Browse by Catagory:
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The Lion King (A Walt Disney Masterpiece)
Release Date: 1995-03-03
Sales rank: 13
Not an ideal choice for younger kids, this hip and violent animated feature from Disney was nevertheless a huge smash in theaters and on video, and it continues to enjoy life in an acclaimed Broadway production. The story finds a lion cub, son of a king, sent into exile after his father is sabotaged by a rivalrous uncle. The little hero finds his way into the "circle of life" with some new friends and eventually comes back to reclaim his proper place. Characters are very strong, vocal performances by the likes of Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, and Whoopi Goldberg are terrific, the jokes are aimed as much (if not more) at adults than kids, the animation is sometimes breathtaking, and the music is more palatable than in many Disney features. But be cautious: this is too intense for the Rugrat crowd. --Tom Keogh Anybody who struts around with Simba's hard-won authority deserves this royal DVD read-along from Disney. Kids can recoil at Uncle Scar's dastardly deeds en español and discover that "hakuna matata" sounds pretty much the same in Spanish, French, Italian, or German. And should the dynamic storytelling fail to thrill your 4- to 12-year-old fan, a flurry of other interactive options await. Toggle to "Songs" for sing-along renditions of movie hits, including "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," and on to "Music Videos," where Elton John roars soundtrack favorites "Circle of Life" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and Jimmy Cliff and Lebo M groove to "Hakuna Matata." The "Vocabulary" feature allows for see-and-say mastery of a list of wildlife, while the "Game" section allows players to match paw and hoof prints to the proper beast and reassemble the scattered skeletal remains of an elephant. Original cast voices are featured, and grownups will be pleased by the package's reading component. --Tammy La Gorce |
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Beauty and the Beast (A Walt Disney Classic)
Release Date: 1992-10-30
Sales rank: 36
Disney's ClassicThe film that officially signaled Disney's animation renaissance (following The Little Mermaid) and the only animated feature to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Beauty and the Beast remains the yardstick by which all other animated films should be measured. It relates the story of Belle, a bookworm with a dotty inventor for a father; when he inadvertently offends the Beast (a prince whose heart is too hard to love anyone besides himself), Belle boldly takes her father's place, imprisoned in the Beast's gloomy mansion. Naturally, Belle teaches the Beast to love. What makes this such a dazzler, besides the amazingly accomplished animation and the winning coterie of supporting characters (the Beast's mansion is overrun by quipping, dancing household items) is the array of beautiful and hilarious songs by composer Alan Menken and the late, lamented lyricist Howard Ashman. (The title song won the 1991 Best Song Oscar, and Menken's score scored a trophy as well.) The downright funniest song is "Gaston," a lout's paean to himself (including the immortal line, "I use antlers in all of my de-co-ra-ting"). "Be Our Guest" is transformed into an inspired Busby Berkeley homage. Since Ashman's passing, animated musicals haven't quite reached the same exhilarating level of wit, sophistication, and pure joy. --David Kronke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
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Cinderella (Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection)
Release Date: 1995-10-04
Sales rank: 104
Disney's adaptation of the beloved fairy tale became a classic in its own right, thanks to some memorable tunes (including "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes," "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," and the title song) and some endearingly cute comic relief. We all know the story--the wicked stepmother and stepsisters simply won't have it, this uppity Cinderella thinking she's going to a ball designed to find the handsome prince an appropriate sweetheart, but perseverance, animal buddies, and a well-timed entrance by a fairy godmother make sure things turn out all right. There are a few striking sequences of pure animation--for example, Cinderella is reflected in bubbles drifting through the air--and the design is rich and evocative throughout. It's a simple story padded here agreeably with comic business, particularly Cinderella's rodent pals (dressed up conspicuously like the dwarf sidekicks of another famous Disney heroine) and their misadventures with a wretched cat named Lucifer. There's also much harrumphing and exposition spouting by the King and the Grand Duke. It's a much simpler and more graceful work than the more frenetically paced animated films of today, which makes it simultaneously quaint and highly gratifying. --David Kronke |
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A Charlie Brown Christmas
Release Date: 1996-09-17
Sales rank: 22
This television classic features the Peanuts characters in the story of Charlie Brown's problematic efforts to mount a school Christmas pageant. Everybody's on board: Lucy, Snoopy, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, but the biggest impression is surely made by Linus, who stops the show with his recitation from the gospels of the story of Christ's birth. --Tom Keogh |
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Twas the Night Before Christmas
Release Date: 1993-12-21
Sales rank: 6
Animators of all things Christmas, Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass (Frosty the Snowman) take on the famous poem by Clement Moore. Narrated by Joel Grey, the story opens on the night before Christmas, but the reading of the poem must be stopped when two creatures in the house begin to stir: family men Mr. Trundle and Father Mouse. Their restlessness stems from the fact that Santa is angry at the residents of Junctionville, returning all their letters without even opening them. The reason? Somebody wrote a letter to the editor of the paper saying that he doesn't exist. In an attempt to fix the situation, Mr. Trundle, a clockmaker, comes up with a plan to lure Santa into town with a clock that will sing an enchanting song at midnight. When the clock doesn't work on its first test, the townsfolk lose all faith in him. Turns out the cause of all the trouble is Albert, a book-smart young mouse who thinks he knows the truth about Santa Claus. There are a few good songs in the 23-minute program, whose the moral is: don't believe the kids on the playground if they say that Santa doesn't exist. --Andy Spletzer |
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Mickey's Christmas Carol
Release Date: 1993-09-29
Sales rank: 40
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Toy Story
Release Date: 1996-10-30
Sales rank: 78
There is greatness in film that can be discussed, dissected, and talked about late into the night. Then there is genius that is right in front of our faces--we smile at the spell it puts us into and are refreshed, and nary a word needs to be spoken. This kind of entertainment is what they used to call "movie magic," and there is loads of it in this irresistible computer animation feature. Just a picture of these bright toys reawaken the kid in us. Filmmaker John Lasseter thinks of himself as a storyteller first and an animator second, much like another film innovator, Walt Disney. The 10th anniversary edition of the landmark film repackages most of the extras found in the original Ultimate Toy Box set plus a few more. Two keen retrospectives are new, one with an assortment of talents including Roy Disney and Peter Jackson chiming in on the film's impact. The other is a roundtable with Lasseter and three of the creators simply talking about the experiences without--thankfully--any cutaways to noisy film clips. There's a load of other extras since the Ultimate Toy Box was one of the first and best DVD sets. Missing (besides the second film, which will be released separately) is the effects- and music-only tracks. Added is a whopping DTS soundtrack along with a remixed Dolby 5.1 track. The DVD has a higher transfer bit rate for a better picture, but only high-end enthusiasts will notice it. Since the film is a digital-to-digital transfer, both versions are eye-popping. A must-have set unless you have the Ultimate Toy Box. Lasseter's story is universal and magical: what do toys do when they're not played with? Cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Andy's favorite bedroom toy, tries to calm the other toys (some original, some classic) during a wrenching time of year--the birthday party, when newer toys may replace them. Sure enough, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) is the new toy that takes over the throne. Buzz has a crucial flaw, though--he believes he's the real Buzz Lightyear, not a toy. Lasseter further scores with perfect voice casting, including Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn as a meek dinosaur. The director-animator won a special Oscar for "the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film." In other words, the movie is great. --Doug Thomas The Pixar Feature Films - Toy Story, 1995
- A Bug's Life, 1998
- Toy Story 2, 1999
| - Monsters, Inc., 2001
- Finding Nemo, 2003
- The Incredibles, 2004
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Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection)
Release Date: 1998-03-31
Sales rank: 158
Imaginatively rendered but slightly chilly, this 1951 Disney adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic is also appropriately surreal. Alice (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont) has all the anticipated experiences: shrinking and growing, meeting the White Rabbit, having tea with the Mad Hatter, etc. Characterization is very strong, and the Disney team worked hard to bring screen personality to Carroll's eccentric creations. For a Disney film, however, it seems more the self-satisfied sum of its inventiveness than a truly engaging experience. --Tom Keogh |
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Lady and the Tramp
Release Date: 1998-09-15
Sales rank: 80
Disney's first animated feature in CinemaScope is now available in widescreen presentations on video, and it is definitely good to get the whole picture. One of the studio's most original and charming movies, the 1955 film tells the story of a rakish, street-smart dog named Tramp, who helps an aristocratic pooch named Lady out of some trouble and then commences a romance with her. Sweet, funny scenes abound, and the combination of innocence and sophistication would have done well in a live-action picture. Peggy Lee cowrote the songs and provides the voice of the Siamese cats in one of the film's best-known musical sequences. This newly restored version spruces up both sonics and visuals, and a letterbox version is available. --Tom Keogh |
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Schoolhouse Rock! - Multiplication Rock
Release Date: 1997-08-05
Sales rank: 42
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK takes children on a fantastic scholastic learning adventure. The same great songs you knew and loved as a kid are now available to a whole new generation. Each volume in this special collection features exclusive bonus programming of some of today's hottest rock stars singing their favorite SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK! song. Learning multiplication tables is easy when you sing along with MULTIPLICATION ROCK. Songs include "My Hero, Zero"; "Elementary, My Dear" (multiplying by 2); "Three Is A Magic Number"; "The Four-Legged Zoo"; "Ready Or Not, Here I Come" (multiplying by 5); "I Got Six"; "Seven Sampson"; "Figure Eight"; "Naughty Number Nine"; "The Good Eleven"; and "Little Twelvetoes."From 1973 to 1985, a generation of kids watching Saturday morning television learned the function of conjunctions and the preamble to the U.S. Constitution with the help of an animated series called Schoolhouse Rock! The brainchild of executives at McCaffrey and McCall Advertising, the three-minute segments combined whimsical cartoons with catchy music (rock was only one of the styles) to help kids learn seemingly dry topics as easily as they could learn popular songs. Multiplication Rock tackles the multiplication tables, covering numbers 0 through 12 (but not 1 or 10), and chances are few people who grew up watching can multiply by 3 or 5 without hearing the familiar voice of composer-singer Bob Dorough. Other underlying talent included jazz drummer Grady Tate ("I Got Six," "Naughty Number Nine") and jazz pianist Blossom Dearie ("Figure Eight"), who contributed vocals. (Subsequent installments would feature many other jazz musicians and songs written by jazz pianist-composer Dave Frishberg and future Broadway composer Lynn Ahrens, who at the time was a fledgling secretary for McCaffrey and McCall.) Years later, the series was considered so hip that now-grown-up rock stars rerecorded the songs, and Multiplication Rock includes a music video of "Electricity, Electricity" by Goodness. --David Horiuchi |
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