Leapfrog Letter Factory Adventures: Great Shape Mystery

EZ Money(en)

A mischievous nine-year-old girl's quick and simple get-rich-quick scheme hits an unexpected hitch when she incurs the wrath of a powerful gangster who is determined to hold onto his money in director Dan T. Hall's fast-paced family comedy. Molly Thompson has been sent to the principal's office yet again. A computer savvy pre-teen with a terminal case of curiosity, Molly intercepts an e-mail from a supposed Nigerian diplomat offering $3 million to anyone who can help him transport some stolen funds. When Molly combines her keen business sense with her nine-year-old brother Alex's killer skills at the keyboard, it appears as if the entrepreneurial siblings have netted their first cool million. Their celebration is cut somewhat short, however, upon learning that the fraudulent e-mail was not actually from a Nigerian diplomat in genuine need of help, but an international mobster whose clever scheme has pulled in piles of cash.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(en)

An alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliot who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliot, his brother, and his little sister Gertie form an emotional bond with their new friend, and try to help him find his way home.

Runaway Railway(en)

A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine "Matilda." They get help from a pair of men claiming to be enthusiasts but who turn out to be robbers who plan to hold up the mail train

A Ghost of a Chance(en)

Three children try to fight against the destruction of a local historic landmark. They are helped by a group of friendly ghosts.

There Goes a Monster Truck(en)

Monster Truck Drivers Dave and Becky learn all about monster trucks, and learn how to drive one.

The Club of Ugly Children(nl)

“Keep it clean!” – The new president is serious about that, including looks. When Paul, whose large jug ears are quite apparent on class photo day, and some of the other “ugly” kids are taken on a surprise trip, they realize that the president wants to hide them away. On the run, Paul is helped by Sara, one of the “pretty” kids. They start an underground club to fight against the president. The movement soon turns into a revolution. The kids show the world that even children can rise up – and that you don’t have to be “pretty” to be a hero!

Emil and the Detectives(de)

Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.

August Rush(en)

Lyla and Louis, a singer and a musician, fall in love, but are soon compelled to separate. Lyla is forced to give up her newborn but unknown to her, he grows up to become a musical genius.

Learning to Live(en)

The film twice states that it doesn't intend a moral injunction, but it clearly does with comments such as "our society... regards sexual intercourse outside marriage as irresponsible and possibly disastrous" and "you can use your knowledge with responsibility and real love or you can use it wantonly and with mere animal appetite". This is clearly marriage education not sex education.

Facial Recognition(en)

A group of kids demonstrate the concept of image resolution.

Cubits(en)

Jarnow adapts an architectural grid catalogue of cubic rotations in order to explore a direct relationship between animation procedure and logical numerical operations. The film is as much the making of animation as it is a paper model of a computer. The cube sheet, upon which the film is based, is so constructed that a horizontal cubic rotation and a diagonal pan yields a diagonal rotation. Combinations of these primary moves result in more complex rotations throughout this awe inspiring film.

Cosmic Clock(en)

A mind-twisting time-lapse beginning on a hill just outside town, doing for the concept of time what Charles and Ray Eames's 1968 film The Powers of Ten did for space. One billion years in two minutes.

Cosmic Letter(en)

A companion piece to Cosmic Letter, also produced for 3-2-1 Contact. Jarnow begins at his address in Brooklyn and zooms outward to the farthest reaches of the universe.

Cube(en)

A filmed exercise that follows in the path of Rotating Cubic Grid and Cubits, the predictably titled Cube features cubes of varying shapes and size sliding around and growing into and out of one another, demonstrating how multiple parts can make up a whole.

Jesse: The First Year(en)

For a year, Jarnow photographed and recorded the sounds of his newborn child.

Skeletons(en)

A short film made of cel drawings, showing us how various mammals, plants and objects all share similar skeletal structures. Produced for Sesame Street.

Elementary(fr)

Florence is a school teacher devoted to her students. When she encounters young Sacha, a child with problems, she will do everything she can to help him, even to the point of neglecting her own children, her own life, and of questioning her vocation. Little by little Florence realizes that learning has no age limit.

Buddha Thus Have I Heard(th)

This is the story of the life of the Lord Buddha as an animation in Thai language (it has also been translated into English). This is not the same as the similar animation "The Life of the Buddha". It tells the trials an triumphs that the Lord Buddha had to endure to reach enlightenment and is a guide to the basics of Buddhism.

果宝特攻之水果大逃亡(zh)

Yak(en)

Jarnow's first work for Sesame Street and the Children's Television Workshop - yak is a goofy take on the letter "Y."