TOO SHORT FRED

Because Fred is short, he can't keep up with his friends on a snowy day; he has to dance with a girl who towers over him; he's cast as a frog in the school play; he's ripped off by the school bully; and he's teased by visiting Uncle Albert. But each of the five problems is rapidly solved in this series of five little episodes: Fred rolls down the snowy hill and arrives before his friends; his tall dancing partner proves a female Fred Astaire, etc. In only one of the five, though, does Fred satisfactorily solve his own problem: he begins packing worm sandwiches for the bully who steals his lunch. Terrific! But other sketches are marred by the too-quick fix. Incidentally, Fred and the other characters are cats; Meddaugh's pictures put them all in easy-to-connect-with human clothes and poses.