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"PHINEAS AND FERB: A VERY PERRY CHRISTMAS" 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 |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Instead of summer vacation, Phineas and Ferb are facing winter break, and they have to find a way to save Christmas when Doofenshmirtz makes the whole town look naughty.
WHAT I LIKED
I love “Phineas and Ferb.” I freaking love “Phineas and Ferb.” As cartoons go, it’s one of the best animated series on television today. And everything I love about the show is reflected in this double-length Christmas special.
There’s an irreverence that you see in this show that isn’t present in many others. For example, when Santa shows up, he says, “I was just having a shvitz.” The kids aren’t going to get the irony of that, but it had me laughing out loud.
If there’s any word that describes “Phineas and Ferb,” it’s “imaginative.” “Fearless” will also do. This show goes for the joke and makes even a corny, trite story about kids trying to save Christmas as clever and silly as it comes.
In addition to the double-length Christmas episode, there are 40 minutes of additional episodes, all of them centering about Perry in some way.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Not much. This is such a great show. Everyone should watch it.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with the 80 minutes of “Phineas and Ferb” cartoons as well several cute bonus features. Many of these features are interactive, like “Dr. D’s Xmas Jukebox-inator” and “Christmas Perry-oki.” There’s a bonus episode titled “Doof Side of the Moon” as well as a look at how the writers come up with the songs of the show (and, like LensCrafters, how they do it in about an hour).
For more character insight, you can hear the letters that each of the characters write to Santa, but it’s the surprise gift found in the Easter eggs that is the real gem. Look for a special gift that shows what happens when the crew behind “Phineas and Ferb” decide to cover someone’s office in sticky notes.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Hopefully anyone... aside from Scrooges.
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"YOGI BEAR’S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Available on DVD December 7 Official Kids WB site Studio: Kids WB Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Just in time for Christmas, Warner Bros. has released a 80s-era “Yogi Bear” disc to also coincide with the new movie. In this television special, Ranger Smith thinks Yogi Bear and Boo Boo are hibernating, but when all of Yogi’s friends show up, he realizes that the smarter-than-average bear has left Jellystone to spend time in the big city. There, Yogi meets a young girl who needs help connecting with her family over the holidays.
WHAT I LIKED
When the live-action/CGI “Yogi Bear” film came out a few days ago, so many people bemoaned how it didn’t live up to the original cartoon. Well, here’s the original cartoon to which you can compare. I’m sure you’ll find that these old cartoons, be them from the 60s or the 80s, are just as silly as the live-action theatrical feature.
This is a cute enough story to please the kids, putting on the ridiculous premise that Yogi is mistaken for Santa. I did enjoy watching this to see Yogi getting into his familiar scrapes again. However, the best part of a Christmas special like this is that you get to see all of the other Hanna-Barbera characters make cameos.
Beyond Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (who are joked about actually being cameos), you get to see Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Auggie Doggy and all the other staple characters. A DVD like this rings simple nostalgia for me.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Even though I am a child of the 80s, I recognize the superiority of the 60s cartoons from Hanna-Barbera. Yeah, they were really cheap back then, but they hadn’t hit the assembly line level they did in the 80s. Unfortunately, this Christmas special was produced in the 80s, so they aren’t as fresh as the earlier incarnations.
Also, while it’s fun to watch Yogi and the gang get into all these Christmas shenanigans, the story of a child needing to connect with her workaholic father is just a bit too cheesy even for me.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with another “Yogi Bear” special. This time, it’s “Yogi’s Birthday Party,” which was actually part of the original show in the early 60s. Yogi is distracted by dreams of being on television while Ranger Smith arranges his birthday party. Like the Christmas special, this features cameos by all the Hanna-Barbera staple characters, and being from the early run, it has a warmer and less plastic feel to it.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Children and anyone who wants to see the original (and 80s) Yogi Bear.
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"CHARLIE BROWN’S CHRISTMAS TALES" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Available on DVD October 5 Official Peanuts DVD site Studio: Kids WB Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
With Christmastime coming again and again to the Charlie Brown universe, there’s only so many times one can watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” So in 2002, the Peanuts holiday special took a different approach. Rather than telling a long-form story over the course of a half-hour, “Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales” offers several vignettes about Christmas from the Peanuts gang.
Several gags, taken from the comic strip, including Snoopy as a bell-ringer, Linus trying to compose the perfect letter to Santa, Sally’s confusion about Samantha Claus and the kids staying up to catch the big man in the act.
WHAT I LIKED
The best part of this Peanuts Christmas DVD is that it isn’t just a rehash of the seminal television special “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Like the 90s follow-up “It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown,” this special relies on gags rather than a continuing story. It’s actually quite cute, playing more like a series of sketches than a full television special.
Snoopy, of course, steals the show as he literally wears many hats. Also, Linus pondering his letter to Santa is quite funny and taps into the charm of the original comic strip. After all, how many different kids-writing gags did Schulz rely on over the years.
Decades after the original Peanuts Christmas special, this manages to keep the holiday fresh and true to form to the original source.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
It seems like it’s impossible to watch any lesser-known Peanuts special without comparing it to the originals. Can you watch a Christmas episode without thinking of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”? Can you watch one that takes place in the fall without thinking of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”?
Now that Warner Bros. has held the rights to the Peanuts library for several years, they have done a fantastic job releasing all the specials. This isn’t the best special out there, but it’s nice to watch for Peanuts fans. Just don’t expect something as fantastic as the original.
Still, at the very least, this is a way to see a Peanuts special you might have otherwise missed.
DVD FEATURES
This DVD comes with the bonus episode, the 80s special “Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?” In this installment, Linus and Lucy discover their dad is getting a new job out of town, and they have to move. This leads all of the Peanuts having to deal with the impending loss... and Snoopy finally gets a crack at owning Linus’s blanket.
Like the title feature on this disc, “Is This Goodbye, Charlie Brown?” is not the greatest Peanuts special, but it is one you probably have missed, so you can catch it now on DVD.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Children and fans of Peanuts.
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"‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Available on DVD October 5 Official Kids WB site Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass delve into cell animation with this 1974 Christmas special about a young mouse who ruins Christmas for a whole town. Narrated by Joel Grey, the story follows a mouse family whose youngest know-it-all son wrote a letter to the editor of the paper declaring Santa a fraud. As a result, the North Pole returns the town’s letters to Santa with a clear message that the jolly old elf isn’t coming. It’s up to a clock-maker named Trundle to find a way to send Santa a message that he is really wanted.
WHAT I LIKED
I remember watching this special every year on television while I grew up in the 70s and 80s. It was as much a part of my holiday tradition as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” There’s a lot of nostalgia to be found for me (and others of my age) in this 24-minute show.
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” is a charming adaptation of the original Clement Moore poem, working a story around it very smoothly. Like many Christmas specials, there are things that aren’t exactly new or original. After all, a know-it-all kid denouncing Santa Claus happens in schoolyards every day. But the freshness and charm that this special has makes its overused story acceptable.
I showed this special to my kids for the first time this year, and they loved it. They have no idea who Joel Grey is, but they can appreciate the story and spirit behind this. Plus, considering it takes place in the early 20th century, the stylized animation makes it feel rather timeless.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I always get nervous with stories that open with a know-it-all kid trying to disprove the existence of Santa. Consider this my knee-jerk reaction as a parent who loves to wrap himself up in Christmas magic, but this opening gets repeated a little too much for my tastes. That’s why specials like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” are so comfortable for me.
Finally, there’s Santa... what’s up with the lack of the ‘stache? That is all.
DVD FEATURES
There is a single bonus feature on this disc, a look at Christmas around the world in the featurette “Christmas: A Global Holiday.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Children of the 70s and 80s, and their kids.
