Hocus-Pocus and Frisby story
A teller of tall tales attracts unwanted attention from aliens. Directed by: Lamont Johnson. Story by: Frederic Louis Fox, Rod Serling.
12 total · 2 choice · 5 major · 5 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| pathological lying | choice | Mr. Sommerset Frisby was the biggest liar ever born, we learn. |
| the boy who cried wolf moral | choice | Nobody believed the shameless teller of tall tales Mr. Frisby when he told the truth about nearly getting abducted by space aliens. and the narrator explicitly drew a parallel to Aesop's fable about the boy who cried wolf in the closing narration. |
| alien abduction | major | Mr. Frisby was very nearly abducted by aliens and made a specimen in their zoo of sorts. |
| alien point of view | major | Central to the plot was an alien species who did not have the concept of lying and were vulnerable to the sound of a harmonica. |
| coping with an obnoxious chatterbox | major | for discussion :: Various people had a hard time stomaching the loudmouthed mythomaniac Frisby |
| extraterrestrial being | major | Some aliens sought to add the harmonica playing teller of tall tales Mr. Frisby to their collection of specimens from other planets. |
| what if I told the truth and nobody would believe me | major | The story concluded with everyone laughing off the known teller of tall tales Mr. Frisy's true account of nearly getting abducted by space aliens. |
| beauty is in the eye of the beholder | minor | Frisby and the aliens agreed that each was mutually bad-looking to the other. |
| flying saucer | minor | Frisby was taken aboard a flying saucer and nearly abducted, but his trusty harmonica saved the day. |
| Venusian extraterrestrial | minor | The space aliens claimed to have collected a Vensuian who could sing on eight different pitches simultaneously. |