Review, buy Family Favourites: ALF - The Animated Series - He Ain't Seafood, He's My Brother / The Slugs Of Wrath [1987], A Snow White Christmas [1979], Battle Of The Planets - Vol. 3 - The Jupiter Moon Menace, Battle Of The Planets - Vol. 2 - Rescue Of The Astronauts [1978], Teddy Ruxpin - A Rainbow Of Many Colours [1985], Terrahawks 1, Stowaways On The Ark - Animated, Bananas In Pyjamas - Puppy Love [2000], Terrytoons - Cartoon Heroes, Teen Wolf - Teen Wolf's Curse / Howlin' Cousins, The Complete Bod Featuring Alberto Frog, Sonic The Hedgehog - The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Vol. 5 - Supersonic - Quest For The Chaos Emeralds [1994], Sooty - Learn With Sooty - Start To Read - Book & Video Pack [2001], Bip Bop, Animated Classic Showcase - Snow Postman / Flame In The Igloo / Grandpa Frost, ALF - The Animated Series - Clams Never Sang For My Father / Flodust Memories [1987], Swiss Family Robinson [1972], My Dog Skip [2000], The Flintstones [1994], Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers 6 - Happy Birthday, Zack / No Clowning Around [1993]

Those who remember the children's animation Bod from the 13 episodes broadcast by the BBC in 1975 generally recall, with considerable precision, not stories but images. This is because the stories that constitute Bod, created by Joanne and Michael Cole, are mere wisps of narrative, in which, almost always, almost nothing happens (in "Bod and the Cake", for example, no cake arrives), serene anti-dramas which are elusive and thus hard to remember as stories. Its images, by contrast, are the heart of its minimalist charm and its unforgettable strangeness, from narrator John Le Mesurier's unvarying announcement, "Here comes Bod", to the moment the unvarying fivefold cast sashay towards the horizon at the end. Bod is small and bald, with a yellow dress and a Buddha-like imperturbability. He and his four eternal companions-Aunt Flo, Farmer Barleymow, Frank the Postman, PC Copper-are animated as sparely as a 60s cartoon from the Eastern bloc. In each episode, the five gather one by one, each arriving to their own characteristic perky jazz-folky theme, in their own characteristic gait (indeed, like a zen riddle, the walk itself is far more important than where they're walking to, or why). Some viewers consider the cartoon's mysterious pastoral stillness alarming, as if something terrible were going on that we're never told about or shown-"Waiting for Bodot", as it were-but most found its calmness both beguiling and addictive. As in the original Watch with Mother format, Bod is paired with Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band (in which an all-animal orchestra plays the classics, then guesses what flavour milkshake their frog conductor will reward himself with). Who knows how tots so exposed to the over-active kids-fare of today will respond, but the grown-ups in their charge will find The Complete Bod soothing, seductive and bizarre. -Honey Glass On the DVD: the DVD contains all 13 episodes of Bod. [+]

Five of these are extended, as originally broadcast, to feature animal identification games, counting songs, Bod snap and Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band.

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Review Abbey Home Media / Sonic The Hedgehog - The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Vol. 5 - Supersonic - Quest For The Chaos Emeralds [1994]

Sonic The Hedgehog - The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Vol. 5 - Supersonic - Quest For The Chaos Emeralds [1994] (Abbey Home Media)

Actors & Directors

Gary Chalk
Bradley Pierce
Ian James Corlett
Jaleel White
David Corban

Release date: 1994-10-03
Run time: 81 min.
Creator: Jennifer Pelphrey
RRP: ~~£9.99~~
Price: £9.99

Review Sonic The Hedgehog - The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Vol. 5 - Supersonic - Quest For The Chaos Emeralds [1994] / Abbey Home Media:

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Sooty - Learn With Sooty - Start To Read - Book & Video Pack [2001] (Thames Video)

Actors & Directors

Richard Cadell
Francis Wright
David Coyle
Richard Coombs
Vicki Lee Taylor
Debby Cumming

Release date: 1991-10-14
Run time: 51 min.
Creator: Paul Rose
Price: £9.99

Review Sooty - Learn With Sooty - Start To Read - Book & Video Pack [2001] / Thames Video:

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Bip Bop (Castle Home Video)

Release date: 1999-06-01
Run time: 51 min.
RRP: ~~£2.99~~
Price: £1.99

Review Bip Bop / Castle Home Video:

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Review Laserlight / Animated Classic Showcase - Snow Postman / Flame In The Igloo / Grandpa Frost

Animated Classic Showcase - Snow Postman / Flame In The Igloo / Grandpa Frost (Laserlight)

Actors & Directors

David Kaye

Release date: 1999-07-19
Run time: 43 min.
Creator: Phil Roman
RRP: ~~£4.99~~
Price: £6.99

Review Animated Classic Showcase - Snow Postman / Flame In The Igloo / Grandpa Frost / Laserlight:

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ALF - The Animated Series - Clams Never Sang For My Father / Flodust Memories [1987] (2 Entertain Video)

Actors & Directors

Abraham Verduzco
Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros
Paul Fusco

Run time: 42 min.
Creator: Tom Patchett
RRP: ~~£8.99~~
Price: £9.99

Review ALF - The Animated Series - Clams Never Sang For My Father / Flodust Memories [1987] / 2 Entertain Video:

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Swiss Family Robinson [1972] (Entertainment UK Ltd.)

Run time: 47 min.
Price: £4.99

Review Swiss Family Robinson [1972] / Entertainment UK Ltd.:

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Review Warner Home Video / My Dog Skip [2000]

My Dog Skip [2000] (Warner Home Video)

Actors & Directors

Diane Lane
Kevin Bacon
Jay Russell
Frankie Muniz
Bradley Coryell
Luke Wilson

Release date: 2001-07-23
Run time: 95 min.
Creator: Willie Morris
Price: £14.99

Review My Dog Skip [2000] / Warner Home Video:

My Dog Skip, a nonpareil family film, is, as one of the characters so aptly puts it, "a heartbreak waiting to happen". Frankie Muniz, winning over audiences in the TV series Malcolm in the Middle, has competition in My Dog Skip-Skip himself (adorably played by a total of six Jack Russell terriers). Muniz, an inveterate charmer, stars as Willie Morris (from whose memoir the film is adapted), a gawky, awkward boy growing up during World War II under an overly protective father (Kevin Bacon). When his mom (Diane Lane) gives him Skip on his ninth birthday, his life is changed in every way for the better. Previously disinterested peers become pals, and he experiences puppy love with a girl named Rivers (Caitlin Wachs). There are plenty of high jinks and rah-rah touches of Americana, and the film also attempts to deal with sophisticated emotions-Willie's boyhood hero turns out to be less than heroic-but its devastating emotional core comes, simply and obviously, with Skip's eventual ageing and demise. Dog lovers will be wiped out; those who don't care for canines shouldn't even be bothering to read this review. (Ages 8 and older) -David Kronke, Amazon. com.

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Review 4 Front Video / The Flintstones [1994]

The Flintstones [1994] (4 Front Video)

Actors & Directors

Elizabeth Perkins
Brian Levant
Halle Berry
John Goodman
Rick Moranis
Rosie O'Donnell

Release date: 2001-10-01
Run time: 87 min.
Creator: Tom S. Parker
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £4.99

Review The Flintstones [1994] / 4 Front Video:

This pleasant, lightweight live-action version of the popular cartoon is about as good as you might expect. The kids should love the broad humour and the Henson Studios creatures but like The Addams Family movies, the look and the cast are the best things going for it. Considering that the nature of the material is so sparse, the thinly plotted story works better than other TV-to-movie fare. Our fabulous Stone Age man is promoted per a calculated move by a scheming exec (Kyle MacLachlan, whose casting ensured at least one cute guy). As a comedy, the humour is one-note and flat for anyone older than 12. The special-effects creatures look wondrous, though not as seamless as in other movies, such as in Roger Rabbit. The most joyous moments come during the full-scale re-creations of the famous credits. The Flintstones provided a major launching pad for Halle Berry as a vamping secretary. -Doug Thomas.

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Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers 6 - Happy Birthday, Zack / No Clowning Around [1993] (Universal Pictures UK)

Actors & Directors

Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers

Release date: 1994-11-07
Run time: 40 min.
Price: £9.99

Review Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers 6 - Happy Birthday, Zack / No Clowning Around [1993] / Universal Pictures UK:

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ALF - The Animated Series - He Ain't Seafood, He's My Brother / The Slugs Of Wrath [1987], A Snow White Christmas [1979], Battle Of The Planets - Vol. 3 - The Jupiter Moon Menace, Battle Of The Planets - Vol. 2 - Rescue Of The Astronauts [1978], Teddy Ruxpin - A Rainbow Of Many Colours [1985], Terrahawks 1, Stowaways On The Ark - Animated, Bananas In Pyjamas - Puppy Love [2000], Terrytoons - Cartoon Heroes, Teen Wolf - Teen Wolf's Curse / Howlin' Cousins, The Complete Bod Featuring Alberto Frog, Sonic The Hedgehog - The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog - Vol. 5 - Supersonic - Quest For The Chaos Emeralds [1994], Sooty - Learn With Sooty - Start To Read - Book & Video Pack [2001], Bip Bop, Animated Classic Showcase - Snow Postman / Flame In The Igloo / Grandpa Frost, ALF - The Animated Series - Clams Never Sang For My Father / Flodust Memories [1987], Swiss Family Robinson [1972], My Dog Skip [2000], The Flintstones [1994], Mighty Morph'n Power Rangers 6 - Happy Birthday, Zack / No Clowning Around [1993]

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