Barney – Let’s Go Explore Box Set +
Shake Your Dino Tale + Bob The Builder – X-Treme Adventure
(Children/DVD-Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Main Programs: B-
For young
children, two shows about developmental skills have been big hits for the same
company, ironically named HIT Entertainment Limited. Everyone knows Barney the Purple Dinosaur, an immediate sensation on PBS that was
quickly attacked by the cynics. However,
the show continues to be a big hit and not just because kids love dinosaurs,
but because the show serves a major purpose entertaining children in a learning
way most TV shows and networks have abandoned since the 1980s.
Then
there is the stop motion show Bob The
Builder which is a throwback to great such TV of the past as even the
construction equipment talks, called the Can Do Crew. In an age of too much phony and pointless
digital visual work, without joining the anti-Barney chorus, I actually liked
this show a little more and it likely appeals to young males more anyhow. However, I think the idea of positive
thinking about building and infrastructure in real life when so much is allowed
to fall apart has an extra special appeal for all.
The only
volume of Bob is called X-Treme
Adventure and what is most impressive is that the designs of the non-human
elements are more deceptively simple than expected. Though the writing is simple, the result is a
certain charm that only makes one wonder why this has not become an even larger
hit. Hope the DVD changes that.
As for Barney, that’s a no brainer. For the record, I always thought the
background children singers sounded a bit phony as compared to other shows like
New Zoo Review (reviewed on this
site), but that is just a minor complaint.
Shake Your Dino Tale is not
only about physical exercise, but has more on brushing teeth than expected,
which is thorough and a real plus. The Let’s Go Explore Box Set several Let’s Go shows covering trips to The Zoo, The Beach and The Farm. All are fine and though I will not accuse the
show of being formula, you know you are getting a child-safe set of programs
about being out in the real life world that set good examples for the intended
audience.
The 1.33
X 1 image on all discs are about the same, with the Barney shows originating in professional NTSC analog video, while Bob The Builder looks like it is on
film and has softness issues of its own.
If it has not already happened, both shows will go HD, but these are
just fine as they play, extending to the simple stereo sound of the Dolby
Digital 2.0 encoding on all discs. There
are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
