THE MULE WHO REFUSED TO BUDGE

While preparing their wares for the Farmers Market, five bustling bourgeois animals--a hen, a goose, a sheep, a cow and a bee--are disturbed by a lazy banjo playing mule who demands a bribe as the price of silence. The five at last fork over their goods but trip up the mule on his getaway. Thus, not only is justice accomplished but the virtuous five, previously too busy to be friends, are humanized a peg. Despite the fact that the lyrics to his song are disappointingly flat, we still tend to side with the culprit, thanks mostly to Berson's rollicking overalled mule. Of course this artist manages to exact a bracing performance from all six creatures, even the natty little bee, however weak the script.