The Wiggles-Space Dancing!

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Trailer-Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! Menu Animation & Audio Biographies-Character Featurette-Making Of Featurette-An Audience with King Mondo Game-Return To Earth Karaoke-Sing Along with The Wiggles
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	46:19
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Murray Cook Jeff Fatt Anthony Field Greg Page
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	The Wiggles

    Space Dancing is a very different Wiggles' release. Firstly, it is almost all completely animated, and secondly, it has a single, linear narrative.

    I wonder if this change is related to the Wiggles' recent surge in popularity in the US? It is common knowledge that the Wiggles are very popular in Australia, where it is estimated that half of all Australian children own a Wiggles video, CD or DVD. However, following the Disney Channel beginning to broadcast the Wiggles in the US, their fan base has grown into the millions. Their new-found popularity was evident when they were invited to be special guests at Macy's famous Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

    If you are somehow unaware of who they are, the Wiggles (Anthony Field, Greg Page, Murray Cook, and Jeff Fatt) are a musical group who entertain children. The Wiggles are often thought of in reference to the 1980s pop-band, The Cockroaches (of which two were members), however, three of the Wiggles met while at Macquarie University, Sydney, studying early childhood degrees. Indeed, they started writing songs as a great learning and development tool for young children.

    As for the plot of Space Dancing, the Wiggles enter Jeff's dream, and a world of 3D animation. Trapped on a spaceship on auto-pilot, the Wiggles are whisked around different worlds, including Rock N' Roll Planet, Teeny Weeny Land, and Gloomy World, with their friends Captain Feathersword (Paul Paddick), and Dorothy the Dinosaur (Jacqueline Field). Space adventures and songs ensue . . .

Video

    As with other recent Wiggles DVDs, the transfer is broadcast quality, and problem-free. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, full frame.

    There are no problems with the sharpness or shadow detail of the transfer, and as one would expect, the colour is brilliant and features bright primary colours.

    There are no problems with MPEG artefacts, film-to-video artefacts, or film artefacts. However, very rarely, there is a slight shimmer on some objects.

    Only English subtitles (including lyrics) are offered, which are accurate to the spoken (and sung) word.

    This is a single-sided single-layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The only audio option is English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (224Kb/s).

    As this is mostly animated, it is impossible to comment on the audio sync, but the dialogue quality was fine.

    The music is provided by the Wiggles, and there are five main songs encompassing a variety of styles. The one non-Wiggles song was the highlight for me: King Mondo Rock (Ross Wilson), performing the classic Eagle Rock with the Wiggles on Rock N' Roll Planet.

    As a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track, there is no surround presence and activity, and no subwoofer action.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

   There are a few extras, all presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

Menu

   A simple menu

About The Characters

   Text information.

The Making of Space Dancing

   Simon Alberry, Animation Director, and the Wiggles present some behind-the-scenes footage.

An Audience with King Mondo

   A short interview with Ross Wilson, and how he came to be in a Wiggles production.

Return to Earth Game

   A simple game: Answer questions about the plot, using your remote, and help the Wiggles return to Earth.

    From what I can tell, this DVD has not yet been released in Region 1.

    My three-year-old son gave this DVD the thumbs up. While the new format and animation is a departure from past Wiggles releases, it is encouraging to see them trying out new formats and ideas.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are reasonable.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall