Bubble
Guppies: Fun On The Farm
(2011 - 12, 2014. 2015/Nickelodeon DVD)/LEGO
Scooby-Doo!: Haunted Hollywood
(2016 CGI animated feature/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Sesame
Street: Sing It, Elmo!
(2016/Warner DVD)
Picture:
B/DVDs: C+ Sound: B/DVDs: C+ Extras: D/C+/C Main
Programs: C+/C+/B-
Here's
some of the new child titles arriving on home video to know about...
Bubble
Guppies: Fun On The Farm
is the latest Nickelodeon compilation release based on the hit TV
show that usually is somewhat generic in nature, these DVD singles,
but the pleasant surprise is that the episodes included lasted two
hours and tied nicely to he theme of the disc. That still did not
make this a great disc, but it is a little better than the average
compilation release and fans will love it. I just don't know if it
will offer the kind of repeat viewing it ought to. Still, the more
the better.
LEGO
Scooby Doo!: Haunted Hollywood
(2016) has the gang as LEGO figure toys in a LEGO world going to an
old movie studio that might have to close down, only to find it
haunted! Why? They'll have to investigate and see if there's more
to it or if they're going to need an army to demolish the place to
stop any demons from escaping into the wider world. The CGI
animation is not bad and has some nice shots, but I expected much
more considering many of the recent Scooby releases have been too
repetitive and the LEGO angle has much more to go for than we get in
the short 75 minutes of this program. Still, it's at least a start
and I expect more from the next LEGO/Scooby release.
Finally
we have the surprisingly good Sesame
Street: Sing It, Elmo!
compilation special that is not only as good as previous releases in
the series, but the choice of new and vintage clips mesh and work far
better than expected and overall. Even older fans will be a bit
surprised and though none of the songs stuck with me, I liked what I
saw and consider this one of the best Elmo releases to date. The
bonus material is a plus.
The
compilation DVDs offer a mix of anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1
image and 1.33 X 1 images, with the 1.33 X 1 sometimes in a 1.78 X 1
frame, all looking as good as can be expected for the format and with
no major issues. At worse, you get very slight video noise and cross
color, but they otherwise look as top rate as their predecessors.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Scooby
is easily the image winner here with its simple animation
demonstrating good color, thick definition and is fun to watch. The
anamorphically enhanced DVD version is much weaker, actually showing
how good the Blu-ray really looks and is on par with the other DVD
releases here.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Scooby
is well mixed, recorded and presented, often taking advantage of the
multi-channel possibilities, but the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the
DVD version definitely is on the weaker side and suffers by
comparison. Bubble
has a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and Elmo
a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix, but Bubble
is a little weaker than expected, so all three DVDs come out equal to
each other sonically.
Bubble
sadly has no extras, while Scooby
offers Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, a limited edition toy of Scooby, the
DVD and extras on the discs include 3 bonus classic cartoons and two
new Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes in Scooby-Doo
and LEGO Too
and Scooby-Doo's
Sleuthing Secrets.
Elmo
adds a music video and Elmo's
World: Singing
program.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
