Up (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

October 29, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

A touching, very fun and hilarious animated film that is incredibly beautiful and highly detailed. Disney*Pixar has once again raised the bar for quality CG animation and awesome storytelling. “Up” is probably the best film thus far to come out in 2009 and a fantastic Blu-ray release from Walt Disney Studios. There’s no doubt about it, this Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

TITLE: Up

DURATION: 96 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:78:1), English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: PG (For Some Peril and Action)

RELEASE DATE: November 10, 2009

Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

Story by Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy and Bob Peterson

Screenplay by Bob Petersen and Pete Docter

Executive Producer: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton

Producer: Jonas Rivera

Associate Producer: Denise Ream

Music by Michael Giacchino

Edited by Kevin Nolting

Production Design by Ricky Nierva

Featuring the voices of:

Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen

Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz

Jordan Nagai as Russell

Bob Peterson as Dug/Alpha

Delroy Lindo as Beta

Jerome Ranft as Gamma

Elie Docter as Young Ellie

Jeremy Leary as Young Carl

Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios take moviegoers up, up and away on one of the funniest adventures of all time with their latest comedy-fantasy. Up follows the uplifting tale of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. Their journey to a lost world, where they encounter some strange, exotic and surprising characters, is filled with hilarity, emotion and wildly imaginative adventure.

From the creators of “Finding Nemo” and “Monsters, Inc.” comes “UP” from Disney*Pixar. With the yearly success of CG animated films by Disney’s Pixar Animation Studio, “Up” is not just a film that improves upon modern CG animation, it’s a clever film that manages to capture youth but also old age. Through this film we see pain, loss, laughter, compassion through the wisdom of age but also the naivety and spontaneous side of youth. An adventure, fantasy film that will capture your attention and make you laugh but also have you in awe of what Pixar Animation Studios was able to accomplish.

“Up” is directed by Pete Docter (writer for “Wall-E”, “Monsters, Inc.”, “Toy Story” films), a screenplay co-written by Bob Peterson (“Ratatouille”, “Finding Nemo”) and music by Michael Giacchino (“Lost”, “Fringe”, “Star Trek”,”Alias”, “Ratatouille”, “The Incredibles”). The film has received mostly all positive reviews from film critics and the film was a box office success making over $292 million worldwide. The film was the second highest grossing film domestically by Pixar (after “Finding Nemo”) and the fifth highest grossing animated feature in the US of all time.

And now that film makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut on Nov. 3rd. “Up” on Blu-ray is presented in a four-disc release which includes a Blu-ray Disc, a second Blu-ray Disc with the special features, a DVD copy of the film and a Digital Copy of the film.

The film first introduces us to a young Carl Fredricksen who is watching his idol, the famous explorer Charles F. Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer, “The Insider”, “Nicholas Nickelby”, “A Beautiful Mind”) who brings back the skeleton of a 13 ft. bird that he found in South America. Of course, because this bird is a species not known to man, scientist calls the bones as fake and Muntz then decides to leave back to South America and to prove people wrong, he would return with the living bird and won’t return until he finds it.

For young Carl, Muntz was his hero and he would wear his pilot goggles and carry a balloon that would say “Spirit of Adventure” named after the flying vehicle that Muntz rides. But Muntz is also the hero of a girl named Ellie. Both kids love adventure and meet each other in a rundown house which they call their club house.

We then see Carl and Ellie as children and later become young adults who marry and renovate the run down club house to be an actual home. Ellie’s dream and her passion for adventure is to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South America and Carl makes his promise to her that he will make it happen.

As they grow older, each time they save money for their trip to Paradise Falls, they run into financial situations in which they have to dip into their savings. Since Carl makes a living as a balloon vendor, they enjoy a simple life and live in the same house, still in love with each other. But as time has passed for both Carl and Ellie, by the time they are ready to go on their trip, the two have become very old and eventually, Ellie passes away.

Now older Carl (voice by Edward Asner, “Lou Grant”, “Mary Tyler Moore”) is alone, an angry recluse and feels that he has nothing to live for with his wife gone. His home is all he has and it’s his constant memory of his love for Ellie. But his home is now in an area where commercial buildings are being built and the construction company has tried to buy his home but since it’s his memory of Ellie, Carl refuses. Meanwhile, a Wilderness Explorer, a boy named Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai) needs his final merit badge and to achieve that, he needs to to “assist the elderly”. Russell is a talkative young boy, a bit much for Carl and Carl sends him off to hunt a snipe.

One day, a vehicle of the construction company smashes into his mailbox that he and Ellie painted together and Carl is so much in rage that he beats the construction worker in the head and leads him to bleed. He goes into court and is ordered to move into the Shady Oaks Retirement Home.

On the day he is to leave his home and start his new life at the retirement home, Carl unleashes his plan by using all his balloons which takes his home out of the ground and flies off and literally avoiding from him to separate himself from the home that he and Ellie had lived in for decades. His goal is to make good with that promise he made to Ellie and that is to move their home to Paradise Falls in South America.

All seems good for Carl, until he receives a knock on the door and realizes that young Russell was snipe hunting on the porch all this time. Thus Carl is shocked that his plans may be thwarted because he has a child with him.

Carl and Russell end up in South America where they meet a very tall bird which Russell names it “Kevin” and also meet up with a dog named Dug who is able to talk (due to a neck collar that allows speech) who seems to be hunting for the bird for his master. The four end up being on an adventure through tough terrain in South America. Why is Dug after Kevin? Why is Kevin needing the help of Carl and Russell? And who is the original master of Dug who built the talking collar? But most of all, will Carl be able to keep his promise to Ellie by bringing the house to Paradise Falls?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Up” is an audio and visual treat. Presented in 1080p (1:78:1), Disney*Pixar raised the bar of their own previous works and managed to capture so much detail in this film, literally I was floored by how incredible this film looks. From the moment I saw the CG skin of Carl, the detail of the clothing, of leather, the detail inside the home of Carl and Ellie, the detail on the plants, the rocks, the sky, you name it…”Up” is an incredible looking film on High Definition but an animated film in which the famous animation studio has raised the bar yet again.

By watching how the creative arts group at Pixar actually went up high into the Tepui mountains, saw all the rock formations for themselves, a chance to embrace, draw and see how things are in the area but also see how Paradise Falls looks in reality, definitely gave the crew a major incentive to make sure the atmosphere of “Up” was just as detailed as they saw with their own eyes. From the flowers, the plants, the unusual rock formations, the sky and weather conditions, the animation crew was able to capture it so closely with again, so much detail… I was literally in awe of how beautiful this film looks.

There are also details in the way Russell wears his clothes and the clothing movement, the hair of the dogs and how the lighting effects reflect from the hair off the dogs, the slobber of the dogs. Just the way the physics are with the balloons as it carries the house and more! There is just a lot of well-thought out details that come along with the film and you just can’t help but be impressed.

Picture quality is absolutely fantastic! Walt Disney Studios have pretty much been leaders in quality for their animated releases on Blu-ray and the colors are vibrant, blacks are nice and dark but again, the sheer amount of detail is just incredible. No compression, no banding. If there was a film that I can easily classify as “reference quality”, “Up” is definitely a film I would put high up there.

As for audio quality, the film is presented in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD (and also French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby). The film also sounds incredible. From the dogs barking all around you, the sound of the weather around South America, the balloons popping and the action sequences at the end of the film. Sound is crystal clear from the front and center channels. The film also sports solid surrounds capturing the overall ambiance and rear surrounds and also good amount of LFE usage especially during the storm sequences and when the house is bumping around the rocks.

This is definitely a film that sounds incredible on Blu-ray and the lossless audio is definitely crystal clear and immersive. Overall, this is a soundtrack that has its immersive moments but what captures your attention and what sets the mood is the beautiful soundtrack by composer Michael Giacchino. The beautiful music that captures that feel of yesteryear is just amazing.

As for subtitles, subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

The DVD features video in widescreen (1:78:1) and is enhanced for 16×9 Televisions. Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Surround Sound. Subtitles are in English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Up” comes with the following special features featured in 1080p (1:78:1) for all bonus material on both Blu-ray discs, audio in English 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby Digital (also, in French and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital) and English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles:

DISC 1:

Audio Commentary by Director Pete Docter and Co-Director Bob Peterson. Informative and entertaining commentary with a good understanding of the mindset of both Docter and Peterson and the people and environments that inspired the characters and overall feel for the film. Definitely an enjoyable commentary track!
Cine-Explore – A visual montage of concept art, clips, documentary coverage illustrating the director’s commentary with Pete Docter and Bob Peterson.
Party Cloudy: Theatrical Short – (5:46) – A short CG film about clouds who create babies (animals and humans) for the storks but one dark cloud named Gus and his stork tend to make only dangerous animals and he wonders why he’s the main cloud producing those dangerous animals and how his stork, Peck has to deal with the dangerous atmosphere.
Dug’s Special Mission: All New Original Short – (4:40) After you watch the film, watch this CG short about Dug and his relationship with the other dogs and what took place before he met Carl and Russell. Directed by Ronnie Del Carmen (Story Supervisor).
Adventure is Out There – (22:17) Footage and Interviews with the Pixar crew who took a trip to South America to venture up one of the Tepui mountains (in Venezuela) and to also check out Angel Falls and discuss their experiences and show how things were up in those mountains and bringing that to life in the film “Up”.
Alternate Scene: The Many Endings of Muntz – (4:56) The Pixar crew talk about what ideas they had for the character of Muntz at the end of the film.
Learn How to take your movies on the go – (1:00) A promo explaining what a digital copy is all about.

EASTER EGG: On Disc 1, if you highlight bonus features or set up, hit the left button and you will access an Easter Egg titled “The Egg” (1:55)

DISC 2:

Documentaries

- Geriatric Hero – (6:24) The creation of Carl Fredricksen and the elements they wanted to put into his character design and more.

- Canine Companions – (8:26) The creation of the canine characters and the filmmakers attending a seminar by Ian Dunbar, Ph.D (Dog behaviorist) and learning canine hierarchy.

- Russell: Wilderness Explorer – (9:00) How the character design of Russell came about and featuring the young Jordan Nagai, the voice of Russell.

- Our Giant Flightless Friend, Kevin – (5:04) How the character design of Kevin came about and the challenges in trying to create this unique 13-foot bird.

- Homemakers of Pixar – (4:38) Creating the house for “Up” and creating the interior set of the home. Also, how a physical model of the house was created and how the house is more than just a living space in the film.

- Balloons and Flight – (6:25) The challenge of the crew of making balloons carrying off a home believable to the audience, creating the “Spirit of Adventure” blimp and more!

- Composing for Characters – (7:37) Composer Michael Giacchino talks about creating the musical score for his third Disney*Pixar film “Up”, the recording of the music and how he worked with the filmmakers.

Alternate Scene: Married Life – (9:15) Featuring the original love story ideas of how Carl and Ellie would get together. Utilizing sketches via pre-production to tell various stories.
Up Promo Montage - (6:00) A montage of CG animated shorts featuring Carl, Russell, Dug and Kevin.
Global Guardian Badge Game – A geography game in which you find the states to earn a badge.
Worldwide Trailers – Theatrical Trailer #2 (1:48), Theatrical Trailer #3 (2:29)

DVD:

The DVD contains the same special features as the Blu-ray (Disc One).

I absolutely love “Up” and I think that aside from the great detail and animation, what I enjoyed is how it communicates to adults as Carl and Ellie are absolutely relatable to the adults and married couples and you can understand the pain that he goes through when you lose that special someone in your life. The film does a great job of balancing his story, his emotions of trying to keep Ellie’s memory alive through his home, while Russell represents that innocent and naive child and seeing these two characters, total opposites together and trying to make things work.

But what I found touching is that initial first 10-15 minutes of the film and seeing Carl and Ellie grow and the pain they have encountered in their life. The inability to have a child, to see their dreams dashed by situations that required the money they saved up for their trip but the pain of seeing how these two have grown from children to seniors. One thing that the Pixar crew wanted to accomplish with this film is to capture that appreciation you have for your grandparents but also, an animated film that young children can enjoy through the character of Russell.

There are some deep things that happen in the film, circumstances that children probably will not understand but for adults, these emotions that touch you profoundly. Of course, a lot of these deep emotions are for the first 15 minutes of the film between Carl and Ellie as we see flashbacks through their married years but the film becomes highly entertaining once we see the child, Russell and the old man Carl together and having to work together, despite Carl getting a bit annoyed by Russell’s youth and non-stop talking and moving.

But it’s the pacing set by the screenwriters that work. The film never gets boring as it the film becomes very adventurous and also humorous throughout. The humor of a house traveling throughout parts of the world on hundreds of balloons is just a fun concept. And again, the film never gets boring. It’s just an exciting and fun ride when both Carl and Russell are together and manages to end with an uplifting ending.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. This Blu-ray release is packed. Four discs with special features that really go into how this film was created and learning about the things that inspired the filmmakers but also the trip the Pixar crew took to the mountains that inspired them to create that atmosphere. That was great to see. But also there are fun shorts for the children as well and also a game. And of course, a DVD for those long commutes and a digital copy as well.

As for the PG rating, this is the second Pixar animated film to get the rating since “The Incredibles” and mainly its because of the action sequences. Those sequences are not scary at all and I watched the film with my six-year-old. If anything, he was asking questions which related to Carl and Ellie’s marriage (parts which relate to a scene in which Carl and Ellie are unable to have children and the scene where Carl is mourning after Ellie’s passing).

“Up” is a film that was geared not just for children but for adults. The film is mature enough for adults to appreciate, enjoy and to be ultimately touched but also lively, fun and exciting for children to enjoy. Definitely one of the top films of 2009 and one of the top Blu-ray releases of the year thus far. Overall, “Up” is absolutely magnificent and this Blu-ray release is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Children's DVD/Blu-ray

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

September 28, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“The Blu-ray looks fantastic. For this classic film from 1937 to look so vibrant, so spectacular, so beautiful 72 years later is a testament towards Disney’s restoration and remastering. The picture quality is absolutely pristine. The new lossless 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is magnificent. But most of all, if you thought Disney set the bar high in 2001 with the ‘Platinum Edition’ release, this ‘Diamond Edition’ sets the bar even higher as it celebrates the talent who worked on the film and triples the amount of special feature content. This is probably the most content I have ever seen in terms of special features for a video release of a film. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is not only magnificent, it’s also highly recommended!”

TITLE: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition

DURATION: 84 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz/24-Bit), French and Spanish 5.1, DEHT Restored Original theatrical soundtrack, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: G (General Audience)

Release Date: October 6, 2009

Based on the fairy tale by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm

Directed by David Hand

Story adaptation by Ted Sears, Richard Creedo, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Ann Blank and Webb Smith

Produced by Walt Disney

Music by Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith

Art Direction by Ken Anderson, Tom Codrick, Hugh Hennesy, Harold Miles, Kendall O’Connor, Charles Philippi, Hazel Sewell, Terrell Stapp, McLaren Stewart, Gustaf Tenggren, John Hubley

Starring:

Adroama Caselotti as Snow White

Lucille La Verne as the Queen/Witch

Roy Atwell as Doc

Eddie Collins as Dopey

Pinto Colvig as Sleepy and Grumpy

Billy Gilbert as Sneezy

Otis Harlan as Happy

Scott Mattraw as Bashful

Moroni Olsen as Magic Mirror

Harry Stockwell as Prince

Marion Darlington as Bird Sounds and Warbling

Stuart Buchanan as Huntsman

No film in history has captured the world’s imagination like Walt Disney’s first full-length animated masterpiece. Through astonishing Blu-ray high definition technology, experience this timeless classic in its most spectacular presentation ever! With an all new, state-of-the-art digital restoration and Disney enhanced High Definition sound, the breathtaking animation and unforgettable music o the most revered Disney film of all time will enthrall you like never before!

Join the beautiful princess Snow White as she escapes her jealous stepmother, the queen, and befriends a lovable group of dwarfs. When she falls under the queen’s wicked spell, only true love’s kiss can save her.

The Blu-ray looks fantastic. For this classic film from 1937 to look so vibrant, so spectacular, so beautiful 72 years later is a testament towards Disney’s restoration and remastering. The picture quality is absolutely pristine. The new lossless 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is magnificent. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is highly recommended!

For Walt Disney, seeing a play back in 1916 of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” based on the fairty tale by the Brothers Grimm definitely made the producer to attempt something that has never been done before and that is to create a full-length color animated film.

Known for their “Silly Symphony” animated shorts, the 1937 animated film definitely silenced anyone who thought that Disney was not able to pull off a full-length animated feature. Even Walt Disney’s wife thought that no one would want to watch a film that starred dwarfs but needless to say, the film that was called “Disney’s Folly” by naysayers would receive critical praise and even demand by fans for a sequel. The film would be not only be a classic animated film which was honored by the American Film Institute as the “Greatest Animation of All Time”. Even today, adjusted by inflation, the film is considered one of the top 10 money making films in America of all time.

In 2001, when the “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was released on DVD, the DVD was one of the films that were known for its innovation, winning a “Video Premiere Award” for “Best Overall New Extra Features” and nominated for “Best DVD Menu Design” and “Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie Scenes”.

But now in 2009, the film makes its High Definition entry on Blu-ray with 1080p High Definition picture quality and 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sound. Also, a Disney Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack (two Blu-ray discs and a DVD version of the film) which comes out on October 6, seven weeks before its Deluxe Two-Disc Classic standard definition DVD which will be released on Nov. 24th. It’s also important to note that a limited edition collector’s set will also be available

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is a film about a princess named Snow White who lives with her wicked stepmother, the Queen. Her stepmother always consults the magic mirror on who is the fairest one of all, and the magic mirror would reply that she is but this time the mirror tells the Queen that Snow White is the fairest one of all.

Not a caring stepmother, she has Snow White working as a Scullery Maid and is seen wearing clothes that are patched up and are in tatters. But Snow White is always jovial, singing and playing with her animals who respond to her.

But one day, a prince comes to her and wants to be with her, the wicked step mother sees this and is immediately jealous. The wicked queen asks her huntsman to take Snow White into the forest where she can pick wildflowers and then he will kill her and as proof of killing her, he must return with Snow White’s heart in a box.

As the huntsman, goes to do what the Queen has ordered him to do, he can’t. He tells Snow White that her stepmother has ordered him to kill her and that he should run as far as she can. Snow White does and takes refuge at the home of the seven dwarfs: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy and Dopey.

Can Snow White keep safe away from her evil step mother or will the Wicked Queen get to her?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” gets its 1080p High Definition transfer and its absolutely beautiful. Viewers can choose to watch the film in its original 4:3 (1:33:1) format and watch it with DisneyView featuring Tony Bluth’s artwork on the side (for those who have widescreen televisions). According to the guide included with this release, restoration experts took full advantage of the newest breakthroughs of digital imaging technologies to produce this classic. The process took nearly a year of cleanup and scanning over 350,000 frames of the original 75-year-old negative. And the digital artists then removed dust and scratches from the cels.

The picture quality is absolutely beautiful for a film that is 72-years old. The restoration and remastering has removed all dust and scratches. I don’t think I’ve seen any blemishes on video. The picture quality is absolutely beautiful as art backgrounds just look absolutely divine. I don’t think I have realized how exquisite the backgrounds were, especially the amount of emotion that went into the animation. Picture quality for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is definitely magnificent and I look forward to seeing Disney continue this trend of remastering their classic animated films. As for DisneyView, similar to “Pinocchio”, Toby Bluth’s painted borders that are on the sides of the animation matches the animation quite fine and was definitely my preference over standard black bars.

As for the accompanying DVD, the DVD is featured in an aspect ratio of 1:33:1.

Audio is presented in English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz/24-bit), the original mono presentation and also French and Spanish 5.1 DEHT restored original theatrical soundtrack. The film is dialogue and music driven with the soundtrack being front and center channel driven. Music is also featured during the surround and rear surround channels as well. Dialogue and music is crystal clear and understandable. During the more emotional sequences, such as Snow White running away from home in the forest, definitely makes the room quite immersive, albeit a short while but overall, a good use of utilizing the music of Snow White through all channels. There are other parts that really come through on all channels such as a shriek by Snow White coming clear from the rear surrounds which was quite nice (and surprising). Overall, a solid lossless audio soundtrack for a 72-year old animated film.

As for the audio of the accompanying DVD, the DVD comes with an English, French and Spanish 5.1 DEHT soundtrack.

Subtitles are provided in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is absolutely loaded with special features. In fact, I think this is the most special features I have ever seen for any video release of a film ever. Special features range from 1080o High Definition and 480i Standard Definition. Soundtrack is in English, French and Spanish 2.0. Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish. Also is a booklet including a navigational overview of the special features included on both Blu-ray discs.

Special features included are:

DISC 1:

Magic Mirror – Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition features with ease, serving as the host for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognize viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of this technology in a Disney Blu-ray release and provides viewers with the control to personally create a customized Snow White experience.
DisneyView – Disney’s pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth was able to draw beyond the borders of the classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of the animated classic favorite.
About DisneyView – Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.
Backstage Disney – Snow White Returns - (8:44) – Visiting Disney’s Animation Research Library and finding newly discovered storyboards for a Snow White featurette that was never made. Also, the popularity of the dwarfs.
Deleted Scenes – Two scenes that were cut out of the film. “The Soup Eating Sequence” (4:07) and the “Bed Building Sequence” (6:23)
Audio Commentary - Featuring rare recordings from Walt Disney discussing “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and audio commentary by animation historian John Canemaker.
The Princess and the Frog Sneak Peek (7:45) – Featuring a brief sneak peek of the opening sequence of the upcoming Disney animated feature film “The Princess and the Frog” and an intro by Director/Writers Ron Clements and John Musker.
“Someday My Prince Will Come” music video – (3:34) A music video featuring Tiffany Thornton (actress from Disney’s “Sonny with a Chance”).
Family Play – Featuring the following games: What Do You See? (Decipher the Scrambled Image), Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (Which Princess are you most like? – With BD-Live, a personal message from their favorite princess will then call them on the telephone), Jewel Jumble (Test your Matching Skills – Players put jewels from the dwarf’s mine in the proper order.).
Screen Saver – Viewers can activate screen saver and choose the delay (to go on around 5, 10 or 20 minutes).
Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go – (1:01) A trailer of Disney File Disc.

Disc 2:

Backstage Disney: Hyperion Studios – Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built where Snow White was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark, experiencing life at Hyperion Studios in the 1930s. This lengthy, informative and brilliant“Backstage Disney” feature contains newly dimensionalized archival photos, never-before-heard animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney’s gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.Hours of footage of the original studio that Walt Disney and the animators worked at in creation of the early Disney shorts and their first animated feature film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Even the sub-menus have content and comments from the animators who worked at Hyperion Studios back then.

- The One that Started It All – (17:08) Disney’s first attempt at a full-length animated feature film and how naysayers responded to the film.

- Family Business – (1:57) Wilfred Jackson talks about working at Hyperion Studios

- View Where it All Began – (11:41) The history of Hyperion Studios

* The Story Room - Ken Anderson and Frank Thomas would talk about working with Walt Disney for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- Five Bucks a Gag – (1:46) Discussions of how Walt Disney would pay $5 or $10 for people to submit their gags.

- In Walt’s Words: The Huntsman – (3:28) Ron Clements talks about how Walt Disney’s meetings were back then and how they differ from how meetings are done today’s animated films.

- Walt’s Night Prowls – (1:52) How Walt Disney would go through the staff’s garbage cans and post on the board of what he thought about the things they threw away.

- Babes in the Woods (8:04) – Walt’s interest in European stories and how “Babes in the Woods” was originally based on “Hansel & Gretel”.

- Stories from the Stories Room – (1:14) A story of how the animators would have thumbtack targets.

- Gabby, Blabby and Flabby – (1:14) A list of names in consideration for the Dwarfs.

- Abandoned Concepts Gallery – Using your remote, you can see the various pictures in the abandoned concepts gallery. Nine pictures per page, seven pages total.

- Storyboard Art Gallery – Using your remote, you can see the various pictures in the abandoned concepts gallery. Nine pictures per page, 14 pages total.

* The Music Room

- David Hand’s Dirty Trick – (1:18) How David Hand upset Walt Disney

- The Music in Show White – (6:14) Michael Glachino (composer of “Up”) talks about the importance of music and the music in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- The Skeleton Dance – (6:02) John Musker talks about Silly Symphonies and introduces the first musical short titled “The Skeleton Dance”.

- Music Room Host – (:48) How staff would work together in the music room back then for Disney’s animated shorts.

* Art Department

- The Idea Man – (1:41) Original recordings from Disney staff as they talk about the talent of Albert Hurter.

- Creating the World of Snow White -(6:53) The authenticity of the Brothers Grimm tale through visual styling. A European style and influenced by artists from Europe who worked at Disney on “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- “Music Land” – (10:15) – Michael Giaimo talks about Albert Hurter who drew quick sketches and would create hundreds and thousands and showcase expressions. Giaimo introduces the “Silly Symphonies” animated short – “Music Land”.

- Visual Development Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the visual development gallery. Nine pictures per page, 17 pages total.

- Gustav Tenggren Art Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the art gallery. Nine pictures per page, two pages total.

- In Walt’s Words: Cleaning the Cottage – (7:03) Eric Goldberg talks about Walt’s favorite sketch artist. Featuring recordings of Walt Disney.

* Character Design- Ward Kimball talked about how Hurter’s sketches would go to character designers.

- In Walt’s Words: The Dwarfs – (5:49) John Musker introduces a re-enactment of the Dwarf meetings.

- Color Tests Gallery - Using your remote, you can view the color tests gallery with nine images per page, two pages total.

- Character Design Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the five sketches.

* Background and Layout – David Hand talks about the layout man.

- Setting the Stage – (4:04) – Don Hahn talks about staging in animation. Viewing original artwork from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- Layout Gallery -Using your remote you can view through the layout gallery. Nine pictures per page, 13 pages total.

- Backgrounds Gallery – Using your remote you can view through the background gallery. Nine pictures per page, three pages total.

* Animation Department

- Bringing Snow White to Life – (11:33) A featurette about the nine key animators of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- Goddess of Spring - (10:04) Andrew Stanton introduces the 1934 Silly Symphony animated short, “Goddess of Spring”.

- The Animators’ Favorite Animators – (2:00) Old recordings from the animators talking about their favorite animators that they worked with.

- Playful Pluto – (8:09) Paula Sigman introduces us to personality animation through the animated short “Playful Pluto”.

- Blowing Off Steam – (2:17) Milt Kahl about animators would blow off steam and the pranks they would pull on other staff members.

- Animation Art Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the animation art gallery. Nine pages per page, five pages total.

* Live Action Reference – Ward Kimball talks about how they wanted to accomplish “believability” for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- Live Action Host – (:50) John Musker talks about rotoscoping and more.

- Drawing on Real Life - (1:37) Wilfred Jackson and others talk about how they would act things out for the storyboards.

- Live Action Reference Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the live action reference gallery which features nine photos per page, three pages total.

- Giving Voice to Snow White – (2:46) - How Adrianna Castelotti was cast for the role as Snow White.

* Sweatbox - David Hand talks about the sequences of the film and having to approve them in a sweatbox.

- Sweatbox Host – (:53) Eric Goldberg talks about the screening and approval of their work and progress in rooms with no ventilation aka the Sweatbox and how the name continues to be used today.

- Sweating it Out – (1:09) Ollie Johnston would talk about working with Walt Disney in the sweatbox.

- Deleted Bedroom Fight Scene – (2:26) A fight scene amongst the dwarfs that was cut out during a sweatbox session.

* Ink and Paint - Marcellite Garner talks about working at Hyperion.

- Life in the Nunnery - (1:59) Lucy and Isabelle Wheaton talk about how the women (inkers and painters) were not supposed to fraternized with the men at the animation department.

- Flowers and Trees – (8:31) Paula Sigman talks about the color pallet. The first technicolor and animated film to receive an Academy award – “Flowers and Trees”.

- The Challenges of Ink and Paint - (1:41) Marcellite Garner talks about how women were not in the animation department at the time. How women began as painters and became inkers.

- Painted Cells Gallery – Using your remote, you can view the painted cells gallery. Nine cells per page, two pages total.

* Camera Department – Wilfred Jackson talks about the camera department.

- Decoding the Exposure Sheet – (6:47) Don Hahn talks about the exposure sheet and the making of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

- The Old Mill - (9:06) Introduction to the first animated short by Ron Clements using the multi-plane camera, “The Old Mill”.

- Stories from the Camera Department – (2:04) Eustace Lycett talking about working in the camera department.

* Sound Stage

- Steamboat Willie – (8:02) Eric Goldberg talks about sound in Disney. Goldberg introduces the Disney short “Steamboat Willy”.

- Walt’s Early Masters of Sound - (1:51) Jim MacDonald talks about the sound stage.

* Walt’s Office - Maurice Noble, background artist talks about Walt.

- Working with Walt – (1:48) Wilfred Jackson talks about working with Walt.

- Publicity Gallery – With your remote, you can view photos of the publicity for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Nine pictures per page, four pages total.

- Production Photos Gallery – With your remote, you can view production photos. Nine pictures per page, three pages total.

Classic DVD Bonus Features (featured on Blu-ray)

- Animation Voice Talent – (6:18) A featurette with interviews with the animators, voice talent and Disney historians in regards to “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. How Walt Disney wanted the right voice for the characters.

- Disney Through the Decades – (40 minutes) A featurette covering Disney from the 1930′s all the way up to the 2000′s but also chronicling each release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” through the decades. Each portion is introduced by celebrities such as Ming Na, Robby Benson, Angela Lansbury and more.

- Dopey’s Wild Mine Ride – A video game to save Snow White in which viewers make decisions with their remote control.

- “heigh-ho” Karaoke Sing Along – (2:42) In this portion, viewers can choose sing-along (with music and vocals) or karaoke (music only) for the song “heigh-ho”.

DVD:

The included DVD comes with the following special features:

The Princess and the Frog Sneak Peek (7:45) – Featuring a brief sneak peek of the opening sequence of the upcoming Disney animated feature film “The Princess and the Frog” and an intro by Director/Writers Ron Clements and John Musker.
“Someday My Prince Will Come” music video – (3:34) A music video featuring Tiffany Thornton (actress from Disney’s “Sonny with a Chance”).
Audio Commentary with Walt Disney

When the first “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” Platinum Edition DVD was released back in 2001, I felt that the DVD set the bar of the amount of special features and how innovative a DVD can be through seamless branching technology. Needless to say, the DVD won several awards for its technology and so, when the announcement came that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” will receive a Diamond Edition Blu-ray disc release, I was curious to see how Disney could top themselves because that release was already phenomenal.

I have since gone through the Blu-ray release and all I can say is…Wow!

Disney has not only topped the Platinum Edition release, they have set the bar once again for a Blu-ray release and the amount of content that can be included on a Blu-ray and let alone, how awesome they were able to digitally restore the classic 1937 film.

There was no doubt in my mind that Disney would give their first animated feature on Blu-ray the best treatment as possible and as this release is a celebration of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, it’s also a celebration of the talent behind the film. Those who were involved with Hyperion Studios that created the “Silly Symphonies” animated shorts back in the early 1930′s and using the technology at that time and building it, in order to create their first full feature animated masterpiece.

In fact, not only do we get audio of those who worked on the film but we also are treated with those classic animated shorts such as “Babes in the Woods”, “The Skeleton Dance”, “Music Land”, “Goddess of Spring”, “Playful Pluto”, “The Old Mill”, “Steamboat Willie” and more. And to make things even more impressive, these shorts are featured in HD (not cleaned up but still much better than their DVD counterparts). This Blu-ray release manages to capture the various process of the film from creating the story, the music, the art, the backgrounds, the layout, the animation, the live action references, decisions at the sweatbox meetings, ink and paint and how women were involved in the animated process at the time, the camera department, soundstage, etc.

So much is included on both Blu-ray discs in terms of special features, so much went into restoring this film, that this release is one, if not the top video releases of all time. I have no doubt in my mind that probably ten years from now, this Blu-ray will be highly revered for its content.

I know that many people own the 2001 Platinum DVD Edition of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and are wondering if it’s worth the double dip and the answer is YES! There is just so much included on the Diamond Edition, way more than the 2001 Platinum Edition. Also, if you are now wanting these classic Disney films in High Definition, its definitely worth the move to see this classic film in High Definiton. But I must say that you should not toss away your 2001 DVD edition because there are video clips such as the “Excerpt from The Story of Silly Symphony”, “Excerpt from Tricks of Our Trade”, “Camera Tests”, “Abandoned Concepts”, vintage audio (radio shows and spots are not included) and several songs and deleted scenes which are not included on this Diamond Edition release.

So, overall it’s a no-brainer that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is definitely worth it. For High Definition fans, the film looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray. And as mentioned, the sheer amount of content included in this release is absolutely incredible.

I really don’t have any negatives but me being nitpicky that it would have been nice to have certain special features such as the vintage radio/audio content , a few deleted scenes, songs and video clip excerpts from the 2001 Platinum Edition DVD included on the Diamond Edition. And personally, for me that is the only thing that prevents me from calling this release absolute perfection. There was one other thing and that is my Blu-ray discs came in a black DVD case, not the standard blue casing. I was told that there will be two releases (in different casing, not inc. the limited edition) with one in a blue Blu-ray case and another using black DVD casing in order to educate those new to Blu-ray.

I do think that Diamond Edition and the Platinum Edition are quite different in terms of presentation of special features and the goals were quite different of what kind of special features would be presented. With the Platinum Edition, its solely focused on “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and in the Diamond Edition, there is more focus on giving the viewer the history of Walt Disney and the animators of how they got from Silly Symphonies to using their skills and technology in creating the first animated feature film. So, as I have said earlier in my review, this release is more or less, a celebration of those who worked on the film and giving recognition to those animators and staff members who took part in that film and the work that they did earlier, that became instrumental in creating Snow White.

So, overall…the Diamond Edition is just incredible when it comes to the actual digital restoration of this classic film and a release that is absolutely packed with special features. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition” is a solid release that raises the bar of what Disney is capable of in terms of content in a home video release. This is truly a magnificent release and is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Children's DVD/Blu-ray

Enchanted (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

September 27, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Magical, enjoyable and highly entertaining! Disney fans who enjoyed classics such as ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ or ‘Sleeping Beauty’ will find ‘Enchanted’ to be delightfully fun! Featuring awesome picture and audio quality and plenty of special features, definitely a Blu-ray worth having in your collection. Highly recommended!”

TITLE: Enchanted

DURATION: 107 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1/1:85:1 storybook beginning), English Dolby TrueHD (48 kHz/24-bit), English, French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: PG (For Some Scary Images and Mild Innuendo)

Release Date: March 18, 2008

Directed by Kevin Lima

Written by Bill Kelly

Executive Produced by Christopher Chase, Sunil Perkash, Ezra Swerdlow

Producer: Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld

Associate Producer: Susan Ringo, Ron Rocha, Doug Short

Music by Alan Menken

Cinematography by Don Burgess

Edited by Gregory Peter, Stephe A. Rotter

Casting by John Papsidera, Marcia Ross

Production Design by Stuart Wurtzel

Art Direction by John Kasarda

Set Decoration by George DeTitta Jr.

Costume Design by Mona May

Starring:

Amy Adams as Giselle

Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip

James Marsden as Prince Edward

Timothy Spall as Nathaniel

Idina Menzel as nancy Tremaine

Rachel Covey as Morgan Philip

Susan Sarandon as Queen Narissa

Julie Andrews as The Narrator

Jeff Bennett as Pip in Andalasia

Kevin Lima as Pip in New York

Enchanted cleverly combines a heartfelt romance with a gentle spoof of Disney films of the past as an animated heroine from a far away kingdom finds herself transformed into a real live woman in bustling New York City. Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams (2005 nominee for Best Supporting Actress; Junebug) leads an all-star cast as the lovely Giselle, a storybook princess-to-be lost in the Big Apple. Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (1996 winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role; Dead Man Walking) plays the evil sorceress Narissa who exiles Giselle from her fairytale kingdom and James Marsden (Hairspray) is her handsome prince, with Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”) as a contemporary knight in shining armor and Tony Award® winner Idina Menzel (2004 winner for Best
Leading Actress in a Musical; “Wicked”) as his girlfriend Nancy who suspects Giselle might just be a little too good to be true.

Enchanting, hilarious and highly enjoyable, I have no doubt that “Enchanted” will become a Disney classic that will be watched for many generations.

The 2007 romantic comedy/musical/fantasy film known as “Enchanted” was a box office success when it was released in theaters during the Thanksgiving Week. The film received critical acclaim, two Golden Globe nominations, three Academy Award nominations and made $340 million worldwide.

The film is produced by Barry Sonnenfeld (“The Tick”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and the “Men in Black” films), directed by Kevin Lima (“Tarzan”, “102 Dalmatians”, “Eloise” TV films and a character designer for “The Little Mermaid”, “Oliver & Company” and “The Rescuers Down Under”) and a screenplay by Bill Kelly (“Premonition” and “Blast from the Past”). The film’s music is composed by Alan Menken (Pocahontas”, “Aladdin” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Little Mermaid”) and cinematography by Don Burgess (“My Super Ex-Girlfriend”, “The Polar Express”, “13 Going on 30″ and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”).

The film kicks of in an animated format in fairytale fashion (narrated by Julie Andrews, “The Sound of Music”, “Mary Poppins”) as the film takes place in land called Andalasia. A woman named Giselle (voice and played by Amy Adams, “Julie & Julia”, “Doubt”, “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”), who is quite a talented seamstress who is trying to make her prince along with her animals that come to help her while she sings. She dreams of her prince that would one day come.

Meanwhile, the Prince (voiced and played by James Marsden, “X-Men” films, “27 Dresses”, “Superman Returns”) goes to look for the princess in hopes that he can marry her but his mother, the Queen/Witch (voiced and played by Susan Sarandon, “Bull Durham”, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “Shall We Dance”) does not want that to happen. So, she has her worker named Nathaniel (voice and played by Timothy Spall, “The Street” and “Harry Potter” films) keep tabs on the Prince by keeping him preoccupied with him fighting ogres.

But the Prince and the Giselle eventually meet and the two fall in love and are now planning to get married and Giselle will become a princess. With the Queen angered that the two are together, on the day of the wedding, the Queen disguises herself into an old hag and pushes Giselle into a magic portal. Next thing you know, Giselle comes out of a sewer hole in New York’s Times Square in a land that she is not familiar with. Lost and alone, Giselle tries to search for her prince.

We are then introduced to a family of two, divorce lawyer Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Freedom Writers”, “The Practice”) and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) are riding in a taxi. The daughter who loves princesses hopes for her father bought her a princess book but with the father so busy with work, gives her a book about famous women in history. Robert tells his daughter the big news that he will be getting married to Nancy Tremaine (played by Idina Menzel, “Private Practice”, “Rent”), but Morgan is a bit weirded out in having a stepmother.

Meanwhile while driving home, Morgan thinks she sees a princess, who happens to be Giselle who is looking for her prince. Lost in New York, Robert and Morgan take Giselle into their home, where she crashes and falls asleep.

The next following day, Giselle gets used to her new surroundings and sings her song and gets all the animals (birds, bugs and rats) to assist her to clean the home. Morgan wakes up to see the magic, wakes her father but the father is shocked to see all these rats in their home and both try to get the birds and rats out of their apartment. When he goes into the bathroom, he sees Giselle taking a shower (assisted by birds) and next thing you know, Nancy comes to the apartment and is upset that a woman is in his apartment (and only wearing a towel).

As Robert tries to assist Giselle in finding her prince, he is touched by Giselle’s naivety of love and romance and her belief in magic in romance and happily ever after. Because he is a divorced father, he tries to teach Giselle that happily ever after doesn’t exist but Giselle tries to counter him and both seem to learn from each other during their short time together.

Meanwhile, the Prince goes through the portal to find and search for Giselle along with Giselle’s chipmunk friend Pip. Meanwhile, Nathaniel who is working with the Queen, is given three poison apples that he must get to Giselle in order to kill her before the prince can find her and get married to her.

Will Giselle survive her stay in New York? Or will the Queen/Witch get to her first?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Enchanted” is a splendid film that looks absolutely great via 1080p High Definition. It’s important to let viewers know that only during the beginning, during the storybook animation, the film is presented in 1:85:1 aspect ratio. So, you will see black borders on all four sides (window-boxed). When the film shifts from animated to modern New York, the film then becomes 2:35:1.

The film transfer is absolutely vibrant. The animation is crisp and clear, colorful and just beautiful onscreen. The film portion is detailed with colors showcasing the New York City from the grimy parts of New York City, to the beautiful shops and colorful, lush settings of the park. You can see the detail from the threading of the clothing, to the gravel on the road. It’s important to note that this was a film that is also devoid of grain. As much as I’m a proponent of grain, the film is not exactly DNR’d (digital noise reduction) to the Nth degree. There is no waxiness, the film retains its color and detail. So, needless to say, the film does showcase awesome picture quality.

As for audio, being an older release, this was during the time that Disney was using DolbyTrue HD (the company has since moved to DTS-HD Master Audio). Presented in 48 kHz and 24-bit) The film is dialogue and music-driven but as dialogue and music are front and center channel driven, there are a good number of special effects that can be heard through the surround channels. The ambiance of New York can be heard, as well as the sound effects which includes the wicked Queen’s evil magic which envelops the soundscape all around you with use of the LFE.

The film definitely becomes immersive in sound and music. Dialogue is clear and understandable and for the most part, the lossless audio is very good. The film is also presented in English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital.

As for subtitles, the film is presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“Enchanted” comes with the following special features:

PIP’S PREDICAMENT: A POP-UP ADVENTURE – (5:32) Giselle’s chipmunk friend Pip stars in this new short—magical pop-up, storybook style. While Giselle gets used to life in New York, Pip embarks on a daring mission to rescue Prince Edward.
FANTASY COMES TO LIFE – Discover the cinematic wizardry that went into the making of “Enchanted” in three behind-the-scenes featurettes: “Happy Working Song” (6:24) – How animal trainers and special effects were utilized in the early memorable scene from the film, “That’s How You Know” (5:53) – How hundreds of people took part in the musical scene at Central Park, “A Blast at the Ball” (5:25) – How the finale was created, Susan Sarandon’s costume and more..
DELETED SCENES – (7:53) Six deleted scenes including exclusive intros by director Kevin Lima discussing why he cut the scene.
BLOOPERS – (2:09) Bloopers from “Enchanted”.
Music Video – (3:30) Carrie Underwood singing “Ever, Ever After”
THE D-FILES – Enchanted is loaded with witty hidden references to classic Disney films. The DFiles” rewards players who spot them with a short featurette showing the original Disney reference. High scoring players are treated to three extra special videos: “So Close,” “Making Ever Ever After” and “True Love’s Kiss.”

With the upcoming “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” coming out on Blu-ray, I’ve been wanting to watch “Enchanted” for awhile now. And definitely to catch this film which had been praised by critics and has done quite successful in the box office. So, having watched the film, I can’t help but say that I absolutely loved it.

From the gorgeous animation to the fairytale storyline, I absolutely enjoyed how the film paid homages to the classic Disney animated films and capturing the fantasy/musical and dramatic storyline. Everything seems to work and for the most part, it’s a great combination of Disney magic of animation and it’s live film all in one. Yes, we have seen this before in “Mary Poppins” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” but it was captured quite well in “Enchanted”.

Although the character of Giselle could have been quite annoying, Amy Adams manages to pull of the character quite well. Patrick Dempsey comes into the film with success from his “Grey’s Anatomy” TV show (and I grew up watching Dempsey’s films during the 80′s), so it was great to see the chemistry between Adams, Dempsey and youngster Covey work quite well in this film. Also, James Marsden, Timothy Spall and Susan Sarandon did a great job, and dare I say, Sarandon looks absolutely delightful in this film.

If anything, “Enchanted” is just a fun Disney film that captures that magic that viewers have seen since the 1930′s (starting off with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”) and this film is like one big homage to Disney past and present.

As for the Blu-ray, as they are today…they were back in 2008 during the release of “Enchanted” on High Definition. Awesome picture and audio quality, plus plenty of special features. This is a very solid Blu-ray release!

Overall, “Enchanted” is definitely an instant Disney classic. A good combination of animation, music, CG and fantasy plus that romantic comedy vibe that all comes together quite splendidly for this film. Definitely a film worth having in your Blu-ray collection! Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews

Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 7: Classic Short Films – Mickey’s Christmas Carol (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

September 26, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“For those who grew up with the classic Disney animated short films, the latest volume is Christmas-themed with classics such as ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’ and ‘Santa’s Workshop’ but also older shorts such as Pluto’s Christmas Tree’ and ‘Santa’s Workshop’. A fun, enjoyable volume to share with the family during the holidays!”

DVD TITLE: Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 7: Classic Short Films – Mickey’s Christmas Carol

DURATION: 64 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Aspect Ratio (1:33:1), English, French and Spanish Subtitles, Disney’s FastPlay

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: September 29, 2009

Produced by Walt Disney

Mickey’s Christmas Carol – Directed by Burny Mattinson

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is written by Burny Mattinson and Tony Marino

The Small One is based on a book by Charles Tazewell

The Small One – Directed by Don Bluth

The Small One – Written by Vance Gerry

Pluto’s Christmas Tree – Directed by Jack Hannah

Pluto’s Christmas Tree – Written by Bill Berg and Milt Schaffer

Santa’s Workshop directed by Wilfred Jackson

Featuring the Voices of:

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Alan Young as Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck)

Wayne Allwine as Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse)

Hal Smith as Jacob Marley’s Ghost (Goofy)

Will Ryan as The Ghost of Christmas (Willie the Giant and Pete)

Eddie Carroll as The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket)

Patricia Parris as Belle (Daisy Duck)

Dick Billingsley as Tiny Tim

Clarence Nash as Newphw Fred (Donald Duck)

The Lost One

Sean Marshall as the Boy

William Woodson as Tanner

Olan Soule as the Father

Hal Smith as the Auctioneer

Gordon Jump as Joseph

Vol. 7: Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Celebrate the holidays with Mickey’s Christmas Carol, a beloved classic short film that is now part of the Disney Animation Collection!

Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and many more of your favorite characters join the cast in this delightfully charming adaptation of a classic holiday tale. Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck) is far too greedy to understand the Christmas is the time for kindness and generosity. So, with the guidance of some wise ghosts (with Goofy and Jiminy Cricket), and the examples set by his clerk Bob Cratchit (Micky) and nephew Fred (Donald), Scrooge learns how to embrace the true spirit of the season.

Each volume in the Disney Animation Collection series is packed with classic Disney short films that will bring laughter and merriment in your family’s home. Add them all to your DVD library today!

As a child, I can easily remember my prized possession was a Walt Disney book that my father purchased for me and it featured the chronology of the early classic Walt Disney animated shorts. Some of these shorts were shown on the Disney Channel when I was younger but suffice to say, with all the new animation, a lot of these classics have probably been forgotten or have been released on VHS video.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment are now releasing a few of these shorts on DVD for the first time (some have appeared on past Disney DVD releases). Now the seventh volume of the Walt Disney Animation Collection will be released and the theme for this volume is Christmas.

In past volumes, we saw many of the Silly Symphony shorts from the 1929-1939 featured in each volume but this time around, we have a volume featuring animation shorts released in the 80′s. Also, the following shorts are much longer with most shorts in the past being around under 10 minutes, in this volume, the first two “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and “The Small One” are over 20 minutes long.

The seventh volume “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” includes four shorts. Included are:

Mickey’s Christmas Carol - (25:47) This popular Disney animated cartoon is from 1983 and has been featured on several DVD’s in the past. In an animated retelling of the Charles Dickens masterpiece, Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge who is tight with money and puts money above everything. Even on Christmas Eve, his poor employee Bob Cratchit (Mickey Mouse) is docked pay for Christmas vacation. But its when the Ghosts of Christmas past pay a visit to Ebenezer and show him that he should have compassion for people.
The Small One – (25:33) A popular Disney animated cartoon from 1978. A story about a boy who lives outside of Nazareth and because “The Small One”, a donkey is getting too old, the boy’s father tells him they must sell him. The boy who absolutely loves the Small One is crushed but tells his father that he will be responsible in selling Small One and finding him a new home. So, the boy and his donkey go to Nazareth.
Pluto’s Christmas Tree - (6:53) A 1952 Technicolor animated short. Mickey cuts down a Christmas tree which is inhabited by two chipmunks: Chip and Dale and with Mickey and Pluto decorating the tree, Pluto is disturbed in finding out that the tree has two inhabitants living there.
Santa’s Workshop - (6:18) a Silly Symphony animation from 1932 featuring Santa and his elves preparing for Christmas day.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Walt Disney Animation Collection” is featured with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. These classics are available on DVD for the first time but its important to mention that these animated shorts have not been digitally remastered or cleaned up.

As a matter of fact, you will see a lot of the dust and scratches of the film and some of the animation look fine for being nearly 70 years old but others look grainy and a bit aged. Granted, these are not classic full featured films but I hope one of these days, many of these classics do get cleaned up or even digitally remastered.

As for the audio, audio is featured in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. I found that on my home theater system, the best selection on my receiver to view these animated shorts was to switch it to mono or (if you have this capability) select stereo for all channels.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no special features included on this DVD. But this volume does come with a litho print from “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”.

As mentioned earlier in my review, my prized possession as a child was a Walt Disney booklet that covered the Walt Disney animated shorts in chronological order and had the opportunity to watch these classics. Having these classic animated shorts from the past is great but also to have animation that I watched as a child during the Holidays, included on this DVD is awesome. But most importantly, now that I can share these classics with my son. These four animated shorts (and all previous volumes) are great for the families and in this volume’s case, definitely worth sharing with the family during the holidays.

Of the released “Walt Disney Animation Collection” volumes, this volume is different in the fact that the past volumes featured shorts that had no dialogue (a few did but many didn’t). Mainly music and sound effects but with this volume, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and “The Small One” are two fantastic animated Disney cartoons that have a touching storyline, beautiful animation and although more recent than the Silly Symphony shorts featured on previous volumes, they are definitely Disney classics!

For those who owned the 2005 DVD release of “Walt Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 09 – Classic Holiday Stories (1952-1983)”, may not need this volume as all animation from this DVD are included on the 2005 DVD release with the exception of “Santa’s Workshop”. Unless you are diehard fan, then to have that DVD with the Silly Symphony short may be worth it to you.

I know that there are some who wish these classics were digitally restored or remastered but I doubt that Disney will do that for a lot of their animated shorts for now (although they are really doing a fantastic job on the Disney feature films such as “Sleeping Beauty”, “Pinocchio” and “Snow White” for the Blu-ray release).

But overall, these collections are offered for a low price and if you are a Disney fan, it’s a no-brainer that this volume is definitely worth it. “Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 7: Classic Short Films – Mickey’s Chritmas Carol” is definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Children's DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews

Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

March 5, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“70 years later and just an absolutely wonderful release on Blu-ray. Awesome picture quality and tons of bonus features and extras that simply make this classic masterpiece a must-own for all Disney fans! Disney has hit another grand slam with this Blu-ray release. Highly recommended!”

TITLE: Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition

DURATION: 88 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080P High Definition 1:33:1, 1080p and 1080 i High Definition, 480i Standard Definition for bonus features. Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz/24-Bit) and restored original theatrical soundtrack

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: G

RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2009

Cast:

Mel Blank (voice of Cleo, Figaro and Gideon)

Cliff Edwards (voice of Jiminy Cricket)

Dickie Jones (voice of Alexander, Pinocchio)

Christian Rub (voice of Gepetto)

Walter CAtlett (voice of Honest John)

Frankie Darro (voice of Lampwick)

Charles Judels (voice of The Coachman/Stromboili)

Evelyn Venable (voice of the Blue Fairy)

Celebrate the 70th anniversary of Walt Disney’s Pinocchio. The legendary masterpiece that inspired millions to believe in their dreams has reawakened with an all-new, state-of-the-art digital restoration and now, for the first time ever, the richly detailed animation, unforgettable award-winning music
(“When You Wish Upon A Star”) and heartwarming adventure-filled story is fully revealed with all-new dazzling bonus features transport you into Pinocchio’s fantastic world. Join Geppetto’s beloved puppet—with Jiminy Cricket as his guide—on a thrilling quest that tests Pinocchio’s bravery, loyalty and honesty, virtues he must learn to become a real boy. The one and only Pinocchio will live on forever in the heart of anyone who has wished upon a star.

A timeless classic that has been entertaining audiences for 70 years, Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio” gets the High-Definition treatment and with Disney’s classics on Blu-ray known as “reference” disc’s among high-definition fans, “Pinocchio” is the second animated film from Walt Disney to hit theaters (back in 1940) and the oldest Walt Disney animated film to be released on Blu-ray.

“Pinocchio” starts off with a wood carving puppet maker named Gepetto (voiced by Christian Rub) creating a wooden puppet of a boy which he names Pinocchio. Living with Gepetto is his pet cat Figaro and his goldfish Cleo but for Gepetto, he dreams that his Pinocchio can come to life.

Meanwhile, a cricket named Jimini Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards) stays at Gepetto’s place and watches as the Blue Fairy comes during the night and grants Gepetto’s wish and makes Pinocchio come to life.

Of course, Pinocchio (voiced by Richard Jones) is not to knowledgeable of how people live and what is right and what is wrong but the Blue Fairy chooses Jimini Cricket to become his consciousness and to help steer him to make decisions that are good. And if Pinocchio can prove that he can learn to be good and unselfish, he can become a real boy and Jimini Cricket can get the gold badge that he has desired.

When Gepetto awakes and discovers that his puppet has come alive, Gepetto is overjoyed and surprised that his dream has come true. Very quick to get Pinocchio ready for his new life, Pinocchio’s first goal is to go to school.

But unfortunately, Pinocchio befriends to con men (or animals) J Worthington Foulfellow (voiced by Walter Catlett) and Gideo the cat (voiced by Mel Blanc) who pretend to help Pinocchio and pretend to be his friend and lead him to a different path, despite warnings from Jiminy Cricket.

Pinocchio learns the hard way that not everyone he meets are good people but most of all, he learns a hard lesson about making good and bad choices, lying and eventually, having to make the right choices to save himself from harm.

Of course, there is so much to the storyline of “Pinocchio” but this is a film that has to be enjoyed from start to finish. And what people will love is that as much as there was an impressive story with the animated film, behind-the-scenes of the making and release of the film has its own interesting story as well, which people will get to learn from this 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition.

This Blu-ray disc comes with two Blu-ray discs plus a DVD disc of the film.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

So, far the Walt Disney Blu-ray disc animated (as well as theatrical) releases are among the best in picture and audio quality.

With the 2008 Blu-ray disc release of “Sleeping Beauty” (1958) which definitely benefited from the High-Definition remastering and many videophiles putting it among their top 10 of “reference” Blu-ray discs for picture quality, “Pinocchio” (1940) is a much older release, this film presented in multiplane Technicolor just looks absolutely fabulous on Blu-ray.

For nearly a year, an expert restoration team digitally scanned 380,334 frames of four and half miles of 71 year-old film negative, cleaning 126,778 frames, realigning each scene, removing dirt, scratches and dust and matching colors to the original cels and backgrounds. The clarity of “Pinocchio” is just amazing and I was just impressed how clean the animation was.

From the details of the backgrounds to the vibrant colors used, picture quality was just spectacular.

And the audio is no slouch either as the audio is featured in English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz, 24-bit) or a restored original theatrical soundtrack. Of course, the film is primarily a dialogue based film but also a classic known for its music.

So, for those who have been enchanted with songs such as “When You Wish Upon A Star” to “I’ve Got No Strings”, fans of Disney composer Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Paul J. Smith are going to enjoy how beautiful the music sounds on their home theater setup. The music from “Pinocchio” earned the film two Oscars in 1941 for “Best Music, Original Score” and “Best Music, Original Song” for “When You Wish Upon a Star” which would become Disney’s anthem.

For those wondering if there are any audio tracks in any other languages, unfortunately there is not. Although the bonus features do include English, French and Spanish 2.0. The same can be said for subtitles featured in English SDH (for the film) and the bonus features in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Pinocchio” is just loaded with special features. Here is what is included:

Blu-ray Disc 1:

• “When You Wish Upon a Star” –

• Pinocchio’s Matter of Facts –

• Optional Video/Audio Commentary –

• Disney Song Selection –

Blu-ray Disc 2:

No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio – Witness the behind-the scenes magic that transformed Carlo Collodi’s popular book into a classic animated film. About an hour long and very informative featurette about how the film cost Disney over $2 million to make but the film didn’t do well in the box office until later as the music became a big part of Disney and people started to discover it’s technical, artistic and musical merit and having become a Disney masterpiece.
Deleted Scenes – In the Disney vault, storyboards for deleted scenes and an alternate ending were found. Without spoiling any of these, the following scenes are:
– The story of the Grandfather Tree – Kindly Geppetto tells Pinocchio about the Great Pine Tree from which Pinocchio is descended.
- In The Belly Of The Whale – The most elaborate of Pinocchio’s deleted scenes that remain in the Disney Archives, these recently discovered storyboards reveal a different version of Geppetto inside Monstro.
- Alternate Ending – A recently uncovered set of small storyboard panels reveal plans for a different version of Pinocchio becoming a real boy.
The Sweat Box – The Sweatbox was a small projection room at the Disney studio where Walt critiqued story reels, rough animation, and dailies of films in progress with his anxious artists. This piece traces the history of the Sweatbox and brings to life this important part of Walt Disney’s artistic process.
Geppettos Then And Now – A look at the art of toymaking as it has evolved into the 21st Century. A fun featurette showcasing those who make toys, those who still carve wooden puppets to those who have created the Wall-E robot toy and I-Sobot.
Live Action Reference Footage - Older footage of how live action was used in the film, especially with the movements of Jimini Cricket.
Pinocchio Art Galleries - The hand-drawn conceptual art of “Pinocchio” is fantastic. Absolutely beautiful!
Pinocchio’s Puzzles – Hosted by Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio’s Puzzles is a multi-tiered Puzzle game that contains six unique wooden puzzles for the viewer to assemble. Each puzzle forms an image from the film that comes to life once they are complete.
Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Features –Includes all DVD Bonus Content (*BD-Live not available in Canada)
• Disney BD-Live Network – The Disney BD-Live Network is just one of the many ways movie lovers, families, and loved ones can continue to stay connected and engage in their favorite movies.
Movie Chat – Communicate with your remote friends on-screen while in a synchronized viewing party using your remote control or any text enabled device such as a laptop,
desk top or any PDA device such as a Blackberry, iPhone or most other regular cell phones. Your chat session will appear over the movie and occur in real-time while watching the movie together.
Movie Mail – Blu-ray owners will be able to record a personalized video message of themselves, superimpose that capture onto one of many pre-selected clips of the movie, and send it off to a friend, colleague, or relative. This specific feature enables Pinocchio Blu-ray Disc owner to personalize a very special greeting as never before.
Disney Movie Rewards Live – Pinocchio Blu-ray owners will be able to accumulate Disney Movie Reward Points by participating in many Disney BD-Live Network activities. In return, viewers can redeem points for exclusive content such as Avatars, downloadable extras and many more exciting possibilities.
Disney View – A new viewing experience for future generations of home audiences, Disney View brings classic Disney films to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray™ technology, artists are able to ‘draw’ beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful original imagery, giving audiences a new view on their animated classic favorites. Legendary artist Toby Bluth is the first artist’s work to be featured on Disney View. I hope “Disney View” is a continuous feature because instead of watching the black bars on the sides of your widescreen TV, by having these borders and have it match with the scene was well-done!
• Cine-Explore
• Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge – 1 to 4-player trivia game that can be played locally or online with your friends. Try to be the first to shrink Pinocchio’s nose by answering challenging questions while watching the film.
• Pleasure Island Carnival Games – Best the Evil Coachmen at four challenging Carnival games to earn your freedom and escape Pleasure Island.

Also, included is a song that was not used in the final cut for the film and more!

Again, another Disney masterpiece that has its definitive release via High-Definition on Blu-ray. This release is absolutely wonderful!

I was awestruck by how brilliant the film looked and how clean and pristine this 70-year-old film was on Blu-ray. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment really showed us how brilliant their restored films would look on Blu-ray starting with “Sleeping Beauty” but since “Pinocchio” was a much older film, it wasn’t known if it could benefit from the restoration but sure enough, this release is yet another “Grand Slam”.

To have a such an important classic animated film released on Blu-ray to look this spectacular is impressive but to go back into the sealed archives of Disney and to find any video or any type of existing artwork or storyboards was just amazing. This release is just jam packed with special feature and you learn so much about the behind-the-scenes making of the film from the artistic and musical direction, to casting and even Walt Disney and his involvement as well.

Learning how Walt Disney wanted to immediately change his version of “Pinocchio” from Carlo Collodi’s original 1911 story “avventure de Pinocchio” (which featured an unlikeable, wiseguy Pinocchio and dark stories about abductions and murders) to learning also how strict Walt Disney was in making sure his staff knew what he wanted and did all he can to bring the best out of them.

Now, as a parent, I did watch this film with my child. For those who are not familiar with the classic Disney films, although Disney films are rated G, Disney films from the past versus a Disney film like “Wall-E” or a modern Disney animated film that is generally fine for children will need to know that back then, Walt Disney’s animated films were created for people of all ages and not just children (which was discussed on the commentary).

So, therefore Walt Disney’s first film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” had dark content. Disney’s second film “Pinocchio” has its share of scenes that may make some parents uncomfortable. For example, in one scene, Pinocchio follows a wiseguy who likes to smoke and thus Pinocchio starts smoking a cigar (and of course getting sick by it), scenes with beer drinking and then of course, a scene where the word “jackass” is used a few times. Some may feel the content is inappropriate for their children, so I will leave that up to your discretion.

But overall, there’s really nothing negative that can be said about this Blu-ray release. It’s everything that a fan of the film can ever want with a High-Definition release. Digital restoration of video and audio, informative commentary, special features and much more!

Absolutely wonderful! Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, Children's DVD/Blu-ray

Oliver and Company: 20th Anniversary Edition (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

January 24, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“The 1998 classic animated Disney film that would help crossover traditional hand-drawn animation with computer animation and create the synergy for Disney animated films for the 90′s, ‘Oliver and Company’ is wonderful family film based on Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ featuring the voices of Billy Joel, Joey Lawrence, Dom Deluise, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler and more!”

TITLE: Oliver and Company: 20th Anniversary Edition

DURATION: 74 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Widescreen (1:66:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish and French Language Tracks

RATED: G (General Audience)

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Release Date: February 3, 2009

Directed by George Scribner

Screenplay by Jim Cox, Tim Disney and James Mangold

Based on the novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens

Starring:

Joseph Lawrence as Oliver (Voice)

Billy Joel as Dodger (Voice)

Cheech Marin as Tito (Voice)

Richard Mulligan as Einstein (Voice)

Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis (Voice)

Sheryl Lee Ralph as Rita (Voice)

Dom DeLuise as Fagin (Voice)

Taurean Blacque as Roscoe (Voice)

Carl Weintraub as Desoto (Voice)

Robert Loggia as Sykes (Voice)

Natalie Gregory as Jenny (Voice)

William Glover as Winston (Voice)

Bette Midler as Georgette (Voice)

Experience a magical adventure, filled with friendship, fun and “paws-itively” cool music in the new 20th Anniversary Edition DVD of Walt Disney’s Oliver and Company – featuring tail-wagging bonus and new digital mastering!

Oliver, a feisty young cat, explores New York in this thrilling animated classic cleverly based on Charles Dickens’ timeless story, Oliver Twist – featuring unforgettable songs performed by musical greats Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler! Joined by a pack of hilarious characters – dogs Dodger, Tito and their pals – Oliver learns that the strong survive by keeping their dreams alive. And when he is adopted by Jenny, Oliver knows he’s found a lifelong friend and a real home.

The new 20th Anniversary Edition includes the all-new Oliver’s Big City Challenge Game, the Academy Award – winning animate dshort “Lend a Paw” and much more! Hightail it to your home theater for a fun and exciting movie-watching experience your family will enjoy again and again!

“Oliver and Company”, the 1988 classic animated family film from Walt Disney was indeed a special film. I remember watching this as a teenager and being in awe of how Disney would capture the city of New York with it hand-drawn animation, how the film would feature Billy Joel in his first acting role and featuring music from Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler. The film would be a classic.

But here we are 20 years later and “Oliver and Company” would now also be remembered as the film that would bring Walt Disney’s animated films from the traditional hand drawn style and eventually leading it to the digital age as the first Disney animated film to incorporate computers. Also, a new generation of Disney films that would have a slight bit of edginess for a family film and would lead to many other films that would follow the route paved by “Oliver and Company” such as “The Little Mermaid”, “Aladdin”, “Beauty and the Beast” and many more.

The film is loosely based on the Charles Dickens classic “Oliver Twist” but instead of humans, focus on a cat named Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence). As a group of kittens are being sold on the street, unfortunately Oliver, an orange striped kitten is the only one not bought. He is left alone inside the box during a rainstorm and the rain weakens the box where he has slept and thus leaving him to roam the New York streets by himself.

Oliver tries to be cute and not be trampled during the busy New York streets. He just wants to be loved but no one is interested in taking care of a stray kitten.

Oliver eventually meets up with Dodger (voiced by Billy Joel), a street talking dog (a terrier) that asks for his help in helping him steal some hot dogs from hot dog vendor. Eventually, the two succeed but Dodger runs off with the hot dogs. Oliver goes in pursuit and ends up at the wharf where he meets Dodger’s friends. Tito (voiced by Cheech Marin), a tough street-smart chihuahua; Einstein (voiced by Richard Mulligan), a smart Great Dane; Francis (voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne), a bulldog who is often serious and likes elegant things and Rita (voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph), a Saluki and the female member of the group.

The dogs are more or less thieves that help their owner, Fagin (voiced by Dom Deluise) out by bringing things they have stole and he tries to get the money from these items to payoff a loan shark named Sykes (Robert Loggia) who sends his two doberman pinschers Roscoe and Desoto in to threaten Fagin and remind him that he needs to pay back his loan in three days or else…

Meanwhile Roscoe starts to flirt with Rita and Desoto threatens Oliver. But Oliver fights back and scratches Desoto’s nose and before the Doberman’s can hurt Oliver, Fagin’s dogs band together to protect Oliver. Dodger was impressed with Oliver defending himself, that he makes Oliver a member of the gang.

For Oliver, all he wanted was to be loved by someone and have a family. And now, these dogs are his new family.

As the story progresses, the gang of dogs decided to find their next person to steal from. It happens to be the very rich Foxworthy family and while the dogs try to steal from the butler/limo driver Winston, Oliver ends up getting tangled and rescued by Jenny, the daughter of the Winston family who then takes Oliver into their family, cares for him and eventually the two bond.

Meanwhile, Dodger and friends feel they need to rescue Oliver and try to find a way to help their owner Fagin.

“Oliver and Company” is a fun, family film. The film features quite a bit of songs sung by Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler and the animation, taking place in New York has this urban appeal. But the film does have it’s charming moments and without spoiling the film, for parents who have not seen the film, the film does have it’s dark moments with the main bad guy Sykes and his dobermans trying to cause problems for the dogs but at the end, there is a death (nothing to scare the young children but guaranteed for a toddler to probably ask their parents “what happened”. In essence, this film is a family film but it does have it’s moments that may scare younger children.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Oliver and Company” is presented in Widescreen (1:66:1) and is enhanced for 16×9 televisions. The animation does feature new digital mastering but compared to the remastering of “Sleeping Beauty” for example which looks incredible for a film of its age, for “Oliver and Company”, because the setting is in the late 80′s and the animation is hand drawn for a large part of the film, it does have that feeling of an older film. Computer animation was used for the vehicles and action sequences but the picture quality is very good for its age but it does show it’s age. The film has been cleaned up and definitely looks good for a 20-year-old animated film.

As for the audio, the audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and sounds great! The film is more or less dialogue and music driven and the music does come alive in the digital soundtrack.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The special features featured on “Oliver and Company: 20th Anniversary Edition” definitely has some major positives. Included are:

Games & Activities – All-New! Oliver’s Big City Challenge Game – I played this game with my son and it’s not your usual, easy remote control type of game. This one does involve some skill and memorization.
Backstage Disney – The Making of Oliver and Company - This featurette takes you back to when the film was created with interviews with Billy Joel, Bette Midler and other talent in the film. Especially how the film would be the first for Disney as it utilized computers. It’s fun to see these older, bulky desktop computers used for the work back then. But this was the first film for Disney to utilize computer animation. So, it was nice to see this featurette.
The History of Animals in Disney Films – There is a second short featurette featuring the history of animals on Disney films.
Return of a Classic – This was a short feature on the 1996 theatrical re-release of the film.
Shorts – Academy Award Winning “Lend a Paw” (1941) Animated Short and “Puss Cafe” Animated Short – These two Disney animated shorts features the popular character Pluto and a surprise addition to the special features.
Music & More – Sing-Along Songs – Features two songs from the film and includes subtitles for people to sing-along.

Watching “Oliver and Company” 20 years later when I first watched it in the theaters is a bit surprising, especially to see how far Disney has gone with their animated films. Especially, knowing that this was the first film to utilize computers for its animation. So, you see the merging of traditional hand-drawn style and computer animation.

I never realized it until now about how much product placement was used in this film but after doing research on this online, I realize that to make New York feel realistic in animation, you need to have those forms of advertisements in the film and the product placement was not paid product placement.

But for nostalgic reasons, it was really great to watch this film again and especially to watch it with my son. All in all, twenty years later and Disney has done a great service by releasing this on DVD and giving it special treatment with wide variety of special features. For those who own the 2002 version on DVD, the two are very similar in special features but the main difference is that the 20th Anniversary version is digitally remastered and includes the “Big City Challenge” game. So, as of right now, this is the definitive version to get.

All in all, another wonderful and solid Walt Disney animated release on DVD!

Filed Under: Children's DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews

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