DVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of Blu-rays, DVDs, Games, CDs, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more
DVDfever.co.uk - Charts, News and Reviews of DVDs, Games, Hardware, Laserdiscs, Cinema Films & more

This Week's Highlights
The King's Speech
Thor 3D
Crysis 2
Music chart
analysis w/e 14.5.11
New Blu-ray &
DVDs out 9.5.11
David Tennant
@ DVDfever Youtube

Last updated
May 11 2011

Xbox Gamertag:
DVDfever co uk

Why films on TV
in their original
widescreen ratio
is good for you

News & Views
News Archive
Announcements
All About Us
Email Dom
Write 4 DVDfever
Competitions
Music Charts
Music Chart Archive
Games Chart Archive
Cinema Chart Archive
Cinema Releases
Cinema Reviews
Press Releases
TV Issues

Frank Sidebottom's World Wide Shed

R2 DVD Reviews
Blu-ray Reviews
HD-DVD Reviews
R1 DVD Reviews
R3-6 DVD Reviews
DVD List
Xbox 360 Reviews
CD Reviews
Audiobook Reviews
PS2 Reviews
PSP Reviews
Xbox Reviews
Gamecube Revs
GBA Reviews
PC Reviews
Hardware Revs
Concert Reviews
Video Reviews
Comedy Reviews
Book Reviews
Screenplay Reviews
Movie Downloads
Interviews
TV Shows
PSX Reviews
N64 Reviews
Dreamcast Revs
Laserdisc Revs
Short Stories
DVDs In Brief

Right To Reply
Why Widescreen?
DVD Links
Music Links
WS Video List
WS PAL LD List

Me and my
Aortic Valve!

Latest News ...... DVD Reviews ...... Blu-ray Reviews ...... Xbox 360 Reviews ...... PSP Reviews ...... CD Reviews

Dom Robinson reviews

Zippy Sets Them Up!

Distributed by
PT Video

    Cover
  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: PTDVD 8115
  • Running time: 96 minutes
  • Year: varies
  • Pressing: 2001
  • Region(s): 0, PAL
  • Chapters: 7
  • Sound: Mono
  • Languages: English
  • Subtitles: None
  • Fullscreen: 4:3
  • 16:9-Enhanced: No
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 5
  • Price: £9.99
  • Extras: None

    Cast:

      Geoffrey, Zippy, Bungle, George, Rod, Jane, Freddy/Roger
# "Up above the streets and houses, rainbow climbing high.
Everyone can see it smiling... over the sky.
Paint the whole world with a Rainbow!"
#

And so the groovy drum solo that followed - and in fact the whole programme itself - made this probably the ultimate student television experience to cure a night out on the beer, or a perfect excuse to skip morning lectures, even if it didn't start until midday.

For anyone not up to speed, the programme is about an odd bunch who live in a house. The only human is Geoffrey, then there's a talking bear called Bungle who walks around naked by day but at bedtime has to put his pyjamas on. George is a pink male hippo who just may or may not be gay and finally comes Zippy, a weird orange creature with a zip for a mouth. Who can tell WHAT he really is?

Each episode lasts around 13 minutes and features a lot of play acting, songs and the occasional moral to be learned, with bizarre rainbow-inspired cartoon clips between scenes. If you're really lucky, you'll catch a glimpse of Rod, Jane and Freddy, the latter of which was replaced with Roger early on, who later went on to appear in that great soap Eldorado as Bunny.

There are seven episodes on this disc :

  • Zipman and Bobbin: The caped crusader has nothing to fear as Zippy and George turn into a version of the daring duo and Geoffrey plays the Joker! He's no Jack Nicholson!
  • Zippy's in Love: Zippy falls for a Children's ITV presenter called Debbie, even to the point of having wet dreams about her and getting mercilessly teased by the others. Just wait until his love poem gets read out on air... If he can get her to visit him, how can I persuade Kate Russell to do the same? :)
  • Hot Day: It's a long hot summer (when did we last have one of those?) and some old dear with ginger hair pops round to tell a story. Bungle's shy about everyone seeing him in his swimming trunks, but the rest of the time he's naked(!)
  • Zippy Sets Them Up!: Zippy makes promises of being helpful, but he's not normally like this and so it arouses suspicion. Naturally, his bluff is called.
  • Bungle's High and Mighty Day: It's time for a cross-over as Bungle gets an invitation to Sooty's birthday party. As it's addressed only to him, his big head gets even bigger, forcing Geoffrey to share a bed with Zippy and George.
  • Zippy Wants to be a Comedian: Morecambe and Wise fans take note as Little Ern pays a visit to the Rainbow household to teach him the tricks of the trade.
  • George's Secret Wish: For all the speculation it could be a season pass to the Manchester Mardi Gras, or a pink feather scarf if the 2002 Rainbow Calendar is anything to go by.

Just one gripe about these episodes. Like the recent Button Moon DVD, you don't get the opening and closing credits for each episode - bad form! They should leave each episode complete and uncut in that respect, since we see the picture fade out as the end credits are about to start, and fade into the last few seconds of the opening tune.


Acting in Rainbow really screws you up.


The picture is as colourful as you'd expect, but the look of it was never 100% brilliantly vibrant. There are zero defects though and it's presented in 4:3 fullscreen as filmed. The sound is mono but clear enough.

There are no extras, no subtitles and just one chapter per episode. The main menu contains a snippet of the theme tune and an option to choose an episode.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS



0
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.

The following is a list of all the PT Video, Freemantle Home Entertainment and Telstar Video Children's DVDs reviewed online to date :

[Up to the top of this page]

DVDfever.co.uk - Est. February 25th 2000

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on:

  • Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
  • Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
  • Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
  • Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
  • Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
  • Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP