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Review Warner Home Video / Free Willy [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Jayne Atkinson
  • Keiko (II)
  • Simon Wincer
  • Lori Petty
  • August Schellenberg
  • Jason James Richter
Release date: 1999-09-27
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.25

Review Free Willy [1993] / Warner Home Video:

Some of us will never understand why this boy-and-his-whale tale became the hit family film of 1993 and one of the bestselling videos of all time. But it is easy to see how clever marketing and a tear-jerking story could touch the hearts of kids and parents the world over, especially because the endangered Orca whale named Willy is such a majestic creature. The story of Free Willy couldn't be more conventional-it's like Old Yeller and The Black Stallion with a big sea mammal-but as the boy who comes to Willy's aid against the whale's exploitative owner, young Jason James Richter gives an appealing performance with which children can readily identify. After two sequels and an animated television series, this popular film also had a happy real-life ending: Keiko the whale (who plays Willy) recovered from failing health and was gradually trained to survive outside of captivity. -Jeff Shannon Some of us will never understand why Free Willy, a boy-and-his-whale tale, became the hit family film of 1993 and one of the bestselling videos of all time. But it is easy to see how clever marketing and a tear-jerking story could touch the hearts of children and parents the world over, especially because the endangered Orca whale named Willy is such a majestic creature. The story couldn't be more conventional but as the boy who comes to Willy's aid against the whale's exploitative owner, young Jason James Richter gives an appealing performance with which children can readily identify. After two sequels and an animated television series, this popular film also had a happy real-life ending: Keiko the whale (who plays Willy) recovered from failing health and was gradually trained to survive outside of captivity. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Warner Home Video / Looney Tunes All Stars Collection 1
Actors & Directors
  • Elmer Fudd
  • Bugs Bunny
Release date: 2004-02-02
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £2.91

Review Looney Tunes All Stars Collection 1 / Warner Home Video:


Review Entertainment in Video / The Golden Compass (2 disc Special edition) [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • Nicole Kidman
  • Eva Green
  • Clare Higgins
  • Ben Walker
  • Daniel Craig
Release date: 2008-04-28
Run time: 109 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £9.41

Review The Golden Compass (2 disc Special edition) [2007] / Entertainment in Video:


Review Contender Entertainment Group / Hector's House [1968]
Actors & Directors
  • Paul Bacon
Release date: 2007-09-24
Run time: 148 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.67

Review Hector's House [1968] / Contender Entertainment Group:


Review ITV DVD / The Worst Witch
Actors & Directors
  • Diana Rigg
  • Tim Curry
Release date: 2007-02-12
Run time: 70 min.
RRP: £3.99
Price: £2.89

Review The Worst Witch / ITV DVD:


Review Horrid Henry / Horrid Henry - Gets Rich Quick
Release date: 2008-03-03
Run time: 66 min.
RRP: £3.99
Price: £3.35

Review Horrid Henry - Gets Rich Quick / Horrid Henry:


Review Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm / The Jungle Book 2 (Special Edition) [2003]
Actors & Directors
  • Haley Joel Osment
  • Tony Jay
  • Mae Whitman
  • Jim Cummings
  • John Goodman
  • Steven Trenbirth
Release date: 2008-06-16
Run time: 69 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £8.65

Review The Jungle Book 2 (Special Edition) [2003] / Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm:

After a delightful opening, in which jungle boy Mowgli (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) recaps much of the original Jungle Book in a sprightly shadow puppet show, The Jungle Book 2 swiftly turns into a carbon copy of the splendidly swinging previous movie. After his old pal Baloo the bear (voiced by John Goodman) draws Mowgli away from the man-village, with all its work and rules, and back into the glorious indolence of the jungle, the movie repeats-in a less energetic form-an encounter with Kaa the snake, the cockney vultures, a musical number at the monkey's palace, the menace of Shere Khan the tiger, and even the song "The Bare Necessities. " The only difference is that there's a girl named Shanti along for the ride; sadly, her character is so bland that it doesn't do much to justify the movie's existence. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Momentum / Hoodwinked [2006]
Release date: 2007-01-29
Run time: 77 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.13

Review Hoodwinked [2006] / Momentum:

Hoodwinked fuses the classic fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood with the crisscrossing storylines of film noir-pretty ambitious stuff for a computer-animated cartoon. The police cordon off Grandma's cottage and an amphibious version of William Powell named Nicky Flippers (voiced by David Ogden Stiers, M*A*S*H) begins interrogating the suspects: A Little Red in bell-bottoms (Anne Hathaway, Ella Enchanted), a Wolf turned investigative journalist (Patrick Warburton, The Woman Chaser), a snow-boarding Granny (Glenn Close, 101 Dalmatians), and a dimwitted would-be Woodsman (Jim Belushi, Curly Sue), each of whom have very different reasons for ending up in that cottage living room. The visual style of Hoodwinked mixes a clunky, video-game look with an homage to the stop-motion puppetry of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other Rankin-Bass holiday specials. While sometimes awkward, there are also moments of surreal beauty, such as when a depressed Red wanders through a field of blue and red flowers-and moments of lunatic comedy, such as the Schnitzel song, which is irresistibly bizarre. The Shrek-style pop-culture references grow annoying, but the left-field goofiness of a yodeling goat points toward a far more distinct and delightful comic world. Also featuring the voices of Anthony Anderson (Kangaroo Jack), rapper Xzibit, and an especially witty turn by Andy Dick (NewsRadio) as a deceptively cute bunny rabbit. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Optimum Home Entertainment / The Cat Returns
Actors & Directors
  • Hiroyuki Morita
Release date: 2005-09-26
Run time: 75 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.48

Review The Cat Returns / Optimum Home Entertainment:

The Cat Returns brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart. On her way home from school, Haru, a confused 17-year-old, prevents an elegant gray cat from being hit by a truck. She's inadvertently saved the life of Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom, and his royal father decides to thank her. He fills her locker with gift-wrapped mice and decides she should come to his kingdom and marry Lune. Haru seeks help from the Cat Bureau, and eventually returns to relatively normal life, with the assistance of Muta and the Baron. The Cat Returns recalls Whisper of the Heart and Takashi Nakamura's Catnapped, but it offers neither the wistful charm of the former nor the bold visual imagination of the latter. Hayao Miyazaki has been seeking young directors for Studio Ghibli for several years. After preparing the script and storyboards for Whisper, he turned the film over to Yoshifumi Kondo, who died tragically shortly after the film's release. The Cat Returns was directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who shows promise, but lacks Kondo's elegant sensibility. The DVD extras include a fulsome making-of documentary, Morita's voluminous storyboards, and mini-interviews with the vocal cast that includes Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle and Elliott Gould. [+]
-Charles Solomon, Amazon. com.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / Honey, I Shrunk The Kids [1989]
Actors & Directors
  • Thomas Wilson Brown
  • Matt Frewer
  • Rick Moranis
  • Marcia Strassman
  • Kristine Sutherland
  • Joe Johnston
Release date: 2002-09-23
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £3.46

Review Honey, I Shrunk The Kids [1989] / Walt Disney Home Video:

A deft balance between special effects, comedy and family dynamics made this 1989 film a hit for Disney and spawned both a string of video sequels and a subsequent TV series. Moranis is endearing as the bumbling inventor/father of the Szalinski family. He inadvertently shrinks his own children then throws them out with the trash. They, along with the neighbour kids, must journey back across their own backyard, now an enormous, dangerous distance, to get back to the right height. Much is done with the perils of the lawn, from a wild deluge from the sprinklers to a nasty encounter with the lawnmower and numerous encounters with gigantic insects. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a generally kid-friendly, inventive (no pun intended) and entertaining outing. -Keith Simanton.

Review Starz Home Entertainment / The Adventures Of Tintin - 75th Anniversary [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • John Stocker
  • David Fox
  • Susan Roman
  • Wayne Robson
  • Vernon Chapman
Release date: 2004-05-31
Run time: 900 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £11.98

Review The Adventures Of Tintin - 75th Anniversary [1990] / Starz Home Entertainment:


Review Stax Entertainment Ltd / Moomin - Volume Two [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Ryosuke Takahashi
Release date: 2008-10-06
Run time: 301 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £5.96

Review Moomin - Volume Two [1990] / Stax Entertainment Ltd:


Review Universal Pictures Video / Nanny McPhee [2005]
Actors & Directors
  • Angela Lansbury
  • Emma Thompson
  • Colin Firth
  • Derek Jacobi
  • Kirk Jones
  • Kelly MacDonald
Release date: 2006-02-13
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.90

Review Nanny McPhee [2005] / Universal Pictures Video:

With hairy warts, a stern-looking unibrow and one extremely protruding buck-tooth, Nanny McPhee is a wonderfully comedic substitute for Mary Poppins in this entertaining family fantasy. By loosely adapting Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda children's books of the 1960s, Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) has also given herself the plum role of Nanny McPhee, who can tame even the most unruly children with a tap of her magic walking stick. Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown (Colin Firth), who's under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide (a tailor-made role for Angela Lansbury). His love for scullery maid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially after they've come under the benevolent influence of Nanny McPhee, whose peculiar brand of discipline works wonders for everyone involved. Both quintessentially British and universally appealing, this wildly colourful comedy (thanks to a bold palette of costume and production design) was capably directed by Kirk Jones, whose appreciation for comic actors was equally apparent in his critically acclaimed 1998 comedy Waking Ned. With just a hint of darkness to offset the whimsy, Nanny McPhee offers a splendid match of director, cast and material, guaranteed to please Wallace & Gromit fans and anyone else with a taste for British zaniness. - Jeff Shannon.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Grange Hill : Complete BBC Series 3 & 4
Actors & Directors
  • Todd Carty
Release date: 2007-11-12
Run time: 786 min.
Creator: Colin Cant
RRP: £28.99
Price: £10.98

Review Grange Hill : Complete BBC Series 3 & 4 / 2 Entertain Video:

The second DVD release from the archives of Grange Hill, this DVD set brings together series three and four of the show, originally broadcast back in the early 1980s. 34 episodes are included in all, spread across the six discs in the set, and there's a register of characters to get Grange Hill nostalgics happily reminiscing. On top of Tucker Jenkins and Benny Green, there's the introduction of Pogo Patterson and Duane Orpington, while by the fourth series, Mrs McCluskey had moved into the headteacher's office, where she'd stay for many years to come. Joining Mrs McCluskey on the staff side were Grange Hill legends such as Mr Baxter, `Hoppy' Hopwood and Mr Sutcliffe, and between them they had plenty on their hands. From bike thieves to the tuck shop through to romance in the staff room and a member of the school council taking bribes, it was very much business as usual at Britain's most infamous comprehensive school. Series three and four really sees Grange Hill in confident form, consistently delivering interesting and progressive storylines for its cast of characters, that stand up well today. What's remarkable is that far from enjoying this boxset as a simple look back to a golden part of childrens' programming, you're likely to find yourself getting engrossed all over again. A smashing collection, that offers great value for money. Let's hope it doesn't take so long to release further series of the show. -Simon Brew.

Review Walt Disney Video / Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [1937] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Marge Champion
  • Adriana Caselotti
  • Eddie Collins
  • Stuart Buchanan
  • Roy Atwell
Release date: 2001-10-09
Run time: 274 min.
Creator: Leigh Harline
Price: £29.99

Review Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [1937] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Walt Disney Video:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was nicknamed "Disney's Folly" by contemporary observers; they doubted that the short cartoons shown before the main film could ever successfully make the transition from filler to feature presentation. Surely, no one would sit still for over an hour to watch an animated film, their eyes smarting from the bright colours on screen? Fortunately, Walt Disney and his army of artists persisted and the world's first full-length animated feature was finally released in 1937 to widespread acclaim. Adapted from the Grimm fairytale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is chillingly dark in places, reflecting its roots in European folklore, but the deft Disney touch ensures that the overall tone remains light and the story develops apace, swept along on the perfect musical score. Any lingering gloom is quickly dispelled by the superbly characterised dwarfs and by the humorous antics of the various irresistible fauna that threaten to steal the show in several scenes. The pioneering animation is breathtaking and songs such as "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho" and "Whistle While You Work", now firmly embedded in popular culture, are seamlessly interwoven with the action. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs happens to be an interesting technological milestone in cinema history-it is also an enduring masterpiece of family entertainment. To the millions who have fallen under its spell over the years, this magical fairy tale remains one of Disney's most enchanting and best-loved films. Only Grumpy could resist. -Helen Baker On the DVD: the video quality on this DVD is stunningly clear. Though it is noticeable that the film is nearly 65 years old, Disney has done a great job in the cleaning process: the bright colours shine clearly, the blacks are deep and the whites clear. [+]
There is little to no visible wearing on the film and the digital transfer has done wonders in restoring Snow White and her seven little pals. The sound is very clear and you get a real sense, in places, of the newly mastered 5. 1 Dolby Sound enhancements that have been added, making for enjoyable listening to the well-loved songs. The extras on disk one are plentiful and give a real insight into the making of Snow White. Little was done in 1937 for the filming of behind-the-scenes documentaries, but what could have been included has been. The audio commentary is strung together from interviews with Walt Disney himself, all of which are fascinating, and to keep the kids happy there is a familiar Disney sing-along and a Dopey game to play. The disk two extras are packed with information on the movie and Disney, from the 3-D virtual tour of the Snow White kingdom, that also has some documentary information, to an outtakes section showing abandoned footage and ideas that were never included in the final movie. There is also an informative timeline of the creation of the Walt Disney Studios that includes some deleted scenes from the movie. Altogether, great additions to a classic film. -Robert Hyde.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / The Santa Clause [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • John Pasquin
  • Paige Tamada
  • Wendy Crewson
  • Tim Allen
  • Peter Boyle
  • Judge Reinhold
Release date: 2002-11-18
Run time: 105 min.
RRP: £11.99
Price: £2.39

Review The Santa Clause [1995] / Walt Disney Home Video:

Tim Allen makes an impressive screen debut in Disney's well-written seasonal film The Santa Clause. Divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin is pleased to have his son Charlie for Christmas, though the boy himself isn't happy about it. But when Santa Claus accidentally topples off the roof of the house and falls with a thud in the snow, Scott finds himself taking the merry old elf's place and earning new respect in his son's eyes. When the night ends, the reindeer take them to the North Pole, and Scott discovers that by donning the fabled red suit, he's inadvertently agreed to become the next Santa Claus. The next morning he wakes up in his own bed and thinks it's all a dream-but Charlie remembers it with crystal clarity. Scott now has to deal with his suspicious ex-wife (Wendy Crewson) and her psychiatrist boyfriend (Judge Reinhold), who both think he's playing tricks with Charlie's mind, and also with his own out-of-control body, which is putting on weight and growing a prodigious beard. The Santa Clause probably won't supplant It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street as anyone's favourite Christmas viewing, but it's an enjoyable, straightforward family film, anchored by the affable charisma of Allen. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Walt Disney Home Video / D2 The Mighty Ducks [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Carsten Norgaard
  • Kathryn Erbe
  • Michael Tucker
  • Jan Rubes
  • Sam Weisman
  • Emilio Estevez
Release date: 2002-09-23
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £3.46

Review D2 The Mighty Ducks [1994] / Walt Disney Home Video:

This follow-up to the surprise Disney hit about a hockey team of misfits brings Emilio Estevez back to the role of the kids' yuppie coach. This time, Estevez assimilates his Ducks into the higher-stakes Team USA in the Junior Goodwill Games, an opportunity that could bring fame and money. Entirely perfunctory, this sequel is basically an excuse to revisit the eccentricities of some of the younger characters, extend some of their conflicts into adolescence and showcase their allegedly entertaining but ethically dubious abilities on the ice. Estevez is okay but even he had enough after this movie. -Tom Keogh.

Review Momentum Picture Home Ent / Arthur and the Invisibles [2007]
Actors & Directors
  • David Bowie
  • Robert De Niro
  • Madonna
  • Snoop Dogg
  • Freddie Highmore
Release date: 2007-06-25
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £3.70

Review Arthur and the Invisibles [2007] / Momentum Picture Home Ent:

First released in France, Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles is a touching computer animated adventure that makes up in look and in character for what it lacks in narrative originality. As a direct hybrid of Excalibur and A Bug's Life, Arthur stars a heroic ten year-old, Arthur (Freddie Highmore), who draws a sword from a stone to fight a miniature battle in the garden before finding treasure valuable enough to save his grandfather's farm from purchase by developers. Arthur's grandfather, Archibald, having long ago discovered the miniscule world of Minimoys, garden gnome-like elves that lived in his yard, shrunk himself in order to hunt elusive rubies that were hidden in their evil Mecropolis, headed by Maltazard (David Bowie). Now Arthur must assist the benevolent Minimoy clan, ruled by The King (Robert De Niro) and Princess Selenia (Madonna), in challenging Maltazard for possession of the jewels. Shots taking the viewer down through grass blades into the microscopic, yet gigantic yard world readjust one's sense of size, as do scenes, for example, in which a small, elven Arthur fights mosquitoes with catapulted tomatoes. Meanwhile, live action scenes of Arthur's worried grandmother (Mia Farrow) provide respite from a completely computerized world. Bowie, as he did in Legend, steals the show, bringing to life his Darth Vader-like character who chose evil over good in a past adventure. Corny one-liners sometimes spoil the mood, but overall the film's thematic blend of fantasy and environmentalism, like Princess Mononoke, will delight children with its positive message. -Trinie Dalton.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment (UK) / Shrek 2
Actors & Directors
  • Mike Myers
  • Conrad Vernon
  • Eddie Murphy
  • John Cleese
  • Kelly Asbury
  • Cameron Diaz
  • Conrad Vernon
  • Andrew Adamson
Release date: 2004-11-01
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £22.99
Price: £1.47

Review Shrek 2 / Paramount Home Entertainment (UK):

The lovably ugly green ogre returns with his green bride and furry, hooved friend in Shrek 2. The newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to Fiona's former kingdom, Far Far Away, to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents-which Shrek thinks is a bad, bad idea, and he's proved right: the parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way. The computer animation is more detailed than ever, but it's the acting that make the comedy work-in addition to the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, Shrek 2 features the flexible voices of Julie Andrews, John Cleese and Antonio Banderas, plus Jennifer Saunders as the gleefully wicked fairy godmother. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Turner Home Entertainment / Ben 10: The Complete Season 1 [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Man of Action
Release date: 2007-02-06
Run time: 286 min.
Price: £8.88

Review Ben 10: The Complete Season 1 [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Turner Home Entertainment:


Browse Children's DVD:

Models & Brands:
Free Willy [1993], Looney Tunes All Stars Collection 1, The Golden Compass (2 disc Special edition) [2007], Hector's House [1968], The Worst Witch, Horrid Henry - Gets Rich Quick, The Jungle Book 2 (Special Edition) [2003], Hoodwinked [2006], The Cat Returns, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids [1989], The Adventures Of Tintin - 75th Anniversary [1990], Moomin - Volume Two [1990], Nanny McPhee [2005], Grange Hill : Complete BBC Series 3 & 4, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [1937] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Santa Clause [1995], D2 The Mighty Ducks [1994], Arthur and the Invisibles [2007], Shrek 2, Ben 10: The Complete Season 1 [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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