Institution: Internet Archive
Collection: Educational Films
Running Time: 15m 00s
Source film: VHS; sound; color
Year: 1988
Director: Aron Ranen
Production: Perennial Education; Peregrine Productions; Charlotte K. Beyers
Writers: Charlotte K. Beyers, Aron Ranen
Music / Sound Effects: Andrew Newell
Computer Animation: Steven Walsted
Cast: Roger Peeks, Dov Christopher, Larina Williams, Jason Bennett, Jeanette Stoney, Celeste Carrion, Ryan White, Noe Zavala
Animation has a long and storied history of alliterative character names. Classic figures from Bugs Bunny and Huckleberry Hound to SpongeBob SquarePants, have wormed their way into the collective conscience and TV schedules of generations of viewers. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that creators Aron Ranen and Charlotte K. Beyers decided to use this tried-and-true formula to name the talking (doctor) dog at the center of their 1988 educational film, A is for AIDS. Dr. Andy Answer (voiced by Dov Christopher) is the sort of oracle who supernaturally pops up on the television screen at the exact moment three adolescents react with curiosity to a televised news report about the AIDS health crisis. His invitation to the kids to teleport to his laboratory seems rife with problems, both technological and otherwise.
The Archival Eye 