"DISNEY DOUBLE FEATURE"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
With all the break-out stars emerging from the Disney Channel, there’s almost too many Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs) and television series to represent on DVD. To help get more of this content to market, Disney has packaged two new DCOMs in a single double-feature disc.
I always love a good deal, and every now and then, DVDs come packaged with multiple films. And considering how bite-sized some of these DCOMs are, it makes sense for Disney to give us a double feature on one disc.
Where either of these movies would be an okay rental choice, considering they’re both pretty slim on special features and only run less than 90 minutes apiece, packaging them together makes sense and gives the viewer more bang for his or her buck.
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"HATCHING PETE" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jason Dolley as PETE IVEY Mitchel Musso as CLEATIS POOLE Tiffany Thornton as JAMIE WYNN Josie Loren as ANGELA Rated TV-G Directed by: Stuart Gillard Back to DVD Review Home |  |
Brewster High School has plenty of school spirit for everyone, and leading the charge for spirit is the school’s chicken mascot. The kids behind the mascot is Cleatis Poole (Mitchel Musso), who needs to get out of the suit because he’s allergic to it, so he convinces his friend Pete Ivy (Jason Dolley) to play the role of the chicken for him. Soon, the introverted Pete discovers the performer inside him and becomes on of the most animated mascots in school history. However, when people start to wonder who is behind the new and hilarious mascot, Pete struggles with deciding to unmask himself.
For many years, the Disney Channel has been geared more towards girls then boys, evidenced by the massive success of such shows like “Hannah Montana” and “Lizzie McGuire.” Like last year’s “The Minutemen,” “Hatching Pete” actually serves the boys in the Disney Channel audience.
Common themes for kids movies can be found throughout “Hatching Pete,” including being proud of yourself, being true to your nature and the attractiveness of a secret identity. There really isn’t an overt villain in “Hatching Pete” as the film is more about Pete coming to terms with who he is rather than fighting an adversary. This makes it easy fodder for the Disney Channel, letting the story explore internal struggles of tweens without dealing with too harsh of an external conflict.
Ultimately, “Hatching Pete” is a cute movie that kids can identify with. And it doesn’t hurt to have the cast seeded with stars from “Hannah Montana” (Musso) and “Corey in the House” (Dolley).
This movie on the DVD comes with a Backstage Disney bonus feature called “Unmasking the Mascot,” which spotlights team mascots in colleges around the country as well as the development and creation of the costumes.
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"DADNAPPED" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Emily Osment as MELISSA MORRIS David Henrie as WHEEZE Jason Earles as MERV Jonathan Keltz as TRIP ZOOME Moises Arias as ANDRE Denzel Whitaker as SHELDON Charles Halford as SKUNK Phil Lewis as MAURICE LEGARCHE George Newbern as NEAL MORRIS Rated TV-G Directed by: Paul Hoen Back to DVD Review Home | |
One of the biggest cultural icons for teens everywhere is secret agent Tripp Zoome, the hero of a series of books written by Neal Morris (George Newbern). The problem is that Neal’s daughter Melissa (Emily Osment) must fight the hoards of fans to just spend a little time with her dad. One their way to a father-daughter weekend, Neal and Melissa take a detour to a Tripp Zoome convention, where Neal is kidnapped by over-zealous fans. Using her own Zoome instincts, Melissa must find a way to find her dad and bring him home safely.
This DCOM includes even more stars from the Disney Channel, especially the “Hannah Montana” series (which includes Emily Osment, Jason Earles and Moises Arias). David Henrie from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and Phil Lewis from the “Suite Life” shows also join the cast. We’ve seen this sort of character for Osment before in last year’s “Soccer Mom,” without the secret agent angle, so this is a bit of a familiar path for her.
While still grounded in a real-world setting, “Dadnapped” offers a little more adventure than the character study we see in “Hatching Pete.” There’s a fantastic element that gives shows like “Wizards of Waverly Place” a special spark.
The cast does a fine job, with special kudos to Jason Earles as the smarmy hotel manager. (I’ve always said that Earles was the hidden gem in the “Hannah Montana” series.) In fact, the kidnappers are pretty funny characters that offer plenty of slapstick and quirky humor.
“Dadnapped” is a safe adventure for the kids to watch at home, and it makes me wonder if Disney will ever develop its own line of Tripp Zoome books to go with it.
This section of the DVD includes an extended ending to the film as well as “Tripp Zoome: Off the Rails,” which is an animated graphic novel of the teen spy’s exploits at an amusement park.
