Adventure Time: Jake The Dad (Cartoon Network/Warner Bros DVD w/Jake Hat)/Puppy In My Pocket: Adventures In Pocketville – Friendship Ceremony (E1 DVD)/Sesame Street: C Is For Cooking (Warner Bros. DVD)/The Smurfs: The Legend Of Smurfy Hollow (2013/Sony DVD)/Thomas & Friends: King Of The Railway – The Movie (2013/HIT Entertainment/Lionsgate Blu-ray w/DVD)/Tickety Toc: Chime Time Adventures (Anchor Bay DVD)

 

Picture: C+/C/B-/C+/B- & C+/C+     Sound: C+/C/C+/C+/B- & C+/C+     Extras: B/D/C+/D/C+/C     Main Programs: B-/C/B-/C/C+/C+

 

 

Now for the latest child-friendly releases, half of which we are covering for the first time...

 

 

Adventure Time: Jake The Dad is the latest Cartoon Network/Warner Bros DVD release to include a special oversized bonus.  This time we get a Jake Hat (soft cloth hat) after the character and if you wear the hat, you'll look something like.. Jake.

 

For those unfamiliar with the comedy hit, we have covered the first two seasons on Blu-ray at this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12257/Adventure+Time+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Fi

 

The V. 4, Fionna & Cake DVD single at this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12051/Adventure+Time:+Fionna+&+Cake,+Volume+Four

 

and the My Two Favorite People DVD single at this link:

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11198/Adventure+Time:+My+Two+Favorite+People+%28

 

Nice hat, Jake and Lady Raincorn have new puppies and we get 16 episodes centered on these characters making this a convenient DVD single that is fun if not as rich and thorough as the full season Blu-ray sets. That includes brief descriptions of a few characters as the only extras on the actual DVD.  Good thing we get a hat.

 

 

Puppy In My Pocket: Adventures In Pocketville – Friendship Ceremony is a new show that also loves little newborn dogs, but even more so.  This six episode DVD single lasts 80 minutes, is aimed at a audience of young girls, is average and has no extras.  Animation is not great, but not bad, does not offer anything we have not seen before and nothing on the set was particularly memorable.

 

We also get cats and nothing was offensive, so if you have young ladies in the house, you can safely try this one and see what happens.

 

 

Sesame Street: C Is For Cooking is a great title that is a clever play on one of the most famous phrases (and songs) in the history of the still-on-the-air classic as Elmo and Cookie Monster (its his famous tagline) get together with the rest of the gang to make food, eat food and even talk about food.  The main program is brand new and actually widescreen, while the DVD single itself has plenty of extras to offer and is towards the top of my list of the many DVDs issued of the show to date.

 

Extras include related DVD-ROM downloads and the classic tie-in special Elmo's magic cookbook, plus we get a brief recipe booklet inside the DVD case, so this is a very well-rounded release.

 

 

The Smurfs: The Legend Of Smurfy Hollow (2013) is a new DVD single from Sony issued in support of their second CGI feature film based on the favorite animated TV characters that began as hand-drawn animated and are no CGI.  We have reviewed several DVD releases of the original show and the first CGI feature film in a growing list you'll find at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=smurf

 

This new release is odd since it has no extras, only runs 22 minutes (!?!) and has the CGI gang become hand-drawn again for the first time in many years.  The problem is that the retro-animation is not as smooth, good or as color-ranging as the original show in its best prints, so this is a very odd release in all kinds of ways.  For a while DVD, there should have been much more and this is a disappointment for die hard fans only.  Hmmmm.

 

 

Despite being around for a long time, this is our first time looking at Thomas & Friends: King Of The Railway – The Movie (2013), the big PBS TV show that features Ringo Starr as narrator, et al.  It is a well done show and this 'Movie” is just 62 minutes, but it is just fine and up to the fun, friendly, pleasant and quality standards of the series.  These days, it is not the only fine train TV show for children as Chuggington (reviewed elsewhere on this site) is another success in full swing, but I would point out that the shows are different enough to both be fine children's entertainment with being too much like each other.

 

This time out, the gang (dubbed The Steam Team here as if they were a dream team, meet new friends and deal with royalty and affiliated artifacts.  Well done.  I just wish it ran longer.

 

Puzzles, Music Videos and games are the only extras, unless you count the DVD, though more would have been nice.

 

 

Finally we have Tickety Toc: Chime Time Adventures also has a train, but it is a dog shaped as a train in this CGI comedy show with Tallulah and Tommy leading the way in six shows that introduce a very pleasant series that potentially could be the next hit, aimed at a pre-school audience, its world of characters are fun, accessible and have some nice potential for some fun and funny shows, though this is not an outright comedy as they are busy with their traveling and adventures.

 

Downloadable DVD-ROM coloring and activity sheets are the only extra, but there are several and I was pleased how consistent the show was.  Hope it is a success and this DVD is a nice introduction to it.

 

 

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Thomas Blu-ray is pretty much as expected the image quality winner here, but it still has some softness and minor motion blur that hold it back, so its anamorphically enhanced DVD version is even softer, yet the same anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Sesame DVD's main program is more colorful and solid than expected, making it nearly as good as the Thomas Blu-ray at practically a tie for best playback image.  The bonus 1.33 X 1 Elmo show is much softer, shows its age with aliasing errors and is a little rough by comparison.  The rest of the DVDs have anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 images that look just fine (as much as the Thomas DVD) and are quality runner-ups despite being comparatively softer.

 

 

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Thomas Blu-ray may be a little on the quiet side and towards the front speakers, but it is the sonic champ here and not badly recorded.  We get lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on its DVD version, matched by the good, lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the rest of the DVDs, save the Dolby 2.0 on Puppy which is lower in volume, a little harsh on the edges and not as well presented overall.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo