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  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.78:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
    English - Hearing Impaired
  Extras
  • 10 TV spot
  • Karaoke
Hi-5 - It's a Hi-5 Christmas
Roadshow Entertainment/Roadshow Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 54 mins . G . PAL

  Feature
Contract

This one’s bound to have any fans of the franchise jumping up and down and begging for more. The Hi-5 team are at it again in this 54 minute explosion of colour and sexy young ladies. Not to mention the puppets, the handsome young men, the garish and lurid landscape and the attention to detail regarding an Australian Christmas.

While there are the traditional ‘white Christmas’ themes throughout, the focus is more on Christmas here in Australia where it generally gets bloody hot on Chrissie Day and we stand under sprinklers with beer in our hands (well, the kids over eight do, anyway). It’s certainly refreshing to see something pertinent to living in Australia at Christmas time, and there are various fun activities for the kids included here that are more relevant to our neck of the woods.

Kathleen (ahh, Kathleen) builds herself a sandman, rather than a snowman and there’s a story about a Christmas tree who lives at the beach. Plus a bunch of other stuff more familiar to kids living here in the Great Southern Land. This effort is much less energetic than some of the other Hi-5 DVDs, but no less interesting and entertaining for the young folks. The last half of the DVD is a live performance from Christmas 2002 in an open arena spectacular featuring perennial favourite Humphrey B. Bear. Therefore the show is a little different than previous releases in that there is less of the usual Hi-5 stuff so as to fit the live act in. However, there are some fun moments in picking up the background lyrics in the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer song. I got a good laugh out of that.

It’s still a good compilation of stories, singing and fun and one that the kids will enjoy as the mercury rises this December.

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Made for television, of course, everything looks great colourwise, with none of the usual brightness being washed out or over-saturated. The picture quality is razor sharp having been recorded previously this year, with flesh tones natural and even. There really aren’t any shadows or blacks to speak of and while the animation is a bit basic in linking segments, it’s something the kids will enjoy.

Dialogue is fine throughout, whether it’s singing or just plain talking, and there are no problems in understanding anyone (except maybe Father Christmas in the last half. He mumbles into his beard a little and sounds like Vince Sorrenti). Sound effects are comical, of course, and sound fine whenever used. Musically speaking, the DVD is packed full of it with bunches of songs and backing music that’s simple, yet effective, and supports the singing without dominating it.

As far as extra features go, there is the usual linking to various points in the program as skip to a song and each individual’s solo bits. The sharing stories section runs for 3:23, although the same segment is used in the program itself, and we only get one tale this time around, over the usual two. Then there’s Santa karaoke that appears on screen with no voices, but lyrics, music and performance footage included. Plus we get ten TV spots for the wide array of Hi-5 DVDs gracing shelves everywhere. These all hover around the 30 second mark, plus a still page advertisement for the Hi-5 CDs.

Overall, this is pretty much the same stuff we’ve grown used to from the Hi-5 Global Corporation Pty Ltd., and will keep the youngsters amused and parents screaming for hours. With the inclusion of the live show, the regular DVD and TV programming suffers a bit, but with the inclusion of all that karaoke, no doubt the kids won’t mind.

Merry Christmas, Mums and Dads.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=3392
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  •   And I quote...
    "More chirpy Hi-5-jinks celebrating Christmas in the Great Hot Southern Land."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
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    • Audio Cables:
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    • Video Cables:
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