Customer Reviews:
A trip down memory lane.......2007-10-27
I was looking for the theme tunes for the Trumpton, Chigley and Camberwick programmes, when I stumbled on this little gem!
After watching the first few episodes I happened to mention to my brother about buying and watching them, and now I have been requested to buy a set for him too!
A wonderful reminiscence about such a beautiful little world! I'm glad I went hunting around Amazon that day.
Trumptastic.......2007-01-23
I was bought this for christmas and I have been glued to the box since. Any excuse to turn it on and it's on full belt. I've also introduced my 2 1/2 year old daughter to the joys of windy miller, pipin fort and chippy minton (and his son nibs). She loves it. This is truely from an era that unfortunately will never see the light of day again. Brian Cant is a god. For everyone who remmembers the series this is a must, to all those who don't, get it and marvel.
Wonderful Stuff.......2006-09-25
A fantastic trip down memory lane for us adults, and an introduction to some truly classic childrens TV for today's youngsters. If you are fed up with banality and political correctness of childrens shows like Balimory & The Tweenies this is for you. From a bygone more innocent time, the shows have lost none of their ability to charm.
Originally released as 3 seperate volumes at around £13 each, this set represents great value for money. It also comes in a very nice presentation box. My only complaint is that although they have done a great job of digitally restoring the picture (the original DVD releases were appalling)Universal Studios have failed to address the annoying and distracting picture wobble in episode 1 of Trumpton. I think with the technology available that could have been sorted. I hope (and believe) it is confined to just the one episode. Also, the sound isn't that great. I'm probably expecting too much from a 40 year old series in these days of Dolby Digital, DTS, THX though!!! If you haven't got it, get it. If you haven't got young kids, pretend you have and relive your childhood!
Customer Reviews:
Time for Trumpton!.......2006-09-15
My boys love this, and the other two out of the series. I think part of the appeal is that this is all so new to them. Simple stories and well told, top marks.
40 Years On and It Still Has Child Appeal.......2006-04-10
Partially out of nostalgia and partially because I reckoned my 2 year old son would enjoy it, I ordered the DVD of Trumpton. Ironically, the aspects which I find annoying as an adult such as the large fraction of each episode which rely on stock shots (opening sequence, fireman and band scene) probably provides my son with a degree of stability and repetition absent in other children's programmes.
Moreover Freddie Philips superb rythmic guitar/percussion coupled with Brian Cant's baritone songs really provide a musical pace and a sense of timing.
Probably not for all children, but for those adults looking for something more soothing than today's high graphic/high volume alternatives.
Trumpton - The Complete Collection.......2006-03-30
I bought this DVD for my 20 month old and have not been disappointed. The colours are vibrant and the sound good, although I need the volume on my tv fairly high. Comes with extras which are short and not really worth bothering with. The only real criticism is the first episode is a bit wobbly probably due to a poor original copy, hence the reason I have given it 4 stars not 5. However, if you are looking for a bit of nostalgia, something to keep the little ones happy or even entertainment for the hubby, you can't go far wrong.
Customer Reviews:
Return of some very happy memories.......2005-11-15
I bought all 3 DVD's mainly through years of 'ribbing'from my parents and sister alike about stories of my childhood and my love affair with Trumpton. You see, as a 1971 child, and one that was sports mad, not even a game of street soccer could ever stop me from running in to the sounds of "Dean, Trumpton is on".
Of course I purchased the set for my 3 year old son but a trip down memory lane was a factor for me and what a trip it was! The stories are still as I can vividly remember them - a make-believe world of goodness and friendliness, a world where the commuity holds together.
My son positively loved the characters and the models of the farmers truck, army wagon, fire engine and of Lord Bellboroughs "cho cho" and I strongly believe his speach and use of words have improved since viewing thanks mainly to Brian Cants clear and concise (and friendly) manner.
All in all I could not rate this highly enough for my son - he watches it so much I know the words (again!). One word - brilliant!
A stop-motion Barsetshire.......2005-07-15
For beginners: Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley were all made in the late 1960s and chronicled the doings of residents in three nearby settlements. They were made using puppets in stop-motion. Each series expanded on the characters and landscape of the previous one; coming to it again as an adult I'm surprised just how much interlock there is, with a lot of characters from one series cropping up in another. (Pretentiousness alert: you could compare them to the way Trollope interlocks his groups of characters in Barsetshire.) The time in which they are set is roughly that at which they were made, or perhaps an old-fashioned version of it, but in the same way that a child will play with a mixture of toys and not care that model cars are built to different scales or that a cowboy is defending a model castle, there are anachronisms: the boys at Pippin Fort military academy ride in an army lorry but wear 18th century grenadiers' outfits, complete with pigtail.
How well do they stand up today? Well, my five year old watched them with huge enjoyment, which has to be the best test of all. They are certainly of their time; you won't find black or disabled characters and attitudes to authority are pretty deferential. You're unlikely, however, to find anything that positively grates and the target group, infants of pre-school and reception age, will enjoy it.
What you get with this set of DVDs is the complete set of three series. Full marks for completeness; that is, however, all that you get. There are absolutely no extras (I for one wouldn't have minded just a little information on the people behind the names credited; the names Bura and Hardwick, in charge of photography, crop up in a lot of children's programmes from this era, and I'd like some background and maybe career highlights). More importantly, as previous reviewers have noted you get the films as they are now apparently dumped straight onto DVD with no attempt to clean them up or remove the wobble caused by old distorted film. It's something that one can live with, but it's not great. Also, the menu functionality is negligible: you can select the episode at which you start but from then on the disk will play continously (and start again once it reaches the end) so you only get to choose where in the cycle you start, not whether you want to play a specific episode only. Still less do you get to programme episodes to play in a certain order: an annoyance when one comes to the Chigley disk, since the first two episodes here are in reverse order.
Four stars - for the content. It doesn't have the haunting strangeness of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's work of the same period, but it's a solid, fun piece of work that can still delight children nearly forty years after it was made. For the actual production - film quality and the amount of "customer service" you get in terms of menu, extras etc. - three stars. Spartan, but it gets you there, is the best one can say about that. Fortunately it is worth getting there.
Nostalgia for my 2 year old.......2004-03-22
Our 2 year old daughter is now thoroughly enjoying the programmes her parents so enjoyed years ago. The simplicity of the animation and clarity of script makes it ageless and therefore still very watchable. Delighted that we can still share these classics today.
High Praise for The Complete Collection.......2004-03-21
Who would have thought that for a mere £19 we could own the complete Trumptonshire Trilogy? Aside from a few video glitches (the wobble in a few section is the worst of these) this is an extremely watchable set of DVDs. Having missed the series the first time round, now I have been able to see what the fuss was about. While the stop-motion animation by Bura and Hardwick is no comparison to Gordon Murray's earlier Rubovian Legends marionettes (1956 - 1964)(which I'd like to see on DVD too), this work stands as a children's classic, that should serve modern children just as well as their forebears. Try it and see for yourself...
An earlier reviewer wanted to see a R4 version. No need, as the set is Region 0, contrary to the product listing above. This set should therefore work quite happily in Australia.
Is there a Dvd Region 4.......2004-02-12
I live in Australia, and have seen the videos of this Dvd and would like to purchase a Region 4 Dvd so my grandchildren can watch it. Do you know of anywhere where I might look. Thanking you.
DVD:
- Trumptonshire : Trumpton / Chigley / Camberwick Green (Complete Collection Box Set)
- Wallace And Gromit - 3 Cracking Adventures
- Welcome To Lazy Town [2006]
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Special Edition) [1988]
- Winnie The Pooh - The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh [1977]
- Adventures In Babysitting [1987]
- Air Master, Vol. 2 (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Aladdin [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Alice In Wonderland (Special Edition)
- Arthur and the Invisibles [2007]
DVD List
DVD