"DISNEY PRINCESS: A CHRISTMAS OF ENCHANTMENT"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) NOT RATED Studio: Disney Back to DVD Review Home |  |
I’ve got kids, but my kids are two boys. They’re more into “Power Rangers” and dinosaurs than they ever will be the Disney princesses (at least that’s what I hope). Sure, I’ve got two nieces who are into the princess thing, but I don’t see them all the time and the whole pink thing is a bit lost on me.
Overall, I’m not a big fan of the Disney Princess theme. It seems to send a wrong message to little girls – that they need to be taken care of. I have the same feelings on the whole diva hype that’s been going around for the past few years. The last thing we need to do is send a message to our little girls that you should be waited on hand-and-foot like a princess.
In fact, the best characterizations of the Disney Princesses has been when they reject their princess status (like Ariel in “The Little Mermaid”) or if their right as a princess has been hidden (like “Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty” or “Cinderella”). The whole Disney Princess hype seems to sweep all that good nature under the rug.
But still, if your little girl is into the whole princess theme, “A Christmas of Enchantment” is going to push all the right buttons. Like the other videos in the Disney Princess Collection, this special holiday disc features previously released princess segments introduced by Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora, Cinderella, Belle and Ariel.
Three songs are included in the menu, and their lyrics can be found in the DVD insert. The stand-out segment is “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” a short piece from “Fantasia 2000.” Not having anything to do with the other Disney princesses, this wonderful segment tells the story of a broken toy soldier trying to protect a music box ballerina from the oppressive jack-in-the-box.
Sadly, we’re swept out of that tale too quickly and shown rehashed bits from the “Beauty and the Beast” video sequel and a clunky storybook moment featuring the Little Mermaid. But things aren’t all that bad. Without much pre-existing Christmas material from the Disney princesses, there are some old-school short subject cartoons in the mix, including “The Cookie Carnival” and “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
There is a DVD game which allows viewers to choose a snow globe, and there is a snow globe screensaver available from the DVD-ROM portion of the disc. There could be more bonuses on this disc, but I guess you’ll have to wait for the next wave of Disney Princess DVDs to catch those features.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. French language track. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
