Although the Sleeping Beauty fairytale has been around for much longer, Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was inspired by the Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky ballet – some of Tchaikovsky’s music is even quoted in the score.

Sleeping Beauty is remarkable for a number of reasons: it was the first Disney film to be done in an angular, more medieval style in which every aspect of every scene was detailed and in focus; it was the first Disney film which Disney didn’t work on from beginning to end; it was the last Disney animation to use hand-inked final art. From the opening sequences, the film is more vibrant, more alive than any previous Disney animation – and it remains almost impossibly lovely to look at today.

As with previous Disney animations, the voice casting is superb: Mary Costa did both speaking and singing for Princess Aurora; Eleanor Audley’s Maleficent is pretty much the standard for evil females in animation, even now; and the Three Good Fairies – Flora [Verna Felton], Fauna [Barbara Jo Allen] and Merryweather [Barbara Luddy] – are quite possibly6 the best example of characters who not only provide comic relief, but are actually integral to the story.

The new restoration of Sleeping Beauty marks the first time since its original theatrical run that we can see the film in its original widescreen aspect ratio, with the additional edges of the film adding even more richness to the experience.

This 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition of the Disney classic also comes with enough Bonus Features to please the most discerning film buff: disc One: Audio Commentary by PIXAR CEO John Lasseter, Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin and current Disney Animator Andreas Deja; Once Upon a Dream Music Video by Emily Osment [Hannah Montana]; Disney Song Selection [plays just the actual song sequences from the film]; Princess Fun Facts – Pop-Up Video-style track that provides some historical background both for the film and princesses in general; Grand Canyon – a beautiful half-hour film that explores the Grand Canyon, set to the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofe; The Peter Tchaikovsky Story – an episode of the Wonderful World of Disney that featured a biographical film of Tchaikovsky’s life, plus sneak peeks at Sleeping Beauty. Disc Two: Briar Rose’s Enchanted Dance Game; Sleeping Beauty Fun With Language Game; Picture Perfect – The Making of Sleeping Beauty; Eyvind Earle – The Man and His Art; Alternate Opening; Sequence 8 [Forest Scene; Deleted songs; It Happens I Have a Penny [Version 1]; It Happens I Have a Penny [Version 2]; Art Galleries; Original Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction; Publicity; Four Artists Paint One Tree; Storyboard Sequences.

Grade: Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty: 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition – A+

Grade: Features – A+

Final Grade: A+

In the land of Malaria, things have changed since it was a sunny, happy place. Constant cloud cover and rain have ruined it for agriculture, so the king has decreed that the best way to survive is to develop an economy based on the creation of evil science. The country’s best mad scientists compete in an “Evil Science Fair” – and the king charges the rest of the world a [you should pardon the expression] king’s ransom to not use it.

Each mad scientist has an Igor – a hunchbacked assistant to gather materials and pull the power switch to put the finishing touches on their evil experiments. The film is built on the idea that one of these Igors [voiced by John Cusack] wants to be the scientist, not the Igor. When his master, Dr. Glickenstein [John Cleese] dies during the creation of a new weapon, Igor seizes his chance. With the aid [?] of his previous inventions – Scamper [Steve Buscemi], a suicidal immortal rabbit, and Brain [Sean Hayes], a robot with a brain in a jar – he decides to create life.

The idea of an Igor supplanting his mad scientist and succeeding is a good one, so it’s really a shame that this beautifully designed film [looking like some mad hybrid of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas and a Tex Avery cartoon] is virtually humor-free. Even Jennifer Coolidge’s assortment of scientists’ girlfriends and Eddie Izzard’s unscrupulous Dr. Schadenfreude [who’s won seventeen Fairs by stealing the best efforts of his competitors – and delights in the misery of others] somehow fail to… ummm… come to life.

The animation, from design on, is extremely good, but in light of the paucity of laughs and any real sense of danger, it simply isn’t enough to recommend the film. In short, Igor could’ve used a lot more madness.

Final Grade: D

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard is coming to DVD Sept. 9. It’s been a tough week for Peter Parker.  His two best friends are mad at him, Aunt May is behind on the bills and Flash Thompson is still bullying him at school. It hasn’t been a cake walk for Spider-Man either.  The Enforcers are trying to destroy him, the Vulture is seeking revenge on Mr. Osborn, Electro is wreaking havoc on the city and his mentor, Dr. Connors, just transformed into The Lizard - a reptile on the rampage.  But with great power comes great responsibility and Peter Parker wouldn’t have it any other way! Here are some clips.

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Pucca is an animated series about a girl with super strength who loves a ninja with super speed. Sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? But add a group of renegade ninjas who will stop nothing to destroy Pucca’s One True Love and you get an action-packed, beautifully designed series. These two DVDs are great fun for all ages.

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John Woo’s (Mission: Impossible II, Face/Off) first Anime production, Appleseed: Ex Machina, directed by Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis) on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc. Based on the popular science fiction manga from renowned creator Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell), Appleseed: Ex Machina follows partners and lovers, Deunan and Briareos.

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After spending this weekend fighting with my new Macbook (contrary to what the commercials say, it doesn’t “just work.” But I’ll save my tales of Apple woe until later in the week. I decided to download and watch Warner Home Video’s latest direct to video animated fair Justice League: New Frontier. I downloaded it on my X-Box 360. The download took less than an 1/2 hour so I had instant gratification. When the movie first started, it was weird. The animation was literally just some weird drawings, then the camera pulls back and you see it’s an children’s book author telling a story about the end of the world. But what’s more shocking is, the guy puts a gun in his mouth and blows his brains out. So three minutes into this you know this film isn’t for kids.

But in case you missed the point, a few minutes later Air Force pilot Hal Jordan (voiced by David Boreanaz) is shot down over Russia at the end of the war. He puts a gun to some kid’s face and pulls the trigger. We get to see it in it’s gory detail. I would say this definitely isn’t your father’s Superhero film, but it actually is. The conceit of this piece is that everything takes place in the fifties. At the height of the cold war, McCarthyism, the red scare and more. And our Superheroes are stuck in the middle trying to stick to their convictions when the world around them has turned to chaos and against them. Watching all of this as an outsider, trying to do good in his small way is a Martian - J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter (voiced by Miguel Ferrer).The movie packs a lot of oomph into it’s short 77 minute running time. We really get a sense of the time period and all of it’s turmoil.

Director Dave Bullock and the writers Stan Berkowitz and Darwyn Cooke don’t shy away from talking about some of the racial and political problems of the time period. Mentioning the KKK lynching a black hero, or Superman (Kyle MacLachlan) trying to lecture Diana (Lucy Lawless) about letting enslaved Chinese women murder their former captures after she freed them. The movie pretty relentlessly dark, but there was a great line from Batman (Jeremy Sisto) to the Manhunter “I have a $70,000 sliver of rock that will take care of the one in Metropolis, all I need for you is a Penny and a book of matches.”

The film falls apart at the end when the Heroes finally come together to stop the big bad. It’s some lame living Island thing. It felt a little anti-climatic. But this movie isn’t about big Super Hero battles, it truly is a character piece and manages to juggle it’s large cast really well.

I haven’t watched the DVD, but it looks like a packed affair. The animated adventure is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. The picture quality is excellent. Its 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is clear with good surround effects. The DVD includes the revealing “Super Heroes United”, “The Legion of Doom” and “Comic Book Commentary” documentaries, two in-depth audio commentaries with filmmakers and comic book writer Darwyn Cooke, three bonus “Justice League Unlimited” episodes (The Dark Heart, Task Force X & To Another Shore), trailers and an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming “Batman - Gotham Knight”.

Final Grade A

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria

Considering the proliferation of animation on DVD, and considering that the dozens of DVDs I received for review constituted a drop in the bucket, here are my picks as best animation/anime´ DVDs of 2007.

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Jerry Seinfeld’s first excursion into the realm of CG animation is a lively, sleek [82 mins] legal comedy, ecological fable and unlikely romance – starring bees. Thanks to Dreamworks Animation and a heartfelt script, Bee Movie is actually the second movie I’ve seen in the last little while to warrant audience applause.

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