"Parenthood was never supposed to be like this", so you may be surprised when director Shawn Levy reveals that Steve Martin's earlier (and much funnier) parenting comedy was the model for Cheaper By The Dozen. Although not one of Martin's finer moments, this slapstick schmaltz-fest was a minor hit with half-term audiences, and you'll find plenty to keep the kids happy for hours on end with this extras-packed DVD.

Never Work With Children Or Animals...

A wildly enthusiastic Levy talks you through the logistics of some of the film's more complicated set-pieces in four lengthy and incisive behind-the-scenes featurettes. If you thought getting a frog to jump into a plate of scrambled eggs was easy, think again. Then there was the small matter of getting a dog to bite Ashton Kutcher's crotch. While the mutt didn't need much cajoling (good boy!), Kutcher had the benefit of major padding in the trouser area. Wuss.

If there's anything more dangerous than trying to get a rabid dog to hit his mark, it's wrangling a dozen hyperactive children. In the overlong Director's Viewfinder featurette, Levy waffles on about such obvious things as having the cast "hang out" together prior to shooting in order to establish a believable onscreen rapport. Naturally, this did not prevent him from having to play the strict headmaster on a very rowdy set.

Ashton's Pants

A generous selection of deleted and extended scenes (with director's audio commentary) offers more pratfalls, plus a few funny anecdotes. Among them is a babysitting scene, which Levy tells us was cut after a test screening since it rendered the children "irredeemably evil". You'll also find a Field Of Dreams-esque sequence that Levy was "pained" to cut short - so much so that he sneaked into the editing room after hours and added back 35 frames.

Levy expands upon these points in his feature commentary, but for those with a short attention span, there's an alternative track hosted by the Baker kids. After reading out the opening credits in chorus, they shout over each other, laugh hysterically at each other's comic stunts, and occasionally scream in bloodcurdling fashion (see Frogs And Eggs). Either very charming or quite annoying, depending on your disposition, but you can't help smiling when one of the little girls happily exclaims: "I'm not a very good actor, but I'm good enough to admit that." If only Kutcher were so noble...

Talking of which, you'll find Kutcher writhing around in his (padded?) underpants in an Easter egg scene to be found in the bottom corner of the special features menu - which only proves that he's been taking acting lessons from Demi Moore.

Ashton's pants aside, the one major letdown in this otherwise well-rounded package of extras is the absence of Steve Martin. Even if this is a movie he'd rather put behind him, doesn't he owe us some sort of explanation for it?