Warner Bros. Academy Award Animation Collection: 15 Winners, 26 Nominees
15 winning cartoons and 26 nominated ones make up a terrific 41-short film collection, and while there are some drawbacks, the bonus material makes this a winner. |
The AristoCats: Special Edition
Disney’s exuberant comedy thriller doesn’t always get the credit it should, but it’s certainly no cat-astrophe and deserves another welcome look on DVD, with a handful of decent supplements. |
The Ten Commandments
Moses gets the short thrift in this budget adaptation that boasts a solid cast but can’t match the strength of the soundtrack with its sometimes painfully amateur visuals. |
Underdog (live-action movie)
Disney continues its streak of well-made, entertaining family comedies with a surprisingly winning combination of laughs, credible canine acting and fun special effects. Woof! |
My Friends Tigger And Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie
Tigger and Pooh find the Hundred Acre Wood’s gone CGI and welcomed new friends in this charming outing which, for pre-schoolers, is a lot of very well made fun. |
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True: Special Edition
Unless you really need this, pass on Cinderella II and save it for the much more intricate third film, A Twist In Time – that is, if you need a Cinders sequel on your shelf at all. |
Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland – Secrets Stories And Magic
Walt’s fantastical institution is celebrated with a 50th Anniversary retrospective featuring documentaries, featurettes and TV shows, making this a Disneyland keepsake of its own. |
Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures Of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit
Wat Disney’s fantastically entertaining first animated star historically comes to DVD in a stunning collection that also packs in the feature documentary The Hand Behind The Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story! |
Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas
Mickey certainly isn’t the best he’s ever looked in this collection of Christmas tales that are sorely lacking the festive spirit or any other redeeming values. |
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume Five
60 more Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, and though the strike rate starts to slip with Volume 5, there are still some knockout cartoons in the bunch, served by some 14-carrot extras! |
Shrek The Third
It’s third time unlucky for DreamWorks increasingly tired franchise with an uninspired movie coming to disc in an uninspired package. Must try harder! |
Ratatouille
Pixar’s hard sell comes to disc in a fairly uneventful package from Disney, but the movie is so delicious that it deserves to be on everyone’s list! |
Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1
Pixar’s first 13 animated shorts, from SIGGRAPH tests to DVD extras, are bundled together in a cute but surprisingly lacklustre package with some curious transfer questions. |
Alice In Cartoonland: Inkwell Edition
A wonderful collection of Alice Comedies, including some unique documentary segments, that’s another winner in the Inkwell Images releases. |
Mickey’s House Of Villains
A fun entry in the tradition of Walt’s own anthology programs that mixed vintage footage with new, featuring Disney Animation Florida’s How To Haunt A House Goofy short as a real highlight. |
Meet The Robinsons
Disney’s whimsical comedy adventure doesn’t have the power of Pixar punch, but it’s accomplished enough and delivers more on a second viewing. |
Transformers: 2-Disc Special Edition
Michael Bay’s explosive blockbuster isn’t a cohesive classic by any stretch, but Paramount/DreamWorks’ extras package develops an appreciation for the sheer scale of filmmaking on show. |
The Jungle Book: 2-Disc Platinum Edition
Walt’s swansong, and one of the best Disney animated features ever produced, The Jungle Book is here in a fairly decent collectors’ edition 2-disc set! |
The Reef
This melding of Finding Nemo and Shark Tale sensibilities is a fishy one to place, being totally derivative of those films but no-where near as bad as it could or indeed was expected to be. Younger audiences might well be hooked! |
The Legendary Laugh-O-Grams: Fairy Tales by Walt Disney
Walt Disney’s earliest film come to disc combined with informative documentary wraparounds and a unique handful of extras that place the films in real context. |
The Lost World (1925 and 1960 versions)
Fox’s surprise DVD includes both Irwin Allen’s kitsch 1960 take on Conan Doyle’s The Lost World as well as the George Eastman House restoration of Willis O’Brien’s pioneering 1925 feature in a deluxe and very welcome package. |
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
This is nothing but product line extension, which should be avoided by collectors, though even the young girl audience might find this a switch off too, with the list price certainly not warranted by the lackluster, less than an hour length. |
The Best Of Casper: Volumes 1 and 2
These “Best” Of Casper collections seem to be anything but, though younger audiences coming to the character for the first time might be charmed. |
Woody Woodpecker And Friends: Classic Cartoon Collection
Walter Lantz’ crazed Woodpecker breaks out of the Universal vaults for an extremely generous collection that’s surprisingly full of exuberance and quality, making this a significant must-have. |
TMNT
There’s a certain nostalgic feel about the paper-thin story, and despite the video game feel and use of fantastical weaponry, parents should find TMNT a fair rent for a fun family time. |
300: 2-disc Widescreen Edition
The three-hundred brave Spartan warriors battle again in this special effects draped action blockbuster that’s not always as dramatic as intended. |
Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film For Theaters
You can’t polish a turd, and even a frustratingly deluxe DVD package doesn’t redeem the worst animated film in many years from being anything other than the waste of time it is. |
Cultoons! Volume 2: Animated Education
Thunderbean unleashes another collection of those “rare, lost and strange cartoons” that ultimately prove to be a bemusing and entertaining collection, well served on DVD. |
Cultoons! Volume 1: Ads And Oddities
This collection of “rare, lost and strange cartoons” sets up a unique series and presents some totally oddball curios in a fine context. |
Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss
Director Phil Nibbelink’s sole-animated version of Shakespeare’s love-story is given a sweet twist and ends up being surprisingly accomplished despite the one-man-band approach. |