PAULIE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Paulie is a parrot who can speak -- not mimic -- but actually converse. Paulie's first owner -and first love - is a little girl named Marie (Hallie Kate Eisenberg) who raises him from a baby. Helping Marie overcome a painful stutter gives Paulie the gift of gab, but doesn't prevent Marie's parents from sending Paulie away when they feel she is becoming too attached to him. Undeterred, the loyal little parrot begins a long cross country search to find his young owner. Along the way, Paulie has some remarkable encounters with a unique cross-section of people, some who want to help and some who see the extraordinary bird as a means to their own ends. He even finds love with a singing parrot owned by a street vendor named Ignacio (Cheech Marin). But nothing can stop him from his mission to find Marie - except perhaps his own big mouth!

Any children's film that doesn't insult its target audience or adults in attendance is worthy of praise. Paulie is a respectable member of the talking animal brigade whose adventures make for pleasing family entertainment.

The parrot in question has been consigned to the basement of an animal research centre run by Dr Reingold (Bruce Davison). Paulie's a lonesome guy who's been separated by cruel twists of fate from Marie (Hallie Kale Eisenberg), the little girl he loves and helped to overcome a stuttering problem. Befriended by janitor Misha (Tony Shalhoub), a Russian literature professor finding it tough in the new land, Paulie relates the story of his life as one lost soul to another - "I'm Russian, I like long stories" says Misha.