Angelina Ballerina-The Show Must Go On! (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Family |
Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Angelina's Dance Class Storybook-Book: The Show Must Go On Gallery-Photo Song Lyrics-I'm All Alone & Mad, Bad And Dangerous Web Links |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 71:00 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Roger McIntosh Kitty Taylor |
Studio
Distributor |
Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Finty Williams Judi Dench Colin Towns |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | $19.95 | Music | Colin Towns |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Angelina Ballerina - The Show Must Go On is a feature-length presentation of the popular UK children's cartoon series which is shown locally as part of the ABC for Kids programming. All the characters from the series appear in this 'movie'.
Mr Operatski is putting together dancers for the forthcoming Christmas stage musical, and Angelina is very keen to play the lead role of Cinderella Mouse. However, following the auditions, Mr Operatski decides to give the role of Cinderella to Priscilla Pinkpaw instead, while Angelina is offered the role of the Wicked Stepmouse. This causes poor Angelina to get rather cross. Her temper gets out of hand, and soon she finds herself dumped from the musical entirely. Things then worsen, with events eventually leading to the possible cancellation of the entire show!
The voices of some of the main characters are provided by stalwarts of the UK film and stage scene, including Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi.
The style of the animation used reflects the original artwork from the books by Helen Craig and Katharine Holabird, and is far less showy and loud than in any US-made childrens' animated series. In comparison, this is a far gentler, almost slow-moving style of storytelling.
Therein lies a problem...while children may enjoy Angelina in the shorter, daily dose on TV, getting them to sit through this 50 minute story might be a little bit difficult, especially if films like Nemo, The Incredibles, The Shreks, and other more catchy films are available.
The video transfer on this disc is very good.
The feature is presented in its original ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.
The sharpness, black level and shadow detail (what little is required) is good at all times.
Colour, as one would expect for a kids animated show, is rich at all times, though not as vivid as one would find on US-made animated series. There is no trace of oversaturation or colour bleed.
There were no visible MPEG transfer artefacts.
Given the recent production date, the fact that it's in 1.78:1 ratio, and from the UK, it seems reasonable to assume that it was originally recorded on digital video. This explains the total lack of any film artefacts.
The only subtitles are in English. These are accurate and well-timed to the onscreen dialogue.
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The only audio track is in English, and this is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.
Dialogue quality is fine at all times with no audible distortion. Lip sync is as good as one could expect from an animated feature.
The music, by Colin Towns, suits the onscreen action quite well without drawing attention to itself in any real way.
The bulk of the sound activity is across the front three speakers. The rear surround speakers have very little to do apart from carrying some ambient noise and music at a low level.
The subwoofer also has very little need to exercise itself.
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The main menu is presented in 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. It has music from the show playing in Dolby Digital 2.0 with surround.
This featurette is a collection of short clips of live action ballet dance classes. Focuses on girls demonstrating the movements in accordance with the narration.
These classes are obviously aimed at budding ballerinas (not necessarily with tails) who already have some knowledge of ballet and know what a fondus or tendus is! Each of the 15 lessons can be played individually or via a 'Play All' option.
These are presented in 4:3 fullscreen and run for a total of 14 minutes.
This is basically the text of the entire feature! It's very long, and I'm not sure I'd recommend this being used as a reading tool for kids because reading the white text against the red background is probably not the best for their eyes. This is presented in 4:3 fullscreen.
A somewhat pointless collection of 15 stills from the feature. There should have been some music, if not narration, to accompany this.
Two songs from the show, together with the lyrics displayed via the subtitle stream so kids can sing along. This is presented in 1.78:1 ratio and is 16x9 enhanced.
Link to the official Angelina Ballerina website. This only works if your computer has a DVD-ROM and is connected to the internet.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This release is available in R1. The only difference appears to be the cover picture. Consequently the R4 version is the one to go for.
Angelina Ballerina - The Show Must Go On is perhaps an animated show better suited to slightly older kids, maybe around 10 years old. The story is a little slow-moving with plenty of good dialogue, though parents should be pleased that there's none of the violence, monsters, lasers or explosions that seem essential in kids' animated shows from the US and Japan.
This show uses a simpler style of animation which is not as eyecatching as that used in typical US animation. However, the voice characterisations are of a great quality, being provided by some fine British actors.
The video and audio transfers on this disc are very good.
The extras are reasonable, though the inclusion of the text of the entire story is of some questionable value.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-344 Multi-Region, using Component output |
Display | Sony KV-XA34M31 80cm. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Denon AVR-2801 |
Speakers | Main: Mission 753; Centre: Mission m7c2; rear: Mission 77DS; Sub: JBL PB10 |