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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.
Busy Buses-Series 2 (2005)

Busy Buses-Series 2 (2005)

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Released 3-Feb-2005

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Main Menu Audio
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2005
Running Time 68:27 (Case: 65)
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


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/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

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Plot Synopsis

    Busy Buses is an English animated children's show which is shown on Sky in the UK and the ABC here in Australia. It involves a group of buses and their daily adventures in the town of Chumley. The buses all work together for Mr Spector and each has its own personality and type of bus run. It is similar in concept to Thomas the Tank Engine in that the buses are the stars of the show and their daily adventures constitute the stories. It is designed for a similar age group as well, pre-schoolers.

    The main characters are:

    This disc includes all 13 episodes in the second series, each of approximately 5 minutes duration. The episodes are:

  1. Sammy's New Friend - Tommy, another school bus, comes for a visit and he and Sammy make friends.
  2. The Football Match - There is a football match between the Chumley buses and some other buses. Sammy badly wants to play and eventually gets his chance.
  3. Busy Bangers - Mr Spector mistakenly gives the buses the wrong fuel causing all sorts of problems.
  4. Sammy the Stunt Bus - Sammy goes to the airport with Roger and gets himself into trouble.
  5. A Day on the Farm - All the buses help out with an emergency at Farmer Waggle's.
  6. Sammy becomes a Scout - Sammy goes camping with a scout troop.
  7. Stephanie Loses her Nerve - Stephanie is too scared to leave the bus shed
  8. A Muddy Day - A very wet and muddy day in Chumley which only Colin enjoys.
  9. Sammy Gets Taller - Sammy is upset that he is shorter than the other buses, and comes up with some odd ways to make himself taller.
  10. Sammy's Midnight Adventure - Tommy comes to visit again and stays over in the bus shed. He and Sammy sneak out during the night.
  11. One Eyed Roger - Roger has had a busy day but needs to make a late trip to the airport. When one of his headlights goes out, he gets into trouble.
  12. Rick the Racing Bus - Sammy is going in for a full service and Rick comes to stand in for him, however Rick drives too fast and makes everyone sick.
  13. The Big Parade - The buses have a big parade to choose 'Bus of the Year'.

    This is a fun series for pre-schoolers and will certainly appeal to kids with a transport obsession, like my son.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. There was some very light grain throughout.

    The colour was excellent, very bright and cheerful with no issues to report.

    There were quite a few artefacts such as aliasing on bricks at 1:50 and then every bus grille, fence or net. There was also some shimmer on camera pans and jagged edges here and there.

    There are no subtitles.
    

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good but virtually mono.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s. The centre speaker carries most of the soundtrack and only the theme tune shows much stereo separation.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand.

    The theme song and music of this series are by Mark London & Francis Haines. The theme song is very cute and annoyingly memorable.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

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

Extras

    None.

Menu

    The menu includes the ability to play all or individual episodes.

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 coded for all regions but has only been released in Region 4.

Summary

    The second series of a fun and cheerful children's animated series about a group of buses.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good but virtually mono.

    The disc has no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, March 11, 2005
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony KV-XA34M31 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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