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Johnny And The Sprites: Meet The Sprites
R1 - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rob Fields (22nd March 2008). |
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The Show
 When I got this DVD, the first thing that came to mind was, “Oh, man, not another Muppets wanna-be...” still, a few things happen when I think things like that. One, I know the DVD is not going to go away and that it has to be reviewed, so I tell myself that I have to keep an open mind. Two, after reviewing the DVD, it turns out that I’m eating my words – so far. Still, I remember how shows like “Sesame Street” (1969-Current) “The Muppet Show” (1976-1981), and “Fraggle Rock” (1983-1987) had great stories and musical numbers. And many of these shows could actually be used as teaching tools. Some of them help you learn to count and to know your ABC's, some of them teach moral values, and some are just for entertainment. “Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites” has you keeping your eyes open when you visit the enchanted woods of Grotto’s Grove, because you might just meet the Sprites. Invisible to everyone except Johnny, the wondrous Sprites are on Disney DVD for the first time ever, so you enjoy their magical, musical adventures whenever you wish. Join Johnny (John Tartaglia) and his newfound pals, Basil (< a href=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1141882/>Tim Lagasse), Lily (Carmen Osbahr), Ginger (Leslie Carrara and little Root (Heather Asch), as they laugh, play and learn important lessons that celebrate friendship, problem-solving and accepting others – all accompanied by music so amazing, it’s pure magic. Overflowing with lovable characters and unforgettable songs, “Johnny and the Sprites” keeps fantastic fun in full bloom. I like that each episode has a specific lesson to teach. These lessons can certainly help children to hone their problem-solving skills. They can also learn to understand to be accepting of others. There are other lessons to be learned here as well. I can also say that from watching the episodes that this is definitely NOT a "Muppets" wanna-be. This series was definitely its own entity. The stories were very well done. I don’t think it will be a problem for children to understand the meaning of each one. Definitely a great learning tool for them. The downsides? While trying to keep an open mind while watching this series, it was hard for me to actually take a liking to these characters. I’m not saying this because I’m an adult and have other tastes. I’m saying this, because I feel the chemistry between the characters is just not there. It’s chemistry that helps the characters work well with one another and make a film or a TV series work. I found on IMDB that this series had been canceled. I’m wondering of this could be the reason why. I know in the opening of my review, I made mention of series that used puppets and real people. Yes, these are Jim Henson shows, but the point here is that they have interesting characters. The formula for them works well. In other words, they gel...they have chemistry. To me Johnny wasn’t the least bit interesting – and he’s the lead character. The Sprites seemed to have more story time than he did. When it came to chemistry, I just didn’t see that with all of the episodes presented on this DVD. My final word: While a review may or may not break a DVD, I can only give you my interpretation of what I saw. While this title has value as far as teaching lessons, and there are good stories presented here, this is all I can recommend this DVD for. As far as the characters go, if you’re looking for something with good stories, building blocks, AND good characters, then you may want to look elsewhere. If you still have doubts, then at least rent it first. This DVD features these six episodes which are compiled from various seasons: - "Ginger’s Antenna Dilemma" runs for 11 minutes 56 seconds – When Lily paints portraits of the Sprites, Ginger discovers that her antenna are much curlier than she thought and she thinks that they look weird. Though nobody else dislikes her antenna, Ginger is convinced that her antenna make her look stupid and girly. She tries everything from hiding herself to hiding her antenna. Her friends do her best to help her see that her antenna help to make her special. - "Root’s Dadoots" runs for 10 minutes 51 seconds – As Johnny struggles to write a new song, Root gets the dadoots – the Sprite hiccups. The Sprites do their best to help them, offering a number of suggestions to help make the dadoots go away. When none of the suggestions work, they consult Sage, who has good advice, but advice Root may not be quite ready to hear. Johnny, however, finds a way to bring his song together by integrating Root’s dadoots. - "Where’s the Water, Lily?" runs for 10 minutes 51 seconds – While Johnny and the creatures of his garden are enjoying a brand-new fountain, the Sprites have found that all the water has disappeared from Grotto’s Grove. Lily, as the Water Sprite, is especially disturbed by the lack of water. When Basil’s logs reveal this to be an unprecedented event, she consults with Sage. He advises her that things don’t simply happen without reason, so she needs to figure out what’s changed that could be causing the problem. - "Basil’s Band" runs for 10 minutes 51 seconds – In the midst of preparations for a potluck dinner, Johnny takes a moment to watch a video of a group dancing to his new song. When Basil sees this, he decides to join a band with the fuzzies. Unfortunately, he forgets various promises that he made to Johnny and the Sprites to help them with her food preparations. When Basil realizes his mistake, he decides that he has to do his best to put things right. - "The Sprites & The What?!" runs for 10 minutes 52 seconds – Johnny is cooking for dinner with Gwen, hoping to get everything perfect for the first time. Though he encounters some problems, he manages to get everything together, but then can’t find his colander. Unbeknownst to him, Seymour found his colander and wasn’t sure what it was. He’s showing it to all the Sprites, who not knowing what it actually is, come up with many creative reasons for it.
Video
Presented in full screen format (1.33:1 ratio). Right away you can tell that the colors just leap right off the screen. I don’t know if this is how they were originally aired on the Disney Channel, but if not then Disney went the extra mile to make sure that the picture looks as good – no, awesome – as it does. You can see such bright colors and the scenes are crystal clear without any signs of any defects.
Audio
The episodes feature an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack. There are optional English subtitles available. Disney did justice on the audio as well as the video. While the audio shows up as mono, it sounds more like a 2.0 Dolby Surround track. It’s amazing what a studio can accomplish when it goes the extra mile for a release. There are also optional karaoke subtitles. Read more about this in the Extras.
Extras
Buena Vista has included a music video, a sing-along feature, 5 short films and bonus trailers as extras on this disc. Below is a closer look. First up is "Heads Up" a music video that runs for 1 minute 22 seconds. Under the ‘Music Time’ option you will find an choice called "Sing Along with Johnny and the Sprites" sing-along feature, this is merely a second English subtitle track in karaoke fashion. In other words, you only see the words when a musical number comes up. In karaoke fashion, you can sing along. The biggest of the extras on this disc are the 5 original shorts. They can be viewed with optional English subtitles or with the karaoke subtitles and include: - "Who’s on First?" runs for 3 minutes 47 seconds – The Sprites Ginger and Basil want to play with Johnny, but each wants to do different things. Ginger wants to play baseball, but Basil wants to read a book. Both argue over what will be done first. Johnny sings a song to teach them about taking turns. - "Laugh, Basil, Laugh" runs for 4 minutes 17 seconds – When Basil gets a cold, Johnny learns that the best way to cure a Sprite’s cold is laughter. He and Ginger put on an elaborate act and song to make Ginger laugh, but it seems to fall flat. Johnny learns that sometimes the best comedy is to simply be one’s only funny self. - "Leave a Little Lettuce" runs for 4 minutes 2 seconds – Seymour the Schmole wants to eat all the lettuce in Johnny’s garden. Johnny and Ginger help him to see that sometimes sharing can be more fun for all. - "Yes You Can!" runs for 4 minutes 17 seconds – When Ginger beats Basil at a race, Basil begins to feel that he’s not any good at anything. Johnny sings a song to help him see that there are many things that he is good at. Basil is reminded that he can speak in French, do cooking, and more. - "Waiting For the Stars" runs for 3 minutes 47 seconds – Johnny learns that Ginger and Basil have never seen the stars before. They don’t have them where they came from. Johnny invites them for a night of star-gazing, but they become impatient when they don’t see them. Johnny sings a song in which they learn that sometimes the best things come to those who wait. Rounding out the extras are a collection of bonus trailers for other Disney features, which can be selected by choosing the ‘Sneak Peaks’ option from the Main Menu. They are as follows: - "Wall-E" which runs for 1 minute 32 seconds. - "Little Einsteins: Race for Space" runs for 53 seconds. - "Tinker Bell" runs for 48 seconds. - "The Jungle Book 2: Special Edition" runs for 1 minute 4 seconds. - "Little Einsteins" runs for 34 seconds. - "Handy Manny: Fixing It Right" runs for 1 minute 14 seconds. - "Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition" runs for 1 minute 57 seconds. - "Little Einsteins: Flight of the Instrument Fairies" runs for 59 seconds. - "My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Friendly Tails" runs for 1 minute 21 seconds. - "Handy Manny: Manny’s Pet Round Up" runs for 53 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" spot which runs for 22 seconds.
Overall
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