Arthur - Arthur's Mystery Files [VHS]

Description

.com Lakewood Elementary School's most celebrated students, Arthur the Aardvark among them, get down to some serious sleuthing in Arthur's Mystery Files, a 40-minute bonanza for fans of the PBS series who savor an evenhanded sprinkling of suspense in a sometimes matter-of-fact show. Here, Buster Baxter and shy Fern, amateur detectives both, sniff out the suspects in three tough-to-crack cases. First comes "Arthur Accused," in which the hapless hero has the finger pointed at him when the quarters he's collecting for the fire department's new puppy come up missing. Did he funnel them into his own slush fund, as school officials would have the gang believe? Buster gets to the bottom of the brouhaha. Then, in "Fern's Slumber Party," the hostess with the mostest--at least, sadly, when it comes to reputations for dull parties--livens things up by bringing light to the whereabouts of Francine's bracelet, which may or may not have been five-fingered by Muffy. Finally, in "Binky Rules," a rash of Binky-glorifying graffiti has everybody rattled until Fern and Buster double up to decipher the scrawls' true meaning. Turns out it's a marketing scheme gone wrong; the Binky in question bears no relation to their pal the alleged perp. Like all good mysteries, these episodes are interlocking, and together they lead to a last word from "us kids," as in the TV series. A behind-the-scenes benefit lurks in the video's focus on riddle unraveling, an extension of everyday problem solving. (Ages 4 to 8) --Tammy La Gorce