Amazon.com video review:
All nine of Disney's first collection of animated classics on DVD are
included in
this set. Some of the nine titles include bonus features, and the DVD format will provide
optimum sound and picture quality for the young and old collector alike.
The crown jewels are Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid. The
former celebrates its 60th anniversary with a brand new print, while the latter
is the 1989 film that revitalized Disney's animation wing and brought new
audiences to the art form. Both offer Oscar-winning songs. Two of the
popular classics from the '60s are represented with 101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book, which was the
last
animated feature that Walt Disney directly worked on and which saved the
animation department when it was a box-office hit in 1967. Hercules and Mulan make great strides
in the look of animation. The mythical figures of the former are based on
the radical designs of Gerald Scarfe, and the latter makes bold advancements
in computer animation in the refreshingly unknown legend of a Chinese girl.
The collection rounds out with Lady and the Tramp in a
grand widescreen format, the charming Peter Pan that hardly
shows its age, and 1998's The Lion King II: Simba's
Pride, a made-for-video sequel. Although the sequel is entertaining,
it's
frustrating to note the original The Lion King has been kept out of
circulation completely for a few years (as Disney does with many classics),
gearing towards a grand future release into theaters. --Doug Thomas
Amazon.com Essentials:
Disney's 1967 animated feature seems even more entertaining
now than it did upon first release, with a hall-of-fame vocal
performance by Phil Harris as Baloo, the genial bear friend of feral
child Mowgli. Based on fiction by Rudyard Kipling, the film goes its
own way as Disney animation will, but the strong characters and smart
casting (George Sanders as the villainous tiger, Shere Khan) make it
one of the studio's stronger feature-length cartoons. Songs include
"The Bare Necessities" and "Trust in Me." --Tom Keogh
