Hi-5 is the latest children's act to take Australia by storm. They have invaded the video market, the CD market and now the DVD market with two discs just released - Star Dreaming and Music Machine. Music Machine is a funky 55-minute music frenzy where grown adults sing and dance like they have something wrong with them. Not that this is a bad thing; it offers loads of laughter for both kids and adults alike!

Anyway, the Hi-5 team is made up of Kellie, Tim, Nathan, Kathleen and Charli. They all feature in at least one song on their own, and then teamwork songs throughout the show. Stories are told, repetitious cut scenes break up segments and, of course, the singing. To be honest, Nathan has an amazing voice for a kid's presenter, as do all of them, but Nathan really stands out at one point. It must be hard work to look so enthused, alive and energetic for little kids, but also rewarding to see how happy they are after watching the show. Some of the songs are irritably catchy, but harmoniously musical at the same time. Kellie offers some entertaining efforts to the show with Chats and some great facials and singing. One thing that is hard to forget is two of the Hi-5 girls on a Surprise Surprise episode. But anyway... its still a lot of fun to watch.

There are cut scenes featuring little kids running around in parks and Australia's Wonderland which cut the program up into the chapters.

The video is presented in the full frame ratio of 1.33:1, and is obviously not 16x9 enhanced.

The show itself is fast, colourful and bright. The colours are rich, realistic, vibrant and lifelike. Skin tones look great on screen under the studio lighting. The outdoor cut scenes are slightly brighter than they should be due to the large amount of sunlight in the shots. There is no colour bleeding whatsoever.

There is no sign of any film grain or artefacts, nor MPEG artefacts. The image is consistently clear and sharp with a large level of clarity. Shadow detail is adequate given the low level of shadows and blacks in the program.

Being a single layered disc, there is no layer change to disrupt the flow.

There is only one program audio track, and that is a Dolby Digital 2.0 English track.

Dialogue and vocal levels are great with a clear presentation. There are no audio sync problems. The sound effects are also clear and audible with no distortion.

Being a stereo track there is no surround usage or discrete subwoofer channel.

For some reason this disc has a heap of extras. Which is a good thing given that many similar discs suffer from a lack of these. Anyway, the menus are big, chunky and bulky - they are meant to be easy to navigate through, but they lack clarity for the buttons and options. The menus are beautifully animated, with great transitions. A feature for the kids in the menus is the auto play function. After one minute without any buttons being pushed, the program starts automatically. The features consist of:

Karaoke: When selecting a song from here, you are taken to that particular song, which is just an excerpt from the actual program, not a special video. The videos can have the lyrics as a subtitle track, or no subtitles. The song can also be repeated.

Song Of The Week: If you have ever watched Hi-5 on television before you would have noticed that there are opening and closing songs repeated in every episode that week. These just take you to the songs, again, in the program.

Sharing Stories: These link you to the two stories in the show, just like chapter selections. This is the same concept as the previous two features discussed.

Character Scene Select: Likewise, these show you a list of the characters and what segments they are involved in. You can then jump to particular scenes.

Audio Commentary: After recovering from rolling on the floor with laughter with the news that there is a commentary on this disc, it was actually then watched. But this isn't your ordinary commentary. It features producers Helena Harris and Helen Martin discussing different aspects of the sets, action, colour, sound, music, costumes and so on, and how they relate to the early education of children. One of the better commentaries, especially given the fact it is a children's show.

Previews: A list of other Hi-5 videos, CDs and DVDs available. Some of them include video previews, while most show just cover art.

If you are a kid, or love Hi-5, then grab this disc. If you are in need of a laugh, grab this disc. If you want to keep the kids amused for 55-minute segments, grab this disc. The video suits the program, as does the audio, and the extras are sufficient for kids. Mind you, it still is a lot of fun, even for the older people - except what some may find funny, the kids take seriously. Oh well...