Winnie the Pooh-Spookable Fun/Boo to You, Too! (1996)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio Game-Piglet's Hallowasn't
Rating
Year Of Production	1996
Running Time	79:12 (Case: 81)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Rob LaDuca
Studio Distributor	Disney Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Jim Cummings John Fiedler Ken Sansom Michael Gough Peter Cullen
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Michael Silversher Patty Silversher Phil Weinstein

    Halloween seems to be one of those American holidays that Australians just don't seem to latch onto. Fortunately, kids do not need to like Halloween in order to enjoy this DVD. They only need to have an appreciation of Winnie the Pooh and his 100 Acre Wood friends to enjoy the cartoon shorts in this presentation.

    This disc contains six animated cartoons from a TV show called The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

    Boo to You Too!: Piglet is too scared to enjoy Halloween with his friends. This had a pretty fun song in it by Tigger that reminded me of the Disneyland ride 'Pooh's Honey Hunt.'

   The Monster Frankenpooh: The telling of a (not so) scary story.

    Things That Go Piglet in the Night: Piglet gets scared at night and convinces everyone to stay up with him.

    Rock-A-Bye Pooh Bear: A bad dream spells trouble for Piglet.

    Pooh Moon: Pooh and his buddies go camping.

    A Knight to Remember: Pooh and crew are up to mischief in Christopher Robin's house during a storm.

    Only 1 (or maybe 2) episodes link directly to Halloween, while the others have spooky themes. Nothing that will scare youngsters though.

    Not exactly a classic assortment of Pooh, but a selection that will keep most kids happy.

Video

   Winnie the Pooh: Spookable Fun and Boo to You Too! appears in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this dual layered DVD. The image has not been enhanced for 16x9 televisions.

    Considering these episodes are from the mid 90s, the video quality of the different episodes varied significantly.

    Overall, I found that the DVD offered a surprisingly dated look to the cartoons. Had I not known they were made only 10 or so years ago I would have guessed that they were from the late 70s to mid 80s.

    Film artefacts were present throughout, while some episodes fared significantly better than others.

    A lot of the time I found myself squinting at the screen, almost like I couldn't focus on the picture. Fearing that I am approaching that age where I may need glasses, I asked my daughter what she thought of the picture. Her reply was that "it looks fuzzy." Image sharpness is a serious issue for this disc. Once again, some episodes fare better than others.

    Colours are also disappointing. My kids have other Pooh DVDs that brilliantly show off colours vividly. On this disc, colours are quite flat (helping make it look more dated than it actually is) and for the most part bland.

    On top of all of these issues, edge enhancement plagues most of the episodes.

    Not Disney's finest moment for a video transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    While certainly not outstanding, the English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kbps) track fares significantly better than the video presentation. In addition to the English soundtrack, also present are Italian, German and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks.

    The dialogue came across clear and was easy to hear. There were no sync issues. I have to admit I think most of the voice actors in these Pooh cartoons do a fantastic job. Thankfully, they all come through loud and clear.

    The music tracks sounded a little flat compared to the dialogue and special effect tracks, but overall was acceptable for this kind of presentation. It's fine for the kids!

    There was no surround or sub-woofer activity.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

Game

    There are two fun, but simple games that kids will enjoy once or twice. They have little to no replay value though.

    There seems to be no real difference between this and the R1 version, except the title which is Winnie the Pooh: Frankenpooh and Spookable Pooh. I think our R4 title is better.

    Overall, this is a fun disc for kids even if Halloween is a bit of a non-event in this part of the world.

    The video quality is really disappointing for a Disney title.

    The audio does an adequate job.

    The special features don't have much replay value.

    Fun for little kids but nothing much for other age groups.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall