The message (see, this time I studiously avoided re-using the word "point"!) of Nilsson's fable (story co-written with Carole A. Beers, dialog done by Norm Lenzer) is that everything in the universe has a point, even those who superficially appear to be lacking one. With this realization, our hero returns to the Land of Point, where he roundly defeats both the Duke and his son. The theme of looking past appearances is not-so-subtly reiterated more times than it needs to be (at least for an adult viewer), but even if it's needlessly delivered in BIG BOLD 3-D LETTERS, the teevee flick's visuals (designed by Fred Wolf) remain trippily enjoyable, particularly during the musical interludes.

BMG's new DVD is wonderfully remastered, making the colors more vibrant than any of the broadcast versions I can remember. A few sequences are more than reminiscent of Yellow Submarine (the visuals for the most psychedelic number, "Point of View Waltz," even borrows from the same Moulin Rouge imagery that made the movie version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" so visually arresting), but Wolf makes them work for the story. When I first saw The Point, I remember feeling vaguely dissatisfied by some elements of the cartoon's visual scheme, which show the restraints of a teevee cartoon budget in the years preceding computer animation. But in these days of "Adult Swim" no-frills toonwork, Wolf's animation looks positively lush.

The voicework features several old pros - most notably, Paul Frees in a variety of roles (including: the ineffable King who is pressured into banishing Oblio, our hero's father plus a variety of villagers offering ironic commentary during Obli's banishment trial) - while Lookinland makes a suitably spunky/quizzical hero. (Too bad he didn't get more voicework instead of being typed and trapped as Bobby Brady.) Longtime Nilsson collaborator George Tipton (who worked on the soundtrack for the Courtship of Eddie's Father sitcom and produced the singer's earliest albums) provided incidental music, which is largely unmemorable alongside Nilsson's compositions.

Per the era when it was created, The Point has elements most adult viewers will type as "60's" (the overlong trial sequence, for instance, is plainly designed to tweak the period's conservative-drummed mantra of "law and order"), but in the end it's more than just a period artifact. Its casually didactic story has loopy charm to spare and, besides, when all's said and done, there are still those great Nilsson tunes. Watching the DVD on a sunny weekend morning, I couldn't help but feel heartened by the resurrection of this appealing 'toon fable. . .