ABC for Kids-Just for Fun! (2004)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	66:50
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

    This disc is a compilation of various children's shows shown on the ABC including kids favourites such as Bob the Builder and lesser known shows such as Caillou (pronounced Cai-oo). It includes both Australian titles and ones sourced from overseas. My fourteen month old son joined me on the reviewer's couch for this disc.

    This disc contains the following titles:

1. Bob The Builder in Inspector Spud (10:03) - The theme tune is immediately recognisable, and my son reacted immediately by smiling and bopping along. This is a well written story revolving around one of the lesser character's in the series, Spud the Scarecrow.
2. The Hooley Dooleys in The Laundry (5:03) - This is an Australian produced show, featuring three colourfully dressed, singing and dancing live performers. They were very reminiscent of The Wiggles but less engaging. It features a Frenchman, Antoine, who has a bit of an accent which may be difficult for some children to understand.
3. The Pop Pups in Ducks (1:08) - This is a short computer animation featuring small dogs which appear to be made from twisted balloons.
4. Caillou in Caillou Looks for Gilbert (4:49) - Caillou is a Canadian production about a small boy called Caillou. In this instalment he searches for his pet cat, Gilbert.
5. Angelina Ballerina in Midnight Muddle (12:17) - This is the longest episode on the disc and is the one which is most obviously designed for slightly older children (4-6 probably). The story is more complex than most of the others. It is quite entertaining and would probably especially appeal to girls. Despite the title of the character this particular story has no relationship to ballet but is rather about how Angelina (a mouse) and her friend cause trouble for their next door neighbour and another mouse.
6. Thomas And Friends in Thomas, Percy & Squeak (5:32) - A delightful Thomas adventure involving a visiting Opera Singer and a mouse. My son responded strongly to this, probably due to his love of anything with wheels and the theme tune.
7. The Pop Pups in Frisbee (1:04) - Another short animation featuring the balloon dogs and a Frisbee.
8. The Rubbadubbers in Tubb The Magician (10:04) - This is another overseas show from the United Kingdom. The characters include a frog (Tubb), a crocodile, a starfish & and a shark. They are all bath toys who come alive when the children are not in the bath. There is a robot who seems to keep watch for the children's return. The concept is very cute, but I did not think this had enough of a story to fill out the 10 minute running time.
9. Bananas in Pyjamas in Fixit Rat (5:06) - This is a classic Australian production, loved by children here and overseas. The particular story here involves the Bananas' friend Rat starting a Fixit service, with unfortunate results.
10. The Hooley Dooleys in Cookies (5:04) - This time the Hooley Dooleys sing and dance about cookies.
11. The Pop Pups in Box (1:05) - Another short animation featuring the balloon dogs and a box.
12. Thomas And Friends in Dunkin Duncan (5:35) - Another enjoyable Thomas adventure involving an impatient engine called Duncan.

    Overall, this disc has a wide selection of quality children's programs, which might be good for a family with more than one child or useful as a way to decide which shows your child responds to best and then possibly purchase full length titles of those programs. My son responded well to Bob The Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine - your results may vary.

Video

    The video transfer of this disc is excellent. 

    The shows are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 which is their original aspect ratio. 

    The transfer was clear and sharp throughout. There was no low level noise.

    The colour were bright and well defined. The shows are very colourful in order to appeal to children.

    I saw no evidence of artefacts of any kind.    

    There are no subtitles on this disc.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio presentation was very good.

    This DVD contains only one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.    

    Dialogue was very clear and easy to understand.    

    There were no problems with audio sync.    

    The theme tunes of the shows and any incidental music came across very well in stereo from the front speakers.    

    There was no surround activity.    

    The subwoofer was used during the theme tunes.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no extras on this disc. The menu was static and allowed for titles to be selected individually or the entire program to be played. Theme music from the shows was played over the menu.

    This disc is multi-region coded but does not appear to have been released outside of Region 4.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good and the stereo sound is perfectly adequate for the material.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall