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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.
Fimbles-Tinkles, Toots and Fimbling Hoots (2002)

Fimbles-Tinkles, Toots and Fimbling Hoots (2002)

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Released 9-Mar-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Animation & Audio
Storybook-The Noisy Builder
Song Lyrics-Sing-A-Long - Hickory Dickory Dock
Game-Musical Statues
Game-The Noisy Game
Web Links
Trailer-Highlights From Other Programmes
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 58:49 (Case: 57)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Helen Sheppard
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Simon Grover
Sarah Hayes
Su Hurrell
Andrew Viner
Samantha Dodd
Wayne Forester
Leah Green
Kate Harbour
Tamsin Heatley
Matthew Lyons
Gary Rutter
John Tobias
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $19.95 Music Lester Barnes
Paul K. Joyce
Philip Pope


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.75:1 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

    The Fimbles is a fairly recent addition to the BBC stable of excellent children's programs. The Fimbles themselves are three brightly coloured, furry striped animals who walk around on their hind legs. They look vaguely like dogs but only vaguely. They have big floppy ears, long noses and tufts of hairs on their heads. The three are Fimbo (Male, Yellow/Green stripes), Florrie (Female, Purple/Blue Stripes) and Pom (Female Baby, Pink/Green Stripes). Other characters include Roly, a mole who reads stories, Rockit, a funny frog, Bessie, a bird that sounds remarkably like Bubbles from Absolutely Fabulous and Ribble, her chick. They all live in a magical and very colourful set.

    The show itself involves songs (both original and children's favourites such as Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush), stories, craft, animation and some live footage of adults and children. The main special feature of the show is that in every episode one of the Fimbles gets what they refer to as 'That Fimbling Feeling' which means that they tingle and then they find something new somewhere near them. This is usually an interesting object such as a horn or a radio.

    This disc contains probably three episodes run together without credits to create a show of nearly one hour's duration. It contains all the elements mentioned above. Most of the segments here are music focussed.

    I think this is a great children's show. It is sweet without being cloying and the characters are very cute. Also, there are things for the kids to learn such as what objects are and what they do. My toddler enjoys it very much. It is designed for the pre-school set.

    If your kids are Fimbles fans, this would be a great addition to their collection. If they haven't seen them before this would be an excellent introduction.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.

    The colour was excellent throughout with all colours being well saturated and free from colour bleeding.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired. They were quite accurate and easy to read, however, I am not sure how many of the target audience can read.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good, and even uses the surrounds when played using ProLogic II.

    This DVD contains only one audio option: an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand.    

    The music used is excellent and the theme tune is very memorable.

    The surround speakers were used regularly for music.

    The subwoofer was not used.

    

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

Extras

Menu

    The menu included a scene selection function, music and motion including the frog and bird passing but talking to camera.

Extra Story - Noisy Builder (3:03)

    Another charming story read by Roly the Mole.

Sing-a-long (0:44)

    A short karaoke style song.

Game - Musical Statues

    A simple game involving picking which Fimble stops dancing last.

Game - Noisy Game

    A game involving matching the sound of an object to the object's picture.

Weblink

    A page listing the Fimbles website, which contains more fun and games including printable colouring-in pictures.

More Fun (2:00)

    A promo reel of other BBC children's shows including Teletubbies, The Hoobs & Andy Pandy.

R4 vs R1

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

    This disc is available in the same format in Region 2.

Summary

    This disc contains an hour of the excellent BBC children's show, The Fimbles.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has a selection of child friendly extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 1200, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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