Boohbah-Magic (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	80:17
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Chris Bernard Annie Gibbs Vic Finch
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Emma Insley Alex Poulter Cal Jaggers Phil Hayes Laura Pero Mark Ramsey Chris Langham
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Andrew McCrorie-Shand Paul Honey

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	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Boohbah is the most colourful and stimulating children's program I have seen. The show itself is a combination of live action and CG, with a range and depth of colouring that borders on the psychedelic. There are five Boohbah characters; Humbah, Zumbah, Zing Zing Zingbah, Jumbah and Jingbah, all of which resemble overweight Teletubbies. The five aliens dance, fly and play on the screen, responding to children's voices within the soundtrack. Through the course of each episode, the Boohbahs interact with children and regular generic characters such as Grandpa-pa, Mr Man and Fido the dog. The only lengthy lines of English are spoken by a very bland narrator, who states what can be easily seen on screen.

    The similarities between this series and the aforementioned Teletubbies is obvious, and understandable since the two were conceived by the same production company, Ragdoll. The series is very well made and intensely eye-catching, and although I don't fully understand it I think it is superior to Teletubbies in its production values. My toddler was so mesmerised by the images on screen on this DVD that I almost had to check her pulse.

    Four episodes are included on this disc, and each follows the same format of dancing and colourful action. The episodes are titled Armchair, Skipping Rope, Record Player and Pile of Balls. Each has a runtime of roughly twenty minutes.

    The Boohbah website is an excellent source for kid's games and activities and also has some interesting info for parents.

Video

    This video transfer is presented in an aspect of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The series appears to have been shot digitally and has a great degree of sharpness and detail. The picture is consistently bright and colourful with very few issues of concern. Although the use of colouring is very bold indeed, there are no problems with oversaturation at all.

    MPEG overcompression is minimal and only shows up on a few minor occasions during moments of great detail on screen, such as the brief evidence of macro blocking at 18:50. Aliasing is quite well controlled and unobtrusive. Some slight shimmering can be seen now and then on distant detailed objects, but I doubt that this will present a problem to most young viewers.

    There are no subtitles on this single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack on this disc, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and encoded at 192Kb/s.

    There is minimal talking on screen, though the effects and assorted noises appear to be in sync with the video movement. Obviously accuracy isn't a big issue here. Although it isn't presented in a great degree of quality, the score has enough brightness and depth to make it more than adequate for this purpose.

    There is a great deal of panning and well thought out sound placement evident in this stereo soundtrack. Effects can be heard swooping from left to right, and the musical score is similarly well mixed.

    The soundtrack includes a lot of electronic layers and percussive elements that give it a decidedly Eastern feel. My co-reviewer stood up to shake her bottom on several occasions, so I'd say that the soundtrack score is quite effective.

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

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None, really. The cover lists the Pile of Balls episode as a bonus, which is a bit misleading I suppose.

Menu

    The menu system is very nicely designed, and keeps in with the spirit of the show. All of the pages are bright and colourful, with audio effects and sounds from the show. The page transitions are also worth mentioning as they feature some very effective animation that would even make an adult exclaim Wow! As with the feature itself, the menu is 16x9 enhanced.

    The video transfer is bright and colourful with only a few relatively small problems.

    The audio transfer is a very active and energetic mix that would make any child dance.

    There are no extras, but the menu design is top notch.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall