|
|
 |
Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends: The Complete First Season (TV)
R1 - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Cameron Murray (18th May 2007). |
|
The Show
 When I was handed "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" I was disappointed. Not because I had a preconceived idea of what the show was going to be like, but more because it was handed to me under the pretense of being "Children of Men" (2006). This show is not "Children of Men"! Now, I don't mean that in the literal way because that it is obvious, "Children of Men" is a film, "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" is a television show. "Children of Men" is filmed, "Foster's" is drawn, the opposites go on, but I will not. So once I got over the disappointment of being lied to, I set about reviewing this show. It started off pleasantly enough, being introduced to the characters they seemed nice and that you could almost relate to them in someway but as you continue to watch the series that all changed. The plot is reasonably simple, a mother thinks that her child (Mac) has outgrown his imaginary friend (Bloo) and so tells him that he needs to get rid of it, Mac, not wanting to be parted from his imaginary friend, tries to come up with a solution so that he can please his mother and keep his imaginary friend. The conclusion that he reaches is that he can send his imaginary friend Bloo to a foster home for imaginary friends, where he strikes up a deal with the owner of the place that if he visits everyday Bloo will not get adopted. From this point all bets are off and they run rough shot over the other imaginary friends in the foster home. The animation in the show is enjoyable to watch simplistic at times and complex at others. But this alone is not enough to make the show. Unfortunately the main characters in the show Mac and Bloo are extremely annoying and by the end of the fourth or fifth episode you just wish that Mac would miss a visit so the two will be parted forever. The other characters you just end up feeling sorry for, as they're the ones that have to put up with the pair of them and the hi jinks they get up to. I would have to say that this is a cartoon that tries to bridge the gap between adult animation and children's cartoons, but unfortunately there isn't enough in here for either. It won't hold an adults attention and I don't really know that it sends a suitable message for kids, but hey I'm not their parents so that's not my decision to make. Not the worst cartoon series in the world but far from the best.
Video
Presented in the show's original broadcast ratio of 1.33:1 this full screen transfer is decent enough, although sharpness does tend to fluctuate mainly with backgrounds but this is never distracting. Colors are rich and vibrant, blacks are bold and deep and I cold not find any problems with compression. There really isn't much else to say about this transfer other than it presents this series suitably well.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included all of which are in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, they are in English, French and Spanish. For the purposes of this review I chose to view this series with its English soundtrack which is most likely the show's original broadcast sound track. This stereo track also does a fine job of presenting the series with crisp and clear dialogue, music and effects sounds come off sounding natural but little is made by way of ambient sounds but this is an animated series and more is focused on dialogue, music and action effect sounds. Optional subtitles are also included in English, French and Spanish.
Extras
DISC ONE: First up is an audio commentary by characters Blooregard, Mac and Frankie on the episode "Store Wars". This is a cool feature that includes characters from the show commenting on the episode and providing some background on what happened afterwards. The track features some humorous moments that kids will certainly enjoy. This is the first time where a commentary on a children's series was actually aimed at children, most other tracks seem to include information about the production that kids really don't care about. The only other extra on this disc is a bonus trailer for "Ben 10: The Complete First Season" which runs for 33 seconds. DISC TWO: First up is "What Happens When Your Imagination Runs Wild" featurette that runs for 2 minutes 44 seconds. This is a short behind-the-scenes look at the series as the show creator and crew talk about the overwhelming response to the show, as well as responding to criticism that the show is too weird and the production team tells us about their imaginary friends. Kids might watch this clip once and forget about it moments later as there isn't anything interesting about it. Next up are a series of 5 exclusive promos. These are short clips that played on TV advertising the series and they run for 13 seconds, 24 seconds, 32 seconds and two that run for 1 minute 1 second. "Gallery of Friends" runs for 7 minutes 8 seconds and is an animated slideshow that tells us all about the various imaginary friends that reside in the foster home, the include Ramone, Sassy Frass, Jackie Khones, Sunset Junction, George Mucas, Fluffer Nutter, Mr. Edmonton, One Eye Cy, Bloppy Pants, Pokey Toehair, Mabel Licorice, Iris, Scissors, Boris the Florist, Pudnet Squiddlebeak, Sloppy Moe, Charlie Chicken Leg, Creaky Pete, Clumsy, Phineus B. Vurm, Don Lickles, Ringo Rango, Piggy, Dusty and Myopic Patootie. Also featured on this disc are a series of End of Episode Gags that runs for 6 minutes 44 seconds. These funny gags make reference of "The Power Puff Girls" as well as "Pac Man" plus some other off beat clips that played at the end of each episode. A few of them are quite cool but there are a few that are annoying to watch, it's times like that you are glad a fast-forward button exists. bonus trailers are include for: - "Ben 10: The Complete First Season" which runs for 33 seconds, this is the same preview that is also on the first disc. - "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" video game sneak peek which runs for 33 seconds. - "What's New Scooby-Doo? The Complete First Season" which runs for 39 seconds. Rounding out the extras is an insert booklet that includes an episode guide.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packaged in an amaray case that is housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
|
|||||
|