Aladdin

First off, the presentation is a knockout. Restored and cleaned up for the DVD release, the 1992 film looks grand, with the strong color scheme brought to a new level of vitality. The "Disney Enhanced" 5.1 sound is a bit warmer and robust than the standard 5.1 Dolby sound (also included). Disney has honed its ability to present a vast amount of information smoothly. "A Diamond in the Rough," the two-hour documentary, can be viewed three ways: via an index (with the duration of each segment nicely noted), an interactive menu, or a simple one-click "play all" mode. Add the information from the two new commentary tracks (one by the directors and producers, the other--much more amusing--by four character animators), and you can digest that even though Beauty and the Beast may have been more prestigious, Aladdin was much more challenging and fun to animate. A town hall-type retrospective brings together many of the talents to Robin Williams's lack of participation in the DVD is evident (he does appear--in rare form--in the vintage recording-session footage). In a nice change from the usual Disney sheen, the original story that was radically changed is discussed and deleted scenes are shown.

reminisce but, alas,

Another spotlight is on the music with four deleted songs on display with their rough animation (which was also deleted). One song, "Proud of Your Boy," receives an orchestral version with none other than Clay Aiken crooning the tune. For the kids, the games are quite lame, but a must-see--on the biggest screen possible--is the Magic Carpet Adventure. Like The Lion King DVD's "Virtual Safari," viewers race through the settings of the movie as if we are on a theme-park ride--without the motion. The adults will want to view it and might be needed to solve the puzzle via some quick inputting from the DVD remote. --Doug Thomas

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Tangled

 

 Disney presents a new twist on one of the most hilarious and hair-raising tales ever told. Your whole family will get tangled up in the fun, excitement and adventure of this magical motion picture.

When the kingdom's most wanted - and most charming - bandit Flynn Rider hides in a mysterious tower, the last thing he expects to find is Rapunzel, a spirited teen with an unlikely superpower - 70 feet of magical golden hair! Together, the unlikely duo sets off on a fantastic journey filled with surprising heroes, laughter and suspense.

Let your hair down and get ready to cheer for "Tangled." Bursting with never-before-seen bonus features, it's even more enchanting on Blu-ray Hi-Def.

 Tangled, Disney's version of the oft-refashioned folk tale Rapunzel, is the studio's 50th animated film and one that is destined for classic status.

The Synopsis:

This latest retelling begins with a tiny piece of sunlight falling to earth and a magical golden flower sprouting where it lands. The flower, and its ability to restore youth, is discovered, used and kept secret by Mother Gothel. When the kingdom's beloved queen falls ill, a search for the flower (apparently its existence wasn't *completely* secret) is successfully undertaken and the healing potion brewed from it restores the queen's health. The flower's magical abilities are also transferred to the hair of the queen's unborn child, Rapunzel. When Mother Gothel discovers this and learns that the magical properties are only retained as long as the hair remains uncut, she kidnaps Rapunzel and raises her as her own child. Claiming that she wants to keep Rapunzel safe from a frightening world full of danger and thugs, Mother Gothel locks her away in a remote tower. While her hair (almost a character in and of itself) grows longer and longer, Rapunzel blossoms into a surprisingly well-adjusted young woman and gifted artist who longs to see the world - particularly the mysterious lights that appear in the night sky each year on her birthday.

Enter our amusing narrator, Flynn Rider, a roguish thief who has just stolen a tiara and is on the run from palace guards when he comes across Rapunzel's tower and takes refuge there. The very competent Rapunzel restrains Flynn, hides the tiara and strikes a bargain with him - she will return the tiara to him if he will agree to take her to see those mysterious lights, which he tells her are floating lanterns. 

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Product Details

• Actors: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Ron Perlman, M.C. Gainey
• Directors: Nathan Greno, Byron Howard
• Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Spanish, English
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
• DVD Release Date: March 29, 2011
• Run Time: 100 minutes

The Land Before Time

A lot of people are commenting about how negative and depressing this movie is. Well, not all kids are looking for a rainbows-and-cotton-candy kind of film. This was one of my favorite movies as a child. Sure, maybe I was a little aloof to what was really happening, but I found nothing depressing about the film. Yes, it's sad and yes the happy ending isn't a disney-type happy, but I'm sure that doesn't really matter to most kids.

 This is one of those films that I expected to enjoy much less than many of my family's Disney favorites. As it turned out, both my children and my wife and I like the movie immensely.
The touching story of Little Foot, the last remaining member of his family of Brontosauruses (Brontosauri?), is a great adventure as well. He joins up with younger members of other dinosaur families as they all journey to the Great Valley in search of food.
Along the way they encounter hunger, thirst, earthquakes, and, not least of all, the dreaded Sharptooth. The feel of the dinosaur age is well presented and the characters are cute without being saccharine (and they don't sing!).
The lesson that friends can be friends even though they don't look like you or act just like you is a nice one for kids to see. The idea that working together is important for reaching a goal is also a valuable one.
Having owned a VHS copy of the movie, I was anxious to see the DVD. The result on this particular version is very dissappointing.
First, the version is full-screen with no wide-screen option. This seems to be a minor problem since most of the action seems to take place center screen. It would have been nice to have the option for widescreen, however.
Secondly, the color and brightness varies widely from scene to scene (and, more jarringly, sometimes within a scene). The opening scene, which starts underwater, is actually darker and less sharp than on the VHS version. In several quiet, close-up scenes the picture will be perfectly exposed and then the picture will shift to a darker look and then back. Very annoying. Various nicks and scratches appear throughout the film - it appears that no effort was made to clean up the video master at all.
There were also no extras on the disc at all, and at the price of this DVD, you would expect a little more than just the movie and chapter selections. Disney issued their first few DVDs with little problems like this: no widescreen option, varying degrees of video quality, etc. They however, have moved to a more consistent product over the last six months. Hopefully, movies like The Land Before Time will be given better treatment in the future. This one in particular deserves better than it got.

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