Hi-5 - Move Your Body/Summer Rainbows

Hi-5 are Tim Harding, Nathan Foley, Charlie Robinson, Kellie Hoggart and Kathleen De Leon. They are energetic, souped-up younger versions of The Wiggles, with an extra person and three female members instead. Also, don’t forget Jup Jup the evil purple puppet and Chatterbox the talking Muppet. This kids show is appropriate exposure for impressionable minds as it allows them to enjoy themselves while learning about music, life skills, imaginative creativity skills and dancing. It appropriately portrays energy, creativity and education which can broaden the horizons of the kids, and get them active rather than playing more passive computer games, for example.

Summer Rainbows sees the gang exploring the jollies in Sea World on the Gold Coast while going underwater and having a wild and wicked summer trip. Move Your Body gets the gang dancing around to a new beat with musically creative dances.

The music is melodic and harmonious, with repetitive verses and catchy choruses to keep the kids singing all day. Each episode features three songs in front of a kid audience, as well as solo, duet and group songs throughout in specific scenarios with different dances and tunes along the way. In between each song is a colourfully animated cut scene which also divides the episode into easy and clear chapters.

The video transfer is presented in the full frame aspect of 1.33:1, the same aspect as the Star Dreaming and Music Machine DVDs. The video has been ripped straight from the television source, and looks great on DVD with stunningly bright and bold colours as well as very little in the way of artefacts. The odd occurrence of aliasing and a slight shimmer is what holds this transfer back from being fantastic – that and a lack of 16:9 enhancement and a widescreen transfer.

The kids will be delighted with the gackily saturated colours and clean representation of the activity on screen. The odd posterisation effect can be seen, probably due to the two episodes being crammed onto the same layer. But hey, no biggie at all, and the kids probably won’t even notice it. If the kids want to sing along, turn on the English subtitles for them to be able to sing with the gang with word-for-word accuracy.

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track sufficiently provides music for the two episodes, and features excellent bass levels and clear dialogue. The music on this disc is lively, energetic and richly harmonic. Chris Harriott’s compositions come to life brightly with the colourful actions of the Hi-5 team. Some superb five-part live recordings at Sea World are simply stunning to hear, and it proves that they really can sing. The music is dealt generously on this transfer with clear stereo effects and a wide soundstage.

Six karaoke songs have been included, which are Living in a Rainbow, Grow, 5 Senses, Move Your Body, Ready or Not and Love. All of these can be watched with or without karaoke-style subtitles as well as with or without vocals. This is a great addition for the kids, yet sadly the limit of the extra features.

This twin-episode pack is great for parents, as it offers two for the price of one, and it keeps the kids occupied for twice as long. The energy on screen is great for the kids as they can actively learn, sing, dance and laugh with some wholesome and educational musical entertainment.