It's summer in Woodland, and Franklin (voice of Cameron Ansell) is enjoying his vacation. Stopping by his Aunt Lucy's (voice of Shauna Black) house, who's away on one of her archeological adventures, Franklin is startled by what he thinks is a monster in her house. The monster turns out only to be Aunt Lucy's goddaughter, Samantha (Tajja Isen), a rambunctious little smarty who likes to tease Franklin. Franklin's Granny (Corinne Conley), decides to give a welcome home party for Aunt Lucy and Sam, and Mr. Turtle (Richard Newman), Mrs. Turtle (Elizabeth Saunders), and Franklin's little sister Harriet (Bryn McAuley) also attend.

Enjoying Granny's company, Franklin and Sam learn from Granny that her parents were killed in a brush fire that consumed her childhood home. Prior to the fire, Granny had buried a time capsule by Turtle Lake, where her house stood. Not wanting to go back, Granny becomes very sad thinking about the past. Later, Granny, seriously ill, is discovered by Lucy at her home. It appears that she may be at the end of her life. Franklin, determined to help Granny, decides to go with Lucy, Sam, and his friends Bear (Marc McMulkin), Beaver (Leah Cudmore), and Snail (Kristen Bone) back to Turtle Lake and find Granny's time capsule which he believes contains something that might help Granny become well again. Along the way, the adventurers meet Old Turtle (Patricia Gage), who tells them about a turtle talisman which may help Granny, Grizzly (Doug Murray), a friendly bear, and Little Crow (Hanna Endicott-Douglas), who almost gets Snail eaten by some hungry little falcons.

Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure, presented in a widescreen format, has a pleasing big-screen look to it, with interesting depth of field effects and some nicely designed background work. Going along with this big-screen presentation, Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure tries for a more complex story than you'd normal see in a typical Franklin story, and for the most part, it succeeds. While some children might become very sad or upset at Granny's flashback of her parents dying in a fire (her realistic sobbing after remembering this scary episode made my littlest boy a tad nervous), or her near-death from illness, Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure does shoot for a little bit more than the average animated kiddie movie, and should be given some credit for pulling that off with some grace and class. The fact that level-headed, calm Franklin is at the helm of the story should calm most children, reassuring them that everything in the end will be alright. As well, the movie has some fairly exciting sequences going for it (for a Franklin story), particularly the rescue of Snail from the falcon's mountain-top nest. I recommend, though, that you watch this with your small child, particularly with some of the more dramatic elements of story being somewhat challenging for young viewers.

The DVD:

The Video:
The widescreen, 1.78:1 video image for Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure is extremely clean, with no digital artifacting and a sharp, clear picture. Colors are saturated and bright.

The Audio:
Surprisingly, the audio track is in English 5.1 stereo -- that's a whole lot of soundtrack for a Franklin movie. There's a Spanish 2.0 soundtrack available, as well. Close-captioning is available.

The Extras:
There are no extras for Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure.

Final Thoughts:
Some of the themes in Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure may be a little intense for the young target audience that loves the kindly little green turtle, but if you watch it with them, it may prove to be a reassuring emotional experience for you both. Looking good in widescreen, Franklin and the Turtle Lake Treasure is a pleasing departure from the usual brainless TV-inspired animated fare out there, so I recommend it.