Blue's Clues-Get to Know Joe (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Bonus Episode-Blues Clues 100th Episode Celebration Notes-Parents Guide - 3
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	98:02
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bruce Caines
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Steven Burns Donovan Patton Traci Paige Johnson
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	Nick Balaban Michael Rubin

    Blue's Clues is an interesting and educational children's series, focusing on development and fun. Each episode presents the viewer with a plot related puzzle and offers some clues during the show, recognisable by a blue paw print. The series combines highly contrasting animation with live action and succeeds in creating a unique, colourful and interactive atmosphere.

    There are four episodes presented on this DVD release, all of which have a connecting plot line. The characters of the show communicate directly with the viewer and include Blue the dog, her owner Steve and his brother Joe. All of Steve's furniture and household appliances have individual characterisations and they offer help with the many mysteries and puzzles during the programme.

    This is an excellent series for pre-schoolers or any child who loves to solve problems and keep their mind active. The series of episodes on this disc have the added bonus of assisting children to cope with life changes, such as a friend or family member leaving for long periods.

Video

    The feature is presented in an aspect of 1.33:1, full frame.

    The level of sharpness and detail is generally poor, giving away the source's NTSC origins. Interlacing issues are noticeable on moving objects, and appear a bit ugly at times. The entire program is very bright and well lit with virtually no dark or shadowy scenes to speak of. There are no problems with low level noise in this video transfer that I could detect.

    Colours are bright and solid at all times, although skin tones presented a slightly orange hue. There were no problems concerning colour bleeding or oversaturation in this transfer.

    MPEG artefacting was limited to slight intermittent grain and didn't present any major problems. Aliasing was the most noticeable issue, giving some animated scenes a slightly jagged edge.

    This disc is DVD5 formatted, and doesn't contain a layer transition.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
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Audio

    There is only one audio stream on this DVD, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

    The voices and narration of the series are always easy to understand and don't present any major problems. A number of Americanisms exist - words such as College, but these are only few. There are no issues with audio sync during the feature.

    The stereo stream is used to pan voices and musical instruments, but that is the extent of the activity in this soundtrack.

    The musical score has a warm jazzy feel and complements the fun-loving nature of the show well. Most of the songs are merely interludes between segments, and are very short.

    There was no surround activity or subwoofer response in this soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Bonus Episode - Blue's Clues 100th Episode Celebration (24:00)

Parents Guide

• Nick Jr. Learn To Play Philosophy - The Nick Jr. production company offers three pages of text, covering the importance of play-time in a child's development.
• Blue's Clues - Four pages of text outlining the mission of the show, and what parents should expect children to gain from viewing.
• Extended activity - Encourages parents to participate with their child in a craft activity, similar to one seen on the show.

    The PAL video transfer is let down by its NTSC origins, but is adequate for a children's series.

    The audio transfer is a simple stereo stream and doesn't present any real problems.

    The extras include an overview of the series and some interesting reading for involved parents.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall