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The Movie: While not as much of a household name as "The Muppets", Jim Henson's "Fraggle Rock" still has a fond place in the hearts of anyone who grew up in the 80's. Each episode invited viewers to come down to Fraggle Rock, a wild and wonderful system of caves that reached under the house of Doc and his loyal pooch. Deep in the tunnels live the Fraggles, colorful little creatures who go about their daily business underground, having adventures and learning new lessons. Although the show largely focused on a group of fraggle friends: Gobo (whose Uncle Traveling Matt spends time exploring the far reaches of the outside world), Boober, Wembley, Red, and Mokey. Each of the group has their own individual personality, but they get along well together and compliment one another well. Additionally, other supporting fraggles were also worked into the proceedings and two other sets of creatures also added to the fun: little dozers, who were always hard at work in the caves; and the giant Gorgs - Ma, Pa and Junior - who live in a crumbling castle not far from the fraggle caves and give chase to the fragles when they visit the Gorg garden. The series manages to be about tolerance, understanding and other important lessons, yet smoothly weaves the messages into the overall story. Never does the series seem to stop so the characters can go over what they've just learned. The stories are clever and imaginative and the songs are still surprisingly catchy years later (although some of the music behind them may seem a little dated, although that's understandable.) Family entertainment that's wholesome and still marvelously entertaining for both adults and children is rare these days, so it's wonderful to have these DVD sets introduce "Fraggle" to a new generation. A "Fraggle Rock" movie is in-development for 2007. 1. Wembley's Egg 2. Boober Rock 3. The Trash Heap Doesn't Live Here Anymore 4. Red's Sea Monster 5. Uncle Matt Comes Home 6. Boober's Dream 7. Mokey and the Minstrels 8. All Work and All Play 9. Sir Hubris and the Gorgs 10. A Friend in Need 11. The Wizard of Fraggle Rock 12. The Doozer Contest 13. Red's Club 14. The Secret of Convincing John 15. Manny's Land of Carpets 16. Junior Sells the Farm 17. Fraggle Wars 18. The Day the Music Died 19. Doomsday Soup 20. A Cave of One's Own 21. Wembley and the Great Race 22. Doozer Is As Doozer Does 23. Boober's Quiet Day 24. The Invasion of the Toe Ticklers The DVD VIDEO: "Fraggle Rock" is presented by Hit Entertainment/20th Century Fox in the show's original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. The picture quality, considering the age of the series, is enjoyable. Sharpness and detail are not exceptional, but the picture at least remains consistently clear and looks like it did when originally broadcast. The picture shows a few slight instances of artifacting at times, but otherwise appears clean, with no edge enhancement and very few flaws on the elements used. Colors look bright and accurately presented, aside from a few minor instances of smearing. SOUND: "Fraggle Rock" is presented in stereo audio here and sounds quite good, with the audio remaining crisp and clear throughout. EXTRAS: The bonus disc offers an array of supplemental features, starting off with an overview of Season 2 that offers interviews with several of the show's staff, who discuss how the show advanced in the second season as the writers and other staff became more comfortable in their roles in creating the series. Steve Whitmire (Sprocket on the show) introduces home movie clips he took during recording. A 35-minute tribute to co-creator Jerry Juhl is touching and informative, as members of the staff (including his wife) offer their thoughts on Juhl's contributions to the series and what it was like to work with him on the show. There's some great stories and footage offered here and fans of the series are going to be very pleased with this moving and enjoyable piece. Juhl was the first full-time employee of the Henson company and worked on "The Muppets", as well. "Docs and Sprockets" and "Travelling Matt" are two short featurettes on the characters. We also get a music video and a collection of international "Traveling Matt" clips. Final Thoughts: "Fraggle Rock" is an awful lot of fun - the sweet series offers great stories for kids and adults and mixes in welcome messages without seeming too heavy-handed. The DVD set offers fine audio/video quality and a nice set of extras. Highly recommended. |