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Category:    Home > Reviews > Fantasy > Adventure > CGI Animation > Comedy > Martial Arts > TV > Bella Sara: Emma's Wings (2014/E1 DVD)/Shuriken School: The Ninja's Secret (2004/Cinedigm/Flatiron DVD)/SpongeBob Squarepants: SpongeBob, You're Fired (2014/Nickelodeon DVD)

Bella Sara: Emma's Wings (2014/E1 DVD)/Shuriken School: The Ninja's Secret (2004/Cinedigm/Flatiron DVD)/SpongeBob Squarepants: SpongeBob, You're Fired (2014/Nickelodeon DVD)


Picture: C/C+/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Main Programs: C-/C+/B-


Here are some new children's-aimed titles....


Bella Sara: Emma's Wings is a short fantasy/fairy tale release where the characters look like Barbie (with animation not unlike the recent CGI series based on that enduring toy line) that has the title character facing evil on flying horses. I expected a little more than that, but this offers little more and the dialogue is very talk-at throughout. Save a small group of young girls who might want to really see this one, this was a dull, flat disappointment not even reaching the usual heights for its intended audience.



Shuriken School: The Ninja's Secret (2004) fares a bit better as an animated comedy about school children who land up getting involved with martial arts and in that, adventures are always around the corner. With that said, this can be a mixed bag overall, but had a few amusing moments and maybe one or two I wondered about. This is child-safe enough, but is a little on the aggressive side for young children, so you know.



Finally we have the SpongeBob Squarepants: SpongeBob, You're Fired (2014) compilation that runs just over 3 hours and has some laughs, even enough to be the best release out of these three singles, but despite the consistent quality content, it seems a little pat and is not one of the better non-season long-play singles we have encountered. Still, there is more than enough to keep most young fans happy and in that respect, it is a success.



The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Bella is softer than even a fantasy release should be and is the visual dud here, but the same playback on Secret is pretty good, matched by the 1.33 X 1 and sometimes letterboxed 1.78 X 1 on SpongeBob. Sound is all even here with the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Bella not having much of a soundfield and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the others on even par with each other and Bella. Oddly, there are no extras on any of these releases.



- Nicholas Sheffo


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