Bubble
Guppies: Get Ready For School/Heroes
In Action/Robot
Invasion/Rugrats:
Outdoor Shenanigans! +
Reptar Returns!
(Nickelodeon DVDs)/Sesame
Street: Learning Rocks
(Warner DVD/all 2014)
Picture:
C+ (Rugrats:
C) Sound: C+ Extras: C+/D/D/D/D/C Episodes:
C+/C+/C+/C+/C+/B-
Here
are the latest DVD singles for children...
Bubble
Guppies: Get Ready For School has my least favorite theme here,
but the shows run about 2 hours combined, so that is not as bad. It
is easily one of Nickelodeon's best new shows and this volume serves
its purpose.
Two
music videos and a real pencil case inside the DVD case are the
extras.
Heroes
In Action and Robot
Invasion are two of the latest compilation singles that feature
several Nickelodeon shows each, usually at least loosely tied to a
theme. Both in this case have a few episodes each of SpongeBob
Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the
lesser-known Sanjay & Craig. Not bad for what they are,
but some might just want to have show-specific releases.
There
are no extras.
Rugrats:
Outdoor Shenanigans! + Reptar Returns! Are surprise
singles considering the show has come out on DVD so often, but they
make for fairly good samples, yet they make one wonder why no push
for seasonal sets or why no Blu-ray has been announced. Either is a
decent intro to the show or a time-filler, but far from the best in
the franchise.
There
are no extras.
Finally
we have Sesame Street: Learning Rocks, which does not send
kids back to school, but get them to think as always and has over two
hours of usually solid entertainment. We get the usual Muppet and
human gang interacting and it is a volume more than worthy of the TV
classic. Telly is a hoot as usual too.
Extras
include PDF downloadable print & fold book and What's That
Noise? featurette.
The
1.33 X 1 on the Rugrats
singles are the softer of the releases here looking like older
transfers, but the same on Sesame
and Bubble
are just fine. The compilation DVDs offer a mix of anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 and 1.33 X 1 image playback and they are also just
fine. All 6 DVDs offer lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and are on
even sonically with each other petty much.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
