Fimbles-Fimbly Bimbly Finding Is FUN! (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Animation & Audio Bonus Episode-Bubbles Karaoke-Did you ever see a Fimble? Game-Find Fimbo Trailer-More Fun Web Links-Fimbles official website
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	57:30 (Case: 56)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Adrian Hedley
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Sasha Dodd Leah Green John Tobias
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Paul Joyce

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Fimbles is a BBC series produced in 2002 and shown regularly on the ABC as part of its daytime ABC for Kids programming. Unlike other ABC releases of BBC shows, this one doesn't have any mention of the ABC on the disc itself, only on the cover.

    So who (or what) are The Fimbles? I must admit I didn't know much about them so I clicked onto their official website. However, apart from lots of games and sing-a-longs, I couldn't find any background information on them... Where are they from? Where do they live? Well, they're basically 3 characters (Fimbo, Florrie and Pom), who are (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) actually actors dressed in costumes 

    They have a couple of friends, Rockit and Bessie, and seem to spend most of their time finding things and then singing about them.

    The characters and the show format itself reminded me of another BBC kids show, The Tweenies, and seemed to be aimed at a similar audience.

    There are four episodes on this disc, including the 'bonus' one. I'm not sure what percentage this represents of the whole series.

Video

    This is one of the better transfers I've seen in a while. It's beautifully clear and is formatted at 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced. The colour is bright, but without any trace of oversaturation or bleeding even in some scenes with particularly bright swatches of colour.

    I couldn't spot any artefacts at all, not even traces of aliasing, though perhaps the scenes themselves didn't contain any parts that sometimes give rise to aliasing (such as diagonal lines, tweed jackets or chrome). The texture of the characters' 'skin' is so clear you can almost reach out and feel it!  Contrast was good throughout with good shadow detail.

    The occasional clips of outdoor action (with humans), and animation are of an equally high standard.

    I'd say this show was filmed on digital video and has been well transferred to DVD.

    There is one subtitle track in English which can be turned on from the main menu, or on the fly using the remote. This was accurate and well synced with the words being spoken onscreen.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The single English audio track is in Dolby Digital 2.0 and provides us with a bright but well balanced sound. Although the sound is predominantly in the front speakers,  my ProLogic decoder did sneak some of the music into the rear surrounds for a pleasant effect.

    The subwoofer chipped in to fill out the lowest bass on the musical numbers. Of course there were no explosions, helicopters or V8 engines to stretch the sub too far!

   The dialogue and singing is clear at all times. As far as lip sync goes, The Fimbles and the other characters do open their mouths when they speak, but hardly in sync with what we hear!  It's more the case where they open their mouths when they start to speak, and then close them at the end, without much movement in between. In fact, it can sometimes be a tad difficult to discern exactly who is speaking. This is not a fault of the transfer by any means, just the way the show was done in the first place.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menus, both main and submenus, are animated and have an instrumental version of the show's theme in the background. The main menu allows you to 'play all', 'select an episode', enter the 'extras' menu, and switch on the subtitles. The menus are in 1.78:1 and 16x9 enhanced.

Bonus episode (19:02)

    An extra episode of The Fimbles!  This is also 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced.

More Fun (2:00)

    A two minute musical trailer for other kids shows from the Beeb, including Teletubbies, Little Robots, Tweenies and Andy Pandy.

Singalong (0:34)

    A short song for kids to sing along with. The lyrics appear by default and are well synced with the words being sung.

Game

    Use the arrow keys on the DVD player's remote to locate the hidden Fimble!  Not the greatest game I've seen included on a children's DVD, but is sure to entertain some fans. I was surprised that no voice or on-screen instructions were provided.

Weblink

    A link, via DVDROM, to the official BBC website for The Fimbles.

    This DVD doesn't appear to have been released in R1.

    The Fimbles is a good, fun show very much in the mould of The Tweenies, although the former is perhaps slightly more musically based and without any dancing. The Fimbles is a simpler format but aimed at a similar target audience. The good standard of video and audio quality, together with the extras, make this a great disc for kids. Parents can rest assured that there's no violence and that their kids won't pick up an American accent, though they might end up sounding a little Liverpudlian!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall