Customer Reviews

Paul McCartney - The Animation Collection [DVD]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD is worth it just for Rupert and the Frog Chorus, but the other two shorts are great in their way, Tuesday especially has a wonderful feeling of magic that very seldom transfers from children's book to screen.

As for the Paul McCartney angle, when he's a genius and a National Treasure - but also a big Rupert fan and just like all of us grown ups who still love to visit Nutwood every now and again. Buy one for yourself, one for the parent or aunty who bought you your Rupert books when you were little and a third for a youngster you know - that's what I did!

Rupert and the Frog chorus is magical. Well put together and entertaining. The additional videos on this disc are a little surreal, but harmless nonetheless. I was hoping to see "Seaside Woman" which was on the orginal video, but I guess that was Linda McCartney, and Paul might have felt she would have stolen the show...so excluded it (me just being catty...but there you go!)

I ordered this for my wife who had the VHS original version which had become unusable. We had acquired it for our grandchildren years ago. We purchased it mainly for the "Frog Song" Its still a classic and a winner.

It's Christmas 2008... our 2 children aged 5 and 2 hear "The frog song" on the radio and think it's great! After finding this song on You Tube and having to play it over and over again, we decide it's time to find a copy of this song on DVD. The best thing we bought them! The two of them love the film and sing along with the song. Brilliant to watch (both the film and the kids watching it). Thank you Mr. McCartney!

For those people, like me, that are fans of Paul McCartney, this is a must! For those, again like me, that are still kids at heart, the animation in this DVD provides a double whammy! After the first time I heard the music to the frog's chorus I found myself humming it. McCartney has an incredible talent for writing such catchy melodies and the animation fits so well with the music that, to me, it rates as highly as the Disney/Dukas Sorcerer's Apprentice. Very clever!

Having purchased the DVD and being, like most a Beatles and McCartney fan we all sat down and watched it together from start to finish and were certainly not disappointed. My daughter, who is nearly three loved it so much that the frog chorus, "We all stand Together" is now her bedtime song!! Incidently, it makes a lot more sense when accompanied by the animation, which in true Rupert the Bear style has a gentle charm. My own personal favourite, though, is the Tropic Island Hum, which, believe me you will be humming!! But, the true beauty of this animated collection, is the fact that you will feel happy letting your kids watch this, proud even, maybe I'm a bit of a softie but the moral messgages portrayed are right on the mark and all in all this is a rare treat for kids and adults too! I cannot recommend it highly enough and it is now firmly established as one of our family favourites.

There are four things to consider when you're weighing up whether to buy this DVD or not.

Firstly, you have to be able to watch these three animated shorts for what they are: entertainment for children. They're just a bit of fun to entertain the young and young families alike so if you're looking for Oscar winning material with great character development and a complicated storyline then I suggest you buy something else.

Still with me? Okay, I suppose you passed the first test. Secondly, you have to watch these shorts and forget that former-Beatle Paul is behind them. Anyone judging his work since the split will no doubt come down hard on these. For some reason, miracles are expected from one man who was a quarter of the greatest band of all time. There was an assumption that everything he'd do in his solo career would be just like the Beatles. Wrong, he's come close at times, but here he is just one man making colourful, fun cartoons for kids. It's not meant to be genius.

Thirdly, you have to be ready for the surreal nature of the shorts. A squirrel being rescued by a hot air balloon flying frog from hunters to be taken to a tropical island inhabited by various animals for a good old sing song ("Tropic Island Hum")... or frogs magically taking off on their lily pads and flying around a town at night, watching Letterman or chasing dogs... (By the way, Dustin Hoffman has one line in this as a detective called to the town for a brief scene the day after as lily pads cover the town) ("Tuesday")... or a talking bear going for a walk in the hills to witness a group of frogs sing and play, summoning their King and Queen from the water only for an evil owl and his cat friends to try and crash the party (Rupert saves them with a "Watch out!" and they all vanish magically) (Rupert And The Frog Song)... Confused? I was slightly... but as I said earlier you have to look beyond this and just enjoy the colour, the action and the music (which isn't the greatest but does it's job in the context of a kid's cartoon).

Finally, the shorts are called shorts for one reason... they're short. I haven't timed them but no sooner has Wirral arrived and sung a song than "Tropic Island Hum" is over... The same goes for the others although Paul says he's developing a feature based on Wirral and his friends so we may eventually get more... if we want it.

The extras are all right (an interview made up of snippets of interview) and storyboards etc. but the stars of this collection are the shorts - three voyages into a colourful, fun, surreal world which have that class Disney-esque touch.

The genius of this set is that it isn't just for fans of McCartney but those of animation alike. So if you like what you've read - but it now!

The absolute perfect gift which I have been looking for for years. There is a family story behind this and so I was over the moon when I received a brilliant quality DVD.

Thank you so so much

This takes me back to my childhood reading the stories of Rupert. A nice little story and great music a period piece which I had on video but just couldn't get a copy on DVD until I found this trader through amazon

Don't get ripped off for this excellent DVD!

It is due for re-issue in October. Some stores are already accepting pre-orders.

Label: LIONS GATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Release Date: 17/10/2011