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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.
Clifford the Big Red Dog-Believe in Yourself (2000)

Clifford the Big Red Dog-Believe in Yourself (2000)

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Released 9-Jul-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Audio
Short Film-Big Ideas: 4 Clips
Storybook-Speckle's Storytime
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 87:14 (Case: 103)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By John Over
Studio
Distributor
Scholastic
Warner Home Video
Starring John Ritter
Grey DeLisle
Cree Summer
Kel Mitchell
Cam Clarke
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $24.95 Music Josh Mancell
Mark Mothersbaugh
Barry Caldwell


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Clifford is a big red dog. Sounds simple doesn't it? However, big doesn't quite cover just how oversized Clifford actually is - he is bigger than the average two story house. He is the creation of Norman Birdwell and is an extremely popular children's book character.

    In the books he spends most of his time with his owner, a little girl called Emily Elizabeth, and the majority of the stories revolve around the problems created by such a humungous quadruped. Each story is short and kids just seem to love them. The DVD is somewhat different in the content of the stories. Here, Clifford is joined by two normal dogs and the story revolves around the three animals, as well as Emily Elizabeth and her school chums. The other difference is that rather than being the story of a large red dog and the problems created by his unique size, the stories each have a moral and the fact that Clifford is forty feet high is almost completely ignored except where his size comes in useful. The simple morals and the way in which they are conveyed are done very well and, most importantly, they are done without losing the interest of the children. My five year old has already watched this disc multiple times and there seems to be no flagging in the interest yet.

    The animation is very simple and colourful and the characters do look like they do in the books. The books, at least the ones that we have at home, and the DVDs are produced by Scholastic.

    On this disc are eight episodes each running for about eleven minutes.

Clifford and the Bean Stalk (11:00) Emily Elizabeth is beaten to a part in the school play by Jenna. Jenna is more concerned with how she will look and neglects to learn her lines.

An Itchy Patch (11:00) Clifford has an itchy patch on his back but his friends convince him to cover up this affliction as he might end up at the vets if he doesn't. It turns out that a visit to the vet (doctor) is not as bad as it seems.

A New Friend (11:00) A new dog is in town and a quick check at each corner shows that he does not have the full complement of legs. Clifford and his friends do not know how to deal with this situation - one thinks that they might catch the leg losing bug and others try and treat the new dog as if he can't do the things that they do. This episode is particularly well done.

Stormy Weather (11:00) Poor old Clifford is in trouble time and time again as he tries to dig a hole big enough to bury his bone. Suddenly his digging abilities are desperately needed to help build a sea wall and the difference between good and bad use of talents is expounded.

Circus Stars (11:00) Clifford and friends end up helping out at the circus when the star attraction, a large elephant, is down with the flu. At the end the elephant gets better but Clifford's friends insist that their friend join them when they put on their act.

Limelight Fright (11:00) Clifford and both his canine and human friends discover that they have a percussive musical talent and are talked into putting on a show. Unfortunately Cleo has stage fright and this leads to some problems.

Embarrassing Moments (10:33) The children relate a series of embarrassing moments and learn not to laugh at others until the person themselves has gotten over the embarrassment and learned to laugh themselves.

Lucky Charm (10:33) Emily believes that she has lost the ability to roller blade well because she has lost her lucky charm. Her friends perpetrate a small deception to show her that she doesn't need the lucky stone to have confidence in herself. I'm not sure of the moral in this one - next thing they will be telling the kids there is no Santa Claus either.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    While there are some minor defects with the transfer, overall it presents a very nice colourful image.

    The transfer is presented at 1.33:1 and not 16x9 enhanced.

    The image is sharp and clear except occasionally where the interlacing causes some blurring. There is little shadow so shadow detail is not a concern. There is no low level noise.

    Colours are bright and mostly free of any artefacts. There is the occasional posterization or slight blocking in the colours but you have to be really looking to find it. Most of these slight artefacts along with the interlacing can be seen at around 2:50 in the third episode.

    Other than the blocking in some colour patches there are no major MPEG artefacts. Interlacing is present and occasionally causes some interesting screen effects as pre and post images overlap the main image. Some objects occasionally shimmer for no reason that I can see, such as at 3:35 inside the dream bubble. There are no film artefacts.

    The lack of subtitles is thrown into sharp relief by the fact that there is an episode dealing with disabilities on this very disc. To turn around and leave off subtitles is disappointing in the extreme and compounded by the cover stating that subtitles are included.

    This is a single layered disc.

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

Audio

     There is a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack on this disc.

    Dialogue quality is excellent throughout as is the audio sync.

    The music is themed children's music to match the on-screen action and works well for the younger viewers.

    There was no surround or subwoofer activity.

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

Extras

Menu

    A static menu presented at 1.33:1 and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. There is a picture of Clifford holding a bone with a balloon tied to it. The menus are contained within the balloon.

Speckles Story Time (1:30 * 4)

    Emily Elizabeth reads Clifford four stories about a dog called Speckles. These are very simply cartoons that are narrated, each running for 1:30.

Big Ideas (1:00 * 3 + 0:55 *1)

    Four short stories with a clear message contained in each and acted out by our characters as an example. They are Sharing, Respect, Play fair and Be Responsible.

R4 vs R1

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

    This particular collection of episodes does not appear to have been released in R1 yet.

Summary

    For the target audience this is a fantastic disc, both entertaining and educational. The storylines are fun and the messages are obvious but not pushed to the extent that kids are going to choke on them.

    The video is good.

    The audio is functional.

    The extras are short but good.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Terry McCracken (read my bio)
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDSkyworth 1050p progressive scan, using RGB output
DisplaySony 1252q CRT Projector, Screen Technics matte white screen 16:9 (223cm). Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-SR800
SpeakersB&W DM305 (mains); CC3 (centre); S100 (surrounds); custom Adire Audio Tempest with Redgum plate amp (subwoofer)

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