I AM TREE REX!

A tree-hugging dinosaur adopts a leafy disguise to scare off woodcutters in this engagingly bonkers eco-centric episode.

Rex is shocked when his daily tally of the 21 trees outside his rocky house (count them!) comes up one short; he gets teary when a small, displaced bird shows up at his door and explains that the tree was cut down. Continued sounds of chopping and ever-shorter tree counts—plus the arrival of a whole flock of newly homeless birds—at last lead to Rex’s desperate ploy of dressing in brown beneath a crown of leaves and roaring out the titular declaration. Davey does an artful job of toning down the level of conflict for younger or more sensitive audiences; not only do Rex and the diminutive twig-waving avian supporters at his back form distinctly nonthreatening presences even at their most defiant, but the “tree takers,” entirely unseen in the simply drawn cartoon illustrations, are obliquely represented by glimpses of stumps, the occasional axe, and a distant tractor beating a hasty retreat. The message that it’s important to protect trees comes through loud and clear, however, underscored by closing views of Rex and the birds planting seeds for a new forest.

A hug-worthy call to action, delivered with a wink.