In The Night Garden - Hello Igglepiggle (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	The children love it
Disadvantages:	Not great for grownups, irritating songs which get repeated all the time !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This has been a very welcome addition to my childrens DVD collection from Father Christmas but maybe not my choice!

BACKGROUND

The night garden is a new show which is shown on the CBeebies chanel. Children of all ages enjoy this show which is set in a magical garden which only appears at night. Characters include Igglepiggle, Makka Pakka, Upsy Daisy, the Pontipines and the Tombliboos.

Despite the weird names and the unusual looks of the characters the children seem to be drawn into the show. None of the characters talk properly but the shows are narrated.

The DVD contains 5 stories from the popular childrens show.

STORIES

1 - Igglepiggle's Blanket in Makka Pakka's Ditch

This story starts with us seeing Makka Pakka cleaning his Og-Pog and the items which he keeps on it. We then see Igglepiggle come into the garden and he decides he is going to have a walk around but in doing so he leaves his blanket somewhere and cannot rememebr where. He begins to search for it and in doing so he meets Upsy Daisy who helps him search for the blanket
Maka Pakka then begins toblow his trumpet as he is stuck in his ditch and cannot get out as something is blocking the path, Upsy Daisy and Igglepiggle go to investigate and find that it is his blanket. They all celebrate at him finding his blanket.

2 - Jumping for Everyone

This start of this episode see the Pontipines outside of their tiny house but there is only 6 of them and we are then shown where the other 4 are hiding. We then see Upsy Daisy jumping and Igglepiggle decides he would like to join in.
We are then shown Maka Pakka who is also jumping. The hargooes then wake up and start jumping aswell. The noise from them jumping is heard all around the garden so everyone decides they will jump at the same time.

3 - Igglepiggle's Mucky Patch

This edisode starts with Igglepiggle dancing ont he musical bridge. Makka Pakka comes along on the path underneath the bridge and they wave to each other.
Igglepiggle is having fun on the bridge when he falls down and gets a mucky patch on this tummy. He touches this mucky patch and it spreads to his hands.
Upsy Daisy comes along and she cuddles him and she too gets the mucky patch on herself and spreads it to her hands.
They go on the Ninky Nonk to find Makka Pakka so that he can clean them. The fast bumpy ride sees the mucky patch spreading further.
They find Makka Pakka and he cleans them all and gets rid of the mucky patch.

4 - The Pinky Ponk Adventure

At the beginning of this episode we see the Pontipines come out of their house and we count them and then they do a little dance and return inside.
The Pinky Ponk flies into the garden with the Tomblibooes and Makka Pakka onboard. The Tombliboos and Makka Pakka say hello and dance. We see the Pinky Ponk fly around the garden.
Upsy Daisy and Igglepiggle are in the garden and they sing and dance and then go off waving.
The pontipines are out for a walk looking for the Pinky Ponk. The Pinky Ponk lands and we see the Pontipines, Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy getting onboard.
The Pinky Ponk goes for a fly around the garden but becomes stuck in the branches of the trees. All aboard the Pinky Ponk start to rock forward and back to free the Pinky Ponk. When it is free it lands and we see all the characters get off and then they all go off to bed.

5 - Igglepiggle's Blanket Walks About by Itself

This episode again starts with the Pontipines, they come out of their house and we count 6 of them we are then shown where the other 4 are hiding. They come back to the house and they all go inside.
Igglepiggle is having a walk and a dance around the garden but keeps getting caught up in his blanket so he hangs it onto a tree. The blanket keeps falling down so he has to keep hanging it up. Igglepiggle gos off to dance around the garden.
Makka Pakka comes along and has a walk around the garden. He goes and says hello to the Pontipines. He comes across the blanket hanging on the tree when it falls down and covers him up. He walks off still covered in the blanket.
Igglepiggle returns to the tree to collect his blanket but it has gone. He goes off to find it when he comes across it walking around the garden by itself. The blanket comes off Makka Pakka and Igglepiggle gets it back and learns that it wasnt walking by itself. They both celebrate he has his blanket back. We then see all of the characters go off to bed.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Time to Go to Sleep - in this you can press on different characters and watch them saying goodnight

Audio Commentary - this has been made with the creators Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport and is very interesting if you are into finding ut about how it has been made.

Nap Time Mode - This feature means you can share a quiet moment with your child. The instructions for how to work this feature can be found on the inside of the DVD case.

MY OPINION

Personally to me the show is very irritating but my children seem to love it.

The narrator has a very soothing voice and the children do seem to follow what is going on very easily even though the characters do not speak proper words.

The characters all have their own signature tune which is sung and danced to everytime they appear on the screen. I have found this is very irritating as the tunes do get stuck in my head and I find myself singing them when I least expect.

I did have a giggle to myself when Igglepiggles blanket kept falling from the tree onto the floor, my 3 year old said to the TV, 'just leave it on the floor.'

I have found that this show is great to go to bed after as it calms the boys down.

Although I am not a fan of this DVD or indead the show my children love it therefore I will recommend this on their opinion alone. Also my Grandmother who is 78 loves this show and enjoys sitting with the boys to watch it!

DVD INFO

This DVD was produced in 2007 and is under lisence to to BBC Worldwide Limited

The DVD runs for approximately 140 minutes.

It is suitable for any age viewer.

This DVD can be purchased for around the £10 bracket but shop around as you might find a bargain.

For more information please visit www.inthenightgarden.co.uk