This is a great little ABC DVD for kids adapted from
the original novel by Norman Lindsay. Being a children’s film there isn’t a lot
of depth in the plot and the story is basically of Bunyip Bluegum’s journey to find
his real parents. With voices from an almost all Australian cast including Sam Neil,
Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, John Laws, Jack Thompson, Toni Collette and Mary Coustas. The
only exception being John Cleese, as the voice of Albert, The Magic Pudding.
I know my mother read this to me as a child but I don’t really remember it that
well. I hope though that with the introduction of this on a more interactive form of media
will bring about a new generation of Norman Lindsay fans
VIDEO
Given that this is an animated film I was expecting the 4x3 transfer to
be largely flawless. Sadly though the images often lose a lot of their sharpness and not
an entire image at a time either. Sometimes it is only a part of a shot that is soft, ie:
one character in a scene and not another. This is most likely to be a problem with the
source material though rather than a transfer fault.
The rest of the transfer is quite good. There are no mpeg or film artefacts and only
some very minor instances of shimmering. The colour palette is bright and vibrant and
would be very attractive to the eye’s a child.
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is superb and I would have to rate as
reference quality. Due to this I gave the DD 2.0 track a big miss. Dialogue is clear and
easy to understand throughout. The surrounds get a real workout, which is unusual for a
children’s film. The rear channels provided lots of input into sound effects and the
score and the lfe channel was frequently playing its part as well. The audio was never
overdone but it did seem to make the film a lot more exciting. A theatre full of giggling
children would have loved it.
EXTRAS
Featurette: The Baking of- a fabulous making of the film, including some behind the scenes
shots of the animation process and the characters doing the voices. Also some background
info on Norman Lindsay.
DVD Rom Game Sink or Swim: A short and small cute game
where you must drop the characters onto moving items in the water.
OVERALL
Sometimes reviewing these film makes me glad I don’t have children. While it was
great to watch and review I think I would tire of it very quickly after it had been played
ten or so times similar to a friend whose daughter takes her Pokemon DVD everywhere like
it’s teddy bear. None the less this is a great kids film, which is very wholesome.
| PICTURE
QUALITY |
7/10 some
focusing problems |
| SOUND
Quality |
10/10 simply fantastic |
| EXTRAS |
4/10 good but not enough |
| OVERALL |
7/10 the kids will love it |
Review Equipment
TV: GE 68cm (16:9 selectable)
DVD: Pioneer 737
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V595a
Speakers:-
Fronts: Wharfedale Diamond R6 (on a pair of custom made stands you'd KILL for)
Centre: Venturi
Rears: Sony bookshelf
Sub: M&K v75
- Reviewed 17th May 2001
* jpeg files for internet promotion use
only. Copyright© exists on all aspects of these files by Roadshow Home Entertainment/ABC
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