The DVD starts with a beautiful dance of a badger dressed in her little house clothes and doing the washing and ironing. The story then cuts to Beatrix Potter at home in her orderly and restricted life. Beatrix was an only child who lived in a world full of adults. This DVD shows how she spent most of her time at home in her room, drawing everything she saw - we see her drawing a little mouse that she has captured. The story shows how she came up with her ideas for drawings by observing real life animals.

The picture continues and shows some more costume Ballet performances by the Royal ballet of field mice dancing then of Jemima Puddleduck dancing with her would be captor; the Fox before flying away to safety. Followed by a naughty little squirrel throwing acorns at some field mice and then we see two little pigs that left home to seek their fortune.

The dancing is beautiful and the costumes were amazing - but I found the DVD a bit disappointing because of the lack of dialogue. The dancing is accompanied by orchestral music the whole way through, and none of the characters speak during the movie, so the actual story of Beatrix Potter and the characters she created remain untold. I watched this with my kids and was unsure what to expect but I have to say that after 10 minutes the music was just annoying and a narrative style of voice over this DVD would have been fantastic! My 5 year old spent the whole time asking questions and this left my 9 year old frustrated beyond belief and he finally exclaimed ?Why didn?t they just get someone to read the story over the top!? My kids are not new to the stories of Beatrix potter and they recognised most of the characters, the stories them selves are well worth retelling and would have enhanced this DVD.

Having said all of that?my mother loved this DVD! She knows all the tales and the background of Beatrix Potter quite well and was able to shed a bit of light on the life and times of Beatrix. (This is something I would have expected the DVD to do). Fans of good quality Ballet dancing and wonderful orchestral music will love this performance but I?m afraid that the uncultured riff raff that live in my house just didn?t like it and were bored 10 minutes into the DVD. By the time it had finished they had all voted with their feet and I was in the lounge room on my own. This is a DVD that is OK in 10 minute blocks but not one you would sit and watch all the way though in one sitting. However if culture is not dead in your house this may well be a great DVD to add to your home collection.

THE EXTRAS

No Bonus features - just a scene selection option

CONCLUSION

This DVD brings the wonderful ?Tales of Beatrix Potter? books to life. The Royal Ballet dance their way through the tales and they are absolutely enchanting with this portrayal of Peter Rabbit and his friends. The DVD includes ballet style performances of Beatrix?s most famous characters including Jemima Puddleduck & Peter Rabbit.