MOVIE REVIEW : Puppet Film ‘Davy Jones’ Tries to Lock In an Oscar Bid

Go figure: A 51-minute puppet-show video gets a theatrical release--”for Academy consideration.”

Bil Baird’s Marionettes--best known for their appearance in “The Sound of Music” (they were the ones that didn’t flee into Switzerland)--star in “Davy Jones’ Locker,” a larky musical about a little boy who teaches some pirates the value of reading (“Read it and reap” is Davy’s tag line). The importance of family over wealth is the other educational theme, but there are just enough amusing touches or turns of phrase (an orchestra conductor breaks a pair of chopsticks in two to fashion his baton; “Yo-ho-hum” is the pirates’ chorus) to keep parents’ minds from wandering too far.

Audaciously, the film is hoping to score an Oscar nomination in the best original musical or comedy score category. Good luck competing against the big guys; Philip Marshall’s compositions and Mark Turnbull’s lyrics are capable but hardly memorable, but the songs are at least as clever as whatever treacly Whitney Houston number will get a best song nomination.

* “Davy Jones’ Locker” will play daily at 1 p.m. at the Monica 4-Plex through Tuesday.