Anybody remember The Point!, an album and animated film from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson? Whether you do or not, you probably do remember the hit song that emanated from this project, Nilsson’s “Me and My Arrow.” Released in March of 1971, this single rose to #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, #27 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #3 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
The Point! told the story of a boy named Oblio, the only round-headed person amongst the pointy-headed inhabitants of the Pointed Village. Oblio’s dog was named Arrow, and their relationship led to the song, “Me and My Arrow.”
Harry Nilsson’s inspiration for The Point! came when exploring the woods near his Laurel Canyon home, while on drugs:
“I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses [each] came to [a] point. I thought, ‘Oh! Everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s [still] a point to it.'”
Okay.
The Point! started out as an album, released in December of 1970, then was turned into an animated film. That film ran as an episode of ABC Movie of the Week on February 2, 1971. Directed by Fred Wolf, The Point! starred the voices of Paul Frees, Lennie Weinrib, Joan Gerber, and, as the boy Oblio, Mike Lookinland, better known as brother Bobby on The Brady Bunch. The story is narrated by a father telling his son a story; the narrator on the television version was Dustin Hoffman, although the voice was redubbed by Nilsson pal Ringo Starr for its initial home video release.
And, for today’s daily bonus video of the day, here’s the full version of The Point!, with music by Harry Nilsson. For this later release, the narration was provided by actor Alan Thicke.
