2entertain has distributed this latest DVD that features a great number of episodes for a very low and affordable price that will please both grown-ups and children, considering that the series’ popularity has got it aired on both Nick Jr. and Channel Five’s Milkshake slot.
Roary the Racing Car follows the adventures of the little red racing car that lives with his friends at Silver Hatch racetrack, which is under the kind and watchful eye of mechanic Big Chris (voiced by Peter Kay).
Among the cast of characters include Mr. Carburettor the Italian owner of Silver Hatch, Maxi the competitive yellow car, Marsha the tidy race marshal, Cici the flirtatious French electric car and Flash the rabbit that lives under a tree that is rooted near the track.
The range of characters have slowly increased over the years and the writers have managed to give each of them their own personalities and emotions that they have managed to make them individually likable, as well as to give each episode variety when they communicate with each other.
While the overall animation is stop-motion, Chapman Entertainment has also blended some use of computer animation as well and it’s great to see that these two different techniques work really well together to make the characters come alive smoothly. The overall quality with the animation is great as it is almost a bit hard to tell the difference when they swap the two styles and it works that well since the character designs are easily identifiable and kept simple for children to enjoy.
The directors and the cast of voice actors also make a great contribution to making the characters appealing and likable. As well as some nice introduction and end narration by Sir Stirling Moss, the voice talents of the show are made up of some familiar and well-known talents that is really light and entertaining to listen to, including comedian Peter Kay, Maria Darling (who does the voice of Roary and Cici, as well as Luke Triton from the Professor Layton games) and Tim Whitnall (the actor behind Mr. Carburettor and recently in Tree Fu Tom as Rickety the spider).
With eight episodes included on the disc, this is usually an acceptable amount of episodes for a children’s television show on DVD. But what makes this a more worthy purchase compared to the others I have reviewed this year so far is the fact that it is currently under five pounds and is quite affordable as well.
This is a great quality series with a great price for over an hour worth of entertainment for young children and fans of this great-animated British series.
[Rating:4/5]
