Review of Tiny Planets: Bing And Bong`s Big Adventures

Introduction

This pre-school programme takes its tiny protagonists on interplanetary adventures every day at half past three and returns them safely home in time for tea. They spend their outings discovering new things about areas of science on planets of Light, Colour, Nature and others.

Bing and Bong accompanied by an annoying signature tune are friendly furry aliens who travel through space on a sofa. They are rushed to the surface `Thunderbirds` style and catapulted by a giant hand on the end of a bungee. When they want to return home they cut the bungee and fly backward at great speed.

There are 13 five-minute episodes on this disc. Pepper`s Ghost in conjunction with the Sesame Workshop produced the show. With two years to animate it and made entirely in 3D Max. Pepper`s Ghost produced the animation in the UK. Tiny Planets also has its own very successful website already award-winning.

Video

This is entirely computer generated. Animation is very complex and expensive. The reproduction of fur is amazingly detailed. Alas I`m not qualified to say how many pixels are needed but suffice to say the detail for a television programme is superb and very impressive.

Audio

The sound is produced clearly There is a short amount of introductory voice-over and endless amount of Bing and Bong`s signature tune. The tune is suspiciously Euro but in fact the programme has been launched pretty much around the world.

Features

The extras are only accessible through a computer. They seem useable on my old one, so as long as you have all the equipment off you go.

Games-there are three games and a colouring book.

Springs Activity-use the mouse to push the spring to bounce a gobbler into the air so he eats his fruit. Repetitive but strangely addictive.

Wheels activity-build your car and change its wheels when the road changes.
Flocker- spotter. Use the onscreen magnifying glasses to find the birds on the page.

Colouring book-Six different colouring pages to print off.

Some of these games are also available on the various web-sites. One omission here is direct access to their website but that may be because of the age group it is aimed at.

Also includes a screen page of introduction to the characters-very short. I didn`t have any parental information but there may be some on the packaging.

Conclusion

There are 13 episodes on this disc. Bing and Bong travel round and learn things every time they go to a new planet. One of the episodes is about symmetry and mirrors. Bing and Bong fit broken objects back together and Bong demonstrates how a mirror can complete a picture. Good to see the old Harry Worth trick with the mirror is still being used!

With a considerable Web presence there is a chance these characters could be around a while. I have a feeling that there are some students watching this. They are certainly charming characters and I`m sure there must be a cuddly toy available soon.

My one gripe is that you need two pieces of technology to use this disc, as the games need a computer. The disc is good value at about £8 but I`m warning you, the song will drive you mad.