Harriet the Spy (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Harriet M. Welsch (Michelle Trachtenberg) is an 11-year-old-spy who dreams of being a writer. She explains her obsession with writing by saying: "I want to remember everything, I want to know everything."
In her PRIVATE notebook, she writes down her secret thoughts. Sometimes her comments are all too honest and not that nice. Harriet doesn't yet understand the power of words, but soon she learns, when all her friends become her worst enemies.
Rosie O'Donnell plays the perfect nanny. Her advice to Harriet is that while she might want to know everything, it won't do her a bit of good unless she uses her knowledge to put beauty into the world.
Harriet goes through a great learning experience where she finally realizes she should participate more in life and learns to let go of her writing obsession in order to embrace life. After all, true friends are what makes life wonderful and worth living.
This is a funky, modern story that teaches a wonderful lesson. It is about learning to forgive and being vulnerable enough to be able to say you are sorry.
A great lesson for all ages!
~The Rebecca Review

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The Return of Jafar/Aladdin and the King of Thieves (Aladdin 2 & 3 Collection) (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)Disney suddenly recognized the marketing potential of direct-to-video sequels in the 90's. The 1994 sequel to Aladdin entitled The Return of Jafar had none of the style that made Aladdin so memorable. With second rate songs, a second rate story clearly designed as a pilot for the TV series The Return of Jafar could have been produced by any studio and the generic quality of the film is one of its principle flaws. On a scale from A to F, I'd have to rate Jafar as a C-. The animation has little of the character one expects from Disney and has bottom of the barrel production values. The only redeeming qualities are the return of actors Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin. Dan Castellaneta stands in for Robin Williams who got into a royal pissing match with Disney when they used his voice without permission for toys and marketing purposes. In "The Return of Jafar" the evil sorcerer returns to try and take over the kingdom and get revenge against the "street rat" Aladdin. Even a guest appearance by Jason Alexander can't save this from being strictly mediocre at best. The songs are second rate and can't hold a candle to the brilliant material written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman from the first film. This film is in a standard aspect ratio meaning it was designed for a square TV screen. "Thieves", on the other hand, has been presented in a 1.78:1 widescreen format so it will play well on 16x9 widescreen TVs. I know the original VHS version of "Thieves" was in a standard format and this is the first I've seen of the film in 1.78:1 widescreen (although it might have been in that format for laserdisc).
"Aladdin and the King of Thieves" improves on Jafar. With a larger budget, smoother animation, better production design and the return of Robin Williams as Genie, the third film almost approaches the majesty of the first. Aladdin goes in search of his father and, with the help of an enchanted septer found among the King's treasures, he finds him only to discover that his father leads the 40 Thieves. With appearances by the late Jerry Orbach and the return of the principle cast from the first film, Aladdin and the King of Thieves rates a solid B. Although the songs aren't quite up to Menken and Ashman standards are improved with a variety of songwriters contributing material.
The vibrant colors and slick production design bring the third film closer to the original although it can't quite match the first film for sheer invention. John Rhys-Davies ("Lord of the Rings", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Sliders") turns in a great performance as Aladdin's father. It sounds as if the director had Sean Connery in mind as Rhys-Davies' performance sounds quite a bit like Connery. Likewise, the late Jerry Orbach's performance as one of the villans of the film is a highlight as well. Both films come with games that can be played by tykes. Careful What You Wish For and Disneypedia are the two extras included with Jafar. The former make keep tykes interested one or two times but will lose them with later viewings. The latter discusses different wishing traditions from around the world and is pretty decent although short and very sketchy in terms of details. The best featurettes are saved for Thieves. Loot in the Liar and Bag the Bad Guys are the two games included here. Again, like most Disney games designed for their DVD releases, they'll keep kids interested a couple of times at best. Both of these are at least equal to if not better than the single game on Jafar. Behind the Microphone takes us on a visit with the people who did the voices for Thieves. It's a solid featurette and once again better than that included on Jafar. There's also a song selection with lyrics that pop up on the screen. That feature will come in handy when the kids want to sing along with the songs for both films. As I mentioned before, none of the tunes can hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs but the superior material in Thieves at least has a sense of melody (although Orbach's In or Out song from Thieves should have been left out as its probably one of the worst of the bunch).
Jafar will provide an entertaining diversion for kids who loved Aladdin. While the film compare to the original or the third film Thieves its enjoyable. Thieves, on the other hand, could have been a contender. If Disney had chosen to put a bit more effort and money into it I have no doubt that they could easily have created a classic equal to the original. As it is, Thieves is very close to the quality of the original film with a witty script. The film is hampered by the same limited animation (although superior to Jafar) and by songs that can't hold a candle to the Menken/Ashman songs. The image quality, transfer, sound and extras are all exceptionally good given that these were created for the video market only.


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Aladdin's thrilling adventure continues with ALADDIN: THE RETURN OF JAFAR and ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES -- together for the first time on DVD in the ALADDIN II & III COLLECTION. This exciting two-movie set features two times the magic, two times the fun, and all your favorite characters!

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Gordy (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)Having been subjected to multiple viewings of Gordy during rainy days at a beach vacation, I now consider myself an expert on the movie. The main problem with the movie is the human acting, which is abysmal. Even the relatively highly touted Kristy Young seems to have serious problems with remembering and delivering her lines. The logic of talking animal movies is always suspect, but in this case there are serious problems. Why, for example, does a patriarch name the titular piglet to administer a company until the grandson reaches the age of majority? Even in pig years Gordy is a child too! The motivation of the movie seems not to be to discourage eating pigs but to promote the values embodied in the Branson brand of country music - relatively bland and harmless, to be sure, but not too well thought out. What do you do with the farm when the animals reproduce out of control? So while the movie doesn't make too much sense, and the actors don't help convince you further, there is some amusement for children that are too young to think this through. My children were delighted by the mild dramatic tension and funny animal sounds and voices. I think this means that producers have free rein to create similar low-budget talking animal vehicles and they will be guaranteed an income, certainly from the video sales. Although thankfully there isn't a Gordy II!

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Bring home the lovable talking pig who waddled off the farm and into our hearts -- and the movie everyone's gone hog-wild over! It's Gordy! The world's cutest piglet whose kindness and bravery lead him and the children he loves on one big adventure after another! The fun begins the moment you enter Meadowbrook Farm, a magical world where real live animals can talk! When Gordy's family is trucked "up north," a mysterious place from which no pig has ever returned, Gordy runs off to find them. He soon befriends two equally adorable children -- the only humans who can hear him because they are "pure of heart. "Together, they teach the adult world the true meaning of friendship and the value of family. Now you can own this heartwarming piggy tale full of charm, laughter, and toe-tapping music from the biggest names in country music -- and "overflowing with good will and genuine affection." (Seattle Weekly)

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Homeward Bound II - Lost in San Francisco (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this CD based on the reviews that were posted here and on how much my family loved the first movie, HBI, but I cannot figure out how people like this movie about the same as the first one (average 4 1/2 stars).
HBII is loaded with politically correct themes. The female animals are naturally smarter and stronger than the male ones. Some dogs "speak" ebonics and they, of course, are the "good guys" whereas those that speak "white" (but with a NJ, Philly or NY accent) are naturally the "bad guys".
There are slight departures from political correctness in this movie in that it has no trouble with poking fun of the stuttering dog character (which is made fun of by one of the ebonics-speaking dogs in the movie); same goes for the "hillbilly" dog and the french poodle character (a stereotype you can probably imagine).
This movie is also alot more violent than the first. In HBII you have snarling dogs, a burning building (with a child trapped inside), dogs biting humans (the bad white humans of course), dogs fighting dogs, children bullying other children, children being mean to dogs, gangster dogs wanting to "get" Sassie the cat (the language used was: "you know what I want" and "She's mine").
In HBII you see Chance abandoning Shadow and Sassie when the gangster dogs attack them, leaving Shadow to fight it out alone. Chance also is not as spirited as in the first movie - he is too busy "falling in love", getting rejected, and then getting back together with a dog. Just who is this movie targeted for?
The whole movie has a mean-spiritedness that is missing from the first movie. You also hear alot less of the music that was so great in HBI.
Unlike HBI where Shadow, Chance and Sassie interact with each other and show (or grow to show) great affection for each other, HBII has the three for the most part dealing with the other dogs than with each other. That same chemistry isn't there.
Where Sassie was a tolerably lovable curmudgeon in HBI, here she is just outright mean. The other dogs in this movie are really annoying as well - especially the female dog that speaks ebonics (Sample language: "thats right chump, run" and "you goin' down" followed by a grunt that expresses the use of force as she takes her bite). Very nice.
The bad white humans in HBII are also excessively mean with one of them telling the driver of the truck they are in at one point to "run them over" whereupon he proceeds to make a great effort to step on the gas. At one point one of them actually says, "they're going to light you up like a freakin' Christmas tree". Is this language really necessary?
It seems to me that Disney let some dysfunctional 20 somethings write the screenplay for this. Although it appears to be for children, dogs and children being the primary characters, it probably is suited more for the kind of children that will end up in juvenile hall. Garbage, pure garbage.
Buy the first one; its five stars easy. This one gets one star only because of the cinematography (made easy by being filmed in San Francisco).

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Your favorite trio of talking animals is back in this action-packed Disney adventure that'll have the whole family bursting with excitement and laughter! Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, and Ralph Waite supply the voices of Chance, the American bulldog; Sassy, the Himalayan cat; and Shadow, the golden retriever -- and Sinbad speaks for their newfound canine friend, Riley -- in this critically acclaimed sequel to Disney's now-classic HOMEWARD BOUND: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY. When the pets accidentally get separated from their vacationing owners, Chance, Shadow, and Sassy navigate the mean streets of San Francisco, trying to find their home across the Golden Gate Bridge. But the road is blocked by a series of hazards, both man and beast. It's another incredible journey for three very brave, very lovable pets, in a thrilling, funny adventure that's 'bound to please' (New York Post) the entire family!

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Disney Princess Stories, Vol. 1 - A Gift From The Heart (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the first thing I've let my daughter watch that I actually felt guilty for letting her sit through - instead of being interested and active, she fell into this slackjawed stupor, and I can't say I blame her.
There are four stories involving Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, and Cinderella. Each uses a combination of repurposed animation and new art to try to muddle through a short story. Not to put too fine a point on it - it's for kids after all - but the stories are all confusing, and completely out of character for each character. This makes it difficult for kids to digest easily, and you have to spend time narrating why Jasmine did this, or what's happening with Belle, and you end up trying to help this whole disaster limp along to a quick end.
The art is terrible also, and the only reason this matters is that it's an official Disney product. All this would be excusable if it were in the 2.99 bin at the supermarket, but this is the lowest, most crass grab for consumer dollars by Disney that I've ever seen.
Don't fall for it - even Return of Jafar looks like a classic next to this. You're better off getting a storybook to read to your little princess than this piece of soulless garbage.

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Item Name: Disney Princess Stories, Vol. 1 - A Gift From The Heart; Studio:Walt Disney Video

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