Film / Kids for Character

Learning right from wrong has never been so much fun!

There's more to growing up than growing very tall
Growing strong is very good, but that isn't all!
It's what's inside your head, I'm happy to announce,
That makes you good to be with. It's your character that counts!

— "It's Your Character That Counts," intro song

Kids for Character is a Direct to Video Public Service Announcement released by Lyrick Studios in 1996, in partnership with the Josephson Institute of Ethics and their Character Counts! Coalition program. Hosted by Tom Selleck, the video teaches the virtues of having good character with the help of favorite children's characters ranging from Barney and Binyah Binyah to Lamb Chop and Ms. Frizzle.

A sequel was released in 1997 entitled "Choices Count," focusing instead on making good choices, consequences, and listening to one's conscience. This time, Wishbone, The Big Comfy Couch, and Bananas in Pyjamas are the featured shows, along with singers Joe Scruggs and Eddie Coker.

Both videos were filmed at Universal Studios Florida.

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The Kids For Character videos contain examples of:

• The Artifact: Choices Count includes the full Wishbone intro, showing the eponymous dog in various costumes from the show's fantasy segments. However, the featured Wishbone excerpts only include footage from the real-life part of the show, making the intro incongruous.
• Audience Shift: Evident from the Wishbone clips that they chose to spotlight in Choices Count. They focus on Emily, the show's resident Annoying Younger Sibling, in one of her Pet the Dog moments. Emily is expected to be younger than Wishbone's target audience, but she's apparently just the right age for the children whom Kids for Character is aimed at.
• The Cameo: Bob West, the voice of Barney the Dinosaur, briefly appears during the ending crowd song holding the Puzzle Place banner. You can briefly see his face, which is recognisable only by his trademark goatee.
• Clip Show: Both titles are partially this, using previous episodes of the featured shows mixed with new segments.
  • The original featured:
    • The Puzzle Place: Footage taken from "Finders Keepers"
    • Barney & Friends: Original footage created just for Kids for Character
    • The Magic School Bus: Footage taken from "Wet All Over"
    • Lamb Chop's Play-Along: Footage taken from "Fighting Fair"
    • Gullah Gullah Island: Footage taken from "The Binyah Binyah Polliwog Show"
    • Babar: Footage taken from "Babar's Triumph"
  • Choices Count straight up uses cut down episodes, theme songs and all:
    • Bananas in Pyjamas: Footage taken from "Wet Paint"
    • The Big Comfy Couch: Footage taken from "Pants on Fire"
    • Wishbone: Footage taken from "Little Big Dog"
• Crowd Song: The namesake song "Kids for Character" is sung by massive groups of children and many children's characters, all parading down the streets of Universal Studios Florida.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The first video alone features segments and characters from The Puzzle Place, Barney & Friends, The Magic School Bus, Lamb Chop's Play-Along, Gullah Gullah Island, and Babar. In addition, many other characters make cameos in skits and in the video's finale.
  • Downplayed in the sequel with only three shows represented.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: The Lamb Chop's Play-Along segment. Shari buys a bag of jellybeans for Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse, divides the jellybeans so the two of them get the exact same number, then (at Lamb Chop's request) makes sure they also have the same number of red jellybeans. Near the end of the song, Lamb Chop and Charlie admit to Shari that they don't even like eating jellybeans.
• The Golden Rule: In the original video, Barney's segment is focused on this. Barney and his friends help teach Baby Bop about respect through song and pretend play.
• To the Tune of...: In Choices Count, "Choices, Choices" is sung to the tune of "Iko Iko," while "Choices Count" is a takeoff of "Shout."

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The future is ours, we are Kids for Character

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