Synopsis
On their way to a kid’s concert, the Veggies’ bus runs off the road, and they go for help ina seafood restaurant. At this restaurant are the “pirates who do nothing,” who teach one of theyoungsters a lesson in compassion through their tale of their adventures with Jonah. Nicelyanimated, Jonah for the most part avoids the ham-fisted didacticism that plagues many similarefforts.
Audio
A very strong, powerful mix. The music is a particular standout. Th… sound effects are nice,and the environmental effect is often quite good, but the music is almost constant, keeping mostof the rear speaker action to itself.
Video
The picture format is available in both widescreen (I’m guessing about 1.85:1) andfullscreen. The colours are extremely vibrant, and the blacks deep and strong. An excellenttransfer.
Special Features
This two-disc set is loaded. Disc 1 comes with three commentaries. The first is by co-director/writers Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, and is very informal, bordering on the silly.Producer Ameake Owens and director of animation Marc Vulcano are considerably morerestrained, and concentrate on the technical side of the story. The third track is by two of thecharacters — Larry and Mr. Lunt — and I’m not sure why it’s here. Their improv routine is toosilly to sustain adults over 83 minutes, and too advanced in some of its in-jokes for kids.
Disc 2 is a massive collection of featurettes, thankfully broken down into categories: “Behindthe Scenes,” “The Music,” the catch-all “Bonus Material” and “Fun.” There are also some EasterEggs (use the right arrow on the remote, select the anchor, and you get “The Rusty SprocketShow”). All of the featurettes are informative (except, of course, for the silly ones aimed at kids,such as where the characters get into trouble trying to promote the movie). The bonus materialincludes Toy Story-style outtakes, progression reels (showing the development from sketches tofull animation) and a fistful of trailers. The music section includes three videos. In “Fun,”you find games, a trivia challenge, an interactive storybook, a sing-along feature, and moresilliness. Somewhere on this disc apparently lies the script, but I couldn’t find it. Finally, thereare DVD-ROM features. The menus are pretty lavish too, especially the main page, withelaborate animation and music. The secondary pages, once their introductions are over, arescored.
Closing Thoughts
There are so many extras here, viewers will spend hours simply discovering what they are, letalone playing them through. A very solid package.
Special Features List
- 3 Audio Commentaries
- Behind the Scenes Featurettes
- Music Featurettes
- 3 Music Videos
- Outtakes
- Progression Reels
- Digital Dailies
- Concept Art
- Trailers and Previews
- Games
- Interactive Storybook
- Sing-Along
- DVD-ROM Features