Rolie Polie Olie Tries to Keep Fun Times in Gear

DVD

Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun. Playhouse Disney/Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 75 minutes. DVD: $24.99; VHS: $19.99. Ages 2 to 6. www.DisneyDVD.com and www.PlayhouseDisney.com

Meanie Gloomius Maximus is out to “un-fun-erate” little round robot boy Olie’s little round planet and give all its inhabitants the blues.

It’s up to Olie, his 2-year-old sister Zowie, best friend Billy and Mom, Dad, Pappy, dog Spot and Space Boy and Space Dog to make things sunny again.

In this mild conflict, swords are for tickling, bad guys are targeted with laugh-inducing “silly ray” bubbles and even Gloomius, voiced with glee by James Woods, turns out to have a “happy gear” in this wonderfully imaginative 3-D cartoon, based on the much-lauded computer-animated preschooler TV series.

Series creator William Joyce, inspired by old-time cartoons and movie and TV serials of the past, has ensured that gentle delights--from Olie’s teapot-shaped house to the animated furniture and trees that sway with the quaint music--fill every nook of Olie’s sweet robot world. This first-time, full-length, feature-version of the show has every bit as much cozy charm.

A post-movie, educational “Dolphin Talk” cartoon and such bonus games and activities as “Find Pappy’s Teeth” and “Build-A-Bot” winds things up.

Wiggly Safari. HIT Entertainment. DVD: $19.99; Video, $14.95. www. thewiggles.com

Crikey! In this new DVD-Video that comes out on Tuesday, perpetually wired Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin meets his energetic match in fellow Aussies, the wildly popular Wiggles, a kids’ music group with growing legions of preschool fans all over the world.

Here, the Wiggles--Greg, Anthony, Jeff and Murray--get lost in their Big Red Car out in the bush and Steve (whose little daughter Bindi is clearly a big Wiggles fan) comes to the rescue, inviting them to his home base, the Australian Zoo.

There, Irwin, his wife, Terri, and Bindi play supporting players to the Wiggles, Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog. Irwin introduces various koalas, kookaburras, emus, snakes, tortoises, dingos and camels into the mix, and hand-feeds a cranky croc; he and his family join the Wiggles in dances and wacky songs. A sampling: “Wobbly Camel,” “Snakes,” “Do the Owl,” “Feeding Time” and “Kookaburra Choir.”