This whole thing was put together by Marlo Thomas, and you’ve gotta give her credit—it wasn’t just entertainment, it was a message. She wanted something different for kids… something that said you didn’t have to fit into a mold.
Now I’ll be honest, I didn’t realize until later just how many big names were actually part of this. We’re talking a young Michael Jackson—before he became the global superstar—teaming up with Roberta Flack on “Be a Lion.” And then you had Cicely Tyson in the TV special, bringing that powerful, grounded presence she always had.
But what really made this stand out wasn’t just the names… it was the message.
This came out in the early 70s, a time when things were starting to change, and instead of just entertaining kids, it was actually talking to them. It was telling you it’s okay to be yourself, okay to feel what you feel, and you didn’t have to fit into some box just because that’s how things always were.
And the way they did it—with music, stories, and voices you recognized—it just stuck. You might not have even realized what it was doing at the time, but looking back, it was kind of ahead of its time.
So before we even get into it… how many of you remember this one? And did you realize back then who you were actually listening to?
