Disney brings home five (or seven if you count the three titles included in the 2-Movie Collection separately) timeless classics home for the first time on Blu-Ray with digitally re-mastered High Definition picture and sound . Hit the jump for our review of all five of these great new Disney Blu-Ray releases and then make sure to go pick up your copies before it’s too late.
2 Movie Collection: The Adventures of Ichabod And Mr. Toad & Fun And Fancy Free
First up out of these five new Disney Blu-Ray releases, we have a new 2-Movie Collection Blu-Ray release featuring the first time on Blu-Ray for two classic Disney animated films ‘The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad’ and ‘Fun And Fancy Free.’ What’s even better than seeing these two films together on Blu-Ray for the first time? Why, the inclusion of the entire additional feature film ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ added as a bonus feature, hence we are in fact really treated with a 3-Movie Collection.
You will definitely want to make sure and pick up a copy of this one to add to your collection. All three of the films look and sound amazing here on Blu-Ray for the very first time and with the more than reasonable price of the release (especially considering it contains three films) it’s more than worth picking up because your kids (as well as many adults like myself) will surely want to revisit these memorable films time and again. Although parents might feel the need to explain that humans certainly don’t want to slap each other when in love during the Bongo segment of ‘Fun and Fancy Free’ as it was an incredibly catchy and fun song and one that could possibly have some of the young audience a bit confused, but I’ll leave the parenting to those more suited, merely my two cents. In short, these films are great fun for the whole family that you won’t to miss out on, so make sure to pick up a copy of the Blu-Ray today before it’s too late.
Disc Technical Specs:
This Blu-Ray release features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio on both The ‘The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad’ and ‘Fun And Fancy Free’ (as well as ‘The Reluctant Dragon’). The video on all three of the features present here look pretty fantastic and for the age of these films, the clarity and substance in these high definition presentations is pretty marvelous. Fans of all three films will surely be more than pleased with these high definition video presentations and I can’t possibly imagine a better way for both old fans to revisit these classics, as well as for newcomers to these magnificent tales to be introduced to them for the first time.
The Blu-Ray release features an uncompressed 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on both ‘The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad’ and ‘Fun And Fancy Free’ although the audio on ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ is presented in a lossy Dolby Digital 1.0 mono soundtrack. The multichannel DTS-HD MA soundtracks on the two main features both sound fantastic for films of their age and both of these features have never sounded so amazing. Even the lossy mono soundtrack on ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ sounds pretty decent and is more than suitable for the film.
The only special feature included on this release (although you certainly can’t argue that it’s a pretty significant one) is the inclusion of the feature length film ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ in High Definition.
Disc Rating: 9/10
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Tarzan
Disney’s take on the famous character ‘Tarzan’ has finally arrived on Blu-Ray for the first time and it looks and sounds phenomenal. Having never had the pleasure of this film before, it was definitely a real treat to enjoy it on Blu-Ray in this stunning quality for the first time. As we would expect, Disney spruces up this classic tale in their own famous manner, adding a number of loveable (and sometimes despicable) characters, in addition to the heart, emotion and powerful meaning that we have come to love and appreciate. ‘Tarzan’ definitely doesn’t disappoint and delivers on all of this.
This should be a great one for the whole family to enjoy. It will keep the kids enthralled from start to finish without a doubt and even the parents are quite likely to thoroughly enjoy it, as I know I certainly did. The film also includes a number of songs by Phil Collins specifically created for the film, one of which (You’ll Be In My Heart) won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song in 1999. ‘Tarzan’ is definitely another notable entry to Disney’s Animated Masterpieces and I’d highly recommend making sure to pick up a copy of the Blu-Ray today before it’s too late.
Disc Technical Specs:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Tarzan’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. With this being a more recent Disney Animation release (at least when compared with a number of the others) the high definition video presentation really gets a chance to shine. The colors are incredibly detailed, bright and with no bleeding or artifacts noticeable throughout on my end. This high definition video presentation of ‘Tarzan’ looks magnificent and should leave most folks more than pleased.
The Blu-Ray features an uncompressed 5.0 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. For those doing a double take, no it is not an error, while all of the other releases include 5.1 channel lossless soundtracks, ‘Tarzan’ is presented in 5.0 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, with no LFE present. Regardless of this fact, this lossless multichannel soundtrack still sounds fantastic with the songs and nature elements, as well as dialogue sounding discrete and impressive.
The Blu-Ray release also includes a number of enjoyable bonus features that the whole family is sure to enjoy. Included on the release are ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film, in addition to ‘Research Trip To Africa’ ‘The Making of the Music’ ‘You’ll be in my Heart Music Video’ performed by Phil Collins and ‘DisneyPedia: Living in the Jungle.’
Disc Rating: 9/10
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Hercules
Disney’s take on the tale of legendary hero ‘Hercules’ has always been one that I significantly enjoyed since I first saw it in theaters so many years ago. I haven’t had the chance to revisit the film for awhile and watching it again on Blu-Ray helped to remind me of just what a fantastic and fun movie this really is. There really is something for every one of all ages in this one, action, romance, fun goofy characters, a hero who fights for the little guys and plenty of fun original music as we would surely expect from a Disney Animated Masterpiece. It delivers action packed and hilarious fun from start to end, perfectly balancing that middle ground of something adults can really enjoy as well as their kids, with no questionable content to worry about. There may be action and bad guys, but make no mistake that this is still a G-Rated Animated Film suitable for the entire family.
‘Hercules’ is another title that I would highly recommend adding to your collection on Blu-Ray. It looks and sounds absolutely spectacular and this is definitely another title that has plenty of repeat viewing potential. It’s a perfect one to keep around because the kids will surely never tire of it and it’s a lot more entertaining and friendly to the adult audience than some animated films are. I would give this one my highest recommendation and while all of these releases are fantastic, this is probably the film I can say I will be watching most often myself out of all of these releases.
Disc Technical Specs:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Hercules’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. As with ‘Tarzan’, this more recent Disney Animated Feature looks beautiful on Blu-Ray, with all of the colors superbly bright, detailed and everything looking quite impressive as a whole. Even the fast moving sequences look perfect with no banding or other noticeable faults that could be found within on my end. Everyone should be very pleased with this high definition video presentation.
The Blu-Ray features an uncompressed 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack and probably one of the most active out of these releases. The action elements and music find their way throughout all five speakers quite frequently which helps add a lot of fun to the overall experience. The entirety of the film sounds clear and top notch as a whole and should not leave casual viewers or audiophiles disappointed in the least.
As far as Bonus Content, the Blu-Ray release of ‘Hercules’ includes a few fun bonus goodies such as ‘From Zero To Hero Sing-Along’ ‘No Importa La Distancia Music Video with Ricky Martin’ as well as ‘The Making of Hercules’ featurette.
Disc Rating: 8.5/10
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Mickey, Donald, Goofy : The Three Musketeers
As the catch phrase on the front cover so perfectly states ‘All for Fun and Fun for All’ Disney fans will absolutely have some fun with this retelling of the classic tale of The Three Musketeers with some of your favorite Disney characters. We have Mickey, Donald and Goofy representing our three hopeful heroes, Minnie who Mickey is intent to protect (naturally in love with her at first sight) and we have our ever fearsome villain portrayed by one of my favorite baddies Petey, assisted by the Beagle Boys and the resulting Disney style adventure is a pretty fun little animated feature the whole family should enjoy.
‘Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers’ arrives home on Blu-Ray for the first time in this tenth anniversary edition and Disney fans will certainly want to add a Blu-Ray copy of this one to their collections along with all of these other great releases. Disney delivers another great release here that looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous and while it might not be one of my top recommendations if you are only able to grab a couple of these releases, it’s definitely a worthy addition to any Disney collection.
Disc Technical Specs:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation on this one once again looks pretty stellar. The colors are bright, the shapes and backgrounds detailed, with no colors or shapes ever bleeding into each other, even on more fast paced scenes. This is definitely another overall top notch high definition video presentation.
The Blu-Ray features an uncompressed 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. While a lot of the film keeps focuses to the front channels (dialogue mostly to the center channel) the music and some action elements do find their way throughout the five channels. The soundtrack is discrete, clear and overall a solid DTS-HD MA track as a whole.
The Blu-Ray release for ‘Mickey, Donald, Goofy : The Three Musketeers’ also includes some fun bonus features for the whole family. Included on the release is a kind of silly little video that the kids might have some fun with titled ‘Get Up And Dance’ in addition to a number of deleted scenes with commentary, a cast commentary track on a scene (the cast being Mickey, Donald and Goofy naturally) that is actually a lot of fun, as well as a few other goodies.
Disc Rating: 9/10
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Bedknobs And Broomsticks
Last, but certainly not least we have the Academy Award Winning live action/animation hybrid film ‘Bedknobs & Broomsticks’ that pushed the boundaries of such effects achievements in its time and still holds up today as a truly wonderful and enjoyable film for children young and old alike. The film stars the incredibly talented Angela Lansbury as well as Mr. Banks himself from ‘Mary Poppins’, David Tomlinson, both of who are marvelous. It also rejoins a number of the creative team that brought us ‘Mary Poppins’ years prior.
This is one of those magnificent films that really display’s some heart as well as fun, all during a very troubling and painful time in our nation’s history. While some elements of the film involving WWII will likely require some explanation to some children, it doesn’t focus much at all on those elements, and instead provides great examples of the friendships and bonds that can be formed in the most unlikely of scenarios. The adults will surely appreciate this trip down memory lane, featuring some memorable screen talent from days past and the songs and animation/live action mixing is a perfect meeting ground for old fans and the new generation experiencing this magical film for the first time.
Disc Technical Specs:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘Bedknobs & Broomsticks’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the films intended 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio. This timeless classic is presented here in a beautiful new high definition widescreen transfer and the film looks absolutely stunning, far better than most fans surely ever imagined possible. The colors are bright and solid, with the animation and live action beautifully coexisting without any bleeding elements or other notable issues to be found within and still retaining that grain and feel of the older movie that it is.
The Blu-Ray features an uncompressed 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. As with the video presentation, this lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds pretty fantastic. While it doesn’t have too much activity finding its way into the rear channels, it does take advantage of them on occasion and the discrete clarity of the songs sound truly impressive. This DTS-HD MA soundtrack perfectly represents and compliments this decade’s old film and I can’t imagine it possibly sounding any better than it does here.
The Blu-Ray release also includes an impressive collection of bonus content. Included on the release is a featurette titled ‘Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers’ which features interviews with the Sherman brothers as well as Angela Lansberry and Scott MacQueen discussing the creation of and the importance of the film’s musical creation. The release also includes five deleted and extended songs from the film as well as eight deleted and extended scenes that the whole family will surely enjoy. Also included are ‘The Wizards of Special Effects’ ‘David Tomlinson Recording Session’ ‘Disney Song Selection’ and theatrical trailers.
Disc Rating: 10/10
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*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray’s and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on these Blu-Ray releases are the property of their respective owners.
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