Elena of Avalor: Ready to Rule is a fun little show that younger viewers, or perhaps older ones who like these Disney cartoons, will enjoy and admittedly a few of the jokes made me chuckle. It is unfortunate that the channel continues to put out these volume-like sets instead of complete seasons.
Pete’s Dragon is a fun flick for the entire family with respectable visual effects work on the dragon and some fine performances from the human cast with the kids coming across well and avoiding the pratfalls of child actors in these types of movies.
The Jungle Book is a success in Disney’s obsession with adapting beloved animated movies into live action features and while the likes of Maleficent and to some extent Cinderella weren’t great, this one is entertaining for almost the entire family, though some scenes might be a tad too frightening for younger viewers.
Finding Dory may not have the emotional resonance of its predecessor, yet it’s still a highlight entertaining entry in the Pixar line, even if it’s on the lower half of their films, which have generally been high quality work with one exception (Cars 2). The voice talents are all top notch and the animation is absolutely beautiful.
Alice Through the Looking Glass is a messy movie that, as the box office showed, never should’ve been made. The actors seemed uninterested and probably were in it to make a few (million) bucks, Depp especially, but beyond that, it’s such a thin story.
Beauty and the Beast is still a phenomenal animated movie all these years later and still holds up as one of Disney’s best and an argument can be made, the best of the modern era.
The Jungle Book is a success in Disney’s obsession with adapting beloved animated movies into live action features and while the likes of Maleficent and to some extent Cinderella weren’t great, this one is entertaining for almost the entire family, though some scenes might be a tad too frightening for younger viewers.
Zootopia is on the heavy-handed side of its message however it’s a good one that would be beneficial to kids (and their parents for that matter). The animation is fantastic and the humor mostly works as does the voice talent involved.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs isn’t one of my favorite of Disney’s animated classics but it is a movie to behold for not only the style but its historical significance to the Walt Disney Company, the cornerstone to what it is today.
Inside Out might not be in the upper echelon of Pixar movies (top 5 for me are the Toy Story 1-3, Monsters Inc. and Up) but it’s another solid entry and winner for the studio. I really enjoyed the story but beyond that the voice casting was so well done. This 4-disc set release offers excellent video and audio and a fine selection of bonus material.
Toy Story That Time Forgot isn’t as good as Toy Story of Terror but it’s still a fun little short special where you get to see our old friends together again with a nicely constructed story and good voice work, in particular Kevin McKidd. Given the low $15 MSRP, this has the right amount of bonus material as well as good video/audio transfers to make it worth a purchase.
Disney has hit another home run with their “Diamond” series and finally another classic, Aladdin, has found its way into the high-definition world. This release offers excellent video and audio transfers and includes a fair amount of bonus material, some made for this release including Genie outtakes with Robin Williams, as well as porting over the previous releases features.
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast is another solid entry into the series though both of these movies are more centered on Fawn than Tinkerbell herself. The story this go around is darker and could be scary for kids of a certain age and it’s not the most heartwarming finale yet with that I actually appreciate the movie even more for not taking the easy route. The Blu-ray released by Disney might not have great bonus material but the audio and video transfers are both solid.
101 Dalmatians isn’t one of my favorite classic animated Disney films, though on the whole save for a couple, they’ve never been my cup of tea, but with the inclusion of Cruella De Vil makes it far more memorable and the animation is still fantastic to this day and still plays well today for younger viewers.
Hercules was never one of my favorite Disney animated movies of the 1990s, falling far short of the likes of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid (and even in some aspects, Tarzan), but it’s still a decent enough film that the whole family can enjoy with some fine music sequences.