I have fond memories of watching this collection of nursery rhymes and poems on VHS, which my parents still own, when I was little. Fairy recently, I discovered that it had been released on DVD and was once available to watch on LoveFilm Instant on which I watched it twice because it's so good despite some minor editing flaws and a small change being made that differed from the original VHS release. While the playing-card bridge in 'London Bridge' (which is what I consider the most cheaply made segment) is set alight with real fire in the original VHS release during 'London's Burning', the DVD and instant online viewing had cut-out animated fire instead in case the real fire scared some children. As for the editing, it is choppy and sudden in places, especially during 'Jack and Jill' and 'London Bridge' but it is mostly smooth. Another gripe is that the first few songs from 'Humpty Dumpty' to 'Ring-a-Ring-O-Roses/Girls and Boys Come Out to Play' do not have a card before them telling viewers what the songs are; however the remaining sets of songs and poems have that sort of card.
The best aspects of this collection are the idea of the pop-up book that is brought to life by real actors (child and adult), real animals, string puppets, cut-out animation and hand drawn animation; the songs being memorable, impeccably performed and authentically produced and some of the songs and poems being recited in different accents (Scottish for 'Dance to Your Daddy,' American for 'Yankee Doodle' and Welsh for 'Taffy Was a Welshman'). The old-fashioned costumes and beautiful illustrations give the video its traditional touch, although I found the girl singing the verses of 'Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?' a little too heavily made-up although I didn't see this as controversial an issue as 'Minipops' that aired about a year after this video was made (this collection was originally released in 1982, not 2005 as listed here on IMDb).
Overall this is a delightful collection of nursery rhymes in spite of the editing flaws and fire change in the DVD/online viewing version. 8/10.
The best aspects of this collection are the idea of the pop-up book that is brought to life by real actors (child and adult), real animals, string puppets, cut-out animation and hand drawn animation; the songs being memorable, impeccably performed and authentically produced and some of the songs and poems being recited in different accents (Scottish for 'Dance to Your Daddy,' American for 'Yankee Doodle' and Welsh for 'Taffy Was a Welshman'). The old-fashioned costumes and beautiful illustrations give the video its traditional touch, although I found the girl singing the verses of 'Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?' a little too heavily made-up although I didn't see this as controversial an issue as 'Minipops' that aired about a year after this video was made (this collection was originally released in 1982, not 2005 as listed here on IMDb).
Overall this is a delightful collection of nursery rhymes in spite of the editing flaws and fire change in the DVD/online viewing version. 8/10.
