Boohbah-Cracker and more Boohbah Magic (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Additional Footage-Boohbah Ballet (4:41)
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	60:03
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Chris Bernard Vic Finch Annie Gibbs
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Emma Ainsley Manuel Bravo Dash Phil Hayes Cal Jaggers Linda Kerr Scott Sachi Kimura Chris Langham Laura Pero Alex Poulter Robin Stevens Vee Vimolmal Harvey Virdi
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	Paul Honey Andrew McCrorie-Shand Vin Burnham

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
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

    Those five colourful aliens are back in another collection of episodes from their popular children's series. To uninitiated parents Boohbah is a very weird, psychedelic piece of eye candy. In reality, the program's accessibility and value cannot be understated. Beneath the surface Boohbah is a tightly structured program that encourages kids to exercise both their bodies and imagination. This, coupled with the show's ability to transcend gender and race, makes it one of the most accessible children's concepts on television.

    Here's the weird part. The Boohbahs are five colourful alien power atoms that travel in their Boohball around the globe, visiting countless children. They dance, wobble about and share stories. The official word from my three-year-old is "..it's amazing, Dad!", so you can't argue with that.

    Three twenty minute episodes are included on this disc; Cracker, Piggy Bank and Bells. A short bonus dance clip titled Boohbah Ballet rounds out the extras.

    I recommend this series very highly for kids under five years. For more information, you may like to check out my review of the previous Boohbah disc, or the official Boohbah website.

Video

    This series is broadcast in widescreen digital and its transfer to DVD does not disappoint. The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, complete with 16x9 enhancement.

    The overall level of sharpness and detail is good. Even the textures of the costumes are visible. The entire production is very well lit, so there are no dark scenes to speak of. There was no low level noise evident in the transfer.

    Colours are very rich and vibrant. I didn't notice any rendering inconsistencies or oversaturation at all.

    Some compression artefacting can be seen on occasion, but this doesn't extend beyond mild grain or pixelization. Because the series is produced entirely in the digital domain, there are no film or videotape artefacts to be worried about.

    English subtitles for the hearing impaired are included and have very little to do, since there is minimal dialogue. I laughed at the translation of certain sound effects, such as when the Boohbahs fly "ftzz" comes on screen.

    This disc is DVD5 formatted (single layered).

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack; English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

    The English dialogue is as clear as can be. The mix itself is crisp and clear, with plenty of depth. There are no audio sync issues to report.

    The sound design on this series is really something. Many of the recurring themes are heavily rhythmic and feature multiple layers of drums panned to the extreme left and right. The melodies are a little discordant at times, but they grab your attention.

    There is no LFE channel present, however my subwoofer did pick up on the depth in this soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Additional Footage- Boohbah Ballet (4:41)

    A light and entertaining dance, similar to the dances we see in the show.

    This disc only appears to be available in Region 4 at the moment.

    The video and audio transfers are great and a short bonus dance piece is included.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall