![Review Walt Disney Home Video / Mary Poppins [1964]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CMGDJD6YL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Reginald Owen
- Julie Andrews
- Reta Shaw
- Robert Stevenson
- Cyril Delevanti
- Ed Wynn
Run time: 133 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £19.99
Review Mary Poppins [1964] / Walt Disney Home Video:There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting Mary Poppins, and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P. L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim-Chim Cheree") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider Mary Poppins to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career-and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until Beauty and the Beast in 1991. -Jim Emerson A pioneering film within Animation, Musicals and Fantasy, Walt Disney's Mary Poppins is possibly one of the warmest and dearest films ever made. Based on a story by PL Travers we find Julie Andrews on fine form in her debut lead role (for which she would win the "Best Actress" Oscar). She is practically perfectly teamed with Dick Van Dyke as the lovable chimney sweep Burt, whose cockney accent is endearingly inaccurate. Along with a fine supporting cast, where even the child actors hold their own without appearing like stage school wannabes, Poppins and her crew take you on a magical ride through chalk pictures, the roof tops of London and show you that laughter is not always the best medicine (even with a spoon full of sugar) when you can't get down. [+]In total Mary Poppins clocked up five Academy Awards including Best Song and Best Visual Effects and has made it into the staple diet of family viewing across the world. On the DVD: Mary Poppins has certainly cleaned up a treat, restoring her to 1. 85:1 widescreen glory and 5. 1 Dolby digital sound-which is guaranteed to be music to your ears. The special features are "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" with the "Sing Along with the Movie" subtitles for all your favourite songs when they appear in the movie and the "I Love to Laugh" game offering Uncle Albert flying high in his parlour once more. "The Movie Magic of Mary Poppins" lets you look behind the scenes at how the magic was done and is fun, informative and easily understandable-pity the same cannot be said about the narrator. "Hollywood goes to a World Premiere" is a warm and amusing reminder about how premieres and stars used to be in 1964. The only disappointment is the lack of commentary-Dick Van Dyke would surely have offered a gem of a cockney voice-over! -Nikki Disney.
Release date: 2006-07-03
RRP: £12.99
Price: £6.06
Review Noddy - Make Way For Noddy - Summer Parade / Universal Pictures UK:
Release date: 2007-02-19
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.75
Review Bob the Builder - Bob's Three Jobs / Bob the Builder:
Release date: 2007-03-19
Run time: 74 min.
RRP: £18.99
Price: £4.53
Review Barbie Fairytopia - Magic Of The Rainbow / Universal Pictures UK:Believing in oneself can be difficult, even with the support of friends. The formerly wingless fairy Elina has saved Fairytopia more than once, proving herself against Fungus Maximus and turning the evil Laverna into a frog in Barbie Fairytopia and Barbie Fairytopia-Mermaidia, but she still questions her own abilities when Guardian Azura selects her to become her apprentice and learn the all-important flight of spring-a ritual which ensures another year of vitality in Fairytopia. The taunts and snobby attitudes of her fellow apprentices serve to further undercut Elina's self-esteem, but she vows to do her best to master the flight of spring and soon proves worthy of her appointment. When the trickery of Laverna threatens to stop the flight of spring and destroy Fairytopia forever, it falls to the new apprentices to save Fairytopia. Of course, Elina will play a pivotal role in the group's eventual success or failure. Prepubescent attitudes and shallowness reign among most of the apprentices, but most eventually see the error of their ways and the clear message is the importance of believing in oneself. (Ages 3 to 9) -Tami Horiuchi.
![Review Walt Disney Home Video / Sleeping Beauty [1958]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511WECTQSPL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Eleanor Audley
- Les Clark
- Verna Felton
- Clyde Geronimi
- Bill Shirley
- Wolfgang Reitherman
- Mary Costa
- Bill Thompson
- Eric Larson
Run time: 72 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £29.96
Review Sleeping Beauty [1958] / Walt Disney Home Video:Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty was the studio's most ambitious effort to date, a lavish spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapted from the music of Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Fortunately, some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are on hand to assist. It's not really all that much about the title character-how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here, alongside Malificent's castle, which, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. -David Kronke, Amazon. com.
Release date: 2005-08-15
Run time: 72 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £4.01
Review Bear In The Big Blue House - Everybody's Special / Bear in the Big Blue House:
Actors & Directors
- Kevin Duhaney
- Emma Lahana
- Jason David Frank
- Jeffrey Parazzo
- James Napier
Run time: 110 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £3.58
Review Power Rangers - Dino Thunder: White Thunder / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:
![Review Walt Disney Home Video / Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415BPEETVJL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Eve Gordon
- Dean Cundey
- Stuart Pankin
- Rick Moranis
- Bug Hall
- Robin Bartlett
Run time: 72 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £3.82
Review Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves [1997] / Walt Disney Home Video:
Release date: 2000-11-27
Run time: 71 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £89.99
Review Fantasia 2000 / Walt Disney Home Video:More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000, originally made for the IMAX large-screen format, features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of the Ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story and animation style. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones and others. -Mark EnglehartFantasia and Fantasia 2000 are also available together in the three-disc DVD Fantasia Collection.
Actors & Directors
- John Walker (XVIII)
- Steve Bulen
- John Gibbs (II)
- Brad Garrett
- Jay Bacal
- Joe Leahy
- Peter Wallach
- Joy Grdnic
- David Workman
Run time: 330 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £6.38
Review Transformers - Season 2 - Vol. 1 / Metrodome Distribution:
![Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Rugrats Go Wild [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T1Y7WBSQL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Steve Socki
- Igor Kovalyov
- Steve Moore (VI)
- Nancy Cartwright
- Christine Cavanaugh
- Pete Michels
- Cree Summer
- Tara Strong
- Cathy Malkasian
- Dionne Quan
Run time: 78 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.01
Review Rugrats Go Wild [2003] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Release date: 2007-06-11
Run time: 44 min.
RRP: £4.99
Price: £3.62
Review Carry Me - Thomas The Tank Engine - Brave Little Engines / 2 Entertain Video:
![Review Walt Disney Video / Hocus Pocus [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lPwBzbajL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Thora Birch
- Bette Midler
- Omri Katz
- Kathy Najimy
- Kenny Ortega
Run time: 96 min.
Price: £4.68
Review Hocus Pocus [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Walt Disney Video:This big, fat theatrical bomb has a lot going for it. There's the three leads, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, playing three resurrected witches who wreak havoc on Salem, Massachusetts, 300 hundred years after they were hung. There's music, special effects, and magic. There's a surprisingly horror-filled plot. Whoops, hold up on that last one. It's probably the extremes that this film goes to (displaying a Disney label), such as the witches sucking the life out of a little girl in the first five minutes, that put the brakes on any success for Hocus Pocus. Older children, however, in the 8 and up range should get a kick out of all the weird goings-on. It's a good measure of Halloween thrills and chills. -Keith Simanton.
![Review Raven Symone / Cheetah Girls Vol.1 [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bgx-HpUyL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2007-03-26
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £3.36
Review Cheetah Girls Vol.1 [2003] / Raven Symone:Teen sensation Raven (That's So Raven) stars as Galleria Garibaldi in the Disney Channel's brightly hued adaptation of the popular book series. Produced by Whitney Houston, Josie and the Pussycats meets Destiny's Child in the form of the Cheetah Girls. Granted, they're a quartet-including Chanel (Adrienne Bailon), Aqua (Kiely Williams), and Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan)-but, like Josie's trio, they hope to make it big and, like Beyoncé, they favour exclamations like "Cheetah-licious". After the foursome gets off to a slow start, everything starts to change when they meet producer Jackal Johnson. That's the good news. The bad is that the attention goes straight to Galleria's head (and she was never exactly lacking in self-esteem). By the end, she learns there's more to life than fame and fortune. Aimed at the tween audience, girls are likely to fall for these tuneful teens, while their parents may find all the giggling and squealing a bit much. -Kathleen C. Fennessy.
Release date: 2003-06-16
RRP: £14.99
Price: £3.73
Review Winnie The Pooh - The Book Of Pooh - Fun With Manners / Walt Disney Home Video:
![Review Elmo's World / Sesame Street: Elmo's World - Reach for the Sky! [2005]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HBRS62ZDL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2006-01-31
Run time: 52 min.
Price: £4.75
Review Sesame Street: Elmo's World - Reach for the Sky! [2005] / Elmo's World:
Release date: 2005-03-14
Run time: 63 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £4.10
Review Jasmine's Enchanted Tale - Journey Of A Princess / Jasmine's Enchanted Tales:
![Review Walt Disney Home Video / 101 Dalmatians [1961]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5174YT9JRDL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Betty Lou Gerson
- Rod Taylor
- Cate Bauer
Run time: 76 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £1.59
Review 101 Dalmatians [1961] / Walt Disney Home Video:
Release date: 2008-02-19
Run time: 58 min.
Price: £7.93
Review Handy Manny: Fixing It Right (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Walt Disney Video:
![Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / Big Red [1962]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WNNJRY84L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Georges Bouvier
- Walter Pidgeon
- Norman Tokar
- Émile Genest
- Gilles Payant
- Janette Bertrand
Run time: 85 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £3.63
Review Big Red [1962] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:
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Models & Brands:
Mary Poppins [1964], Noddy - Make Way For Noddy - Summer Parade, Bob the Builder - Bob's Three Jobs, Barbie Fairytopia - Magic Of The Rainbow, Sleeping Beauty [1958], Bear In The Big Blue House - Everybody's Special, Power Rangers - Dino Thunder: White Thunder, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves [1997], Fantasia 2000, Transformers - Season 2 - Vol. 1, Rugrats Go Wild [2003], Carry Me - Thomas The Tank Engine - Brave Little Engines, Hocus Pocus [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Cheetah Girls Vol.1 [2003], Winnie The Pooh - The Book Of Pooh - Fun With Manners, Sesame Street: Elmo's World - Reach for the Sky! [2005], Jasmine's Enchanted Tale - Journey Of A Princess, 101 Dalmatians [1961], Handy Manny: Fixing It Right (REGION 1) (NTSC), Big Red [1962] |
