The Wiggles-Sailing Around the World (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Animation & Audio Music Highlights-Song Jukebox Storybook-Jeff And The Lumpy Mattress Bonus Episode-Lights, Camera, Action, Wiggles! - Episodes 25 And 43 Gallery-Photo Featurette-Postcard From Mexico
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	74:00 (Case: 116)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (58:34)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Paul Field
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Murray Cook Jeff Fatt Greg Page Anthony Field
Case	?
RPI	$24.95	Music	The Wiggles

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Song Lyrics	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Climb aboard the SS Feathersword for a 'round the world trip with the captain and his jolly crew. On our colourful and entertaining journey we visit Sydney, London, Greece, Sicily, San Francisco Bay and Mexico City, with plenty of musical diversions along the way. Be sure to bring your mop and your wavy walk!

    If you're familiar with the Wiggles' many other home video releases you know exactly what to expect from this new offering; lots of great songs, energetic dancing and the familiar characters kids love so much. The focus on storyline is a little more prominent than the average Wiggles DVD, which results in some long passages of dialogue. My co-reviewer found these segments a bit boring on occasion and even chanted "next song, Daddy!", so in comparison to previous Wiggles titles such as Top of the Tots there isn't such a high volume of songs on offer. Also, I was surprised at the number of segments I had seen before in their daily The Wiggles Show on television, so it is likely your little ones will find much of the material familiar.

    So, throw the disc in your player and enjoy over an hour of Captain Feathersword, Murray, Greg, Jeff and Anthony at their best. The music is fantastic and the dancing is more energetic than ever!

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, complete with 16x9 enhancement. I've seen some segments of this program broadcast in widescreen digital, so this would appear to be the intended ratio. Altogether, this is a very good transfer for a children's program.

    Via my projector the image is moderately sharp and pleasing to the eye. I also viewed the program on my 76cm widescreen CRT and found the image smooth and bright, with plenty of clarity. Contrast levels are excellent and there are no low level noise problems evident in the transfer.

    The colouring is rich and bold throughout. Skin tones appear true, and I didn't notice any blooming or bleeding across the broad palate of colours on offer. MPEG compression artefacting is well controlled - in fact I didn't note any blocking or grain at all. The MPEG bitrate averages well over 8Mb/s, which is great for a kid's title and absolutely necessary for such brightly coloured motion. Hi-5 DVD authors should take note!

    Two English subtitle streams are included; one for the hearing impaired and another with word-by-word karaoke-style lyrics. I didn't have any problems following the subtitles at all.

    This disc is dual layered, with the layer transition placed during the feature at 58:34. This is a relatively still and quiet scene transition, so the pause is of minimal disruption.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack available on this DVD; a straightforward Dolby Digital 2.0 stream. This is a clear and well balanced stereo mix with no issues to complain about.

    The English dialogue is always clear and easy discern above the music, although there are some heavy accents involved at times that may represent a problem for very little viewers. Also, certain characters break into their native languages mid-conversation without any translation. My co-reviewer gave me a couple of confused looks, but I think she began to find it a novelty after a while. Audio sync is generally good. There are some small miming or lip-syncing issues present now and then, but they're not likely to bother the little ones.

    As always, there are some great Wiggles songs on offer such as Goldfish, Elbow to Elbow, Fly Through the Sky and the particularly catchy Here Come The Chicken. Not all of them are new, but they're still entertaining.

    There was obviously no surround or LFE activity in this stereo soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    This is a great collection of extra material. All of the content on this DVD is 16x9 enhanced and available with English subtitles.

Menu

Featurette-Postcard From Mexico (6:55)

    Wiggly dancers Caterina and Ben take a look at the markets, landmarks and history of Mexico City.

Bonus Episodes: Lights, Camera, Action, Wiggles! #25 (11:29) & #43 (10:55)

    We are treated to two episodes from their 2002 television series which includes more great music and regular segments such as Music With Murray and Network Wiggles News. Included is a rare but bizarre glimpse of a hatless Captain Feathersword. Scary!

Photo Gallery (3:50)

    A series of photos taken during production, all set to Wiggly Polka music.

Animated Story Book-Jeff and the Lumpy Mattress (4:02)

    Jeff decides to retire his old lumpy mattress, but has trouble deciding on a replacement.

Music Highlights-Jukebox

    A menu screen that allows you to skip directly to any of the songs in the feature.

    The video and audio transfers are good.

    The extras are almost more entertaining than the feature.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall