Set in London, 1897, the film begins with the kidnapping of a kind toymaker mouse by a nasty bat (Candido), leaving his young daughter Olivia (Pollatschek) all alone. Meanwhile, Dr. Dawson (Bettin) has recently arrived in London after living abroad for some time. He meets the distraught Olivia who has taken refuge in a discarded shoe in a rainy alleyway. She’s trying to find Basil (Ingham) of Baker Street, the famous mouse detective. Moved by her plight, Dawson decides to help her.

They soon find Basil, a whirlwind of energy and movement. He’s a master of disguise and very intelligent – within seconds he’s able to deduce Dawson’s past with his powers of perception and deduction. Olivia tells Basil about what happened to her father and we learn that the bat is in the employ of the mouse detective’s arch-nemesis, Professor Ratigan (Price), “a Napoleon of crime.” And so, Basil decides to help out Olivia with Dawson’s help.

The great Vincent Price lends his distinctive voice to the character of Ratigan and sounds like he’s having a blast playing a larger than life villain. Ratigan’s not afraid to punish his underlings, feeding one of them to an obese cat for calling him a rat. The actor has certainly played his share of criminal masterminds and so this was inspired casting – he even gets to sing!

The animation is excellent, blending computer with hand-drawn, and certainly up to the high standards of Disney. It’s very fluid in nature with beautifully rendered backgrounds that are rich in detail. For example, London is presented as a gloomy place with all sorts of nooks and crannies for danger to lurk. The scene where Basil and Dawson track the bat henchman through a toy store where the toys suddenly come to life is not only atmospheric but also exciting and one of the film’s highlights. This rather foreboding setting is tempered by a lot of broad humour as Basil is a bit of a goofball and Dawson his bumbling sidekick.

The film’s conceit – reimagining Sherlock Holmes and Watson as mice – is an inspired one and the filmmakers offer a few glimpses of how the mouse world mirrors the human one. The Great Mouse Detective is a good film but not a great one what with so-so musical numbers (including one sung by Melissa Manchester – remember her?) tempered with a memorable performance by Vincent Price.

Special Features:

There’s not too much difference from the previous DVD release for this film. New to this edition is a pretty superficial featurette entitled, “So You Think You Can Sleuth?” It gives a brief history of detectives and highlights some of the most famous in history. It also gives a brief example of a mystery for you to solve.

Ported over from the previous release is all-too brief “The Making of The Great Mouse Detective” which traces the origins of the film. It took more than four years to make blended computer animation with hand-drawn characters for the first time in Disney’s history. We see footage of the voice actors giving line readings while Vincent Price speaks highly of his character, expressing his joy at being able to appear in a Disney film.

Finally, there is “’The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind’ Sing-Along Song” which allows you to sing along with Professor Ratigan’s song and dance number.

Mr. Fox (Clooney) used to steal birds but has reformed his ways and is now a newspaper man. He is getting old and tired of living in a foxhole. So, he consults with his real estate agent Stan Weasel (Wes Anderson). Before he takes the plunge, Mr. Fox talks with his lawyer Clive Badger, Esq. (Murray) and ends up buying a treehouse so that he and his family can live in comfort. However, cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) comes to visit and makes Ash (Schwartzman), Mr. Fox’s son, jealous with his athletic prowess. Meanwhile, in her spare time, Mrs. Fox (Streep) paints portraits of thunderstorms.

Mr. Fox decides to pull one more job stealing birds to eat but this one is his most ambitious gig to date. With the help of his landlord Kylie (Wolodarsky), he plans to steal chickens from farmer Boggis, then the next night geese from farmer Bunce, and finally the following night he steals some of farmer Bean’s cider from his secret cellar. Understandably upset, the three farmers get together and plan to kill Mr. Fox. As a result, he and his family are on the run and hunted. They have to call in the favours of all their friends if they hope to evade the farmers’ wrath.

Anderson still has an uncanny knack for picking just the right song for a given scene. Early on, Mr. and Mrs. Fox playfully yet stealthily circumvent a farmer to steal one his birds all scored to the melodical strains of “Heroes and Villains” by the Beach Boys. Later on, Anderson pulls out the obligatory Rolling Stones cue and scores a sequence to “Street Fighting Man.” There is something thrilling about seeing these vintage tracks pop up in an animated film – a genre that tends to rely on mainly orchestral music or more contemporary songs.

The stop-motion animation actually gives the film a personal, handcrafted feel that has been absent from Anderson’s recent work and harkens back to his first couple of efforts, which are the ones where most people first noticed and fell in love with his films. The animation is incredibly rendered and executed, reminiscent of the vintage Rankin and Bass cartoons that kids of Anderson’s generation (and beyond) grew up on. There is a tangible quality to the characters and their environment that is still missing from most computer animation.

As the Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) progresses, it becomes apparent what drew Anderson to this project. Thematically, it fits right in with his other films. Mr. Fox is a charismatic yet rebellious patriarch, much like Royal in The Royal Tenenbaums and Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Furthermore, the Fox family is a highly intelligent dysfunctional one much like the family in Tenenbaums. The casting is spot on with George Clooney and Meryl Streep playing Mr. and Mrs. Fox. They banter back and forth like a couple from an old screwball comedy. Anderson has not forgotten what the majority of animated films not made by Pixar seem to have – that the best of the genre appeal to both kids and adults. Fantastic Mr. Fox does not talk down to kids and also still manages to appeal to the Anderson faithful. This film is a delightful, entertaining adventure well worth experiencing.

Special Features:

“From to Script to Screen” briefly explores how Anderson and his co-screenwriter Noah Baumbach took Dahl’s short story and expanded on it, even creating characters but all done in the spirit of the source material. Anderson says that he approached the animated film as if it was a live-action one with collaborators commenting on how the director managed to infuse it with his distinctive style. To this end, he storyboarded the entire film and shot video of himself acting out the story so that the animators knew what he wanted.

“Still Life (Puppet Animation)” takes a look at the stop-motion animation process. It is very meticulous and time consuming but if done well, looks great. It’s amazing how the animators can get expressions and emotions out of these puppets.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Whack-Bat” is a humourous mock-featurette on how to play this bizarre sport within the film.

Finally, there is a theatrical trailer.

Previous DVD releases of the show lacked in quality and quickly went out-of-print, fetching a considerable price on eBay. Now, the folks at Shout! Factory is giving G.I. JOE the special edition treatment with a DVD set that includes the first three mini-series and a portion of the first season. The show debuted in September 1983 with the episode, “The Cobra Strikes,” the first of a five-part mini-series known as The M.A.S.S. Device. The opening credits tell you everything that you need to know about the show. G.I. JOE is a special missions force that does battle with Cobra, an elusive and very dangerous terrorist organization.

Its leader, Cobra Commander, and his right-hand man, Destro, have created the M.A.S.S. Device, capable of harnessing incredible amounts of energy, including transporting a large group of soldiers and vehicles. They steal a top secret government satellite that will let them direct the energy of the Device anywhere in the world. However, they need three precious elements to keep it running and so the race is on to recover them in various countries around the world with JOE creating their own M.A.S.S. Device.

After the success of the first mini-series, a second one debuted in 1984, again with a five episode arc entitled The Revenge of Cobra. While maintaining many of the popular characters from the first mini-series, several new ones and vehicles were introduced including their corresponding toys. This time around, Cobra steals the laser core (along with JOE members Duke and Snake-Eyes) to use with a device Destro invented called the Weather Dominator, which allows them to manipulate the weather and wreak havoc on any given location.

The third and final mini-series came out in 1985 and was called The Pyramid of Darkness. Cobra is at it again when they sneak a cargo pod onto the JOE’s space shuttle (what kind of security checks do they have?). Cobra takes control of the JOE’s space station and uses it to destroy the JOE’s home base and create a pyramid-shaped net over the Earth that robs many countries of their electrical energy source.

G.I. JOE really is a time capsule of the times: the wasteful, materialistic ‘80s under Ronald Reagan. This is illustrated in every episode which features all kinds of destruction with many jets, tanks and other expensive vehicles being blown up en mass in any given battle. Cobra obviously acquired their money through terror campaigns and other nefarious means but what kind of budget did the JOEs have? Also, being a kid’s cartoon, no one is allowed to die which makes the many gun battles hopelessly unrealistic as no one is even wounded! But it’s all good, clean fun and when you’re kid, these things didn’t really register or matter. What worked were the distinctive personalities of the various characters. Everyone had their favourites, which one was the coolest, and so on.

Shout! Factory has done a great job restoring these episodes and they look as good as they did when they first aired. For anyone who grew up with this cartoon, watching these episodes will be a wonderful trip down memory lane to revisit their childhood.

Special Features:

The first disc features “Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part One.” He talks about creating a central conflict that would bring G.I. JOE and Cobra in opposition with each other with the fate of the world hanging in the balance while also conveying it visually. Friedman talks about how a stint in architecture school influenced the look of the toys and the show.

The second disc includes “Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part Two” where he talks about how he got the gig writing for G.I. JOE. The powers that be were looking for someone who hadn’t written for animation before. Initially, he wasn’t interested because cartoon writers were looked down upon in the industry. Friedman talks about the importance of voice actors and how they give the characters a distinctive voice.

The third disc features “Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part Three.” In it, he reflects on the legacy of G.I. JOE.

The last disc contains the rest of the extras. “’Knowing is Half the Battle’ PSAs” features seven of the classic public service announcements that were created to counterbalance all of the violence in the show with various characters appearing in these cheesy segments that were placed at the end of every episode. They were intended to teach kids what to do if, for example, they got lost or if their house is on fire. Every segment ended with a JOE member saying those immortal lines, “and knowing is half the battle.”

“Archival Hasbro Toy Commercials” features three classic toy ads that takes one back if you ever saw them when they first aired.

“1963 G.I. JOE Toy Fair Presentation” is a vintage featurette for the original JOE action figure that is pretty cool and comes across as half commercial, half patriotic hype.

Finally, there is a printable script for the “Jungle Trap” script.

Millions of years ago on the planet Cybertron, two warring groups of transformable robots are draining their world of its energy. The cruel Decepticons, led by the merciless Megatron, want Cybertron for themselves. They have almost made the peaceful Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, extinct. Both sides decide that they must look to other planets for the energy they so desperately need. Each side sends their best representatives and it doesn’t take long before they continue their battle in outer space.

In the ensuing chaos, the Transformers crash land on Earth where they lie dormant for many years. A volcanic explosion revives the Autobots and Decepticons. Megatron plans to take all of the resources they need and return to Cybertron, while Optimus Prime wants to stop them. In order to remain undetected, the Transformers can change into things common to our planet: automobiles, airplanes, a portable radio, a gun, and so on. And so, the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons continues on Earth with humanity caught in the middle.

The series kicked off with a three-episode mini-series before settling into a familiar formula as the Decepticons try to drain the planet of its resources and the Autobots try to stop them. One of the things that makes the show work so well is that it has a great villain in Megatron and a true hero in Optimus Prime. They represent tried and true archetypes that are easy to root for and against. It doesn’t hurt that there is something inherently cool about giant robots fighting each other.

This first season saw the introduction of two new sub-groups of Transformers – the Dinobots, inspired by dinosaur skeletons but unfortunately with the same level of intelligence, and the Insecticons, robots that can turn into nasty insects. The former ally themselves with the Autobots, while the latter team up with the Decepticons.

For anyone who grew up watching The Transformers, these DVDs will be a wonderful trip down memory lane. The episodes all look great with the correct animation colour inserted back in which was missing from the previous edition. The recaps of previous episodes and previews for upcoming ones are included, as well as bumper spots for commercial breaks that will instantly take you back to when you first saw them. I, for one, can’t wait for season two, which, of course, is the build up for Transformers: The Movie (1986).

Special Features:

“Triple Changer: From Toy to Comic to Screen” is a 20-minute retrospective featurette about The Transformers phenomenon. The show’s origins came from several Japanese toy lines. An American company named Hasbro decided to bring it to North America and create a cartoon around them, giving each robot its own personality and create a storyline. They also created a comic book to go with the toys. With this featurette we get the lowdown behind the names for the various robots in this informative and engaging extra.

Also included are three original commercials, vintage ads that tie in the toys with cartoons. The one featuring the Insecticons is a particularly memorable one.

“Public Service Announcement” is an example of how each episode used to end with a Transformer imparting a safety lesson and this one sees Bumblebee convincing a kid not to run away from home. This is all good cheesy fun.

Finally, there is a PDF copy of the script for “Transport to Oblivion.”

The year is 1699 and Lemuel Gulliver is sailing the South Seas. During a violent storm, he is tossed overboard and washes up on a remote island. He passes out and later awakens to find that the citizens of Lilliput have banded together to ties him down while he was unconscious – no easy feat considering his size in comparison to them. He finds himself embroiled in the middle of a war between the land’s two kings despite the impending marriage of their children – a prince and princess. Gulliver decides to help out the island’s inhabitants by preventing war and reuniting the prince and princess.

The scene where the Lilliputians scale Gulliver and tie him down is impressively staged and realized with all kinds of action taking place in the fore, middle and background simultaneously – a technique not very common at the time. Interestingly, Gulliver is rendered realistically while the Lilliputians are more cartoonish looking. It is a nice contrast that plays well off each other.

Gulliver’s Travels espouses a peaceful resolution to violent conflict which was rather timely back in 1939 with World War II looming. Along with the incredibly rendered animation, the Fleischers’ film is as good as anything that Disney produced at that time. Gulliver’s Travels has never looked better and this new DVD restores their work to a level of standards befitting of its classic status.

Special Features:

“Swing Cleaning” and “King for a Day” are two animated short films consisting of outtakes from Gulliver’s Travels. These too are restored and look great.

“The Making of a Cartoon” is a fascinating vintage featurette that provides insight into the Fleischers’ groundbreaking animation process.

When one hears the opening strains of “When You Wish Upon a Star,” it’s hard not to get a little choked up at this sentimental song – especially if you’ve grown up with this animated classic. The dapper Jiminy Cricket (Edwards) tells the story of a wood carver named Geppetto (Rub) who creates a wooden puppet named Pinocchio (Jones) and wishes for him to become a real boy.

With a little help from some magic, Pinocchio becomes a live puppet without strings. He’s convinced by a fox and a cat to go on a journey to become a real boy. Pinocchio works alongside other inanimate puppets for a band of traveling entertainers. However, he’s exploited by their leader who forces him to work until he’s outlived his usefulness.

Pinocchio is rich in detail and atmosphere. For example, the amusement park sequence is a marvel of colour and detail that is so rich and vibrant – the hallmark of early Disney animated masterpieces. The characters are masterfully realized with Pinocchio being incredible sympathetic. It’s hard not to root for him to succeed in his quest. There are some scenes of absolute magical wonderment, in particular, the appearance of the beautiful Blue Fairy (Venable) who teaches Pinocchio the dangers of lying and the benefits of telling the truth.

When Pinocchio was first released, it was not a commercial hit due to World War II cutting off the European markets. In addition, the mood of the times probably reduced the interest among American audiences in seeing fantasy stories. The film was well-received by critics and the song, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” became a major hit and has been forever associated with the motion picture as well as later becoming the fanfare for the Walt Disney Company itself. Pinocchio has gone on to become enshrined in the pantheon of classic Disney animated feature films, second only to Snow White.

Special Features:

“Music and More” is a music video featuring Meaghan Jette Martin singing a cover of “When You Wish Upon a Star” accompanied by a terrible techno beat.

“Disney Song Selection” allows you to jump to a specific song in the film and to have the lyrics displayed on-screen.

There is an audio commentary by Leonard Maltin, Disney animator Eric Goldberg and film historian J.B. Kaufman. They establish the background for Pinocchio’s origins. They also talk about the origins for “When You Wish Upon a Star” and point out that Jiminy Cricket is the glue that holds the film together. They explain how the look of the character came to be with archival excerpts from people who worked on the film.

Finally, there is “Pinocchio’s Matter of Fact,” which features all kinds of factoids that appear on-screen during the course of the film.

Beauty came into our cinematic lives in 1958. The archetypal story, neither stale nor overplayed—Sleeping Beauty was one of the first times the ‘Pure Princess versus Evil Queen’ battle was so colorfully presented on the big screen. Disney’s lush, mesmerizing color palates and glorious renderings of both characters and scenery move me to this very day.

However, there is one character who still, to this day, represents the reason that this former princess pulls the blankets up over her eyes and yelps joyously in terror: the appearance of Maleficent, the Wicked Queen, and her transformation into one of the most wicked dragons the silver screen has ever seen.

A transformation, I must add, that was done without CGI, without a team of walking computers, hardware, software, firewalls and megabytes. That being said, Sleeping Beauty now carries the honour of being the first Disney Classic to be released in Blu-ray format. Add that to the new 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix (DEHT) and, well, it is very difficult to be a complete technophobe. Breaking it down to layman’s terms: it looks and sounds so akin to divine that one must wonder what one did in a past life to be rewarded with such heavenly treats.

And to say that this is a children’s film or even a film speaking to the child in all of us would be to simplify a Disney film that goes far beyond such a statement. It is, in my humble opinion, the darkest film to burst forth from the creative pens at Disney Studios.

There is a lingering, permeating, atmosphere of sinister gloom from beginning to end. Even in the opening frames one knows what terror lies in wait for Princess Aurora. Even more specifically, more artfully, Aurora’s loved ones carry both in their gate and facial expression an weighty foreboding, that which they try to brush away but cannot deny. Even the tune Aurora sings while frolicking among the woodland creatures is haunting, siren-like, and angst-ridden.

Even black magic’s symbolism is eerily present. One easily seen example appears when the Evil Queen shows up at the palace and curses the palace’s knitting wheels. Whilst her evil laughter still darkly hangs in the air, she disappears in an ominous cloud of smoke. As her image wanes, it shrinks to the blackened shape of a ram’s or goat’s head, an image long affiliated with the dark arts.

Ironically, the film is color-saturated, even more evidently so with the new transfer. I have never seen Sleeping Beauty so flawless, breath-taking, awe-inspiring… I literally watched with my jaw agape. I’m sorry, but try as you may, no one will ever produce such a reaction with CGI-animation. Don’t get me wrong; I am not from any decade wherein ‘days of yore’ might be appropriate. CGI is fine to enhance live-action films… but carrying the whole film? No more so than Astroturf is acceptable in Yankee Stadium, faux-hawks are a sign of socio-political revolution, or Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey should tour as The Who. Sometimes the Old Original is, really, irreplaceable.

In all my years of being an Old School (hand-drawn, please) Disney fan I have never forgotten the first time I saw Sleeping Beauty. It was an old theater, used primarily for formerly ‘black-light’ bands/concerts. But old red velvet curtains still parted to reveal that movie screen… Sadly, the Tower Theater no longer sponsors Saturday matinees for the wee folk. If you ever do get the chance to see SB on the big screen—more specifically, at one of the grande dame-era theaters—bustle up the kids (oh hell, just go alone), grab a center-aisle seat, and be prepared for a movie experience Hollywood, Disney, no one can reproduce these days.

SPECIAL FEATURES

DISC ONE

Beginning on Disc One are featured songs. The film can be played with the lyrics of the below-listed songs on-screen:

“Once Upon a Dream” music video, sung by Emily Osment

“Once Upon a Dream

“Hail to the Princess Aurora”

“I Wonder”

“Once Upon a Dream”

“Sleeping Beauty”

Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Andreas Deja and Leonard Maltin

Princess Fun Facts, also known as the “Enhanced Home Theater Mix,” will round out Princess Aurora’s world even moreso by revealing interesting facts and trivia about both Aurora’s royal family and royal families that inhabited the earth centuries ago.

Clocking in at just under half an hour is a Pictorial Interpretation of Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite” (photographed in CinemaScope, no less), a mash-up of Wild, Wild Kingdom and a night at the Metropolitan Opera. If you are familiar with the Above series which PBS shows from time to time, it is the best analogy I can give you regarding this unusual extra. Each musical movement focuses on a different geographical slice and meteorological phase of the Grand Canyon annual cycle. This Oscar®-winning short opened for Sleeping Beauty theatrically.

In perhaps the oddest extra, The Peter Tchaikovsky Story (told in two versions)—first aired on January 30, 1959—“…marked the first widescreen presentation and the first stereo simulcast on TV. Disney went to truly remarkable lengths to flesh out this DVD set, to offer, literally, something for everyone. Hosted by Walt Disney himself, this is a must for all of you closet A/V geeks out there. It was literally the first time a TV programme was aired not only in widescreen—but also in “stereophonic sound (that is, if you had an AM and FM stereo set up nearby). It is truly wild, to see that moment when it all came together. There are two versions of this extra, both clocking in at approximately 49 minutes.

DISC TWO

For the Kids: Games & Activities

“Briar Rose’s Enchanted Dance Game”

“Sleeping Beauty Fun With Language Game”

Backstage Disney

“Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”: Maps the mind-boggling journey of the creation of what is arguably Disney’s crowning jewel, which took most of the 1950’s to bring to life. An outstanding 43-minute documentary.

“Eyvind Earle: The Man and His Art”: A mini-biography of one of Disney’s most revered animation artists.

“Sequence 8”: The story of why Prince Philip and Princess Aurora’s woodland dance scene took so long—and so much—to complete.

Alternate Opening: Told through narration, character voices, and original drawings/storyboards.

Deleted Songs: Three songs—“It Happens I Have A Picture,” “Riddle Diddle,” and “Go To Sleep”—didn’t make the final cut into the film. Disney is presenting them here via rare recordings, in some cases even more than one version.

Storyboard Sequences instead of the normally stagnant presentation of the film’s storyboards, they are here presented in a split screen—the illustrations in the top half of the screen, the scene from the film in the bottom half.

Live Action Reference: Wonderful extra, showing the Disney artists rendering the live action models for reference when they will animate the characters of Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty Art Galleries: Eight different art galleries featuring eight difference facets of the film.

Original Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction: Both the ‘Auto’ and the ‘Walkthrough’ tours are shown, including the history or the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction.

Publicity: Includes three movie trailers.

Four Artists Paint One Tree: Walt Disney gives an art lesson.

Part of the show’s charm is the attention to detail. The look is modeled after classic video games complete with a running score, a health meter and the same, crappy 8-bit graphics with all of the characters, backgrounds and objects rendered with an 8-bit colour palette that was the hallmark of the early home computers. Each episode begins with a screen flashing, “Player 1 Start!” and ends with a black “GAME OVER” screen.

The first episode features Apple Computers co-founder Steve Wozniak playing himself as the owner of GameAvision who decides to sell it so that he can start his own company (three guesses as to what it is). In an episode named “E.T.,” Steven Spielberg hires GameAvision to create a video game for his film, E.T. in 24 hours, much to Dave and Jerry’s chagrin. At one point, programmer Todd mutters that Spielberg is, “the poor man’s [George] Lucas.” Naturally, the boys create the worst game ever as the result of Dave going to a strip club instead of a screening of the film.

Another episode not only features Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax but also references ‘80s pop culture icon Molly Ringwald. The classic Nintendo video game The Legend of Zelda must be a real fave of the show’s creators as it is referenced in nearly every episode, usually with objects from the game appearing in the background of scenes. Also look for nods to the popular Mario Brothers game series and Mega Man.

The show is riddled with numerous references to 1980s popular culture: movies, music and, of course, video games. For example, Dave and Jerry chase down a truck carrying copies of their crappy E.T. game in a scene that directly references the video game Spy Hunter. “E.T.” also riffs on what a monumental bust the movie tie-in game was and the rivalry between Lucas and Spielberg. However, 1990s pop culture is also referenced in “Stonervision” where a bank is robbed a la Point Break (1991) with Secretaries of State instead of the Ex-Presidents as the cover for the thieves.

Special Features:

The first disc starts off with two original commercials for fake games, Barfight and Crosswalk, made by GameAvision that are ultraviolent and very funny.

“Gaming Tips” features tips for playing fake games from GameAvision a la the real show on G4.

Also included are “GameAvision’s ‘2 Card Monty’” and “Downloadable Wallpapers” that are accessible via a DVD ROM drive on your computer.

The second disc features an interview with show creator Adam De La Pena who gives smart-ass responses to numerous questions, like Stepson of Pong being one of his favourite video games (?!). He talks about his love of ‘80s culture and, in particular, video games from that era. De La Pena also talks about how he pitched the show and how an average episode is made.

“A Look Behind the Scenes of Code Monkeys” features De La Pena taking us on a tour of his office and then through the rest of the offices including introducing various staff members that makes fun of these kinds of featurettes.

Also included are six “Daily Pranks,” practical jokes that Dave and Jerry pull on each other and other characters in the show.

Finally, there is “”GameAvision’s ‘Hangman’” and “Downloadable Posters” which are accessible via a DVD ROM drive on your computer.

Halloween Town is a magical place inhabited by vampires, witches, ghosts and skeletons hanging from talking trees where the Mayor (voiced by Shadix) gives the vampires an award for most blood drained in a single evening. Jack Skellington (voiced by Sarandon) is the Pumpkin King and is bored with the same old routine and “weary of the sound of screams.” Sally (voiced by O’Hara) is a Frankenstein-esque creation, a stitched together rag doll created by mad scientist Dr. Finkelstein (voiced by Hickey) who can scratch his own brain when he feels like it. She secretly pines for Jack.

Depressed and directionless, Jack wanders through the forest and finds a door leading to Christmas Town. He lands in a place covered in snow with Christmas lights hanging on every house. Jack is revitalized with this colourful new realm which is the complete opposite of the gloomy, dreary Halloween Town. Jack decides to introduce the spirit of Christmas to the denizens of Halloween Town. He also kidnaps Santa Claus and, with help from his friends, takes over his job on Christmas Eve. Sally believes that what Jack is doing is wrong and proceeds to restore order and rescue Santa from the evil ghost Oogie Boogie (voiced by Page).

All of these creatures are lovingly rendered with stop motion animation that evokes the old Rankin and Bass cartoons albeit with an Edward Gorey vibe. The animation in Nightmare Before Christmas is impressive with such care and attention to each and every character. They all have their own distinctive look and personality. There is a personal, handcrafted feel to everything that creates a tangible texture missing from completely computer animated films.

All of the songs in this musical are insanely catchy and part of the film’s enduring appeal. Danny Elfman is the mad genius behind the music which comes as no surprise being a veteran of numerous Tim Burton productions. Thanks to the film’s premise, Nightmare Before Christmas works for both Halloween or the Christmas season. It features a vibrant colour scheme and beautifully realized characters created by Burton, top notch direction by Henry Selick, and dialogue written by Caroline Thompson who wrote Edward Scissorhands (1990). This really deserves to be regarded as a modern classic and one of the best things to ever spring out of Burton’s brain.

Special Features:

So, if you already own the previous Special Edition is it worth double dipping for this new version and what is new? The good news is that with the exception of a DTS soundtrack and director Henry Selick’s solo commentary track, everything from the previous edition has been included in this one.

Disc one includes a new audio commentary by producer Tim Burton, director Henry Selick, and music designer Danny Elfman. They were recorded separately and then edited together. Burton talks about the classic animated holiday TV specials that made a huge impression on him. He was always intrigued by the visual combination of his two favourite holidays: Christmas and Halloween. Elfman claims that this is his favourite collaboration with Burton and talks about how he got involved. There is a significant amount of overlap from the numerous featurettes included on this set.

A new extra is “What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour,” which takes you through a haunted mansion ride based on the film. The attention to detail and decor is fantastic, done in Gothic fashion. You can also take the tour with a trivia subtitle track imparting all kinds of factoids. Also included is a featurette examining how they added the Nightmare Before Christmas style to the classic Haunted Mansion design.

Also new is “Tim Burton’s Original Poem,” narrated by none other than veteran genre actor Christopher Lee. This provided the original inspiration for the film. Lee’s great voice narrates over evocative concept art.

“The Making of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” takes us through various stages of the production, including the music, storyboards, art direction, and animation. It provides a detailed look at all of the work that went into creating the film and the challenges of stop motion animation.

The second disc starts off with “Frankenweenie,” a short film Burton directed in 1984. He offers a new introduction and mentions that work has begun on a feature-length stop motion animated film. Shot in gorgeous black and white, it’s about a young boy named Vincent (Barret Oliver) who decides to resurrect his dead dog Sparky a la Dr. Frankenstein. Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern play his very Leave It To Beaver-esque parents. Also featured is the late-great Paul Bartel as Vincent’s science teacher.

“Vincent” is an animated short film that Burton made early in his career about a young boy who idolizes Vincent Price, who, incidentally, narrates the story. It has a wonderful, Expressionistic look reminiscent of early silent horror films.

Also included are three deleted storyboards and four animated sequences introduced by Selick. They feature sequences that didn’t make the final cut, some were never animated. Selick explains that they were cut for reasons of time and pacing.

“The World’s of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” explores the characters that inhabit Christmas Town, Halloween Town, and the Real World with all sorts of character designs, animation tests and concept art. It allows you to see the various incarnations of these beloved characters.

“Storyboards-to-Film Comparison” takes a look at a scene from the film and allows you to watch it simultaneously with the corresponding storyboards.

Finally, there are “Posters and Trailers,” a collection of poster art, a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer.

Final Fantasy represents what is possibly a more drastic revolution in film. The end of human actors!

The film is set in the year 2065 where man is an endangered species – ala’ Starship Troopers. Earth has been the victim of a meteorite collision that has brought with it hordes of ferocious phantoms that suck the spirit out of people on contact. Best avoid them, then. The only hope for mankind is to find the 8 spirits, that when joined together will cancel out the energy of the phantoms, or to fire the enormous Zeus cannon that orbits the Earth. Either one is good, apparently.
The strangely arousing Aki – voiced by Ming-Na – represents the only hope for a ‘non firing of enormous cannon’ resolution to the struggle as she hunts down these elusive spirits of life. Aided by the ever increasingly bizarre Donald Sutherland as the eternally mad doctor, she ventures into the phantom menace that is the covered wastelands of Earth (did you see what I did there?).

It isn’t long before the damsel in distress requires the help of some big strong marines to dig her out of a hole – literally – and to start blasting some phantoms as big strong marines tend to do. A prior relationship with one of these marines, Gray Edwards – voiced by Alec Baldwin in one of his better roles, is revealed to give our CGI actors a more human side. Indeed this works, the human facial animation is so impressive that it actually straddles the hurdle of having Alec Baldwin in the film. No mean feat by any standards.

Naturally any film that features the survival of the human race and a bunch of marines will have a fair dose of corruption thrown in somewhere along the line. Enter the bad boy of films, James Woods, and a long black coat. You can tell from that description that he’s just itching to fire his Zeus cannon can’t you? James plays General Hein in a rather obvious Nazi styled manner. He quickly sets about plotting against Aki and her insane doctor friend so that their peaceful spirits solution is ridiculed by the high council in favour of the old bang-bang of the cannon, his preferred method of phantom blasting.

You can probably tell by this that the plot isn’t anything that you haven’t seen before. It borrows heavily from such films as Aliens and Starship Troopers – the characters from Aliens are directly ripped off in Final Fantasy. Aki is Riply, Gray – Hicks, Neil – Hudson and Jane – Vasquez, so on and so fourth. The plot and characterisation of Final Fantasy isn’t what this film will be remembered for, it’s the character animation. I have never seen human animation with such mastery of the subtle nuances, the grasp of characters not moving being as important as them actually moving. The facial expressions were nothing short of, well – realistic I suppose is the best description for it.

There is work to be done though. The lip sync remains the undiscovered country for animators (did you see what I did there? Star Wars and Star Trek puns in the space of one review – damn I’m a geek). The thousands of different positions that a mouth can make in order to produce the sounds required are yet to be adequately replicated in any film.

They will get there though, slowly, but surely they will get there. When they do, I fear for the actors – or Alec Baldwin.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within represents a great landmark in film, one which could change the course of cinematic history forever. The plot may not be the most original in Sci-Fi terms, and the characterisation may be borrowed directly from Aliens but this film threatens the biggest revolution in film since the advent of the talkie.

Over ten years ago it was speculated that one day we would have a film comprised entirely of computer generated actors. Hokum! People cried, who wants to see a computer act? James Cameron wanted to make the feature film: Spider-Man – yet he wished to wait until technology caught up with his vision in order to have a completely CGI rendered Spider-Man. Events conspired against him, but the Spider-Man project did indeed go ahead with Sam Raimi at the helm.

Final Fantasy has proven that the CGI actor does indeed work, and represents the biggest threat that the aspiring actor has ever faced – even more so than paying the rent.

Imagine an actor that never shows up for work drunk, never has an ‘off’ day, and never throws a tantrum when his trailer isn’t as big as Eddie Murphy’s. An actor that can perform stunts without a stunt double, doesn’t command a $20,000,000 fee and isn’t picky on the script.
An actor that never ages and never dies. Meet the new face of cinema.

In the future we will see more CGI movies, each one technically superior to the last, each one with more realistic facial movements and gestures. Then we will see deceased actors making a comeback, Marilyn Monroe, James Cagney, James Dean and Humphrey Bogart – heck even Elvis himself. Once the image rights have been finalised the long-time dead will return.

The future looks bleak for the human actor – for when a group of pixels can out-act Keanu Reeves, the end is near. Though, my desk can out-act Keanu Reeves.
But you get my point.