of the whole 10 minute version is an owl (Brian Wilde) teaching a robin (Bernard Cribbins) and child viewers the basics of how certain pieces of electrical equipment works and the horrible things that happen if someone messes with it by not playing safe. The animation of the two birds was done by the Brian Stevens Studio.
The film can be viewed here
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This film contains examples of:
- Aesop Collateral Damage: In the film's final segmentnote , a teenage boy vandalizes electrical equipment with a chain, causing the traffic lights and streetlights to not work. This results in his sister being killed via getting hit by a car.
- Death of a Child: Jimmy's electrocution and an unnamed girl's death in a traffic accident after her brother's vandalism of electrical equipment.
- High-Voltage Death: Happens to Jimmy when he attempts to get his Frisbee from an electrical substation at his sister's insistence. Barely averted by the boy whose boat mast comes into contact with overhead wires and a boy whose fishing rod does the same thing; both are lucky to only get badly injured.
- Man on Fire: Jimmy's leg catches fire after he gets electrocuted.
- No Name Given: Neither the owl nor the robin are given actual names. Most of the children that get injured or killed also don't have their names revealed, with the exception of Jimmy.
- The Owl-Knowing One: The owl is the one who explains the basics of how certain types of electrical equipment works and how to avoid getting injured or killed by it.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: The owl and robin are traditionally animated birds in a live action setting, but they don't interact with the human characters.
- Say My Name: When Jimmy gets electrocuted, all his sister can do is shout his name in horror.
- Shown Their Work: The robin points out that birds can safely stand on overhead electrical wires but since there is another wire above his head, the owl is concerned about him getting hurt. The robin then joins the owl on a nearby tree branch.
- Title Drop: The film ends with the owl and robin telling the viewers to play safe.
