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Review Disney / The Muppet Show - Series 3
Actors & Directors
  • Jerry Nelson
  • Steve Whitmire
  • Dave Goelz
  • Jim Henson
  • Frank Oz
Release date: 2008-09-01
Run time: 588 min.
RRP: £22.99
Price: £14.99

Review The Muppet Show - Series 3 / Disney:

An iconic variety show that ran from 1976 to 1981, The Muppet Show was a masterpiece of puppetry and slapstick humour, as well as a showcase for the best musical and comic talent of its day. Season Three ran 1978-1979 and featured 26 famous guest stars, including Roy Clark, Pearl Bailey, Jean Stapleton, Harry Belefonte, Danny Kaye, Cheryl Ladd, Raquel Welch, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Sylvester Stallone. Some of the most unique episodes of this series include: the Lynn Redgrave show, in which she and all the Muppets used the entire show to re-enact the story of Robin Hood; the Loretta Lynn episode, which was ostensibly filmed at the railroad station when the theatre was being fumigated; and the visual effects-laden Alice Cooper episode. Other notable moments include Liberace's performances of everything from a Chopin Nocturne to a Boogie Woogie piece, Gilda Radner's amusing musical rendition from Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "Carrots of Penzance" (or was that "Parrots of Penzance," or "Pirates of Penzance?"), and Danny Kaye's appearance as the Swedish Chef's uncle. Naturally, the series features all your favorite Muppet characters like Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, Rowlf, Crazy Harry, Beaker, and Animal as well as the beloved skits Muppet Labs, Pigs in Space, Swedish Chef, Veterinarian's Hospital, and Muppet Newsflash. Truly timeless entertainment for all ages, this third season of The Muppet Show is just as adept at bringing back memories as it is making new ones. -Tami Horiuchi.

Review Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Snow Dogs [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • M. Emmet Walsh
  • James Coburn
  • Brian Levant
  • Nichelle Nichols
  • Sisqó
  • Cuba Gooding Jr.
Release date: 2002-11-18
Run time: 95 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £3.00

Review Snow Dogs [2002] / Buena Vista Home Entertainment:


Review Walt Disney Home Video / The Lion King (2 Disc Special Edition) [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Jonathan Taylor Thomas
  • Jeremy Irons
  • Rob Minkoff
  • Matthew Broderick
  • Roger Allers
  • James Earl Jones
  • Moira Kelly
Release date: 2003-10-31
Run time: 85 min.
RRP: £22.99
Price: £44.77

Review The Lion King (2 Disc Special Edition) [1994] / Walt Disney Home Video:

Disney's 1994 animated feature, The Lion King, was a huge smash in cinemas and continues to enjoy life in an acclaimed stage production. The story finds a lion cub, son of a king, sent into exile after his father is deposed by a jealous uncle. The little hero finds his way into the "circle of life" with some new friends and eventually comes back to reclaim his proper place. Characters are very strong, vocal performances by the likes of Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane and Whoopi Goldberg are terrific, the jokes are aimed as much (if not more) at adults than kids, the animation is sometimes breathtaking and the songs from Tim Rice and Elton John, accompanied by a colourful score, are more palatable than in many recent Disney features. -Tom Keogh On the DVD: The Lion King Special Edition is a superb restoration: take a look at the serviceable but dull film clips incorporated in the plethora of extras and compare them to the vivid gorgeousness of the film presentation. This special edition also adds a 90-second song ("Morning Report") that originated in the lavish stage musical. To Disney's credit, the original theatrical version is also included, both restored and featuring two 5. 1 soundtracks: Dolby Digital and a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, which does sound brighter. As with the Disney Platinum line, everything is thrown into the discs, except an outsider's voice (the rah-rahs of Disney grow tiresome at times). The excellent commentary from the directors and producer, originally on the laser disc, is hidden under the audio set-up menu. [+]
The second disc is organised by 20-minute-ish "journeys" tackling the elements of story, music and so on, including good background on the awkward Shakespearean origins at Disney where it was referred as "Bamlet". The most interesting journey follows the landmark stage production, and the kids should be transfixed by shots of the real African wildlife in the animal journey. Three deleted segments are real curios, including an opening lyric for "Hakuna Matata". Most set-top DVD games are usually pretty thin (DVD-ROM is where it's at), but the Safari game is an exception-the kids should love the roaring animals (in 5. 1 Surround, no less). One serious demerit is the needless and complicated second navigation system that is listed by continent but just shows the same features reordered. -Doug Thomas.

Review Touchstone Home Video / The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition) [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Chris Sarandon
  • William Hickey
  • Danny Elfman
  • Catherine O'Hara
  • Tim Burton
  • Glenn Shadix
Release date: 2006-10-02
Run time: 77 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £5.99

Review The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition) [1994] / Touchstone Home Video:

For those who never thought Disney would release a film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped and tortured, well, here it is. The full title is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, which should give you an idea of the tone of this stop-action animated musical/fantasy/horror/comedy. It is based on characters created by Burton, the former Disney animator best known as the director of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the first two Batman movies. His benignly scary-funny sensibility dominates the story of Halloweentown resident Jack Skellington (voice by Danny Elfman, who also wrote the songs), who stumbles on a bizarre and fascinating alternative universe called. Christmastown! Directed by Henry Selick (who later made the delightful James and the Giant Peach), this PG-rated picture has a reassuringly light touch. As Roger Ebert noted in his review, "some of the Halloween creatures might be a tad scary for smaller children, but this is the kind of movie older kids will eat up; it has the kind of offbeat, subversive energy that tells them wonderful things are likely to happen. " -Jim EmersonOn the DVD:This Special edition is a must for all Burton fans with the biggest gem to be found on a DVD release-"Tim Burtons Early Films" which holds his first two works. Vincent is clear predecessor of Nightmare before Christmas using the same stop-animation style and voiced superbly by Vincent Price himself; and Frankenweenie-a B&W live-action flick-takes you back to early B-movie territory seen through the eyes of a boy. [+]
Added to these films is a great special-features menu including a short documentary offering an interview with Burton, which exposes the inspiration for this magical animation and presents the three-year task of making the "Nightmare". On top of this is an in-depth commentary by director Henry Selick and Art director Pete Kozachik and layer upon layer of "character development" offering an insight into the intensity of thought that went into making these animated figures real. You also get a great selection of storyboards along with the sequences they manifest into, deleted storyboards and an animated sequence with a surprise alternative ending. The menu is beautifully animated in keeping with the style of artwork in the film. With a 1. 66:1 widescreen format and Dolby digital transfer this charming DVD is perfect for Halloween, Christmas and beyond! -Nikki Disney.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment (UK) / Transformers - 2 Disc Special Edition [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Michael Bay
Release date: 2007-12-03
Run time: 143 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £5.98

Review Transformers - 2 Disc Special Edition [2007] / Paramount Home Entertainment (UK):

How do you like your blockbuster movies? If the answer's loud, fast and full of big robots fighting, then you're well and truly in luck. For director Michael Bay's take on Transformers, based on the toys of the same name, delivers just that. And with some style. The film stars the fast-rising Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia) as Sam, who discovers that his first car has a little more to it when it transforms into an Autobot robot called Bumblebee. Fortunately, the Autobots are the good guys, and following not far behind are a good number more, headed up by Optimus Prime. Against them are the less friendly Decepticons, with Megatron at the helm, and the two sides are set for a frenetic battle right in the middle of Planet Earth. There's a plot sitting underneath all of this, but it's pretty much given with the Transformers movie that it's just a vehicle to get the film from one set piece to another. And there's little denying that the action sequences are spectacular. Boasting quite staggering special effects, the on-screen action moves with a pace and ferocity that sometimes makes it hard just to keep up with it all, as mighty robots engage is some quite staggering fights. It's quite an achievement. [+]
Paving the way for an already-in-production sequel, Transformers has little pretensions about what it's going to do, and is all the better for it. This is a film about big robots, big fights, big effects and, ultimately, big, dumb grin-inducing fun. What, really, is there not to like? -Jon Foster.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Hannah Montana Triple Pack
Actors & Directors
  • Miley Cyrus
Release date: 2008-05-05
Run time: 269 min.
RRP: £22.99
Price: £13.99

Review Hannah Montana Triple Pack / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:


Review Pokémon / Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker
Release date: 2006-10-23
Run time: 81 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £2.41

Review Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker / Pokémon:


Review Spider-Man / Spider-Man - The Animated Series
Release date: 2004-04-05
Run time: 266 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.62

Review Spider-Man - The Animated Series / Spider-Man:


Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / The Pixar Short Films Collection
Release date: 2008-06-23
Run time: 52 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £9.98

Review The Pixar Short Films Collection / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

Pixar's unprecedented string of hit animated features was built on the short films in this collection. John Lasseter and Ed Catmull used these cartoons the way Walt Disney used the "Silly Symphonies" during the 1930s: as a training ground for artists and a way to explore the potential of a new medium. Although it's only 90 seconds long, "Luxo, Jr. " (1986) ranks as the "Steamboat Willie" of computer animation: For the first time, audiences believed CG characters could think and feel. (It was also the first CG film to make audiences laugh. ) When the artists began work on Toy Story, they had learned so much from the shorts, they were ready to undertake that landmark creation. In the later shorts, the viewer can see the artists continuing to experiment: with a more realistic human figure in "Geri's Game" and with new ways of suggesting atmospheric effects in "Boundin'. " Some of the more recent shorts continue the adventures of the characters from the features. "Jack-Jack Attack" reveals what happened to the hapless baby-sitter while the Incredibles were off fighting Syndrome, while "Mater and the Ghost Light" shows that life goes on for the inhabitants of Radiator Springs. When Sully from Monsters, Inc. [+]
tries to adjust his seat in "Mike's New Car," the animators prolong the moment to wring every drop of humour from the situation-just as an earlier generation of animators milked Wile E. Coyote's antics for all they were worth. The long-unseen films for Sesame Street are an unexpected bonus. A delightful collection of entertaining shorts, and a significant chronicle of the growth of computer animation. -Charles Solomon.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / A Bug's Life [1999]
Actors & Directors
  • Madeline Kahn
  • Roddy McDowall
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • John Lasseter
  • Kevin Spacey
  • Bonnie Hunt
Release date: 2001-01-08
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £6.99

Review A Bug's Life [1999] / Walt Disney Home Video:

There was a rare magic on the big screen in 1995, when the people at Pixar came up with the first fully computer-animated film, Toy Story, and their second feature film, A Bug's Life, may miss the bull's-eye but Pixar's target is so lofty that it's hard to find the film anything less than irresistible. Brighter and more colourful than the other animated insect movie of 1998 (Antz), A Bug's Life is the sweetly told story of Flik (voiced by David Foley), an ant searching for better ways to be a bug. His colony unfortunately revolves around feeding and fearing the local grasshoppers (lead by Hopper, voiced with gleeful menace by Kevin Spacey). When Flik accidentally destroys the seasonal food supply for the grasshoppers he decides to look for help ("We need bigger bugs!"). The ants, led by Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), are eager to dispose of the troublesome Flik. Yet he finds help-a hearty bunch of bug warriors-and brings them back to the colony. Unfortunately they are just travelling performers, afraid of conflict. As with Toy Story, the ensemble of creatures and voices is remarkable and often inspired. Highlights include wiseacre comedian Denis Leary as an un-ladylike ladybird, Joe Ranft as the German-accented caterpillar, David Hyde Pierce as a stick insect and Michael McShane as a pair of unintelligible woodlice. The scene-stealer is Atta's squeaky-voiced sister, baby Dot (Hayden Panettiere), who has a big soft spot for Flik. [+]
More gentle and kid-friendly than Antz, A Bug Life's still has some good suspense and a wonderful demise in store for the villain. However, the film-a worldwide hit-will be remembered for its most creative touch: "outtakes" over the end credits à la many live-action comedy films. These dozen or so scenes (both "editions" of outtakes are contained here) are brilliant and deserve a special place in film history right along with 1998's other most talked-about sequence: the opening Normandy invasion in Saving Private Ryan. -Doug Thomas.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Meet The Robinsons [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Stephen Anderson
Release date: 2007-09-10
Run time: 91 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £6.95

Review Meet The Robinsons [2007] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

Developing positive self-esteem and persevering in the face of difficulties are fundamental parts of growing up, but when 12-year old orphan Lewis (Daniel Hansen and Jordan Fry) can't seem to get adopted or make his inventions work despite repeated efforts, he begins to seriously doubt himself and his abilities as an inventor. A CGI picture by Disney with great animation and a fresh vision of what the future might look like, Meet The Robinsons follows Lewis from his lonesome days at the orphanage to his crushing failure at the school science fair when his newly invented memory scanner won't work. Then, an odd boy named Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) shows up to warn Lewis about the mysterious "Bowler Hat Guy" (Stephen J Anderson) lurking around the science fair, an evil man Wilbur claims is from the future. The next thing Lewis knows, he and Wilbur are on route to the future via time machine. Once there, Lewis meets the very quirky, extended Robinson family with whom he feels oddly at home. As the search for the Bowler Hat Man and his constant companion Doris (Ethan Sandler) becomes more and more dangerous, the Robinson family becomes crucial in keeping Lewis safe. In the end, Lewis returns to the present with a whole new inner strength, a sense of his place in the world, the knowledge that his actions directly affect others, and an optimistic determination to "keep moving forward. " While comparisons with the Back to the Future films are inevitable, Meet the Robinsons stands apart from its predecessors as its own, thoroughly entertaining family film. -Tami Horiuchi.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / The Rescuers [1977]
Actors & Directors
  • Eva Gabor
  • John Lounsbery
  • Wolfgang Reitherman
  • Joe Flynn
  • Jeanette Nolan
  • Bob Newhart
  • Art Stevens
  • Geraldine Page
Release date: 2002-01-28
Run time: 76 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £8.97

Review The Rescuers [1977] / Walt Disney Home Video:

What can two little mice possibly do to save an orphan girl who's fallen into evil hands? With The Rescuers anything is possible! As members of the mouse-run International Rescue Aid Society, Bernard and Miss Bianca respond to orphan Penny's call for help. The two mice search for clues and with the help of an old cat named Rufus they track Penny to the clutches of the evil Madame Medusa in a dilapidated ship in Devil's Bayou. It turns out that Medusa is using Penny to locate and retrieve the Devil's Eye Diamond-a stone she'll stop at nothing to possess. With a cunning plan, courageous acts, cooperation from local animal life and lots of faith, Bernard and Miss Bianca try to help Penny find the diamond and escape from Medusa. This somewhat dark, classic 1977 animated Disney film is based on Margery Sharp's book, The Rescuers and Miss Bianca, and features the Academy Award-nominated song "Someone's Waiting for You". Voice talents include Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, Bob Newhart as Bernard, Geraldine Page as Madame Medusa and Jim Jordan as Orville Albatross. The sequel is The Rescuers Down Under. (Ages 5 to 11) -Tami Horiuchi, Amazon. com.

Review Disney / The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [Blu-ray] [2008]
Actors & Directors
  • Ben Barnes
  • Andrew Adamson
  • Skandar Keynes
  • William Moseley
  • Georgie Henley
  • Anna Popplewell
Release date: 2008-11-17
RRP: £26.99
Price: £16.98

Review The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [Blu-ray] [2008] / Disney:

More exciting than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian continues the movie franchise based on C. S. Lewis' classic fantasy books. The movie picks up where the first left off. sort of. It's been a year since the Pevensie children-Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley)-returned to England from Narnia, and they've just about resigned themselves to living their ordinary lives. But just like that, they're once again transported to a fantastical land, but one with a long-abandoned castle. It turns out that they are in Narnia again-and they themselves lived in that castle, but hundreds of years ago in Narnia time. [+]
They've been summoned back to help Prince Caspian (Stardust's Ben Barnes, res! embling a young, cultured Keanu Reeves), the rightful heir to the throne who's become the target of his power-hungry uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). And he's not the only one threatened: Miraz's people, the Telmarines, have pushed all the Narnians-the talking animals, the centaurs and other beasts, the walking trees-to the brink of extinction. Despite some alpha-male bickering, Peter and Caspian agree to fight Miraz alongside the remaining Narnians, including the dwarf Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage) and the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep (voiced by Eddie Izzard). (Also appearing is Warwick Davis, who was in Willow and the 1989 BBC version of Prince Caspian. ) But of course they most of all miss the noble lion, Aslan, who would have never let this happen to Narnia if he hadn't disappeared. Prince Caspian is epic, evoking memories of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. (Some of the battle elements may seem too familiar, but they were in Lewis's book. ) And it's appropriate for kids (Reepicheep could have come out of a Shrek movie), though the tone is dark and there is a lot of death, albeit bloodless. After two successful films, Disney and Walden Media's franchise has proved successful enough that many of the characters are scheduled to return in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. -David Horiuchi, Amazon. com.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / Dinosaur (Disney) (2000)
Actors & Directors
  • Ossie Davis
  • Eric Leighton
  • D.B. Sweeney
  • Alfre Woodard
  • Max Casella
  • Ralph Zondag
  • Hayden Panettiere
Release date: 2001-03-26
Run time: 79 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £4.79

Review Dinosaur (Disney) (2000) / Walt Disney Home Video:

Dinosaurs come alive like never before in this costly computer-animated film from Disney. After a breathtaking opening (a dino egg is kidnapped), the film changes style; realistic dinosaurs are given human characteristics and voices. The kidnapped egg grows into an iguanodon named Aladar (voiced by DB Sweeney), who is raised by lemurs (shades of Tarzan) on a lush island void of other dinosaurs. When a meteorite destroys their island home in a thrilling sequence, the lemur family and Aladar become part of a dinosaur troop roaming the mainland deserts looking for the lush nesting grounds (shades of the fourth instalment of the Land Before Time series and Fantasia). Disney's use of cheeky modern slang (one lemur calls himself "a love monkey") is present, as is its typical capital-punishment narrative logic: anyone against our forward-thinking hero (or even disagreeing with him) ends up dead. Curiously, the meanies, a pair of carnotaurs following the group, are nameless and voiceless. This more realistic approach might have been a bigger wow, as in the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs, which looked extraordinary with only a fraction of the budget. The complexity and scope of Dinosaur's visual scale is impressive, and group shots and a point-of-view angle are stunning. The film should be a favourite for the 6 to 11-year-old set. -Doug Thomas, Amazon. [+]
com.

Review Little Einsteins / Little Einsteins Vol.1 - Mission Celebration [2006]
Release date: 2007-08-06
Run time: 69 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £5.98

Review Little Einsteins Vol.1 - Mission Celebration [2006] / Little Einsteins:


Review My Friends Tigger and Pooh / My Friends Tigger And Pooh - A Super Sleuth Christmastery [2007]
Release date: 2008-09-29
Run time: 43 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £5.97

Review My Friends Tigger And Pooh - A Super Sleuth Christmastery [2007] / My Friends Tigger and Pooh:


Review Walt Disney Home Video / Bambi (2 Disc Special Edition)
Actors & Directors
  • David Hand
  • Paul Behn
  • Donnie Dunagan
  • Paula Winslowe
  • Bobby Stewart
  • Hardy Albright
Release date: 2005-02-14
Run time: 69 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £13.51

Review Bambi (2 Disc Special Edition) / Walt Disney Home Video:

It always comes up when people are comparing their most traumatic movie experiences: "the death of Bambi's mother," a recollection that can bring a shudder to even the most jaded filmgoer. That primal separation (which is no less stunning for happening off-screen) is the centerpiece of Bambi, Walt Disney's 1942 animated classic, but it is by no means the only bold stroke in the film. In its swift but somehow leisurely 69 minutes, Bambi covers a year in the life of a young deer. But in a bigger way, it measures the life cycle itself, from birth to adulthood, from childhood's freedom to grown-up responsibility. All of this is rendered in cheeky, fleet-footed style-the movie doesn't lecture, or make you feel you're being fed something that's good for you. The animation is miraculous, a lush forest in which nature is a constantly unfolding miracle (even in a spectacular fire, or those dark moments when "man was in the forest"). There are probably easier animals to draw than a young deer, and the Disney animators set themselves a challenge with Bambi's wobbly glide across an ice-covered lake, his spindly legs akimbo; but the sequence is effortless and charming. If Bambi himself is just a bit dull-such is the fate of an Everydeer-his rabbit sidekick Thumper and a skunk named Flower more than make up for it. Many of the early Disney features have their share of lyrical moments and universal truths, but Bambi is so simple, so pure, it's almost transparent. You might borrow a phrase from Thumper and say it's downright twitterpated. [+]
-Robert Horton.

Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / My Friends Tigger And Pooh - Friendly Tails [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • David Hartman
Release date: 2008-05-26
Run time: 69 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £5.98

Review My Friends Tigger And Pooh - Friendly Tails [2007] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:


Review Winnie the Pooh / Winnie The Pooh - ABC's and 123's
Release date: 2005-04-04
Run time: 60 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £3.34

Review Winnie The Pooh - ABC's and 123's / Winnie the Pooh:


Review Walt Disney Home Video / The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 (Box Set)
Actors & Directors
  • Anne Hathaway
  • Garry Marshall
  • John Rhys-Davies
  • Heather Matarazzo
  • Julie Andrews
Release date: 2005-10-03
Run time: 220 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £6.63

Review The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 (Box Set) / Walt Disney Home Video:


Browse Ages 9-11:

Models & Brands:
The Muppet Show - Series 3, Snow Dogs [2002], The Lion King (2 Disc Special Edition) [1994], The Nightmare Before Christmas (Special Edition) [1994], Transformers - 2 Disc Special Edition [2007], Hannah Montana Triple Pack, Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker, Spider-Man - The Animated Series, The Pixar Short Films Collection, A Bug's Life [1999], Meet The Robinsons [2007], The Rescuers [1977], The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [Blu-ray] [2008], Dinosaur (Disney) (2000), Little Einsteins Vol.1 - Mission Celebration [2006], My Friends Tigger And Pooh - A Super Sleuth Christmastery [2007], Bambi (2 Disc Special Edition), My Friends Tigger And Pooh - Friendly Tails [2007], Winnie The Pooh - ABC's and 123's, The Princess Diaries 1 and 2 (Box Set)

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