Review of Superstar Children`s Favourites

Introduction

I only have myself to blame. Of late I have been watching the revival of Superstars on the beeb, as presented by Johnny Vaughan and Suzi Perry. I was a fan back in the seventies and eighties too, so when the opportunity to review Superstar Children`s Favourites arose, I was put in mind of a kids TV version of the sports challenge. I was quite looking forward to Gordon the Gopher going head to head with Edd the Duck in dips and squat-thrusts. Alas, it was not to be as Superstar Children`s Favourites is one of those kid`s TV compilation discs. This particular disc has eleven episodes of the best in pre-school entertainment, and features the combined voice talents of Neil Morissey, Martin Clunes, John Gordon Sinclair, Sean Hughes, John Alderton, Julia Sawalha and award winners, Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent.

The shows on this disc are Rubbadubbers, Kipper, Fireman Sam, Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!, Barney, Oswald, Pingu, Angelina Ballerina, Bob The Builder, Sheeep and Percy The Park Keeper and come to a total running time of around 2 hours. Now I have to be honest and admit to committing a reviewing sin. I didn`t watch everything on this disc. But as you know I am a Sikh, and it is against my religion to watch anything with a nauseating purple dinosaur in. Still, while most of this disc wouldn`t appeal to my demographic, us big kids are indeed catered for with an episode of the brilliant Pingu.

Video

The episodes are presented in a 4:3 ratio, though the menus are anamorphic. There is no particular problem, with the image clear throughout and the colours bright and cheery. To be honest, this isn`t the kind of flagship title that invites close analysis. I did note though that a couple of episodes did seem to be cropped from a 1.85:1 ratio, Sheeep in particular.

Audio

The sound once again is perfectly adequate, a DD 2.0 English track with subtitles for all the programmes.

Features

The extras are minimal. The menu system is bright and cheery, but it kept jumping back to the main screen after a few seconds. There is an option to play the episodes at random, and there are some character backgrounds for the episodes in the form of text pages, which illustrate to parents just how educational and uplifting each show is. The Hit Parade is a 10-minute collection of theme tunes that serves to further advertise these titles.

Conclusion

I`m allergic to magenta don`t you know? It`s physically impossible for me to watch Barney without the urge to vomit. But seriously, this disc is perfectly safe for you to sit your little `uns down in front of. In these days of multi channel purgatory and mass media, not many of these shows will be classics. I doubt that future generations will look back on their childhood television with the same nostalgia that we twenty and thirty-somethings do, but they are all certainly educational, and some are even downright fun. While I don`t quite see the charm of a dancing rat, and the tales of a Park Keeper are a useful soporific, Rubbadubbers was great fun, Sheeep was entertaining on several levels, and who can argue the sheer brilliance of Pingu? I also found Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! to be stylishly animated and witty to boot. While TV for us adults may be dumbing down, there`s no evidence of that in the pre-school market.

But all this toddler telly made me nostalgic for my own gems of yesteryear. How about a disc or two of Sesame Street, Mr Benn, Bod, Ivor The Engine, Willo The Wisp, Mr Men and the Wombles eh? Brian Cant on Play Away, Zippy and George on Rainbow, Magic Roundabout? Isn`t it? Kids in the park, jumpers for goalp… You`ll have to excuse me, this Christmas I have been mostly watching the Fast Show!

Drifting back towards a point hopefully, I can say for all you mums and dads, that watching this disc will be an experience varying from the dull to the entertaining, though it may be a good idea to watch it with your kids. It`s also safe enough to leave them alone to watch, though Pingu has a heart stopping moment where he thinks he`s lost little Pinga, and you might want to be there to hold their hands reassuringly at that point. It all turns out OK in the end though. But do yourself a favour and make sure that Barney never gets played. Once your children start down the dark path, forever will it dominate their destiny, consume them it will…