"WALT DISNEY TREASURES WAVE VII"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
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MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: ***** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Studio: Disney Back to DVD Review Home |  |
It’s holiday time, and that means that the Walt Disney company has packaged a new wave of their “Walt Disney Treasures” collection. These multi-disc releases are fine video collectibles that go beyond the standard service you’d expect from a family DVD set. In fact, many of these sets aren’t necessarily aimed at a young audience, but rather at an audience of cinemaphiles and Disney historians.
Like previous waves of the Walt Disney Treasures, Wave VII offers chronological and specialty content. Three different releases are now available for a limited time in collectable tins.
Wave VII includes “The Chronological Donald: Volume Four,” “The Mickey Mouse Club Presents: Annette” and “Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.” Each release includes a certificate of authenticity and special lithograph art. Film historian and Disney authority Leonard Maltin provides an exclusive introduction to each set of discs.
“The Chronological Donald: Volume Four” follows everyone’s favorite short-tempered duck in his short film adventures from 1951 to 1961. This includes two Academy Award-nominated Best Shorts “Rugged Bear” from 1953 and “No Hunting” from 1955. It also includes a retrospective of Donald’s career from the short film to comic books as well as a storyboard presentation of an unproduced Donald Duck short film.
The Walt Disney Treasures releases always include a nice snapshot into the old television shows produced by Walt Disney. In Wave VII, there’s a look back at the most famous Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. “The Mickey Mouse Club Presents: Annette” includes twenty episodes in the club’s final season in 1957 and 1958, and a special tribute to Funicello’s singing career.
“Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” is probably the most rare item in the bunch. The television series “Wonderful World of Disney” produced a three-part miniseries of the popular Dr. Syn books. All three episodes of this miniseries are presented on these discs, following a mild-mannered parson who becomes the Scarecrow at night to protect the innocent. Here’s a rare chance to see a superhero legend told Walt Disney style.
All three items in Wave VII of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series are available for a limited time.
