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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Hooley Dooleys-Wonderful (2003)

The Hooley Dooleys-Wonderful (2003)

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Released 1-Oct-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Main Menu Audio
Music Highlights-Songs Jukebox
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2003
Running Time 44:40
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring David Butts
Antoine Demarest
Bruce Thorburn
Grant Withnell
Trudy Welke
Kirsten Butts
Mal Heap
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $24.95 Music The Hooley Dooleys


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.59:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    So just who, or what, are the Hooley Dooleys? They are part of the ABC's stable of kids performers which also includes the Bananas in Pyjamas, Mixy and other delightful characters. The Hooley Dooleys are humans in a similar mould to The Wiggles or Channel Nine's more visually appealing Hi-5. However, they seem to be nowhere as popular as either of these two acts, though they do have a certain appeal of their own. In fact, it might be because of their comparative lack of marketing that they are a little different.

    The Hooley Dooleys are a group of 3 guys (David Butts, Antoine Demarest and Bruce Thorburn) supported by Poss the Possum, Russell the Muscly (no less) Kangaroo, and Tickle the Doodad. As far as my knowledge of all things Hooley Dooleys goes, I think Poss has been recruited to this group after their previous DVD release (The Hooley Dooleys).

    This most recent release, Wonderful, is pretty much exactly like their previous release, in that the 3 men, with their furry friends, perform a number of bright n' happy songs that are bound to be popular with many, many kids. They also seem to share a genuine rapport with each other which also helps increase their appeal. The simplicity of the songs and the visuals (especially say compared to Hi-5), also adds a certain charm to this act.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer is presented, somewhat oddly, at an aspect ratio of 1.59:1. Obviously the show was filmed in 1.78:1 widescreen, but for some reason the DVD authors decided to transfer it as fullscreen, or close to it. I guess they felt that kids, or their parents, would prefer a 'big' picture and not worry about a widescreen image. The result is exactly like what happens when one sees widescreen programmes on analogue free-to-air TV, i.e. with very narrow black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. For all intents and purposes this could be considered fullscreen. The transfer is not 16x9 enhanced.

    A clear and sharp picture is provided throughout. I would say this was probably originally captured on digital video. Viewers can easily make out the texture of the background 'sky', including the paint strokes and the seams in the cloth, such as at 4:00.

   Colour is bright and vibrant, as one would expect from a very recent release targeted at the very young. The colours, particularly of the cast members' clothing, and the fur on Tickle the Doodad, almost leap out at you. Occasionally I felt that the red of Antoine's T Shirt, and the purple of Tickle's fur threatened to be ever-so-slightly oversaturated, though it didn't actually occur. However, there appeared to be some colour bleed into adjacent squares on the Kangaroo's red/blue checked trousers. This might have been a side-effect of the edge enhancement rather than an actual colour bleed issue.

    Edge enhancement was used throughout, occasionally slightly annoying, but never to the point of real distraction. As mentioned above, this might have resulted in a continuous problem when displaying the contrasting red/blue trouser pattern on the kangaroo. The border between each check appeared to have double lines rather than a single border, eg at 8:20.

    The only other artefact of note that I spotted was the slightest trace of aliasing in the wider shots of the 'grass', eg at 7:39.

    There were absolutely no film artefacts whatsoever which might be explained by the very recent vintage of the source material, and also by the possibility that it was originally digitally recorded.

    There was one subtitle track, and this was in English for the Hearing Impaired  Interestingly it was 'on' by default, but could be switched off via the remote, or the DVD menu. The subtitle track used an attractive yellow font and text generally appeared below the person actually speaking on screen (where possible). Musical notes were also displayed to indicate when words were being sung (frequently).

    This was a single layered disc and hence there was no layer change.

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

Audio

     There is only one audio track present on this disc, and that, perhaps surprisingly, is a plain stereo mix.

    It is, however, a nice and bright and 'full' sounding track, especially during the 18 songs (which make up the bulk of the soundtrack anyway).

    Lip sync is reasonable, considering that the songs are obviously 'prerecorded' in a proper recording studio. The actors are simply lip-syncing during these songs, and hence the synchronisation between words and lip movements does occasionally slip though this is not a fault of the transfer, but inherent in the original recording. Lip sync during the few spoken parts appears fine.

    Dialogue, and singing, is clear and undistorted at all times.

    The music on this disc is composed by the 3 human Hooley Dooleys. The songs themselves are reasonably catchy though perhaps not as varied in style as on their previous release, but there is something simple and charming about most of their songs which does make them pleasant to listen to repeatedly, or at least tolerable (in the case of parents who have to put up with their kids' multiple viewings of such discs!). The on-screen menu allows the selection of individual songs.

    Being a simple stereo soundtrack, not even surround-encoded, the rear speakers remained silent. I found the lack of even ProLogic surround a little surprising for a very recent production.

    The subwoofer was well used to support the music resulting in good deep bass at all times.

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

Extras

    The menu is presented in fullscreen and is not animated. The title song plays in the background.

    There is an option on the menu which allows the selection of individual songs by title.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This release appears to only be available in Region 4.

Summary

    This is the second DVD release from the Hooley Dooleys. It's perhaps not as value-packed as their previous release (which was actually 2 videos in one).

    There is a collection of 18 original songs on this new release. These are all happy and catchy tunes, delivered in a lively way by 3 bright and colourful characters and their assorted 'animal' friends. This should provide good clean entertainment for kids around 1-7 years of age. The tunes and presentation should also minimise parental-annoyance-factor when hearing the same disc played repeatedly!

    The video and audio transfer on the disc, while not being exemplary by any means, should suffice for the target audience that this release is aimed at.

    There are no extras on the disc except for the option on the menu that allows the selection of individual songs if desired.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Satish Rajah (don't read my bio!)
Friday, January 30, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-344 Multi-Region, using Component output
DisplaySony KV-XA34M31 80cm. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVR-2801
SpeakersMain: Mission 753; Centre: Mission m7c2; rear: Mission 77DS; Sub: JBL PB10

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