Michael Sporn

The bizarre misadventures of a cowardly dog named Courage and his elderly owners in a farmhouse in Nowhere, Kansas.

Animated holiday feature for the entire family, destined to become a classic. Based on the beloved poem by Clement C. Moore, the story begins on Christmas Eve.

Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's bestselling children's book headlines this winning 25-minute collection of sleepytime tales from HBO. Susan Sarandon narrates the simple story of a bunny readying for bed. Other top entertainers lend their voices to the tape: Tony Bennett sings the story of "Hit the Road to Dreamland"; Lauryn Hill brings rhythm to "Hush, Little Baby"; Billy Crystal lends many voices to Mercer Mayer's "There's a Nightmare in My Closet"; and singers Natalie Cole, Aaron Neville, and Patti LeBelle sing other tales. A dandy video for the youngster, punctuated with "interviews" of real kids answering a host of bedtime questions.

This animated anthology is comprised of eighteen updated nursery rhymes and features such celebrity narrators as Eli Wallach, Linda Hunt and Karen Allen.

One summer afternoon in 1907, Abel and his wife (both mice) are picnicking, when they become separated during a violent rainstorm. After flying some distance, Abel discovers himself alone on a river island, unable to swim due to the powerful current. Abel periodically attempts to leave the island by various means: flying on a leaf, rowing a crudely fashioned boat, etc. Meanwhile, he tries to create a normal life of sorts, even learning to enjoy a new hobby: sculpture. Still, Abel's goal is to escape the island and rejoin his wife in the city.

It's Christmas Eve and all the children around the world are asleep and dreaming of the toys that Santa Claus will bring - except at the South Pole, where they've never celebrated Christmas. This year Santa Claus asks Santabear to deliver his toys to the South Pole, so that the children there will also believe in the magic of Christmas. But when the naughty Bullybear steals Santabear's bag of toys and his identity, all chances for a merry Christmas seem lost. Luckily, Santabear meets Missy Bear, and together they take to the skies to stop Bullybear before he destroys all the toys and ruins Christmas at the South Pole forever!

Today there are more reasons than ever for families to explore and celebrate diversity. Our ever-expanding world is full of differences in abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, family structures, religious faiths, interests and cultures. This documentary introduces your family to children who are not only celebrating how they are unique, but who are also learning from and appreciating the differences in others.

In this animated contemporary interpretation of a Hans Christian Andersen morality tale, a pair of magic slippers help two young African-American girls learn the value of friendship after they are divided by selfishness and jealousy.

When Helene Angel walks home from school with her older brother she is attacked by a street gang and painted white. The effect on Helene and her family is devastating. Helene locks herself in her room, her brother blames himself for not having successfully defended his sister, and the media descends on their neighborhood, completely disrupting her small family. But an outpouring of love and understanding from Helene's friends, classmates and family helps her face what has happened and draws the community together. Inspired by actual events, WHITEWASH conveys a powerful message that transcends age and race, told in an entertaining way perfect for children of all ages.

Adventure awaits in the story of White Fang, a peaceful courageous wolf who overcomes all odds in this animated tale for children based on Jack London's original classic. A young wolf pup and his mother are forced to join a Native American tribe to survive after their pack leader perishes. He is reluctantly traded to a greedy businessman in compensation for a grievance and entrained in a corrupt dog fighting ring. Rescued by a compassionate young man, White Fang begins a lifelong bond, finds puppy love and room for more adventures...

"The Adventures of the Maltese Cat" is an adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling short story. Producer Larry Spangler had just produced a documentary feature film about polo and he thought having a cartoon proceeding it would add a little something! So he came to Buzzco Associates to produce this very ambitious short.

At the Johnson's house in the country, a female mouse named Emily, whose existence is known to two children named Patty and Kevin living there, decides to go into the city to visit her cousin Alexander for Christmas. However, the chef the restaurant Alexander lives in has set a variety of anti-mice precautions, thus scaring the two cousins out of the restaurant. The two mice return to the country house to celebrate Christmas together.

The Primm family moves into an old brownstone house on East 88th Street, where they find a crocodile named Lyle in their bathtub.

This animated anthology is comprised of eighteen updated nursery rhymes and features such celebrity narrators as Eli Wallach, Linda Hunt and Karen Allen.

When Freddy's teacher, Mrs. Lapino notices that Freddy has a reading problem, she sends a Book Fairy to talk to his parents to convince them to help him read. Though their initial attempts meet with little success, they try their hardest and teach Freddy to love reading.

Legendary singer-songwriter, ARLO GUTHRIE, brings his whimsical wit and music to this warm, lighthearted re-telling of such all-time children's classics as "The Thee Little Pigs", "Henny Penny", "Little Red Riding Hood", and other cherished favorites.

Garry Trudeau's classic characters (Mike Doonesbury, Zonker, etc.) examine how their lifestyles, priorities, and concerns have changed since the end of their idealistic college days in the 1960s. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

One of the most exciting and memorable stories in the history of the World Trade Towers is that of Philippe Petit, a French man who walked a tightrope between the massive monuments in 1974. Narrated by Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, this is an animated adaptation of the lyrical Caldecott Award-winning book by Mordecai Gerstein. Directed and animated by Michael Sporn, with music by Michael Bacon (of the Bacon Brothers).

Captivated by its sweet song, an emperor takes a nightingale into his palace as his companion. But when the emperor shows more interest in a bejeweled mechanical bird, the nightingale flees. It returns only when the lonely emperor sees how foolishly he has behaved.

A collection of animated Christmas shorts: An original Maurice Sendak piece about a boy with nothing to give for Christmas -- An excerpt from the early part of Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" set in a time of extreme cold in Tudor England -- A short based on the Toonerville Trolley -- A bittersweet excerpt from Moss Hart's autobiography "Act One" narrated by Jose Ferrer -- A reading from the Christmas day entry from the diary of 11-year-old Teddy Roosevelt -- A reading of a letter by Captain Edward James Hulse describing the surprising Christmas Truce of 1914 -- An animated version by R.O. Blechman of his own book "Tutto Esaurito" (No Vacancy) about the travels of Mary and Joseph.