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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-Doing the Right Thing (2000)

Clifford the Big Red Dog-Doing the Right Thing (2000)

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Released 9-Sep-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 86:54 (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: Doing the Right Thing is another disc of short cartoons featuring Clifford the Big Red Dog and his friends. It is produced by Scholastic. Each episode has a short moral theme.

    Clifford lives on an island with his owner and her school friends, the kid's parents and a couple of canine friends. Each episode they approach some social grace or attitude by playing out a short parable. The Clifford books are very popular with the kids and this series seems to be (at least with my children) just as popular despite there being some slight differences between the two. The books are not as heavy on the social conscience as the series is.

    There are eight episodes on this disc:

Doing the Right Thing (11:00)

    Clifford's little friend 'finds' a dog toy that was dropped by the local pet shop proprietor as he was unloading his delivery van. T-Bone's conscience plays up and won't let him sleep in peace until the toy is returned to its rightful owner.

The Dog Who Cried Wolf (11:00)

    After hearing a scary story about a very large ghost skunk, Cleo decides to claim to have seen the ghost and scare her friends. She soon discovers that crying skunk can get you into big trouble.

Leaf of Absence (11:00)

    T-Bone leaves Clifford in charge of the best ever leaf pile. A pile of crunchy autumn leaves is apparently something the dogs of the island just love to jump into. Clifford cannot resist the temptation of this special pile of leaves and jumps, spreading the leaves far and wide. He realises that he has broken the trust of T-Bone and spends the rest of the episode finding every single leaf.

Nobody's Perfect (11:00)

    Every year the local school has a crazy sports carnival with all sorts of funny events, such as the cream pie long jump amongst others. The children learn that having fun is better than being the best.

Teacher's Pet (11:00)

    All the local dogs are attending doggy school. The dogs and their owners are mostly looking forward to this but some are very nervous. School turns out to not be such a bad thing after all.

Islander of The Year (11:00)

    The yearly competition for Islander of the Year is coming up and the nominations are rolling in. It turns out there is one, umm, being on the island that features in all of the nominations.

Another Fine Mess (10:33)

    'Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow' - actually, you and I just know that this episode is going to put forward the reverse as the better option.

King Mac (10:33)

    King Mac is the snooty girl's dog and acts a lot like his owner. In this episode he cons everyone into thinking he is in trouble and has them working for him. Then it turns out that there is a conscience in there after all.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Other than the ever-present interlacing there are no big problems with this transfer.

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

    The image is sharp except where the interlacing causes two images to partly overlap giving the impression of blur. There is no low level noise.

    There are lots of lovely bright primary colours and the only artefact is where what is meant to be rendered as a single flat colour occasionally gets rendered as two very close colours such as at 0:38 in the first episode on the vehicle. Posterization is also present in minor amounts.

    Other than the colour blocking mentioned above there are no MPEG artefacts. Interlacing is present and can be quite annoying to the adults in the room. I don't think the kids noticed.

    There are no subtitles on this disc - very naughty for an educational release.

    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 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. On this menu there is a picture of Clifford in a playground. The menu selections are all presented in a tree.

Speckles Story Time (1:30 * 4)

    Four more very short stories about Speckles the dog read by Emily, Clifford's owner.

Big Ideas (1:00 * 3 + 0:58 *1)

    The four short stories related to the 'big idea of the day' play out this time carrying the messages of: Believe In Yourself, Help Others, Be Truthful and Sharing.

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

    I am wondering from the content of the extras whether there is not a TV show on air somewhere that is made up of some episodes, a big idea for the day and a story read by Emily. Great kids entertainment with good clean messages slightly let down by the interlacing.

    The video is good, the audio functional.

    The extras are short but good.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Terry McCracken (read my bio)
Saturday, October 23, 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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