Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear

DVD (retail $19.98) Amazon



Yogi, Boo Boo and Ranger Smith romp all over Jellystone Park and beyond (to Venice!) in this DVD re-issue of the 1964 theatrical movie starring America’s favorite picnic-basket-stealing, “smarter than the average” bear at the height of his TV popularity. No extras, but baby boomers will enjoy this feature-length opportunity to re-visit a vintage television cartoon character, the first “breakout” star from the now-classic Hanna-Barbera Studios that went on to become a pop-cultural icon.

—Neil Pond, American Profile





Seen Behind the Scene

Photographs by Mary Ellen Mark

Hardcover, 128 pages

(retail $59.95)



Subtitled “Forty Years of Photographing On the Set,” this striking collection of some 250 images taken by Mary Ellen Mark, one of the most acclaimed documentary photographers of all time, sweeps you behind the scenes of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Tootsie, Marathon Man, Apocalypse Now, The Blues Brothers and dozens of other landmark films, all the way up to the recent Appaloosa and the brand-new Australia. With first-person commentary by stars, directors and other moviemaking insiders, it’s an intimate peek into a fascinating backstage world few outsiders ever get to visit.

—Neil Pond, American Profile





Gadget Nation

By Steve Greenberg

Hardcover, 244 pages

(retail $19.95) Amazon



Ever heard of the Pet Fat, a piece of simulated human blubber that’s been successful as a weight-loss motivator? How about Sportbinox, binoculars mounted to a headband to free up hands for other things at sporting events? Or the Diaperbridge, which turns any sink into a changing table? Writer Greenberg traveled the countryside to gather the stories of dozens of eccentric “Why didn’t I think of that!” inventions and their amateur inventors in this colorful, photo-filled tribute to American ingenuity, creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit.

—Neil Pond, American Profile