Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2007
Warner Bros. had the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, Disney had the Silly Symphonies. This is the second volume collecting those shorts, covering the years 1929 to 1938. The shorts are selected on a menu that can be presented in alphabetical or chronological order, and it is the latter approach that is the most enlightening, as we can see the cartoons evolve. There is no dialogue in these shorts – the point was to fuse animation and music. And while that is an end in itself in the earlier cartoons (and quite the technological feat at that), more and more narrative content develops over the years. The culmination of this form of animation would, of course, be Fantasia, and in such early pieces as “Hell’s Bells,” one can see in embryonic form the ideas that would become, for instance, the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2007
The zaniness continues in Bikini Bottom, and the series shows no sign of losing its appeal or its lunatic creativity. Wonderful little example: “Whale of a Birthday” is about Mr. Krabbs’ daughter’s sixteenth birthday. The highlight: a performance by “Boys Who Cry” singing “It’s All About You.” Perfect. There are twenty episodes here to keep your funny and whimsy bones tickled. (What, you don’t think you have a whimsy bone? Of course you do.)
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2006
I'd never seen, nor heard of, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law before I received my review copy of this second volume of the series, which aired as part of Adult Swim. What a bizarre show! Not since Ren and Stimpy have I seen such a strange, adult-oriented cartoon.
Harvey Birdman was a shoddy superhero who has become a substandard Attorney. His firm handles cases for well-known animated Hanna-Barbara characters like The Jetsons, with each of the 13 episodes in this second volume presenting a new case. The episodes run about 11 minutes each, and they're all very odd and pretty darn funny. Since the episodes are so short, I'm not going to spoil any of the storylines here. If you're not familiar with the show or the adult-oriented cartoon genre, I suggest renting a disc from Harvey Birdman volume one to get a taste. If you enjoy that, you'll eat up this volume two release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2006
Dr. Katz is Frasier on LSD. This cartoon is based on stand-up Jonathan Katz and is psychobabble routine. Most of each episode centers on Dr. Katz and usually a couple of sessions with patients played by fellow stand-ups or other celebrities. While there is some humor here, none of it jumps out as rip-roaring funny. Then there’s the infamous “Squigglevision”. To me this makes the darn thing near impossible to watch. The gyrating animation gives me a headache. To review this set, I couldn’t watch more than one episode per sitting. I’m told the show was much better in season one, which I’ve never seen. Too bad, really, but there isn’t anything worthwhile about this cartoon.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 16th, 2006
If there's something that bothers me about the wave of digital films for children's entertainment nowadays, it's that anyone who has a Mac and good enough software feels compelled to make a movie, no matter how much it sucks. And Disney (or Dreamworks) or another studio will put enough marketing money behind it to make anyone want to watch it.
How can you tell how good or bad it will be? Well, if it's not a Pixar film, you can generally tell by the cast that is brought in to do voice work for it. In the case of The Wild, Samson the Lion (Kiefer Sutherland, 24) lives in the New York zoo with his son Ryan (hey, that's me! But really it's Greg Cipes, John Tucker Must Die). Ryan is a little bit shy because he hasn't gotten his roar yet, and Samson is a legend among his zoo friends for the stories he tells. His friends include a giraffe named Bridget (Janeane Garofalo, The Truth About Cats and Dogs), a squirrel named Benny (Jim Belushi, According to Jim) and a snake named Larry (Richard Kind, Spin City). And Ryan leaves the zoo and accidentally gets on a ship bound for Africa, so Samson and friends follow the ship that lands'in the wild!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 7th, 2006
In a live action sequence, Mother Goose (Hal Smith in drag) is hauled before the court to account for herself. She proceeds to inflame the passions of those present with a series of raunchy tales. These are animated, and we find out what Jack really found up on that beanstalk, how Cinderella really impressed the Prince, and what sort of, er, encounters a not-so-Little Red Riding Hood had on her way to Grandma's house.There is some wit here (see the coda to Cinderella's story, for instance), but for the most part, the film is (surprise, surprise) crude in every sense of the word. The animation is roughly on the caliber of "Rocket Robin Hood," though given the nature of the acts depicted, limited repetitive motion isn't as much of a handicap as it might be, and seeing something like this in the Hanna-Barbera style is seriously weird. The characters are for the most part engagingly drawn, and as a curiosity, this is absolutely priceless. This had theatrical dates (albeit limited) in 1976. Hard to imagine the same thing today.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2006
They say you can't turn back the clock. Sometimes, that really sucks. Like when I pressed "play" to watch Garfield and Friends, Behind the Scenes. There was a time in my life when I lived and breathed Garfield, and everything Jim Davis touched glittered like a clear, starry night to my eyes. I'm exaggerating, but the point is I used to really like the comic.
Well, that was age seven, and this is now. My mature, adult brain just cannot compute why this comic strip still runs in the dailies, and still sells off store shelves. So you can guess that I wasn't too keen on watching nearly two hours' worth of the animated Garfield cartoon.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 3rd, 2006
The plot of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, although simple, provides a very enjoyable experience throughout its entirety. Johnny Depp does a tremendous job brining his character to life, as does the rest of the cast.
Set in a dark Victorian era city, Corpse Bride is the tale of an arranged marriage between Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) the son of fishmongers, and Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) the daughter of aristocrats. Victor is very hesitant of the marriage, of course until he meets the cha...ming and beautiful Victoria. The two seem to genuinely like each other and now the idea of an arranged marriage doesn’t seem so bad. During the rehearsal a nervous and clumsy Victor messes up and in the process sets Victoria’s mothers gown on fire. At this point Victor is banished into the woods in order to practice his wedding vows. Practicing the vows aloud Victor gains confidence and places the ring on a branch resembling a hand. This is where the miscommunication and fun begins, as it turns out it was a hand, that of the corpse bride (Helena Bonham Carter). Throughout the movie there is singing, trips to the world of the un-dead, and of course the classic villain out to make problems even worse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 6th, 2006
20 years after its theatrical release, Transformers the Movie is available on DVD. This is indeed a treat for all Transformers fans, since the VHS version of the movie has apparently been out of print for several years.
This 2-Disc set is a significant upgrade from the VHS version, boasting a remastered image, commentary tracks, and tons of extras.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 31st, 2006
Ice Age – The Meltdown is a short, funny, well-animated sequel that offers up a new adventure for the memorable characters from the original Ice Age film. As a great bonus, it’s nicely balanced for audiences young and old.
20th Century Fox Animation is still a poor second cousin to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, but for sheer entertainment value, Ice Age – The Meltdown doesn’t get knocked completely out of the water by top-shelf blockbusters like The Incredibles. Sure, the animation is weaker, and story is less inspired, but the voice work is excellent, with the talent of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jay Leno, and the list goes on.
![Tim Burton's Corpse Bride [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/tim-burtons-corpse-bride-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
