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CARS (3D Blu-ray combo)

October 30, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater 3D, Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

Cars3DcoverGrade:  B+
Entire family: Yes
2006, 117 min., Color
Rated G
Disney-Pixar
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Featured audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Includes: 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Bonus features: A-
Trailer 

Cars begins in a surprisingly generic way, with a big race (the stuff of Saturday morning cartoons) ending in a three-way tie between two veterans and a cocky rookie named Lightning McQueen—the winner to be determined by a tiebreaker that will be held in California a week later.

McQueen is totally self-absorbed, so it’s no shock that he pushes his personal big rig, Mack, to get him there overnight . . . and it’s no surprise that the audience is instantly delighted that he gets an early come-uppance when Mack (John Ratzenberger) falls asleep and, startled by a bunch of highway hotwheels, accidentally dumps his dozing cargo in the middle of nowhere.

Make that the one-road town that time forgot: Radiator Springs. There, McQueen is towed off by a buck-toothed tow-truck named Mater (Tow Mater, get it?) and appears in court. Though the judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), is willing to let bygones be bygones, the local attorney wants restitution, and McQueen is sentenced to repave the road. Hard labor, yes, but Radiator Springs is also his salvation.  More

MICKEY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (Blu-ray combo)

October 30, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

MickeysChristmasCarolcoverGrade: B+
Entire family:  Yes
1983, 26 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio:  Dolby Digital 2.0
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Bonus features: B
Trailer

There are so many film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that it’s tough to keep track of them all. But most of them have one thing in common:  they tend to scare the heck out of children—even the 1988 comedy Scrooged and the Disney’s 2009 mo-cap adventure starring Jim Carrey.

The kindest and gentlest Christmas Carols tend to omit Dickens’ Victorian brooding (which makes for a shorter runtime) and tone down the three ghosts that visit Ebenezer Scrooge to shake him out of his miserly bitterness and teach him the meaning of Christmas . . . and life. The 1994 TV special A Flintstones Christmas Carol is one such offering, as is Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962) and Jim Henson’s delightful 1992 adaptation, The Muppet Christmas Carol.

But the best Christmas Carol for kids remains Mickey’s Christmas Carol, which was released in 1983 as a 26-minute cartoon that was shown in theaters with a reissued screening of The Rescuers—the first time a short film starring Mickey Mouse played on big screens since 1953. Though Mickey’s Christmas Carol didn’t win, it was also the first time a Mickey Mouse cartoon received an Oscar nomination since “Mickey and the Seal” (1948).  More

BILLY ROSE’S JUMBO (Blu-ray)

October 23, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, Musical , Leave a comment

JumbocoverGrade:  B-
Entire family:  Yes
1962, 123 min., Color
Not rated (would be G)
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio:  2.40:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  C-
Trailer

In the early 1900s, when Billy Rose’s Jumbo is set, there were over 100 circuses operating in the U.S. But by 1962, the year this extravagant musical was released, there were only a relative handful of traveling circuses. That form of entertainment had one foot in the grave, so it’s probably a case of unfortunate timing that a romanticized and heavily nostalgic movie about the circus was made when the institution hadn’t been gone long enough for anyone to miss it.

Although it bombed at the box office, Jumbo now offers a wonderful look at the colorful circuses that provided the only entertainment for small towns all across America.  The entire first act of this 123-minute film is geared toward parades, rehearsals, and performances, so it’s a lot like going to the circus. The more you enjoy watching circus acts, the more you’ll enjoy this movie. But even people who aren’t fans of the circus will appreciate the colorful spectacle, the ornate and detailed circus wagons, the unique and inventive costumes, and the versatility of the circus troupe as they rise to every occasion.  More

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (3D Blu-ray)

October 22, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

MonstersUniversitycoverGrade:  B+
Entire family:  Yes
2013, 104 min., Color
Rated G
Disney-Pixar
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1 widescreen
Featured audio: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Includes: 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Bonus features: B+
Trailer

If I were a parent with small children who loved Disney movies (and I was, until they got older), I’d be concerned with an animated feature titled Monsters University—especially when trailers seem to emphasize frat parties and pranks.

But Monsters University is pretty tame by any college standards—even BYU or Wheaton. The core of this prequel is a monster version of Greek Games, with contests to determine whether Mike (Billy Crystal), Sulley (John Goodman), and their brothers at Oozma Kappa can continue in the scarers program or not. It’s like an animated Revenge of the Nerds, but without the vulgarity and compromising situations.

Monsters University isn’t as strong of a film as Monsters, Inc., but it does give you a good sense of how Mike (a one-eyed green monster who’s shaped like a bowling ball with tiny arms and legs) and Sulley (an imposing furry creature with horns) met, how they became best friends, and how they came to work for Monsters, Inc.

But while Monsters, Inc. was an inventive feature, this prequel relies on the tried-and-true format of a contest. That means a hefty burden is placed on the art designers and animators. And they rise to the occasion. Hey, it’s Disney-Pixar. Creating worlds and populating them with fun details is what they do best.  More

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES: SEASON 4 (DVD)

October 12, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, TV Comedy Leave a comment

BevHillbillies4coverGrade:  B-
Entire family:  Yes
1965-66, 811 min., Color
Unrated (would be G)
Paramount
Aspect ratio:  1.33:1
Featured audio:  Dolby Digital Mono
Bonus features:  None

From the git-go, The Beverly Hillbillies was a silly situational comedy—an often preposterous riff on bumpkin and rube humor that nonetheless (or maybe consequentially?) made it the #1 TV series in America its first two years. It fell to #12 its third season, but bounced back slightly this fourth season to finish tied with Bewitched for 7th place.

Season 4 was the show’s first in color, which will make it the place to start for many families whose young ones are put off by black-and-white. The premise is clear enough from the title song, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett”:

Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed,
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin’ at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude.
Oil, that is—black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol’ Jed’s a millionaire,
The kinfolk said “Jed move away from there,”
They said “Californy is the place you oughta be”
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.
Hills, that is—swimmin’ pools, movie stars.

Jed (Buddy Ebsen) was talked into putting his money into a bank run by Milburn Drysdale, but surprised the Drysdales by buying the house right next door—a mansion that had a “ce-ment pond” and everything. His daughter, the beautiful tomboy Elly May (Donna Douglas) made good use of the pool for her “critters,” while Granny (Irene Ryan) spend most of her time in the kitchen cooking “vittles” and brewing up potions.  Also living with them is Jethro (Max Baer), the dim-witted son of Jed’s Cousin Pearl. Episode after episode it was the same, story, really: the Clampetts’ misunderstanding Beverly Hills life or else bringing their own hill culture into sharp clashes with the local highbrows.  More

THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989) (3D Blu-ray combo)

October 1, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater 3D, Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

LittleMermaidcoverGrade:  A-
Entire family:  Yes
1989, 83 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HD MA 7.1
Bonus features:  B+
Includes: 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy, 10-song download
Trailer

Though the Disney’s acknowledged Golden Age of animation began in 1938 with Snow White, seven dwarfs, and Nine Old Men—the original team of animators—the studio’s 1989 production of The Little Mermaid launched what could only be called a second Golden Age.

Disney’s 28th animated feature broke new ground by infusing the narrative with Broadway-style songs from composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman, whose music theater work included Little Shop of Horrors. The two brought a new energy to Disney animation—it was Ashman’s idea to turn the crab in the screenplay from an English butler type to a Jamaican Rastafarian—and directors Ron Clements and John Musker had a budget to work with that was larger than it had been in decades.  But it’s all in the details, and Disney really ramped up the animation and backgrounds to create an undersea world that was nothing short of spectacular. That successful formula would also be used in Beauty and the Beast two years later, and in The Lion King (1994).

Broadway actress Jodi Benson was chosen to play Ariel, and she brings a wide-eyed innocence and passion to the role—and to Ariel’s signature song, “Part of Your World.” Each song moves the narrative and character development forward, with several big production numbers so rousing (and with characters assuming “Ta da!” poses at the end) that many theater audiences burst into applause.

Viewers could identify with Ariel, too. She was a flawed Disney “princess” who was all the more endearing because of her humanness (uh, fish tail notwithstanding). She disobeyed her father to follow her passion, she was talented but easily distracted and perhaps too trusting—and most importantly, she aspired to a life that was different from the one her father envisioned.  More

WILD KRATTS: WILDEST ANIMAL ADVENTURES (DVD set)

August 29, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Children's, G rated Leave a comment

WildKrattscoverGrade:  B+
Entire family:  No
2011, 570 min. (20 episodes), Color
Not Rated (for children)
PBS
Aspect ratio:  16×9
Featured audio:  Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Bonus features:  D
Includes:  5 discs in 4 slim keep cases with slipcase
Trailer

It’s not exactly family movie night material, but episodes of Wild Kratts—a half-animated, half-live nature show featuring the brothers who gave us Zoboomafoo—will entertain and inform children ages 3-8.

Chris and Martin Kratt’s series, which airs on PBS KIDS GO, is a hybrid that combines the brothers’ nature show activities with a cartoon segment that feels like a cross between The Magic School Bus and a Disney animated series like Kim Possible or Phineas and Ferb.

Each episode of Wild Kratts: Wildest Animal Adventures begins with the real-life brothers in the wild, pointing out an animal with a curious trait—say, for example, the Basilisk lizard that can walk and run on water—and then the brothers morph into cartoon versions of themselves in order to explore the animal’s “powers” and, with the help of a suit that looks a little like a cousin to Iron Man’s, acquire that animal power. It all happens within the animated framework of a story that often involves saving a particular animal from human encroachment, a world problem, or even a Disney-style villain. Though the characters seem unnecessary, there’s also a crew at the computer center in Tortuga helping the brothers once they’ve transformed or are on their way in various animal-shaped vehicles to get a better look. It’s clearly a way to include children of both genders in the show, but they really feel like window dressing, and some children will prefer more nature footage to the Tortuga gang “interruptions.”  More

THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH (Blu-ray combo)

August 28, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, G rated 2 Comments

WinniethePoohcoverGrade:  B+
Entire family:  Yes (but mostly for young ones)
1977, 74 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio:  1.66:1
Featured audio:  DEHT 5.1
Bonus features:  C-
Includes:  Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Trailer

Watching The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is kind of like riding on “It’s a Small World” at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It’s a ride obviously designed for families with small children, but many adults seem to enjoy it as well. However, if you position yourself atop the bridge and watch the little boats return, you’ll see by the faces of the older children that they’re reluctant passengers. So it will be with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Though Milne said he wrote not for children but for the child within us all, Disney’s “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” is clearly designed for very young viewers, as the bonus features (get up and march along or bounce along) attest. And Pooh is a kinder, gentler cartoon than anything older children are accustomed to seeing on television.   More

RETURN TO NEVER LAND (Blu-ray combo)

August 25, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

ReturntoNeverLandcoverGrade:  B-
Entire family:  Yes (but mostly for young ones)
2002, 72 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio:  16×9
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  D
Includes:  Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy
Trailer

Return to Never Land played in theaters in 2002 rather than going direct-to-video—an indication that Disney thought more highly of this sequel than some of their others. But it’s so similar in structure that if you’ve recently seen the original 1953 animated Peter Pan, you may wonder why this film was even made.

Instead of Wendy being the skeptic, it’s her teenage daughter, Jane, who finds Mother’s stories of Never Land juvenile and utterly inappropriate, given historical events. It’s around 1940, the men have gone off to war, and the young children are being shipped to the country to protect England’s investment in the future. Jane’s siblings are already out of the picture when she is swept away to Never Land, where she discovers it’s all real and learns a lesson about belief.

But there’s one important difference:  Return to Never Land is a much lighter, brighter film.  Instead of a ticking crocodile in pursuit of Captain Hook, it’s an octopus that’s rendered more comically. Hook is up to his hostage-taking ways again, trying to lure Pan to his demise, and once again he’s foiled. But there’s not the same dramatic intensity here. There’s also less emphasis on the Lost Boys being orphans and needing a mother, so there’s correspondingly less potential trauma for young viewers susceptible to separation anxiety. Pan’s resistance to growing up is hardly an issue. Likewise, Tinker Bell is less jealous and malevolent this time around, a much softer character—as if the studio was laying the groundwork for the Tinker Bell Pixie Hollow series that would be launched six years later. And thankfully missing from Never Land this time around are the less-than-politically-correct (“Uggh”?) Indians.  More

THE MUPPET MOVIE (Blu-ray combo)

August 2, 2013

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, G rated Leave a comment

MuppetMoviecoverGrade:  A-
Entire family:  Yes
1979, 95 min., Color
Rated G
Disney
Aspect ratio:  1.85:1
Featured audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bonus features:  C+
Includes:  Blu-ray, Digital Copy
Trailer

I watched The Muppet Movie with my ‘tween daughter last night and we both were apprehensive. We had gone to Disney’s Hollywood Studios earlier in the summer and were totally unimpressed with “The Muppets 3D” attraction—a 3D movie that frankly wasn’t worth the long wait. The jokes were bad, the puppetry was only so-so, and the script was as ordinary as a called strike in baseball.

But it’s hard not to warm to a film that begins with Kermit the Frog strumming a banjo on a log in the swamp and singing “Rainbow Connection,” the Oscar-nominated song from Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher (who wrote the other seven songs in this film as well). And when Kermit decides to leave the bayou and we see his long, fuzzy green legs pedaling a bicycle down the road, we both laughed out loud. We were hooked.  More

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