Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boo: Cinderella Is Back!

When I was a little girl, before Disney had the long string of Princesses for girls to choose from, Cinderella was the one everyone loved. Unlike Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, she wasn't a princess to begin with. She was a mistreated girl who worked hard yet never let it crush her dreams, and then with the help of her fairy godmother met her Prince Charming and fell in love. Most little girls loved the story and, at least in some way, identified with Cinderella.

The movie has just been released again for the Cinderella: Diamond Edition on Blu-ray, featuring a digitally remastered version of the film along with loads of extras.

I watched it again with my daughters and realized how much of the movie I had forgotten. Everyone remembers the iconic fairy godmother scene, and of course Cinderella at the ball, but both of these happen much later in the movie than I had recalled. The stepmother's cat, Lucifer, has a larger role than I remembered, as he and the mice take up a large part of the subplot, even involved in the final rescue attempt to unlock Cinderella from the tower.

The movie has a slower pace than many of the newer Disney films, a hallmark of the time it came from. A lot of time is spent showing the audience the daily life that Cinderella endures, giving us plenty of information to make our minds up about the nature of her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Even the songs are slower and dreamy in quality. It was fantastic to relive my memories of the film while watching it with my two daughters.



Beyond the film itself, the Diamond Edition Blu-ray is filled with additional fun. The best extra (in my opinion) is the addition of the Tangled Ever After animated short. If you liked Tangled, you'll love seeing how their wedding day was nearly a disaster but, like many moments in Tangled, all turns out OK in the end.

There's also a never-before-seen alternate opening sequence, showing a series of storyboards that detail one proposed opening for Cinderella, and two deleted scenes. I also really liked the feature on the new Disney Princess Fantasyland being built at Walt Disney World. The amusement park is expanding to bring the worlds of Disney Princesses to life and it looks amazing. The first section just recently opened - I can't tell you how excited I was to see the new attractions, especially since we're planning our first family trip to Disney in the spring!

This Blu-ray also includes the Disney Second Screen experience - you can download the app onto your computer , iPad or iPhone and then sync the app with the start of the movie when you're watching it. This lets you interact with the film as it's playing: see additional information about scenes, play games and more.

Overall, the Cinderella: Diamond Edition Blu-ray is a great addition to any collection. It's fantastic nostalgia for parents and grandparents, and a sweet fairy tale for kids. Who doesn't wish their fairy godmother might pay them a visit someday and make all of their dreams come true? OK, it's probably won't happen, but that's no reason to stop dreaming, right?

Cinderella is available on DVD and Blu-Ray just about everywhere now for a limited time before it's back in the vault again!

PS - Want some coloring pages for your kids, too? Click the button below for some free Cinderella coloring sheets!



Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this Blu-ray to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed here are my own. And if I could get a wish granted from my fairy godmother, I'd ask her to cover the costs of our trip to Disney next year, because vacations aren't cheap.

It's Time To Play The Music, It's Time To Light The Lights

If you're not already singing the theme song to the Muppets in your head, then you must not have grown up in the US in the 70's or 80's. As a child I loved the Muppets. They were funny, they had great music, and they were a gentle yet smart show for a child to watch, with endearing characters and creative puppetry. (Or muppetry, as the case may be.)

We have some of the old show on DVD, and the kids have watched several of the Muppet movies, including Muppet Treasure Island and A Muppet Christmas Carol. So when it was revealed that a new Muppet movie was being released, I was thrilled at the chance to go see it in the theater with our daughters.

We did go see it, and loved it other than missing the last 10 minutes due to an accident in the theater. We never had another chance to go see it, so instead I anxiously awaited the release of the Blu-ray.

Well, that day is here, and I couldn't be happier! The Muppets was released last week, and in true Muppet fashion they went over-the-top to produce an extravaganza of a product. The Wocka Wocka value pack includes not only the Blu-ray and DVD copies of the movie, but also a digital copy for your computer or tablet and a copy of the soundtrack, along with a ton of extras including commentaries, deleted scenes, the "Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History)" and much more.

The story of this Muppet movie takes place long after the Muppets fame has faded. Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, goes with his brother Gary to Los Angeles to visit the Muppet Studios, only to find it falling down and about to be bought out and torn down by greedy millionaire Tex Richman. Walter makes it his mission to find Kermit and round up the old Muppet crew to convince them to put on a Muppet telethon to raise the money to save the Muppet Theater. (And I'm sure you can guess that there's a happy ending and the Muppets are reminded just how much people still love them.)

We were so happy to finally see the last 10 minutes of the movie. Like the old Muppet Show, there were several celebrity guest appearances and lots of music, including the Academy Award winning song, Man or Muppet. And the movie proved that the Muppets are timeless - even when competing with CGI graphics and blazing special effects in other movies, our daughters fell in love with the Muppets just like we did when we were kids. The humor is silly, with plenty of moments breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the audience, the songs are sweet and keep everyone humming along, and adults will love the nostalgia while kids develop their own relationship with Jim Henson's greatest creations.

As for the extras on the Blu-ray: you need this set for the blooper reel and the theatrical spoof trailers. Oh, the other extras are great, too, but I guarantee you'll be watching these two features more than once.

There are many movies that I like that I really don't need as a part of my collection. The Muppets, however, is one I absolutely recommend to own. If your house is anything like mine, this movie will get a lot of play time, and the extras make it even more fun. (See how fast you end up having a sing-along in your car to the soundtrack!)

The Muppets is now available at Amazon and most major retailers.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this Blu-ray set to facilitate my review. No further compensation was received and all opinions stated are my own. Also? My favorite Muppet is still Animal.

Admit it - You Love My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

As a child of the 80's, My Little Pony was one of my favorite toys. I had far too many of them, from the standard ponies, to the sparkle-eye ponies, to all other wild variants on the franchise. I remember watching My Little Pony movies as well. I recently found some footage from those movies and, well, let's just say it wasn't as good as I remembered it.

The My Little Pony craze disappeared for a long time, seeing some small revivals here and there. But recently the brand has had a huge re-start on The HUB network, complete with redesigns of the ponies, new toys, and a brand new TV series. It was by accident that my family found out about it, and I Tivo'd a few episodes of the new series to share in the nostalgia with my daughters.

I didn't have high expectations at first. However, the new My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series stunned me in just how fantastic it is, from well-developed characters to storylines that even adults can enjoy. This is not some puff-ball girly series - the characters are amazingly well developed for an animated show for kids, the humor is witty, and the plots are complex and full of adventure.

So when it was announced that the first DVD of the new series, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express, was being released this month, I couldn't wait to get it.

In My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express, the benevolent Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, selects unicorn Twilight Sparkle for a very important assignment - to learn about the most important magic of all: friendship. With her new friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, Twilight sets out on amazing adventures, and they all learn what it means to be true friends.

The DVD includes the first two episodes of the series (a 2-part episode, really), as well as three other episodes from first and second season that all involve the Ponyville Express train at some point in the episode. (Hence the title, The Friendship Express.)

The 2-part series opener is where Twilight Sparkle is sent to Ponyville and becomes friends with the other ponies. While there, Nightmare Moon (Princess Celestia's younger sister) comes back from banishment and tries to conquer Equestria again. Twilight and her friends soon find they each have unique characteristics that make up the Elements of Harmony, which they use together to defeat Nightmare Moon.

In Over a Barrel, the ponies travel to a frontier town where the have to help settle a dispute between the settler ponies and the native buffalo herd. (Very wild-west feel to it.) During Hearth's Warming Eve, which is essentially the Christmas episode, the ponies retell the story of how earth ponies, unicorns and pegasai ended their centuries-long hatred of each other and worked together to build a new society in friendship. And in The Last Roundup, Applejack doesn't return from a rodeo out of town and her friends set out to find her and bring her back home.

Also included on the DVD is a sing-along - there are LOTS of songs in this show - coloring sheets, and a profile for each of the ponies.

I'm honestly surprised how much I like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The moral of each episode is evident without beating you over the head, the ponies are funny and well-developed, and it's a show I'm not afraid to let my daughters watch over and over. Even some of our adult friends have become fans of the show after seeing it at our house.

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Friendship Express is now available on DVD. Check this out for your family and I'll bet you'll be hooked, too.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed here are my own, although I have no doubt you'll agree with me if you watch a few episodes yourself. 

Finding Shakespeare in Anonymous

There comes a point in every mom's week where she can no longer watch another cartoon or kid show without feeling the urge to pluck her eyes out. This is often solved by scheduling a movie night, or just watching a romantic comedy or costume drama DVD after the kids are in bed.

Well, if you like costume dramas, I've got the movie that will serve as a remedy to any amount of preschool programming.

I first heard about the movie Anonymous just before it was released to theaters. The film poses a question that some scholars have debated for years: who actually wrote Shakespeare's plays and poems? It's always seemed unlikely that the barely educated son of an illiterate glove maker could go on to write some of the greatest plays in history, filled with incredible details about lands Shakespeare never saw and history that he likely never learned.

While most academics still accept that Shakespeare wrote his own works, there are some who believe that it was actually a member of the nobility who wrote all of them using Shakespeare's name. During that time period, it was considered scandalous for a nobleman to write plays for the general public, so should he wish to do so he would have to do it secretly under a different name.

Anonymous is a fictional what if? story that assumes that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, was the true Shakespeare. The film often jumps back and forth through time, featuring Edward as a younger man, dreaming of poetry and writing while flirting with the younger Queen Elizabeth, and then Edward as the disillusioned older man, looking for a way to express his political opinions and incite change in the country and finding that means of expression through secretly play writing for the London stage.

Woven in the fiction is a wealth of historical fact, however, and the movie brings the characters and world of Elizabethan England that some of us vaguely remember from history books to life in stunning detail and complexity. The visuals presented in this film are breathtaking, with every aspect of the world displayed in painstaking detail, from the crowded, dirty city of London to the manicured estates of the nobility.

I should add at this point that the movie is not as historically accurate as you might think it to be. It's a story pursuing a theory in history, and as such that story takes many liberties with the source material. (In other words, don't let your teens watch this to pass their world history test.) But where the details may be fictional, the sensibilities, politics, and culture of that moment in time are preserved and resurrected on the screen.

Amazingly, for a movie about Shakespeare, there isn't a lot of screen time for the man himself. When Edward de Vere asks the writer Ben Jonson to get his plays onto the stage under Jonson's name, Jonson hesitates and Shakespeare is only too happy to step forward and accept the applause. In this story, Shakespeare isn't the noble genius we may consider him to be, but rather a drunken, scheming actor ready to blackmail a nobleman to get the fame and fortune he wants.

The cast is made up of both newcomers and legends. The older version of Edward de Vere, played by Rhys Ifans, is a delicate balance of a man crushed by past rejection yet, deep down, still filled with the passion that drove the actions of his youth. Vanessa Redgrave plays the older Queen Elizabeth, while Redgrave's daughter Joely Richardson is the younger version of Elizabeth. Each brings to the character a depth well beyond the classroom description of the "Virgin Queen" of England.

My one complaint with the film is that if you don't already have some knowledge of the material or of some of the history, it can be difficult to follow through the dizzyingly large cast of characters. I love Shakespeare and Elizabethan history was the focus of my first college degree, so it was easy for me to keep up, but others may occasionally feel lost in the details. I can't even fully explain the story in this review because there are so many layers involved!

Still, it doesn't detract from the basics of the story and may leave some viewers wanting to seek out more information on these historical figures. Anonymous may not change your opinion on the subject of who actually wrote the works of Shakespeare, but it will entertain you with an intriguing theory on what could have been, provide a beautiful study of Elizabethan England, and possibly even invite some debate among friends about who was the "real" Shakespeare.

Anonymous is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. The Blu-ray features extended and deleted scenes, a featurette on Shakespeare, commentary with Director Roland Emmerich and Writer John Orloff, and more. The DVD has some of these features, too, but if at all possible, get the Blu-ray. The high-definition treatment is really a must to appreciate all of the gorgeous detail in this film.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this movie to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed here are my own, and your opinion of dramas with men in tights may vary. I especially have a love for movies featuring the Earl of Oxford because my husband played the character when we were once actors at the Ohio Renaissance Festival many years ago. True story.

Disney's Jake & the Never Land Pirates Now On DVD!

Pirates have been all the rage ever since Pirates of the Caribbean. But they generally don't come off as approachable and friendly to the average preschooler. At least not until Disney Junior developed Jake and the Never Land Pirates, where the pirates went from being just the villains to being the actual heroes as well.

Jake and the Never Land Pirates introduces a crew of kid pirates – leader Jake and pals Izzy and Cubby – and follows their Never Land adventures as they work to outwit two infamous characters, the one and only Captain Hook and Smee, from Disney's classic "Peter Pan."  Every episode features the animated Sharky and Bones characters as they pop up throughout to perform original pirate ditties, and each episode concludes with a live action music video featuring The Never Land Pirate Band.

You may think pirates are more of a genre for boys, but my two girls LOVE this show. Thankfully, one of the kid characters on the show is a girl, so they have a character to relate to when watching. The show is actually gender neutral, with adventures, songs and characters that entertain both boys and girls. My daughters love to sing along and help the crew, and my older daughter has already decided she will be a pirate for Halloween, just like Izzy.

And now you can now find seven episodes available on their first DVD, Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Matey Away! which appeared in stores last week. The DVD also has two bonus features including "Yo Ho, You Want To Be A Pirate?" where Jake teaches viewers how to talk like a pirate, and "Pirate Party With Pirate-oke," a collection of music videos performed by The Never Land Pirate Band that allow viewers to enjoy with or without the sing-along/karaoke-like feature.

The DVD also comes with a bonus 7-track CD sampler and a pirate eye patch. (But only one eye patch - be ready for this if you have more than one child, or fights might break out over who gets to wear the eye patch.)

The show's first soundtrack was also recently released, featuring songs like the kooky, comical "Hot Lava," “Aw Coconuts,” "Pirate Password,” and the arrrghhh-rated “Talk Like a Pirate.” Hot Lava has now spurred many a game of "oh no, the floor is hot lava! Jump from pillow to pillow or you'll be burned!" in our house.

So if your kids love pirates, but you're not quite ready to expose them to Johnny Depp's version of the scurvy sea-captains, check out the DVD of Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Yo Ho, Matey Away! or the daily episodes on Disney Junior. It's the perfect non-scary introduction to pirates that will have kids eager to start their own adventures and search for treasure in their own backyards.

Get Tangled In Disney's Latest Fairy Tale On Blu-ray & DVD

I've been waiting for Disney's Tangled to come out on Blu-ray and DVD for what seems like forever. After seeing it twice in the theater, I was hooked on the story and couldn't wait to add it to our library. Well, now that day has arrived, and as of today Tangled is available for purchase everywhere.

What's that? You missed out on seeing Tangled in the theater? Well, let me explain why you must add this new classic to your collection!

The story synopsis from Disney is this: When the kingdom’s most wanted—and most charming—bandit Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) is taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a feisty teen with 70 feet of golden hair who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, the unlikely duo sets off on a hilarious, hair-raising escapade filled with adventure, heart, humor and hair—lots of hair.

Truthfully, that's a fairly shallow description of everything involved in this movie. It doesn't mention that Rapunzel is a princess who was kidnapped by Mother Gothel and has lived nearly all of her life inside the tower. Or that her parents still hold out hope they'll find her again one day and have a lantern lighting ceremony on her birthday each year. (You'll sob when you see this.) Or that the cast of supporting characters could include vikings who like to collect tiny ceramic unicorns. Or that Rapunzel can wield a mean frying pan.

I do love that Rapunzel is a strong female character. She's kept away from the world at a child, innocent and scared of the outside, and yet she faces her fears to follow her dreams. Along the way she encounters a lot of frightening moments, but she rises to the occasion for each - she's a good modern princess role model for young girls. (Honestly, I still am not sure why this movie wasn't titled Rapunzel like all of the other Disney princess films.)

The ultimate 4-Disc Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack of Tangled comes with the 3D Blu-ray, the standard Blu-ray, the DVD, and a digital copy for your computer/iPad all in one package. There is also a 2-Disc Blu-Ray and DVD combo as well. (Which is what I received for review.) While I don't have a 3D capable TV, I did see the movie in 3D in the theater and it was great. But the non-3D version was just as good, and on our HD TV the Blu-ray copy of this movie is simply gorgeous.

Extras packaged with this release include the making of Tangled, deleted scenes, extended songs, two alternate openings, and several teaser trailers. I really enjoyed the deleted scenes and alternate openings, including the alternate tavern name of The Jaunty Moose.

Here's a clip of one of the alternate openings included with the extras:




This is a movie that will likely endure many, many viewings in our household. Not only do our daughters like it, but my husband and I really enjoy this movie as well. When I reviewed the initial release of the film, I said that while I liked it, I still liked The Princess and the Frog better. Well, having seen it a few more times now, I can confidently say Tangled is starting to pull ahead as a favorite.

If you have the chance, add this film to your collection. Here, I'll even make it easier for you with a $5 off coupon for the 4-disc set, good for this week only.

You and your kids will love Tangled. Trust me: mother knows best.

Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this movie to facilitate my review. No further compensation was received, and no guarantee of a positive review was promised or expected. Of course, they probably knew to expect a good review when I replied back with, "Oooh! Oooh! Please let me review a copy!"

Walt Disney's Bambi Is Back With A Stunning HD Makeover

(Please welcome my husband Aaron for this guest review. He normally posts reviews at Comic Hero News, but realized that Bambi just doesn't fit in there.)

Like just about everyone over the age of 30, I grew up with Walt Disney's Bambi. The tale of the “young prince,” in the form of the newborn buck Bambi, is a heart-warming tale about growing up in the forest, with the first third of the film being filled with the innocent exploration of Young Bambi and his friends. Oh, sure, there's the throw-away line about the meadow not being safe by Bambi's mother, but most of the film is full of adorable animals, doing adorable things.

Only the most jaded soul can watch Bambi's early interactions with Thumper, Flower, and Faline without being charmed by the film. Which, of course, makes the later parts of the film, where the hunter takes Bambi's mother, and then the fire takes his home from him all the more terrifying and horrific.

It's funny, but in some ways, the fact that the characters of Thumper and Flower (especially) have become such icons, and the devastation of the forest and the death of Bambi's mother are regarded with such horror, have made most of us remember Bambi without actually remembering the film. And with good reason... Bambi has been in Disney's vault since 2007, and despite being universally remembered as a classic, most people I know are reluctant to see the film. (We owned the Platinum Edition DVD, and it has remained in the shrink-wrap on our shelf until I replaced it with the new Diamond Edition Blu-Ray).

And the thing is that this is really a shame. Because as I re-watched the film, I found myself remembering the entire middle of the film, where the Prince of the Forest attempts to raise Bambi. I watched the growth of Bambi and Faline, and their love story, and I took it in with a new set of eyes. From start to finish, Bambi is really a charming film, and the tale is one that I appreciated more seeing again.

The music in Bambi is richly complex, although none of the songs are remembered the way we remember classic songs from Disney's other tales. All told, I really found myself falling in love with this movie all over again, and for that, I'm grateful.

The Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD set is also guaranteed to please fans. Not only is the film beautifully restored into HD (compare it to the DVD – it's almost like seeing a brand new film), but all of the bonus features from the Platinum Edition DVD remain on this set. Within this set, we have two Deleted Scenes, an enhanced view with “Inside Walt's Story Meetings,” the DisneyPedia of Bambi's forest friends, and the Disney Big Book of Knowledge Game.

But what is possibly the coolest feature – and one that is new to the Disney library of films with Bambi, is the Disney Second Screen feature. Rather than having art slides, trivia questions, or games pop up on the screen as the film plays, you can set an iPad or computer up with the Second Screen, and as the film plays, you get to see a huge wealth of bonuses from the film. Sometimes this is as simple as the storyboards and concept art for the moments on screen, but often there are games, illuminating quotes, alternate camera views and the like.

The Second Screen feature is probably a bit much for younger kids to absorb while watching the film (I actually gave up using it the first time I watched Bambi for this review, and then watched the film a second time so I could play with the Second Screen). But it is perfect for older kids who think “I'm too cool for Bambi,” or for parents to keep themselves occupied as their kids experience the wonder of the film for the first or second time.

Also, it should be noted that the Second Screen feature uses audio cues to auto-sync with the film, and in my experience you had to have the TV very loud for that to work. However, the manual sync option is very easy to use if you choose that route.

Of course, as is the case with all of Disney films, the Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD Combo will only be available for a limited time, and then back into the vault it will go. No doubt, there will eventually be another release, with even more bonuses, but for now, it's hard to imagine a better way to experience Bambi than this set.

Bonus: Disney Movie Rewards currently has a $10 off coupon for the Bambi Diamond Edition Combo Pack!

Full disclosure: I received a copy of the Bambi Diamond Edition Combo Pack to facilitate this review. No further compensation was received, and no expectations were set for a positive or negative review.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast Charms A New Generation on Blu-Ray

I have fond memories of watching the Disney animated classic Beauty and the Beast when I was a freshman in high school. It was my favorite of all of the Disney movies for several reasons. First, Belle was a smart, independent, bookish girl like myself. She wasn't looking for a man to complete her, and was quite happy to reject the town hunk rather than give in to someone she didn't like. Love came as a surprise with the Beast, and it involved both of them accepting each other for who they were. It wasn't the typical princess fairy tale we all have come to expect, and I liked that.

But I also loved the animation. I still can picture the shot of the chandelier while they were dancing during the song "Beauty and the Beast." It was the first extensive use of computer animation, and seeing such detail in that chandelier was amazing.

The music was also fantastic. I still own my original cassette of the soundtrack, and can still probably sing every word of "Be Our Guest." The film won two Academy Awards and two Grammy Awards for music, and was the first Disney animated film to inspire its own Broadway show.

In other words: I love this movie. It was one of the first Disney films that I truly fell for, and I'm thrilled that I can now show it to my smart, independent and bookish daughters.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition was released for the first time on Blu-ray in a Blu-ray + DVD combo pack on October 5, 2010. Included in this set is a fully remastered and restored version of the film on Blu-ray as well as a DVD copy, along with lots of bonus features and extras to keep the fun going well past the movie.

Some of the extras include deleted scenes, making-of and behind-the-scenes features, enhanced music tracks, and interactive games. There are three versions of the film you can choose from: the original theatrical release, the special extended edition that includes the song "Human Again" which was cut from the original version, and the storyboard version, which shows the storyboards alongside the film.

My favorite extra is the Sing-Along Mode, where the words of the songs appear on the screen so you can sing along. I know most of the songs, but it's nice to have a cheat sheet to help me teach my girls the songs as well. My youngest daughter loves the Enchanted Musical Challenge game, while my oldest likes to watch the "Belle in the Library" deleted scene storyboard.

Overall, Beauty and the Beast is a well-made addition to Disney's Blu-ray Diamond Edition collection. I compared it to my older DVD version of the movie, and they really did an excellent job at making the picture quality even sharper, the colors brighter, and the music even more enchanting. The extras are nice to have as well, but just the stunning quality of the film is worth the price.

The Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition Blu-ray + DVD combo pack is available now, and a DVD-only version of the movie will be available next month. Don't wait to get your copy - like all Disney movies, they're only available for a limited time before they go back into the vault - and you don't want to miss your chance to own one of the best Disney movies of all time.

Full Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of the DVD to facilitate my review. However, the opinions stated here are still 100% my own and I know I could out-sing most of you on the song "Belle" because I sang it all the time in my car in high school. Wait...did you just call me a geek?

The Blindside

** Please welcome Aaron as he provides a guest post for me on this great movie!

By now, if you haven’t heard of The Blindside, then you’ve probably been living in a cave for the past three months. Based on the real-life story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Michael Oher, The Blindside has won significant acclaim – both for the film itself, and for star Sandra Bullock.

The plot of the film (and the book it was based on, and the real life-story) isn’t the most complicated. Michael is an outcast and an orphan, who is taken in by the Tuohy’s, and given a home. His great size and strength makes him a prize candidate for football, and the Tuohy’s encourage him to pursue this, even helping him raise his grades high enough that he can play. Then there is a moment of drama when it seems like they have been using him to get him to play for their alma matter, which ultimately is resolved with the message that family (which doesn’t necessarily mean the people you are blood related to) trumps all. And as most sports-drama films do, it ends with Oher being drafted in the NFL.

I’m not a huge sports fan, so I was mostly unfamiliar with the real-life story, but I have seen enough sports films to know how they typically end. A team, or a player, has a disadvantage (in this case, Oher’s impoverished upbringing and lack of education and family life), starts to overcome it – usually due to an inspiring coach or family member – has a brief relapse, and finally triumphs. So, there was little to surprise me while watching The Blindside.

I say that there was little to surprise me, and that’s true. But that’s not to say there were no surprises. And the biggest of these is the quality of the acting. By the time the video arrived, Bullock had already swept most of the major awards, so I expected her to be great – and she truly was. But what I didn’t expect were the quality performances from the rest of the cast. Quinton Aaron is superb playing Oher, and Tim McGraw does great work as Sean Tuohy, Leigh Anne’s husband. Also of note is Kathy Bates, who plays Oher’s tutor.

BONUS FEATURES

This disc is fairly light on the bonus features, with only a few deleted scenes. The Blu-Ray presentation includes several featurettes, including an interview with the real-life Oher, a head-to-head discussion between Sandra Bullock and Leigh Anne Tuohy, a discussion between director John Lee Hancock and author Michael Lewis, and a biography of Quinton Aaron. If you’re interested in these features, check out the Blu-Ray presentation instead. I wish that the studios were still in the habit of providing an extended or collector’s-edition DVD with the bonus features, but it seems like those of us without an HD player are going to slowly find our access to bonus features diminished.

OVERALL

While there is nothing amazing about the DVD presentation of The Blindside, the simple truth is that this is an amazing film, and one that is well worth seeing. It was obvious going in to Awards season that there was no way for the film to compete with the likes of Avatar and The Hurt Locker, but Bullock easily deserves every nomination and award she received, and the film more than deserved its’ nominations. If you have a Blu-ray player, skip the DVD for the Blu-Ray, but you owe it to yourself to – at the minimum – rent this movie. It’s a powerful and potent reminder of what family can mean and achieve.

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Full Disclosure: A copy of this DVD was provided for review. No further compensation was received, and a positive review was neither promised nor expected.

The Movie That Changed Animation

I remember a long time ago - ok, 1995, but that feels like forever ago - I was a college student who was secretly a geek, and I loved animated movies. I still went to the theater to see the newest Disney releases, even if I was ten years older than the targeted demographic. And it was that year that I got to see Toy Story, and with it the first full-length computer-animated movie.

I was amazed by this little movie from the animation giant Disney and Pixar, a newcomer in the animation industry. The images were so crisp, but the story was heartwarming. So when I discovered Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were being released to DVD and Blu-Ray, I was thrilled to get the chance to see them again.

For those who haven't seen Toy Story, consider it a look at the secret world of toys. When people aren't looking, they come to life and have their own world based around knowing they are toys. They have their own social structure, they have their likes and dislikes, and they are especially afraid of being displaced by new toys.

So when Andy has a birthday party and receives a new Buzz Lightyear figure (voiced by Tim Allen), it immediately makes Andy's favorite toy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) nervous and determined to get rid of this new competition. In doing so, Woody ends up getting himself into trouble and the two toys have to work together to get back to Andy, all while Woody works to convince the clueless Buzz that he's a toy and not the actual Buzz Lightyear. Sounds like a simple story, but it has a strong theme of friendship and is a gentle reminder of the fantastic lives we imagined our toys had when we were kids.

While I saw this film in 1995, my daughters just got to see it for the first time, and they loved it. They liked the story, they laughed at the toys acting silly, and they enjoyed the music. And if you think they liked Toy Story, then you should have seen their reaction to Toy Story 2.

Toy Story 2 begins with Andy going off to summer camp, and Woody accidentally finding himself in the family yard sale when he tries to rescue another toy. He's scooped up by a collector and taken away, while the other toys - led by Buzz Lightyear - try to find him and rescue him. Woody finds himself in the collector's apartment, where he meets the other toys that were from the TV series Woody's Roundup.

The collector plans to sell them as a set to a toy museum in Japan, and while the other toys are excited about the trip, Woody only wants to get back home. Other than Jessie, the cowgirl, the other toys have never known what it's like to be loved by a child, and Jessie has bad memories of being forgotten by the little girl who owned her. Buzz and Andy's other toys eventually rescue Woody, and Jessie and the toy horse Bullseye come along to find a new home at Andy's house.

My girls loved Toy Story 2 even more than the original. First, it had a lead female character, Jessie, and the girls loved the toy cowgirl's vibrant and outgoing personality. Actually, that's primarily the reason they liked it more. The music was equally as good (Randy Newman is a genius!) and the animation was even better than the first. While the story isn't quite as simple as the first, it's still a good story that is easy for young children to follow while still keeping adults entertained.

Both of these movies were re-released last week on DVD and special Blu-Ray + DVD combo packs. This is the first time these films have been released in high-definition Blu-Ray, and each offers a range of bonus features, including a sneak-peak at the upcoming Toy Story 3.  Each has featurettes on the making of each movie at Pixar, deleted scenes, a "blooper reel" for Toy Story 2, and each includes a Buzz Lightyear mission log. The Blu-Ray discs also have movie challenges and other interactive features.

The Toy Story franchise was what originally launched Pixar into the big leagues of animation, and it's easy to see why. Not only was it a technological achievement, the story is unique and perfect for kids and kids at heart. If you don't already have them, be sure to add Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to your collection before the third in the series comes out this June.

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Full disclosure: I received a copy of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 for review purposes, but received no further compensation. A positive review was neither promised nor expected.

A Princess for a New Generation

To this day I still have a lot of love for all of the Disney Princesses. I grew up watching the classics, like Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and then in my teen years I got to experience the Disney renaissance, with such new classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Each of these groups of Disney films had an impact on my life.

The early classics, which are now seen as stereotyped and female-weak by today's standards, still taught me to hope for good and may have aided in my love of playing dress-up. The new classics, on the other hand, gave female characters more intelligence, more sass, and more power over their own destiny, although for most the end goal was still to find love, even if it was love wrapped up in exploration and adventure. They were modern women, wanting to find independence and make their own way in the world. Good role models for any girl.

And then last week, the newest Disney Princess debuted on DVD and Blu-Ray in The Princess and the Frog. My entire family got to see this movie before I did in the theater due to my work schedule, so my first experience was when I received this Blu-Ray+DVD combo pack in the mail.

This movie had a new first for Disney - the first African American princess. Set in New Orleans, the story follows Tiana, a hard-working woman from a working-class family who has spent her life saving and working towards her dream of owning her own restaurant. She is focused on her goal with no dreams of having a prince come rescue her and give her all she's ever dreamed of. So when a penniless, happy-go-lucky prince - Prince Naveen - comes to town looking for a wife, she doesn't give him a second thought.

The story really begins at the costume ball when Prince Naveen, now turned into a frog by The Shadow Man, convinces Tiana to kiss him in the hopes that she will turn him human again. Instead, everything goes wrong and she is changed into a frog as well. Their adventure through the swampy bayou teaches Naveen that there's more to life than fun, and reminds Tiana that her dreams don't have to exclude love and family - reminding her of how much her late father loved his family while working towards his dream.

Included throughout is a wonderful musical score, filled with lots of traditional New Orleans jazz music that will please young and old viewers alike. And just like many of the older Disney films, you've got plenty of talking animals, magic, and in the end the villain gets what's coming to him and our heroine finds love with her prince. But unlike past stories, he doesn't sweep her off to his castle - instead, they pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, working hard without the benefit of fortune.

It's interesting to see the different message being given to children today. In place of the old message of "when you wish upon a star....all your dreams come true," the new message is "when you wish on a star and work really hard towards your goals, all your dreams can come true." Not quite as magical, but a lot more realistic, I guess.

Honestly, I loved this movie. The story is original, the characters are well-developed, and it stands the test of repeated viewings. Tiana is a great new addition to the Disney Princesses, providing an excellent role model for young girls. I also really enjoyed that this was in the old, hand-drawn animation style. I love the crispness of computer animation, but hand-drawn animation seems to have more warmth and emotion to it. My daughters find the animal characters fun, and they love the story and the music.

Bonus features include deleted scenes, a look at the making of the movie, and an identify-the-princess game, as well as featurettes on Disney's Newest Princess, The Return to Hand-Drawn Animation, Conjuring the Villain (my favorite!), and more! (Note: Featurettes are only available in the Blu-Ray combo pack.) Audio commentary is also available, but good luck trying to listen if your kids want to watch the movie.

The Princess and the Frog is available on DVD and a Blu-Ray+DVD combo pack that includes a digital copy of the movie for your computer or iPod, too. Don't miss out on adding this one to your collection.

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Full disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this movie for review and no other compensation. A positive review was neither expected nor promised.

The Genius of Miyazaki

I recently wrote about last week's release of Ponyo, the newest animated film from Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Not only was Ponyo released to DVD and Blu-Ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment last week, though - three other Miyazaki classics were also released on Special Edition DVD. If you have yet to add Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, or My Neighbor Totoro to your collection, now is the perfect time to do so.

For those of you who aren't familiar with any of these films, here's a brief description of each:

Castle in the Sky
Of all three films, this is the one most likely to appeal to older kids. Sky pirates, a floating castle, secret government agents, and a girl who floats down from the sky wearing a magical pendant are only a few things that will keep you and your child glued to the screen.

This fast-paced adventure is full of incredible imagery and features an all-star voice cast, including Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek and Mark Hamil.

Kiki's Delivery Service
This charming story was my first introduction to the world of Miyazaki a few years ago. Kiki is a young witch who must follow tradition and set off on her own to become a full witch. She settles on a far-off city where she sets up her own delivery service to help the city. She and her cat encounter many obstacles and adventures in her quest for independence, and she learns responsibility as well as finding new friends and her place in the world.

Kiki is an upbeat, cheery film that would please all ages. My favorite part of Kiki has to be her cat, though, voiced by the late Phil Hartman. 

My Neighbor Totoro
Imagine the stress two small girls might face when their family moves to a new home. Now imagine those two girls find a new friend in a forest spirit that adults cannot see, and he takes them on spirited adventures where they meet all kinds of extraordinary characters.

My Neighbor Totoro is perhaps Miyazaki's greatest celebration of imagination and seeing the world through a child's eyes. It's a film that the youngest of children can enjoy, while reminding adults of the magic of childhood.

Each of these films feature a 2-disc DVD set filled with bonus features, including the World of Ghibli interactive experience that lets you explore all of the Miyazaki films in one area.

If I had any complaint about these special-edition DVDs, it would be that Disney didn't go one step further to make these Blu-Ray/DVD combo sets. I'd love to see the added richness of Blu-Ray like they did with Ponyo.

The best thing about each of these Miyazaki films is that they are nearly non-violent and encourage children to use their imaginations and continue to believe in the fantastical. Miyazaki is like the Peter Pan of filmmaking, encouraging all of us to keep believing in magic every day.

Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro are all now available on DVD at Amazon or several other retailers.