Customer Reviews

Tales From Avonlea - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have been looking forward to watching this DVD since I first found out that it was being released. When I put in the first episode tonight, I was extremely disappointed. Many important sections were cut out, including the two that explain Sara's decision as to if she is staying in Avonlea or not. As well, much of the background music is missing, which is incredibly noticeable for anyone who watched the show when it was originally on Disney channel, or who has watched the previous DVD and VHS releases of various episodes. These changes were not made known anywhere on the DVD packaging. There is no excuse for the changes made to the series, since at least some of the episodes have been previously released in their original form and quality. True fans should wait for Disney to release a "real" Season 1 set of this show, not settle for this poorly edited "imitation".

I was looking forward to buying this since the dvd packages released in Canada are twice as expensive as this release.

I was planning on buying it and then I started reading reviews on other sites where people have access to both the Canadian dvds and Disney's. While the Canadian dvds do has missing scenes, it is because the scenes got lost due to lack of preservation over time. (Both Sullivan and Disney had access to the same material to produce the dvds, so even Disney would not have been able to recover these missing scenes.)

Disney's contains missing scenes as well--however, these scenes have been purposefully edited out to cut down the runtime. Each episode on the Disney dvd has been edited to take out as much as 15 minutes per episode.

This is a much beloved series and why Disney would edit down the storylines makes no sense at all. I would rather pay more for a dvd that has ALL the material from the episode rather than a cheaper version that PURPOSELY edited out material. Furthermore, Disney is messing with the artistic integrity of the series by editing out scenes. (Disney aired the series commercial-free and with all their content intact, which makes the editing of the series for dvd release even more perplexing.)

Disney may have had very valid reasons for editing the material, however, they can't rightly call it a 'complete' season when it is INcomplete.

If Disney plans to release a season 2 of TfA, let's hope that they include all the scenes.

I was so excited when I found out Disney was selling "Tales from Avonlea", aka "Road to Avonlea" for around $29.00. I had been wanting to buy the series for years but in most stores the cost of one season (13 episodes)from the Sullivan release ranged from $69.99 to $99.99 and I just couldn't come to terms with paying that price for so few episodes. So when this title came out from Disney for 1/3 to 1/2 the cost I decided to buy it figuring they changed the name due to copy rights but it must be the same show.

Well, it's the same show all right but each episode has been shortened by 10 to 13 minutes. While I was watching it I really felt like some scenes didn't make sense and it felt very choppy so I went to the Sullivan website and read the reviews and found out that episodes had been shortened on the Disney release to allow enough time for commercials and other comments were that they had lost or couldn't find the minutes that were missing. It wasn't 100% clear as to the real reason why it was shortened but it was.

I decided to buy Season one and two of Road to Avonlea at Music World today for $69.99 each and watched the original pilot episode from season one with the pilot episode of season one of the Disney release side by side at the same time and sure enough 13 minutes were missing throughout the Disney release.

If you are a true, die hard fan, of this Canadian Classic Television show I recommend that you buy the Sullivan release of Road to Avonlea instead. All 7 seasons are now available and if you look around you can get them for a fair price. It will be double the cost of this one but you will get all the episodes complete along with a lot of extras/special features which this set does not have.

If you are not a die hard fan of the show and only saw these episodes on the Disney channel and don't care if you miss some scenes then buy this set cause you don't know what you're missing anyway. LOL!!!

Oh and both versions of the show do have a poor DVD transfew of picture and sound but considering the show is almost 20 years old and Canadian it shouldn't really interfere with your enjoyment of this amazing classic.

I hope this info helps.

Avonlea was a program broadcast by the Disney Channel in the US and the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) in Canada. It originally centered around Sarah Stanley (Sarah Polley) whose scandal-ridden father sends her to live with her uncle Alec King (Cedric Smith), Aunt Janet (Lally Cadeau), and her cousins Felicity (Gema Zamprogna), Felix (Zachary Bennett), and Cecily (Harmony Cramp). Ultimately, she is forced to live with her Aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs) and her Aunt Olivia (Mag Ruffman) in a separate house on the King farm.

Much of this season focuses on affluent Sarah's adjustment to a rural community, her Pollyanna-like relationship with eccentric town members, and her adjustment to the serious expectation of her Aunt Hetty.

The show is set in the same town as Anne of Green Gables with Megan Follows and transplants beloved characters such as Rachel Lynde and Marilla Cuthbert. (Although the town is the same, the timing of the series and Anne of Green Gables appears not to line up. Also, Anne never appears in the series, even when Marilla passes away).

Like the Gilmore Girls, Avonlea is a town full of eccentric characters that the writers treat with affection. Unfortunately, there are quite a few initial characters that just don't seem to work (Peg Bown, Peter the hired boy, cousin Andrew). However, those characters are minimized as the show progresses.

Avonlea is a pleasure to watch with anyone, has absolutely no objectionable material, and yet is fascinating enough to entertain even the most jaded of boyfriends and others too silly to admit that they love this show. If you're not entertained by the series pilot (which is very dramatic), keep watching. You'll fall in love with the show by the end of the season.

The show is available on amazon.ca or from the show's Canadian producer for more than twice the amount of money. In addition, that set is on double-sided CDs (two episodes per side) with minimal features and the theme song cut from each episode. In contrast, THIS DVD set is an excellent value with a more user-friendly design. I look forward to giving this set away as a Christmas gift for family members and friends.

I've been waiting to get an affordable version of this great show. So I guess I didn't really want affordable, I wanted the WHOLE show. I still give it 4 stars because it is great--love the characters, the locale, the stories, etc. But, why, oh why, did they take a hatchet to the editing of these episodes?? It is very disconcerting to watch the episode and just know you are missing key elements.

I'm glad I've recorded the original versions on VHS. I'll copy them to DVD from there.

:(

Finally after all these years the first season of the Disney Channel series comes to DVD. Known as "Road to Avonlea" in Canada, "Avonlea" as it is known in the US, is a spin off series of the popular canadian mini-series "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea" (AKA "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequal").
The first season of the show revolves around the adventures of Sara Stanley, a young child who has to go to live with her Aunt in the small town of Avonlea after her father is involved in a embessleing scam.

This season in particular of the show features a couple of characters from the "Anne of Green Gables" series such as, Marilla Cuthbert who appears in two episodes and Rachel Lynde who appears in 3 or 4. This particular season features the first appearences of some of "Avonlea's" most beloved characters including Jasper Dale, Peg Powen, and of course Sally Potts.

This particular season is pretty kidieish if I do say so myself. With most of the episodes revolving around the adventures of Sarah, Felicity, Felix, and Andrew King. In other words, the kids. There are some adult plot lines but not many. Overall, it's just a nice family show that the whole family can watch and enjoy. It is also good to keep in mind that season 1 doesn't really do justice to the entire series. From season 2-5 this was with out a doubt one of the best shows on telivision.

It is also worth noteing that these DVD's have been available for quite some time in Canada, however the US releases seem as if they are going to be as much as $60 CHEAPER!!! Of Course you get what you pay for.

This DVD is butchered within a inch of its life. I know everyone has been saying how poorly this DVD is edited and they are all right. It's not just that these episodes are edited down to their syndicated running time, there are essential scenes that are important to the plot, that have been just ripped from the DVD! This is horrible and not acceptible. I have purchased one of the "Road to Avonlea" seasons (number 5 to be exact). The transfer is done well, ALL of the scenes are there, except the opening credits aren't there, and the DVD's are double sided. So, what to do? Well sad to say there isn't anything fans can do but complain. Sullivan isn't getting it right and nor is Disney. We fans what the shows that we sat down to watch on the Disney channel in the early to mid-90's.


So in closing if your new to the show, or don't mind having 10 minutes of each episode ripped from the DVD then go with this purchase. If not, I would reccomend purchasing the videos. You can buy every episode of season one on video and they are totally complete, opening credits and all!

I have never written a review before, but I just couldn't keep myself from writing about this. I remember watching this show many years ago as a little kid, and now that I'm in college, it is still as endearing as ever.

I was so happy when I heard that that Disney was releasing this on DVD, since the ones that Sullivan (the company that produced this series) released are around $60-70 and I couldn't afford them.

The Disney version does not have all the extras (behind-the-scenes and casting auditions, etc.) that the Sullivan releases have, but it does have the opening credits and music at the beginning of the episodes. The music, as many fans will attest to, is one of the most memorable parts of this series, and to me, it was worth it to get the Disney version just to have the music and opening credits.

I was had low expectations for the picture quality, seeing as how this was filmed over a decade ago, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is not exactly HDTV quality, but it is pretty good and does not affect the viewing in any way...(however, the image quality has gotten very bad ratings from other sources, and I hear Sullivan's is about the same too)

The Disney version is NOT complete in a certain sense. It has all 13 episodes from the first season, but there are several scenes cut here and there from the episodes. These cuts are actually pretty obvious because many times the scene will just fade to black, which can get pretty annoying. The Sullivan version does not have every single scenes either, I don't think, but from what I have heard, it is slightly more complete than this version. That being said, the cut scenes are only minor ones and if you didn't know they were there in the first place, you might never have known they were missing.

To wrap it all up, I just want to say that though I believe this is an absolutely wonderful family film, it might not be for every one. Some episodes from this first season are a little slow compared to the type of television we are used to today. I love this series and am planning to buy every single season (there is 7 in all). However, this is part nostalgia on my part for my childhood, and a newcomer to Avonlea might think that it is a bit dull, since it is set in the early 1900s (I believe).

I would strongly suggest that you give this series a chance though, since I feel much of the later seasons are the best ones. It has been shown in 140 countries, and has won many awards, including Emmys for Outstanding Children's Program, so you really can't go wrong with a series this popular and renowned. And if you are a fan of Anne of Green Gables, then you will surely love this series too, since it is based on the work of the same author! I hope this helps.

I was so dissapointed when I watched the episodes on this collection. They are the editted versions of the originals that aired on the Disney channel. They look like they where taped off of the Hallmark channel and then put on DVD by an amiture!!! I'm returning mine to Disney! Don't waste your cash on this collection!!!!

I was very excited to see Disney finally offering this series on DVD. Additionally, this offering is priced well below the Canadian "Road to Avonlea" DVD sets (about $50).

The above reviews appear to be written BEFORE viewing the actual DVD offered here. The DVDs appear to have been hurriedly copied from video - the picture bounces repeatedly and some scenes are so dark or scratchy that you can't really tell what's going on. I own season 3 of the "Road" Canadian offering and have compared the two - the difference is astonishing.

Bottom line? Don't buy "Tales" if you can afford "Road"

First of all, I love this show, grew up watching it. I jumped at the chance to purchase it. That being said, as a true fan of Avonlea, I would like to share the following information for other fans as a warning. All the episodes on this set have been edited from their original form, They have been butchered. They have annoying and quick fades to blacks, and some scenes are cut abruptly. I love Avonlea I just don't understand why we must get a trimmed down version that is not complete. If this dvd set advertises itself as "complete" it should be. If Disney Plans to release the other seasons, they should include full length uncut episodes the way the show deserves to be shown.