Following in the footsteps of their VHS releases over the year, the Walt Disney Company is packaging its classic cartoons onto various DVD collections. One of the current collections is the “Timeless Tales” series.

Volumes 1 and 2 contained some classic films that are sometimes hard to find in DVD format, including “The Three Little Pigs,” “The Prince and the Pauper” and the long-form cartoon “The Wind in the Willows.”

The latest volume contains more classics, some of which were my favorites as a child. Most of the cartoons run less than minutes, and the entire disc has a little more than an hour of content.

“Casey at the Bat” is the anchor cartoon of the disc, which comes with a small Walt Disney storybook version of the classic cartoon. The second favorite of mine is “Morris the Midget Moose,” about a tiny moose with huge horns who teams up with a bulky moose with small horns to become the most powerful in the forest.

While “Casey at the Bat” is more classic story and goofy antics than original flavor, “Morris the Midget Moose” has a great message for kids.

Other classic shorts in this volume include the not-so-politically-correct “Little Hiawatha” and the Academy Award-nominated short “Ben and Me” (with a 21-minute running time). Rounding out the disc are “The Wise Little Hen” with Donald Duck and “The Golden Touch,” a clever telling of the King Midas story.

These are older, classic cartoons that have the roots of Walt Disney’s style in them. They were made at a time when cartoons were becoming mass market rather than cranked out for a weekly television series. There’s a lot more charm in them than modern cartoons, although they are not infused with the quick cuts and high-flicker allure of the ones we see now when we turn on cable.

Kids who love cartoons will surely love these, but the memories they bring to the parents might be a little more touching. And for those parents who want their kids to get more out of a cartoon than just a few minutes of peace and quiet, there are tips for parents in the sleeve, suggesting interactive questions to ask the kids during the stories.



Specifications: Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Fullscreen (1.33:1). French language track. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.