Shhhh, Brum’s off to the big town...

Brum, the adventures of a pint-sized, driverless car on the streets of the big city has been a genuine hit for ABC Kids. Each day this little animated jalopy escapes from his stable of fine collector’s cars, and roams the heaving metropolis that is ‘Big Town’, getting caught up in all manner of slapstick, hammy adventures. Typically this involves something getting stolen, something rolling away, or someone getting stuck, and always our perky little hero is on hand to save the day.

On this first Brum DVD release in our region, we get five episodes of the hit series, containing more protracted chases, dangerous rescues and nefarious shenanigans than your little tiddlers could ever wish for.

Brum and the Airport Adventure
During a daring airport ambush, two of Big Town’s local hoods attempt to steal the jools of Big Town’s most famous celebrity. Can Brum chase them down, taxiing plane and all?

Brum and the Naughty Dog
Off in pursuit of a flying hotdog, the yappy little dog Scruffy finds himself down on his luck and deep down a construction shaft. It’s up to the resourceful Brum to save the say with a length of rope, an amazingly strong starter handle and a little quick thinking.

Brum and the Pizzeria
Our nefarious hoods are back - this time, dressed as cooks and enacting a hair-brained scheme to steal the proceeds of the local pizzeria. An obligatory food fight ensues, with Brum cleaning up the wayward rascals.

Brum and the Gymnast
Yet another day, and yet another chase. This time Brum is haring off after a cute little gymnast’s runaway hoop. But can Brum get it back before she starts her routine?

Brum and the King of Thieves
Taking time out from the hustle and bustle, Brum takes a trip to the Big Town museum. But as luck would have it, it's this very moment that Big Town's evil genius, Mr Shadow, hatches his plot to steal the Big Town crown. Can Brum see through his disguise and retreive the Big Town crown?

A remote controlled vehicle of some description, Brum is a remarkable bit of craftsmanship and the little car gives a highly animated performance. With his big swivelling headlight eyes, flapping doors and a bouncy suspension that any homeboy would be proud of, the producers of Brum are able to extract as credible and exaggerated slapstick performances from their four wheeled star as from the small and constantly recurring supporting cast. Since Brum can’t talk, the producers have wisely decided to stage Brum’s adventures in a very silent Keystone Cops style, and the inherent exaggeration of gestures and emotions of the silent-era has great appeal to young children.

My own experience with Brum has been mixed. My two-year-old daughter absolutely loves the series and its overtly dramatic slapstick. Alternatively, at around the same age, Brum’s apparent Christine-style possession (hey it’s a car with no driver!!!) scared the bejesus out of my little niece. Now that she’s a mature four-year-old, she has let go of her fear and enjoys Brum immensely, but this experience is enough for me to caution prospective buyers.

Ok, so I know that toddlers are probably not the world’s most discerning video consumers, but the video transfer served up by the ABC for Brum’s first foray into region 4 is surely a little below what we have come to expect from broadcast productions on our beloved medium. Remarkably anamorphic (at a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1), the transfer we are served is definitely not all bad. Certainly the colours on show are bright and cheerful, skin tones are natural, blacks are solid, and at times the sharp image displays a generous amount of detail. Even the film-to-video process has added nothing in the way of distracting aliasing effects or other nasties. However (uh-oh), it’s when the image begins to move that all the good work is ruined by a rather obvious, almost continuous amount of low-level compression noise that sees both foreground and background detail shifting and shimmering with abandon. Although the kiddies are sure not to notice, I did expect a little better.

In terms of audio there’s no real surprises, and Brum sounds similar to the many other children’s television releases we’ve seen thus far on DVD. What this amounts to is a generic, yet serviceable, Dolby Digital surround mix with little surround and zero low end activity. The major audio elements of each episode come from the distinctive, decidedly over-the-top starting and ending themes and the other snippets of music that serve as an all-too-obvious narrative to proceedings. At these times the surround channel can be heard delivering a little of the music from the rear, but the results are certainly nothing to get excited about. Well, unless you’re between three and five years old that is!

In terms of extras there are actually several additions here that your child may or may not find interesting; depending entirely on their age and their level of curiosity. Personally, I haven’t met a child yet (between two and five) that cared for such things. Accessed via a set of animated, anamorphic menus

First up, Bag of Gags presents three short slapstick snippets at around a minute and a half each, culled from other Brum episodes. Two involve the show’s yappy little dog Scruffy grabbing things he shouldn’t, and the last sees Brum haring after a bus. All pretty standard Brum carry-on. Secondly there’s a Brum Quiz for all those little observant little Brum fans out there. Ten multiple-choice questions are asked about Brum and the Airport Adventure and the other episodes on the disc. When all ten questions are complete, access is gained to an interactive noisemaker, where your child can endlessly produce the many noises of Brum. Which noises they can make depends on which questions they got right! Lastly, Top Secret Files provides access to some silly information on Scruffy, the Visiting Man, and Granny Slippers.

Overall, despite a mildly disappointing video transfer, if your kids are fans of this excitable little jalopy then they’re going to love Brum: Airport and Other Stories. It’s by far my daughter’s favoured viewing material at present; a situation that looks like continuing for some time. Well, at least until the next new thing comes along...