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Blue's Clues - Blue's Big Band
Paramount // Unrated // February 4, 2003
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
After a sluggish start, Paramount now appears to be surging forward with bringing as much family product to DVD as possible. Therefore, we'll most likely be seeing more and more Nickelodeon shows getting the digital treatment. The latest of these titles is "Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Band".
Despite the fact that the overall tone of "Blue's Clues" may seem odd to adults, it's a hit with kids, and is certainly one of the better children's shows on TV. (For a detailed description of the program, see the review for "Blue's Clues: Get to Know Joe" here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=5391 ) As viewers of the show are no doubt aware, the program recently underwent a radical change when long-time star Steve (Steve Burns) was replaced with a new host, Joe (Donovan Patton). "Blue's Big Band" contains four episodes, two of which feature Joe, while the other two star Steve.
In the first episode on the disc, "Blue's Big Band", Joe and his friends are all in a musical mood, and they each choose an instrument. Joe must figure out what kind of instrument Blue wants to make. With "Bedtime Business" (which is not about multiple trips to the bathroom during the night), the gang reviews the steps one takes before going to bed, and Blue leaves it up to Joe to discover her favorite bedtime activity.
The second two episodes on the DVD are labeled as "Bonus Episodes", but that will mean nothing to your youngster. "Blue Wants to Play a Song Game" is exactly what it sounds like, as a very young-looking Steve is challenged to pick the song game that Blue wants to play. Finally, with "What Does Blue Wanna Do on a Rainy Day?", Steve and his friends are all trapped in the house by bad weather, but Blue has a fun activity in mind.
"Blue's Big Band" is a mixed-bag. On the plus side, any episode of "Blue's Clues" is pretty good, as the shows promotes deductive reasoning, citizenship, and positive thinking. However, unlike the previous DVD release "Get to Know Joe", there is no overriding theme to the episodes offered here -- it is simply a random sampling of shows. Still, that won't make any difference to the young fans of this show.
Video
The episodes presented on "Blue's Big Band" are all presented in their original full-frame format. The transfer has produced an image which is sharp and clear. The colors look very good, and never bleed into one another. The picture shows no distortion and only the occasional video artifacting.
Audio
The DVD sports a Dolby Digital stereo audio track, which offers clear dialogue, sound effects, and music. The sounds shows no indication of distortion, nor is there any hissing. There aren't really any spectacular stereo effects, but the track is well-balanced, with no sudden shifts in the dynamic range.
Extras
Technically, the two episodes featuring Steve are bonus episodes, but I listed them with the main shows. The only other extra is a Parent's Guide, which discusses Nickelodeon's philosophy.
Any "Blue's Clues" on DVD is a good thing, as kids are prone to wear out those VHS copies far too quickly. As a nitpicking critic, I can say that the choices of episodes on this collection is odd, but young viewers will be happy that they can pick and choose their favorite ones on demand.
After a sluggish start, Paramount now appears to be surging forward with bringing as much family product to DVD as possible. Therefore, we'll most likely be seeing more and more Nickelodeon shows getting the digital treatment. The latest of these titles is "Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Band".
Despite the fact that the overall tone of "Blue's Clues" may seem odd to adults, it's a hit with kids, and is certainly one of the better children's shows on TV. (For a detailed description of the program, see the review for "Blue's Clues: Get to Know Joe" here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=5391 ) As viewers of the show are no doubt aware, the program recently underwent a radical change when long-time star Steve (Steve Burns) was replaced with a new host, Joe (Donovan Patton). "Blue's Big Band" contains four episodes, two of which feature Joe, while the other two star Steve.
In the first episode on the disc, "Blue's Big Band", Joe and his friends are all in a musical mood, and they each choose an instrument. Joe must figure out what kind of instrument Blue wants to make. With "Bedtime Business" (which is not about multiple trips to the bathroom during the night), the gang reviews the steps one takes before going to bed, and Blue leaves it up to Joe to discover her favorite bedtime activity.
The second two episodes on the DVD are labeled as "Bonus Episodes", but that will mean nothing to your youngster. "Blue Wants to Play a Song Game" is exactly what it sounds like, as a very young-looking Steve is challenged to pick the song game that Blue wants to play. Finally, with "What Does Blue Wanna Do on a Rainy Day?", Steve and his friends are all trapped in the house by bad weather, but Blue has a fun activity in mind.
"Blue's Big Band" is a mixed-bag. On the plus side, any episode of "Blue's Clues" is pretty good, as the shows promotes deductive reasoning, citizenship, and positive thinking. However, unlike the previous DVD release "Get to Know Joe", there is no overriding theme to the episodes offered here -- it is simply a random sampling of shows. Still, that won't make any difference to the young fans of this show.
Video
The episodes presented on "Blue's Big Band" are all presented in their original full-frame format. The transfer has produced an image which is sharp and clear. The colors look very good, and never bleed into one another. The picture shows no distortion and only the occasional video artifacting.
Audio
The DVD sports a Dolby Digital stereo audio track, which offers clear dialogue, sound effects, and music. The sounds shows no indication of distortion, nor is there any hissing. There aren't really any spectacular stereo effects, but the track is well-balanced, with no sudden shifts in the dynamic range.
Extras
Technically, the two episodes featuring Steve are bonus episodes, but I listed them with the main shows. The only other extra is a Parent's Guide, which discusses Nickelodeon's philosophy.
Any "Blue's Clues" on DVD is a good thing, as kids are prone to wear out those VHS copies far too quickly. As a nitpicking critic, I can say that the choices of episodes on this collection is odd, but young viewers will be happy that they can pick and choose their favorite ones on demand.
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