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Have A Laugh! Volumes 1 and 2
While the cartoon selection isn’t always great, and the remixing and “Blamming” of footage pointless, the real treasure here are the pristine restorations of some real classics, including Goofy’s latest! |
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The Essential Bugs Bunny
Bugs’ 70th anniversary is (un)marked with this so-so collection of previously released shorts and new to DVD television specials, though the added featurette is certainly not a reason to buy again. |
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Bugs Bunny’s Howl-Oween Special
The 1970s Looney Tunes compilation specials are always nostalgic fun, but Warners need to pack more quantity and quality on these releases to make them good value. |
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The Secret Of Kells: Special Edition
I’m afraid despite the widespread acclaim, Oscar nomination and beautifully stunning visuals, I struggled to engage with The Secret Of Kells’ story and characters, but the disc treatment is first class and many may find the film worth a look. |
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Danger Man / Secret Agent: The Complete Collection
If you’re a Prisoner fan, then it’s well worth going back to see what Patrick McGoohan was doing as the day job, before waking up in the Village, in this classic spy show. |
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Beauty And The Beast: Diamond Edition
Although we still don’t get the original version of the film, Disney’s almost 20 year-old classic gets the top-drawer treatment in an excellent package that is certainly more Beauty than Beast! |
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Warner Archive: Atlantis: The Lost Continent / The Power
Two of animator-turned-director George Pal’s underrated works come to the Warner Archive, and what the discs lack in quality, the films manage to overcome with their sheer entertainment value. |
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Rudolph / Frosty / Santa Claus: The Original Christmas Classics
Christmas arrives early with this Blu-ray collection of Rankin/Bass’ classic holiday specials, almost vanilla discs but for a surprise CD extra and unexpectedly very good HD transfers. |
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Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
Unfortunately living up to its box-office reputation, Disney and Bruckheimer’s visual effects blockbuster dud is ultimately a waste of time, even if it looks perfectly fine in both HD format and on the included DVD. |
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The Black Cauldron: 25th Anniversary Edition
Disney’s dark fantasy looks as bright as it ever could do on this standard definition disc, which presents a spotless new transfer and fascinating deleted scene, but not much else. It’ll look great on Blu-ray… |
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Timmy Time
Aardman’s Shaun The Sheep spin-off, new to Playhouse Disney, is characteristic pre-school fare, but the visually strong storytelling and social lessons to be learned are wrapped up in a typically proficient and entertaining package. |
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Day & Night
Teddy Newton’s bedtime storybook based on his wonderful short naturally can’t quite come alive on the printed page in the way the film did, but the delightful drawings do a sweet job of transposing one medium to another. |
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James And The Giant Peach: Special Edition
Henry Selick’s delicious film of Roald Dahl’s delightful book is given a painful disc treatment in Disney’s HD reissue, with both Blu-ray and DVD discs serving up murky images and zero new bonuses of worth. |
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Warner Archive: Classic Musical Shorts From The Dream Factory
Warner’s multi-disc serving of classic shorts offers a step back in time to when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s stars would hang out in Hollywood and enjoy entertainment at the most exclusive locations! |
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The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons
Lavishly illustrated on quality paper, Jerry Beck’s new book unfortunately doesn’t bring an awfully lot new to the published Looney Tunes canon, though it is undeniably exceptional value for money. |
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Tom & Jerry: Deluxe Anniversary Collection
An enticing prospect, this career retrospective is ruined by poor presentation and, seven Oscar winners aside, weak and random cartoon choices, barely saved by one lone decent supplement. |
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Warner Archive: Red Skelton Whistling Collection
Red “I dood it!” Skelton, the comic that launched numerous classic cartoon catchphrases, stars in his signature Whistling trilogy, here fittingly collected in the Warner Archive Collection. |
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Alice In Wonderland
Tim Burton’s visually striking take on Lewis Carroll’s Alice books mixes in a bit of the previous 1951 and 1972 features to come up with a compelling continuation of sorts. The disc includes a number of interesting extras, none of which are quite in-depth enough. |
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Armageddon
Touchstone Pictures’ explosively entertaining end of the world epic should be quite the experience on hi-def Blu-ray, but the treatment it receives here is far from spectacular, with only so-so sound and vision, and a complete lack of extras. |
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Tombstone
Another Buena Vista title gets a Blu-ray upgrade, but once again the excellent hi-def picture and sound are supported by a lackluster extras package that leaves much to be desired. |
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Warner Archive: Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! – The Complete Vitaphone Shorts Collection
Artist and cartoonist Robert L Ripley’s famed oddities and trivia discoveries began their screen life here, and though this set shows its vintage it does so very entertainingly. |
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Warner Archive: The Amazing Captain Nemo
Producer Irwin Allen earns his Master Of Disaster tag for all the wrong reasons in this unintentionally hilarious slice of classic kitsch. They sure don’t make ’em like this anymore! |
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The Lord Of The Rings: Remastered Deluxe Edition
Ralph Bakshi’s ambitious but wildly uneven animated take on the first half of Tolkien’s trilogy remains a frustrating work, but Warners’ new Blu-ray and DVD combo at least offers the opportunity of a fresh look. |
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The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery In The Mist Edition
Disney’s “greatest little mystery in history” is given the short thrift, with a decent new transfer wasted on a pointless disc that just can’t really be recommended. |
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Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey
Those who liked the first Curious George movie should be more than curious about the little mischievous monkey’s second feature length outing, even if it’s just a bit of fluffy, non-groundbreaking fun. |
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Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson’s fantastic film of Roald Dahl’s children’s crime caper will enchant most, and even if Fox’s disc isn’t exactly packed with extras, there are still some well-rounded supplements and exemplary technical aspects to be enjoyed. |
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Toy Story / Toy Story 2: Special Editions
Although the lack of HD on the classic DVD extras is a shame, the first two films in Pixar’s signature series get the premium treatment on Blu-ray just in time for this summer’s third installment. |
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The First Easter Rabbit: Deluxe Edition
Rankin/Bass move away from the stop-motion that made their name for this sometimes strange hand-animated origin of the Easter Bunny, but the results are rather crude and Warners’ disc is missing the “deluxe” element of the cover’s banner. |
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Bugs Bunny’s Easter Funnies
Friz Freleng’s 1977 television special pulls together some classic Looney Tunes cartoons with new animated sequences and, though the splicing is easily seen, it’s an entertaining enough hour. |
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The Princess And The Frog
Disney’s nostalgic return to the old-school provides a fine time for all ages, even if the magic feels like it’s repeating itself a little. The BD serves up a terrific image, though the extras feel recycled too. |
