Produced in 1988 under a grant from the Department of Education

AT first glance, the Drug Avengers seem like yet another bunch of Saturday morning television cartoon characters entertaining glassyeyed children. But through catchy songs and short tales, their message to young viewers is that drug use is all around them, and that they can do more than ''Just Say No.''

''The Drug Avengers'' was one of eight antidrug videotapes to win a national competition held by the Federal Department of Education, which began the project two years ago. As the only animated video, it serves the newest audience for drug education: elementaryschool children.

A panel of experts in education and communications chose 8 winners from 400 proposals. The winners received about $940,000 each to produce the videotapes. Last month the department sent out free copies of the winning tapes to more than 18,000 public and private elementary schools. Officials said every elementary student in the nation would have access to the tapes.

''The Drug Avengers'' was created and coproduced by Lancit Media Productions in Manhattan, owned by Larry Lancit and Cecily Truett, a couple known for their work on PBS children's television programs like ''Reading Rainbow'' and ''Ramona.'' The coproducer of the videotape was the RMC Research Corporation, an educational research company in Hampton, N.H.

The videotape, which was the only animated one among the eight, was chosen for its creative antidrug message. It is broken into ten fiveminute stories.

''It's interesting, it's entertaining, and the material is about as uptodate as there has been,'' said Dick W. Hays, director of the Drug Abuse Prevention Oversight Staff for the Department of Education, who took part in selecting the winners. The other winning videotapes used actors in dramatic, live action and sciencefiction programs.

''Drug abuse each year gets to earlier and earlier grades,'' Mr. Hays said, adding that such videos should be made part of drug education programs for children from the first grade on. Ideally, he said, parents and teachers who use the tapes should discuss them with the children.

''The heart of drug education is the chance for kids to discuss their fears with an adult who is responsible and who understands the complexities of the issue,'' said M. Christine Dwyer, the video's project director, who heads project development at RMC Research.

''A lot of antidrug messages are really heavy,'' said Ms. Truett, who with her husband, Mr. Lancit, created ''The Drug Avengers.''

''A lot of them are frightening,'' she said. ''We know that kids love cartoons, and we felt that there was a way to use animation to make the children remember what they learn.''

Ms. Truett, who is 39 years old, said she and her husband saw the impact of their product when they caught their 5yearold daughter, Shaune, their ''best test audience,'' skipping down the hall singing songs from the videotape. While Mr. Lancit agreed that the video may not be as effective with more children in older grades, he said young children do hear the message. ''There may not be a direct cognitive understanding, but it stays with them,'' said Mr. Lancit, who is 40.

The Drug Avengers are three young cartoon characters who break into snappy jazz, rap and rock songs and use selfconfidence and health consciousness to stop children from using drugs. The creators of the videotape, who live in Chappaqua, N.Y., used artists, musicians and writers from their Manhattan company to create the tape. The writers include an Emmy Award winner from the David Letterman show and a former editor of National Lampoon magazine.

Mr. Lancit and Ms. Truett are now developing an animated movie and a children's comedy series.

The Avengers video sent out by the Department of Education comes with a teachers' guide for discussions between segments of the program. Ms. Truett and Mr. Lancit created a parents' guide for home use that they will sell themselves with the video, for $34.95, through their company.

In one episode the Avengers use their futuristic powers to show a boy what would happen to his body if he took a small pill that he found. With jazz, rap and rock songs, the boy's stomach, heart and brain warn him of the ill effects of drugs. He crushes the pill into the ground.

''This is meant to be more than a cartoon,'' Mr. Lancit said. ''It's meant for parents and childen to use together, to discuss it. And you don't see a lot of that on Saturday mornings.''

For more visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/23/gar...

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/40034729/...