ABC for Kids-Let's Sing and Dance (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	61:38
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

    Back when I first started reviewing here at Michael D's, I chose as one of my first two review discs a children's compilation entitled ABC for Kids - Just For Fun. Well here I am about 350 reviews later, reviewing the follow up disc ABC For Kids - Let's Sing & Dance which is another compilation of episodes from various ABC children's series.

    As you may guess from the title, this compilation focuses on episodes with a musical theme. Despite being released reasonably recently, this disc mostly features episodes from the late 1990s, for example the Bob The Builder episode is from the first series of Bob in 1999. None of the episodes included here seems newer than 2000. This will not bother the kids but I would certainly think that this material has mostly been released previously on DVD, which it does point out on the back of the case. The specific episodes included are:

1. Hooley Dooleys - Russell the Muscley Kangaroo & Jumbo Jive (4:58) - Two songs by the Hooley Dooleys, who are a trio who could probably be described as a poor man's Wiggles.
2. Hooley Dooleys - Beat & Beach (4:30) - Two more songs by the Hooley Dooleys this time from a live show.
3. Bob The Builder - Buffalo Bob (10:09) - Bob enters a line dancing competition but when his partner injures herself at the last minute, Wendy helps out.
4. Spot - Spot's Show (5:07) - Spot & his friends put on a show for his parents. This episode is also on the Spot's Bumper Adventure Pack DVD.
5. Spot - Spot's Band (5:06) - Spot & his friends form a band. This episode is also on the Spot's Bumper Adventure Pack DVD.
6. Thomas the Tank Engine - Thomas We Love You (3:33) - This is not actually an episode of Thomas but is a sing-along song.
7. Thomas the Tank Engine - Let's Have A Race (3:25) - This is not actually an episode of Thomas but is a sing-along song.
8. Thomas the Tank Engine - It's Great To Be an Engine (3:45) - This is not actually an episode of Thomas but is a sing-along song.
9. Franklin - Franklin's Music Lessons (10:47) - Franklin was the only show here I had not seen before. It is about a turtle called Franklin and was made in Canada in 1998. In this episode he wants to learn to play the piano but doesn't want to put in the hard work to make it happen.
10. Bananas in Pyjamas - Lullaby (5:03) - Rat is having trouble sleeping.
11. Bananas in Pyjamas - Twinkle Twinkle (5:15) - Morgan gets some new binoculars.

    This is a decent collection of quality children's programming but considering the age of most of this material, some or all of it may already be in your children's DVD or video library.

Video

    The video quality is good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. There was some light grain, heavier around 3:15.

    The colour was variable depending on the show with most being quite good. The Hooley Dooleys segments were a little dull and included some colour bleeding.

    There were no artefacts annoying enough to bother the kids.

    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 fine doing everything required for the material.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None.

Menu

    The menu allowed for choosing particular episodes or playing all and included music.

    This disc is multi-region coded but does not appear to be available outside of Region 4.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is fine.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall