Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 26th, 2006
We’ve all been at that age where we begin to challenge the thought of how just one man could travel around the world in one night. This inevitable dilemma has been showcased nearly every year in a motion picture, so how does The Polar Express stack up against them?
Based on the 1985 short story written by Chris Van Allsburg, Robert Zemekis and Tom Hanks set out to make a memorable Christmas classic. Besides producing, Hanks voiced a numerous amount of the characters encountered throughout the film. Th...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 17th, 2006
Synopsis
Ariel is the rebellious teen daughter of King Triton. She falls in love with a human prince (whom she rescued from drowning), but her father will not hear of it. So she makes a bargain with the evil Ursula – she will be granted legs for three days (but no voice), and if she has not been kissed by then... well... you know how deals with Evil generally go.
After a long time in the dolldrums, this was a return to form for the Disney studios, and marked something of a second golden age...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Following the success of The Cartoon Network’s entertaining Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, someone decided to include one of the characters from the show as part of a spinoff series. The Brak Show recalls the encounters of the space cat of sorts, as he’s placed in a home with a loving mother and father, sort of in the vein of a Leave it to Beaver scenario.
The show, which ran from 2000-2003 had been previously released in one Volume, and this second version covers the ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2006
The team of Hanna and Barbara are as much a part of my childhood as Uncle Walt Disney. The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Johnny Quest, and yes…Tom and Jerry, were like faithful companions that were never farther away than our 15 inch black and white television set. Nostalgia is very in these days. Baby boomers are all facing the midlife years, and not surprisingly there is a warm longing for those buddies of our youth. It’s simple economics that studios would attempt to cash in on our bygone days. Now in our direct to ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2006
Ren and Stimpy was a wonderful throwback to the golden days at Warner. Embracing the charm and animation style of the early Warner greats John K (Kricfalusi) managed to work in his own rather twisted humor and create an endearing cartoon. For those of you who wish to remember Ren and Stimpy this way, I warn you, DO NOT buy this collection. In case you don’t know the story: John K left his creation after about a year and a half at the Nickelodeon Network. It seems his more adult themed ideas were not so in tune wi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 1st, 2006
Synopsis
In 1930, the animation department at Warner creates three characters: the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot. The siblings run riot, however, and are finally caught and imprisoned in the Warner water tower. Flash-forward to today, when they escape to once more wreak havoc.
From the opening song and credit sequence (which echoes The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour) on, this is an affectionate look back to the golden age of the Warner Looney Tunes, and mixes postmodern humour w...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 11th, 2006
From reading the back of the box, one would think that this film was one of the true Disney animated classics. Phrases like “digitally remastered for the first time on DVD†and “the original Disney classic†would certainly lead one to believe such a thing. The fact of the matter is, however, that this “classic Disney film†was just originally released in 1997. Sure, it's remastered, but we're talking about remastering a print that is less than a decade old. Improvements were undoubtedly made, but this re...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 29th, 2006
Best guess, this is David Lynch's way of showing how crude and tasteless many modern animated shows are. Maybe by creating one of these shows at the truly lowest possible denominator, Lynch is trying to make an artistic comment on what the American public freely accepts as quality entertainment. Shows such as Beavis and Butt-Head have been mocked for their poor animation quality. South Park has frequently been mentioned when strong language is the topic of discussion. This series hits an all-new low in...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 28th, 2006
Synopsis
Red (as in Riding Hood) visits Granny, only to find the Wolf in disguise. Granny bursts out of the closet, and then the Woodsman crashes through the window, axe upraised. We then cut to the police investigation of this scene, as a frog investigator interviews each of the players in turn. The forest has been terrorized by the Goodie Bandit, who has been stealing recipes, and one of these characters might be the guilty party. What follows is a series of tales in the vein of Rashomon, wh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 11th, 2006
Godzilla is now a hero after being feared for so long? Did I miss something? Anyhow, Godzilla – The Series featured 39 episodes created by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin shortly after the big budget remake. The show was run off the air in 2000 after pretty poor results. This is probably because Emmerich and Devlin transformed Godzilla from a huge monster to a practical little pet we would want to own. The animated series is worth a watch for children as there are only 39 episodes, but don’t expe...
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