Hi-5: Snow Party (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Introduction Main Menu Audio & Animation Music Highlights-Songs Of The Week (3) Karaoke-3 Songs Storybook-Sharing Stories (2) Notes-Other Hi-5 Videos And DVDs
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	57:40 (Case: 52)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Summons
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Posie Graeme-Evans Helena Harris Kathleen De Leon Nathan Foley Tim Harding Kellie Hoggart Charli Robinson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Chris Harriott Jason Ballantine Rhonda Nohra

    Hi-5 are an energetic and fun group for children, with a focus on singing, dancing and imagination. The stars of the show include Kathleen De Leon, Tim Harding, Nathan Foley, Charli Delaney and Kellie Hoggart. There are a lot of Hi-5 DVD titles on the market and this particular one was originally available on VHS in 2001.

    These are quite a varied range of skits on offer, and despite the title there are only a few that actually relate to snow. In Snow Party we travel south to Antarctica with Kathleen, followed by a bit of ice skating with Charlie. Nathan has a dance in the rain while Tim shows off his array of wind chimes. Kellie and Chats demonstrate a rainy day workout that can help alleviate the boredom of being stuck inside the house during foul weather. My co-reviewer (with whom I review all my kid's DVDs) gave this disc a serious thumbs-up, running in circles and following the actions on screen with great enthusiasm. We're attending our first live Hi-5 show together in November, so I may need to attach some kind of homing device in order to keep track of her on that day, I think.

    The music in this series is composed by Chris Harriott and includes the songs It's A Party, Three Wishes and Feelings. The instrumentation is generally electronic but maintains a great level of energy to keep the kids dancing. If your kids are familiar with other Hi-5 DVDs then this is sure to please.

    You may like to have a read of my other Hi-5 reviews; Animal Adventures, Space Magic and Five Alive.

Video

    This program is presented in a full frame aspect ratio of 1.29:1. More recent Hi-5 DVD titles have been produced in anamorphic widescreen, but since this title is one of their earliest it would be safe to assume this is the intended ratio.

    This is an acceptable video transfer for a kid's show. Colours are bright and bold and there are no ugly video artefacts that stand out in particular. The level of sharpness is lacking a little which may point to an analogue master. There is a bit of MPEG grain visible on occasion, but this is an otherwise pleasant transfer.

    English subtitles are available and can be selected from the setup menu. I sampled them briefly and they appear to be faithful to the spoken dialogue.

    This disc is comprised of a single layer (DVD5 formatted).

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    A single English audio track is all that accompanies the feature. This is a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo stream encoded at 320Kb/s.

    There are no glitches or inconsistencies to report here. The dialogue is crystal clear and the music is brightly balanced. Audio sync is perfect.

    I didn't notice any specific panning between the left and right channels, but the soundtrack as a whole is very spacious and doesn't disappoint.

    There is obviously no dedicated LFE channel or surround activity in this stereo soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Stories and Songs Menu Selection

    Individual stories or songs from the feature can be played directly from these special menu pages.

Karaoke Music Clips

    The fantastic musical numbers such as Three Wishes can be played with the original audio or karaoke audio, allowing the little ones to sing along (providing they know the words, of course).

Notes

    Nothing more than two pages of cover pictures, promoting eight other Hi-5 home video titles.

    The video and audio transfers are adequate.

    The extras include a variety of playback options and some karaoke versions.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall