Page Not Found - DVDfever.co.uk

DVDfever.co.uk

Follow

Follow DVDfever.co.uk

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com

Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by

Cert:
Cat.no: KK 41001
Running time: 195 minutes
Year: 1976
Pressing: 2000
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 13
Sound: Mono
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Fullscreen: 4:3
16:9-Enhanced: No
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: DVD 9
Price: £9.99
Extras : Scene index

Producer:

David Yates

Creator and writer:

Julie Holder

Music:

Narrator:

The Complete Flumps is, as the title would suggest, a complete collection of every episode of the fantastic children's TV series featuring an animated family of puppets known as The Flumps: three adults (Father Flump, Mother Flump, Grandfather Flump) and three children (son Perkin, daughter Posie and baby Pootle).

Currently, children's TV is defined as a bunch of over-rated actors jumping about in coloured suits somewhere in Teletubby land, but nearly 25 years ago puppets were still the answer and anyone who grew up watching The Flumps will snap this one up before they've finished reading the review.

Those of you who have children should buy it, not only to educate them, but also to re-educate yourself as you get to know all thirteen episodes created :

1. Secrets
2. The Cloud
3. The Magnet
4. Get Your Skates On
5. Moon Shot
6. Balloons
7. Keep Fit
8. Something Different
9. Lend A Hand
10. Quiet Please
11. Grandfather's Birthday
12. What a Carrot!
13. Where's Grandfather?

Of course I could say plenty more about the contents of each episode, but... SSH! Keep it under your hat - it's a secret!

film pic

If there's one thing that, sadly, has to be said it's that the picture quality isn't perfect, by a long shot. Presented in its original 4:3 ratio, there's plenty of scratches on the print, it's occasionally a bit too dark, it flickers at times and it moves very slightly left and right so doesn't sit still as you'd expect. The average bitrate is 5.50Mb/s.

The sound fares a bit better. There's some background hiss throughout, but Gay Soaper's narration comes across clear and Paul Reade's twee music, particularly the theme tune, brings the memories flooding back.

Extras :

Chapters :

There are 13 chapters - one each per 15-minute episode.

Languages and Subtitles :

There's just one language on this disc - English, in uncompressed mono, albeit presented on two audio channels. Subtitles would have been a nice addition though.

Menu :

The main menu is brilliantly animated and scored, kicking off with the theme tune as the Flumps pop up one by one. Then when you check out each episode title one by one, a soundbite appears such as "My stars! Whatever is that contraption?" (Moon Shot), "Arms stretch, knees bend, wriggle your hips and touch your toes" (Keep Fit), "Chit a chat, hand clap, om pom push!" (Lend A Hand) and "Keep it under your hat." (Secrets).

film pic

Perkin resisted his Grandfather's urge to blow on his horn.

When I first heard that The Flumps was to be released on DVD it made my heart race. To learn afterwards that we would be treated to all thirteen episodes ever made and that it would come for the same price as the VHS release, £9.99, it sounded like the DVD bargain of the year.

I dare you not to laugh out loud in scenes such as those in The Cloud. Mother asks a sick Perkin if he's feels alright. He replies with the sort of wild-eyed innocence that can only be found these days in Homer Simpson :

"I'm not feeling alright. I'm feeling all wrong!"

After complaining further and being asked by Mother if he got out of bed on the wrong side this morning :

"But I got out of bed the same side as usual ?!"

Later as Perkin's siblings attempt to rid him of his cloud, Posie suggests a "Go away cloud" song. Pootle replies :

"That's a good idea!
I always want to go away when *YOU* sing!"

Ok, so the picture and sound quality aren't all that they could be in the days when DVD can provide Hollywood films in a high-quality anamorphic widescreen standard... but then this isn't the latest Arnie blockbuster, this is something that dreams were made of.

And forget about the fact that there are no extras and that for some reason, Kult Kidz have disabled the bookmark feature so you can't save your favourite moment, I have yet to see another disc released so far this year that can make me smile constantly for over three hours (apart from a Ben Dover double bill :) as I personally recall every last detail of each episode.

So stuff George Lucas and his "Episode I", shell out a tenner today and get episodes 1-13 of The Flumps. Simple arithmetic below gives an overall score of half-marks, but for this price go by the score for film content.

I just hope we see more from Kult Kidz in the near future. The Official Kult Kidz Website gives info on many other favourites from yesteryear such as Crystal Tipps and Alistair, Mary Mungo and Midge, Hector's House, Ludwig, Fred Bassett, Mr. Magoo, Willo The Wisp, Fingerbobs and.... wait for it... Bod!

If we get more of these later in the year I'll weep with joy, but I hope Kult Kidz are able to negotiate the rights issues with Bod as apparently the video release missed out the milkshake guessing game since the rights for that belonged to someone else. If they need the money to buy the rights back, I'll have a whipround!

FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS	0
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

The following is a list of all the Kult Kidz DVDs reviewed online to date :

The Complete Bod
The Complete Fingerbobs
The Complete Flumps
The Complete Mary Mungo and Midge
The Complete Willo the Wisp
Hector's House (30 episodes)
Kult Kidz All-Time Favourites

[Up to the top of this page]

Page Not Found - DVDfever.co.uk

DVDfever.co.uk

Follow

Follow DVDfever.co.uk

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com