Hi-5: It's a Hi-5 Christmas

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Karaoke-3 Songs Storybook-Sharing Stories: Beach Christmas Tree Trailer-Previews of other Hi-5 DVD's And Videos Featurette-Christmas Eve Concert
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	54:07
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ian Munro
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Kathleen De Leon Nathan Foley Tim Harding Kellie Hoggart Charli Robinson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Chris Harriott

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/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 for the Hearing Impaired English Song Lyrics	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    It's a Hi-5 Christmas is a Christmas-themed Hi-5 DVD packed with plenty of stories, singing, dancing, and games for kids.

    Loaded with some jazzed up Christmas carols and plenty of new songs themed around Christmas, the Hi-5 Team are wrapping Christmas presents, cooking Christmas treats, decorating Christmas trees, and writing letters to Santa. I was pleased to see that the Northern Hemisphere white Christmas culture has been adapted a little, so that kids here can make 'snow-men' out of sand, and go to the beach on Christmas Day with their families. Featured songs include Santa Wear Your Shorts, Sleigh Ride, and Santa Claus is Coming. As a welcome addition, the DVD also includes Hi-5's Christmas Eve concert, recorded in Melbourne last year. This concert also includes appearances by Santa and Humphrey Bear.

    As I wrote in a previous review, "Hi-5 is a well-paced and entertaining Australian children's television program that debuted in 1999 . . . The programs are filled with singing, dancing, movement, stories and some Play School style artistic activities. While not so obvious about its educational value as say Sesame Street, like the Wiggles, Hi-5 stimulate children's minds while thoroughly entertaining them. The five Hi5 team members all possess a great child-like enthusiasm, and they are well supported by a cast of fun puppets and happy children".

    According to their web site, Hi-5 was created and produced by Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans, who are committed to giving the show a solid educational basis. "The aim of Hi-5 is to cater for a wide range of young children, acknowledging the span of cognitive abilities and learning styles. The program presents material with the understanding that children will respond in different ways and be more open to a particular mode of integrating ideas." They recognise that young children learn holistically, therefore the program includes a number of segments, each of which focuses on a different area of learning. For more details, their website can be accessed here.

Video

    Like their last two DVD releases, Hi-5 Hi-Energy and Surfing Safari, this DVD is presented with a widescreen transfer. Once again we have the wonder and beauty of digital television to thank for this. I notice many kid's programs are now broadcast in digital widescreen, and as more digital set-top-boxes are sold, I hope that some of the recalcitrants, like the Wiggles, will get with it.

    This is the third widescreen Hi-5 release, and the transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness and shadow detail of the image are fine, and fairly representative of digital broadcast television.

    As with all Hi-5 transfers, the image features plenty of bright primary colours. The flesh tones are accurate.

    As with some other Hi-5 transfers, MPEG artefacts are present, and occasionally the image suffers from slight pixilation. Film-to-video artefacts are present in the form of a very mild shimmer on some objects, but it was never distracting. Film artefacts were not a problem.

    English for the Hearing Impaired and song lyric subtitles are provided. They are accurate.

    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

    As a children's television broadcast, there is only one audio option; English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (320Kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent, and the song lyrics are always clear.

    The upbeat, Christmas-themed music is performed by Hi-5, and the original songs are composed by Chris Harriott. The music was clear and exhibited a good dynamic range. As a bonus, a choir also perform with Hi-5 during their concert which adds a lot to the singing.

    There is no surround presence or subwoofer activity.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    The extras are slim.

Menu

    A simple "child friendly" menu. It is animated with audio.

Karaoke

    Three songs, Sleigh Ride, Santa Wear Your Shorts, and Santa Claus is Coming can be played with or without the vocals, as subtitles display the lyrics.

Previews

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio, short trailers for other Hi-5 DVD/Video releases: Music Machine, Star Dreaming, Playing Cool, 5 Alive, Animal Adventures, Let's Celebrate, Magical Treasures, Move Your Body/Summer Rainbow, and Surfing Safari.

    This title does not appear to have been released on DVD in Region 1.

    It's a Hi-5 Christmas largely sticks to the Hi-5 fast-paced winning formula, and delivers another fun DVD for the kiddies. The addition of the Christmas Eve concert is a real bonus, and if you have small kids, this would be a great DVD to have on hand during the Christmas period.

    The video quality is let down slightly with MPEG problems, but the little ones won't notice.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are slim.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall