...a very good little show for younger children.
Video:
"Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" is a computer animated feature that surely comes from a digital source and is presented in full anamorphic widescreen that completely fills a 16x9 television set. Colors are quite strong, but the palette used for "Jakers" doesn´t seem as rich as it could have been. Detail is strong, although I discovered that playing the show through an upconvert player resulted in some shakey visuals. The visuals are on par with most cartoons produced today as far as coloring and detail goes. It cannot rival more mainstream computer animated features, but I´m sure that the show´s creators have no intention of going after Pixar. The image is clean and clear. Aside from the minor line breakup I saw, the picture was steady and "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" is a good looking collection of four episodes.
Audio:
Three languages are supported with this DVD collection of "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks." English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo are provided. The soundtrack is clean and practically a dialogue-only experience. There are a few sound effects here and there and plenty of animal noises, but the static backgrounds of the show are rivaled by the almost complete lack of ambient and environmental sound effects. On THX processing, most of the sound came through the center channel, but with THX turned off, the left and right speakers contained all of the information for the show. It is hard to grade a child´s television show on the impact of its audio tracks. These things aren´t meant to sound spectacular, but "Jakers!" is an underwhelming mix that is quite clean and features intelligible dialogue, but the sound design is incredibly limited.
Extras:
The bonus materials on "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" are geared towards younger children, but should keep them busy for quite a bit. Piggley´s Storyteller Playhouse is a collection of four vignettes pertaining to art of storytelling and featuring live action footage. Who What Where (3:26) finds Piggley in the live action world as a host raps about Who, What and Where. Parents will want to avoid this one. Pourquoi Stories (3:28) has Piggley returning to the Storyteller Playhouse to hang out with a man with very long dreadlocks. Pourquoi is ´Why´ in French. Stories Without Words (3:27) has Piggley again hoping he isn´t late and features two people called the ´Chameleons´ and they are akin to mimes. Heroes (3:27) is the final of the four segments.
Meet the Grandparents is another collection of vignettes. These particular bits feature children talking to their grandchildren. They are short and points children towards asking their family to tell stories. A good lesson. The first, Ol´ Bill (1:03) features two young ladies talking to their grandma and asking about a mule named Ol´ Bill. Can Walkers (1:03) has grandmother Terry talking about living on a farm and making toys. Sneakers (1:03) has three young boys talking about English grandma Audrey. This discusses sowing and a mishap with sneakers. The final of this set is The Book (1:03) and has a young girl sitting down with her grandmother Alisha and looking at a book about migrant workers. These are short segments. The final supplement, The Great Fairy Test Read Along is an interactive read along for a Piggley Wink story. Some Previews are also included.
Closing Comments:
The four episodes of "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" are entertaining and provides good morals for children. The show features talking animals and a pig who occupies both present day and the 1950s when he was growing up in Ireland. Mel Brooks as a talking sheep who is the only one of his species with the ability to talk is both funny and surprising. The computer generated animation is effective and looks decent enough on DVD, but the stereo soundtrack is quite mundane. The supplements are mostly comprised of vignettes that were likely attached to the television show in some manner and will entertain some children. I found "Jakers!" to be a little more entertaining than most of the recent animated shows I´ve watched on Nickelodeon. It is not perfect and it is definitely geared towards younger and more impressionable audiences, but this is a very good little show for younger children.
"Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" is a computer animated feature that surely comes from a digital source and is presented in full anamorphic widescreen that completely fills a 16x9 television set. Colors are quite strong, but the palette used for "Jakers" doesn´t seem as rich as it could have been. Detail is strong, although I discovered that playing the show through an upconvert player resulted in some shakey visuals. The visuals are on par with most cartoons produced today as far as coloring and detail goes. It cannot rival more mainstream computer animated features, but I´m sure that the show´s creators have no intention of going after Pixar. The image is clean and clear. Aside from the minor line breakup I saw, the picture was steady and "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" is a good looking collection of four episodes.
Audio:
Three languages are supported with this DVD collection of "Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks." English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo are provided. The soundtrack is clean and practically a dialogue-only experience. There are a few sound effects here and there and plenty of animal noises, but the static backgrounds of the show are rivaled by the almost complete lack of ambient and environmental sound effects. On THX processing, most of the sound came through the center channel, but with THX turned off, the left and right speakers contained all of the information for the show. It is hard to grade a child´s television show on the impact of its audio tracks. These things aren´t meant to sound spectacular, but "Jakers!" is an underwhelming mix that is quite clean and features intelligible dialogue, but the sound design is incredibly limited.
Extras:
The bonus materials on "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" are geared towards younger children, but should keep them busy for quite a bit. Piggley´s Storyteller Playhouse is a collection of four vignettes pertaining to art of storytelling and featuring live action footage. Who What Where (3:26) finds Piggley in the live action world as a host raps about Who, What and Where. Parents will want to avoid this one. Pourquoi Stories (3:28) has Piggley returning to the Storyteller Playhouse to hang out with a man with very long dreadlocks. Pourquoi is ´Why´ in French. Stories Without Words (3:27) has Piggley again hoping he isn´t late and features two people called the ´Chameleons´ and they are akin to mimes. Heroes (3:27) is the final of the four segments.
Meet the Grandparents is another collection of vignettes. These particular bits feature children talking to their grandchildren. They are short and points children towards asking their family to tell stories. A good lesson. The first, Ol´ Bill (1:03) features two young ladies talking to their grandma and asking about a mule named Ol´ Bill. Can Walkers (1:03) has grandmother Terry talking about living on a farm and making toys. Sneakers (1:03) has three young boys talking about English grandma Audrey. This discusses sowing and a mishap with sneakers. The final of this set is The Book (1:03) and has a young girl sitting down with her grandmother Alisha and looking at a book about migrant workers. These are short segments. The final supplement, The Great Fairy Test Read Along is an interactive read along for a Piggley Wink story. Some Previews are also included.
Closing Comments:
The four episodes of "Jakers! Treasure Hunt on Raloo Farm" are entertaining and provides good morals for children. The show features talking animals and a pig who occupies both present day and the 1950s when he was growing up in Ireland. Mel Brooks as a talking sheep who is the only one of his species with the ability to talk is both funny and surprising. The computer generated animation is effective and looks decent enough on DVD, but the stereo soundtrack is quite mundane. The supplements are mostly comprised of vignettes that were likely attached to the television show in some manner and will entertain some children. I found "Jakers!" to be a little more entertaining than most of the recent animated shows I´ve watched on Nickelodeon. It is not perfect and it is definitely geared towards younger and more impressionable audiences, but this is a very good little show for younger children.
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[release]23124[/release]