Dom Robinson reviews
Noddy in Toyland Distributed by
Cat.no: BBCDVD 1002
Cert: Uc
Running time: 86 minutes
Year: 1983
Pressing: 1999
Region(s): 2, 4 (UK PAL)
Chapters: 21 plus extras
Sound: Stereo
Languages: English
Subtitles: 6 languages available
Fullscreen: 4:3
16:9-enhanced: No
Macrovision: No
Disc Format: DVD 5
Price: £14.99
Extras : Scene index
Noddy In Toyland
What you actually get in each near-half-hour episode is around ten minutes
of Noddy animation split into two parts, plus another twenty minutes of
children shouting, running about, singing songs, et al - exactly what you
get from most of children's television.
The three episodes on this DVD are: The Big Mess, Stop Listen & Learn
and The Trouble with Truman and the respective Noddy episodes contained
therein are: Noddy Meets Some Silly Hens, Noddy Lends a Hand and
Noddy and his Unhappy Car .
The picture is a standards-conversion from its original NTSC format and
not much to write home about, although the print is fairly free of artifacts
and the average bitrate is 5.34Mb/s for each episode.
The stereo soundtrack is clear, but full of screaming kids. If that's your
bag then it's fine. However, in the opening song played as the camera pans
across the film set of "Noddy's Shop", it sounds more like they're singing
about a "knocking shop"...
Extras :
Chapters :
Languages & Subtitles :
Menu :
Overall : Noddy in Toyland is quite a depressing experience. Having
only seen the original stop-frame animation version of Noddy and not this
particular TV series, I was expecting a 90-minute Noddy compilation,
not a bunch of American kids running about being kids and being very American.
If you are to buy some Noddy on any format, make sure it's the original
version.
One strange thing about this DVD: The cover states it is a U certificate
(Universal for all) while the disc states it's a Uc certificate (Universal,
but especially suitable for children), but surely this descrepancy means
it conflicts with the policies of the VPRC (Video Packaging Review Committee) ?
The other titles now available are Monty Python: Best of Vol.1, The Five
Doctors, The Black Adder, Persuasion and coming in January 2000,
The Planets .
Scheduled for Spring next year are :
Monty Python: Best of Vol.2, Gormenghast, Walking with Dinosaurs and,
of course, Black Adder II .
As for which DVDs I'd like to see from the BBC in future. They include :
Red Dwarf (in their original versions, not the remastered form),
The Young Ones, Filthy Rich and Catflap, Fawlty Towers and, depending
on whether I could bribe the new DG with enough cash, Eldorado ...
FILM : *
PICTURE QUALITY : ***
SOUND QUALITY : **
EXTRAS : 0
-------------------------------
OVERALL : *½
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
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