Bubble
Guppies: Super Guppies
(2017/Nickelodeon DVD)/A
Dog's Purpose
(2016/Amblin/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)/Rugrats:
Season 1 + Season 2 (1991
- 1993/Nickelodeon DVD Sets)
Picture:
C+/B & C/C+ Sound: C+/B & C+/C Extras: D/C-/D
Main Programs: B-/C-/B-
Here's
more child titles to know about...
Bubble
Guppies: Super Guppies
(2017) wants to capitalize on the summer Superhero films and has
about two hours of material to do it, though some of the episodes
don't quite fit that genre. This is one of the better DVD singles in
the continuous release of the franchise’s TV series and one of the
best covers, but the lack of extras or expansion of the characters is
a missed opportunity. Still, charming, child-friendly and as good as
just about any release of these we've covered to date.
Lasse
Hallstrom's A Dog's
Purpose (2016) is meant
to be an upscale live-action animal comedy from the world-class
director of arthouse films, but this Amblin/Universal co-production
is a talking dog film with few good moments, plenty of formula, an
obsession with cuteness and at 100 minutes, drags on and on and on
and on and on. A family (led by Dennis Quaid) finds the main
protagonist dog who talks (voiced by Josh Gad) who they land up with
after the dog might be stuck in a lesser situation. From there, they
discover life, love and all that 'warm stuff' but it is surprisingly
routine and plays like a TV movie. You could do worse, but the
talent here could not have come up with something better?
Rugrats:
Season 1 + Season 2 (1991
- 1993) offers basic releases of the initial seasons of the huge hit
for Nickelodeon that helped them establish the network, as the title
characters (just babies with personality) go through their new life
as new borns discovering the world around them, including their
family. We've covered the show before, but not much. I can see the
appeal and these are the original shows, so that speaks for the
franchise, yet I was never a big fan and thought it was a limited
series. However, I am not the intended audience, though I doubt I
would have been a big fan if it were around when I was young enough
to be its audience. For fans, this is a nice release and you could
so worse. These are just child-friendly enough, though some aspects
of the show are just plain odd... which might be part of the point.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the Purpose
Blu-ray is pretty good for the format and a digital shoot, but don't
expect anything special, while the anamorphically enhanced DVD
version is softer than it ought to be.
All
Nickelodeon DVDs offer anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 images, all looking better than the Purpose
DVD, but Rugrats
has its original 1.33 X 1 presentation bookended in the 16 X 9 frame.
It looks good, despite being finished on analog video with slight
analog videotape flaws including video noise, video banding, telecine
flicker, tape scratching, cross color and staircasing. Bubble
looks the cleanest.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Purpose
is well mixed and presented, but is too quiet and refined at times
being joke based ans cutesy-obsessed, so only expect so much from it
and the DVD version's
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1 on Bubble
sounds as good, but the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Rugrats
shows its age with weak audio sounding second generation. Guess the
show will only get the upgraded restoration it needs whenever it gets
to Blu-ray.
Purpose
is the only release with extras, which include Digital HD Ultraviolet
Copy for PC, PC portable and other cyber iTunes capable devices,
while the discs add Outtakes, Deleted Scenes and two Making Of
featurettes.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
