The Magical World of Winnie the Pooh-A Great Day of Discovery

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Game-Cheer Up Eeyore Trailer-The Magical World Of Winnie The Pooh-Volume 1 and 2
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	66:56 (Case: 70)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Disney Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	None Given

     It's now official. I'm the "best Nanna in the world." This is not me boasting, this is the opinion of ConnorP - today's guest co-reviewer (aged 4) who put The Magical World of Winnie the Pooh-A Great Day of Discovery through its paces with me, since his brother, DavidP, gave his expert opinion on Bionicle - Mask of Light. (Go to the source, I say; find the audience the film is intended for, and get the skinny from the experts!)

     There are four little stories on this disc, plus some animated interactivities for the littlies to enjoy.

     1. "All's Well That Ends Wishing Well." (21:50)
     Tigger learns the importance of what to wish for, and when to stop.

     2. "Babysitter Blues" (21:00)
     Christopher Robin and all the gang learn valuable lessons about responsibility.

     Edutainment Break (1:10)
     "Butterflies"

     3. "Party Poohper" (10:35)
     Poor old Rabbit's party plans go horribly astray when no-one sticks to his rules.

     4. "Piglet's Poohetry" (11:14)
     Let this be a lesson to you...never let Tigger wrangle with your rhymes!

     Edutainment Break (1:07)
     "Cooking Pot"

     So, we sat and watched as Pooh and Eeyore and Rabbit and Tigger and all the gang got into scrapes and learned valuable lessons in their own charming way. The formula you'll be familiar with, and there were (to me) occasional moments of charm, but ConnorP sat there in rapt attention for the entire duration of the disc, and we had a lot of fun deliberately getting the games wrong just to see what would happen (the narrator remains very affirming.)

     There's a certain comfortable assurance in getting Pooh discs - you don't feel any sense of panic about the content, and the animations have been around so long that it crosses generations now, so while your little'un enjoys it all for the first time, as a grown up (or a kid grown out) you can enjoy a sentimental journey!

Video

     In actual fact, the transfer quality of this disc is not so great in some respects.

     The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, belying its video origins.

     The sharpness level is no problem, and there's plenty of crispness and vivid colours presented here. But there is low level noise that affects both the solid blacks and also the high key scenes in the program.

     The colours are typically vibrant and crisp, with swirls of colour liberally used.

     There are a few instances of interlacing that are visible but not so frequent as to be irritating. Frequently present however, was wobble that did become a little tedious over the course of the show. There are instances of chroma shift that are somewhat distracting at times, for example at 5:10 where it affects large screen areas. But the greatest crime is the massive amount of film artefacts present. It makes the whole print look grubby and murky and was frequently annoying.

     There are comprehensive subtitles available in this disc, and they're clear, accurate and timely.

     I could not detect a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     There are 3 audio tracks available - English, French and Dutch in Dolby Digital 2.0. They appear to have similar audio properties.

     Dialogue was clear and audible at all times, and audio sync is not really an issue in this instance.

     The music is precisely what you'd expect from a Pooh program - light, bright, deft and utterly appropriate to the action.

     The audio was rather flat and non-directional overall, with no evidence of subwoofer activity at all.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     The menu is animated and is explained in detail by our very cheery and affirming narrator.

Trailer

     The promotional trailer is offered as a prequel to the animation.

Game - "Cheer Up Eeyore"

     Select the odd-object-out to make Eeyore smile. Connor thought this was a hoot.

     I couldn't find a listing for this program under R1, so it looks like R4 is the winner.

     Well, I know I've whinged a bit about the technical quality, but the real expert here is ConnorP, and when I finally caught him after he'd been bouncing around the living room (like Tigger), he told me it was "horribibully fun." And you can't argue with that!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall