Disney has pulled the Trigger (pun intended) on the upcoming Verbinski production of The Lone Ranger. Citing the production’s reported $250M budget as the culprit, Disney wasn’t too eager to get in on the project which would have starred Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as the Ranger and Johnny Depp (Pirates of The Caribbean Series) as Tonto with Jerry Bruckheimer producing the film.

The original Lone Ranger had beginnings as a radio serial in 1933 and ran as a TV show from 1949-1957. The film remake was scheduled for a December 21, 2012 release. Fans of Depp, Bruckheimer and Verbinski: do you think this project can get a studio to stand behind it so the Lone Ranger can ride again?

Year: 2010
Running Time: 103 minutes
Rated: G
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): Disney / Pixar
Release Date: November 2, 2010

Film/Feature: A+
If the announcement of a third Toy Story didn’t warm your heart then maybe you’ve grown too old for your own good. Now 17 years old, Andy is ready to move out to college and it’s assumed that he won’t take his box of favorite toys with him.

Woody (Tom Hanks) was chosen by Andy to go to college with him but the rest of the crew including Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusak), and the others are convinced they were meant to be thrown out when Woody witnessed that they were intended to be placed in the attic.

Neither. The Toy Story gang find themselves donated to Sunnyside Day Care where they are welcomed to a place where hundreds of toys live and get played.

Lots-o-Huggin Bear (Ned Beatty) seems nice enough upon introduction but he runs a prison-like environment leaving all the newcomers in the Caterpillar room where the younger children play much rougher with the toys. Knowing he should be with Andy, Woody escapes only to be caught in the house of a little four-year old girl named Bonnie. Woody has to escape and rescue his friends and get back to Andy before he leaves.

What does Andy eventually do at the end?

There are those who thought that a third Toy Story would ruin Pixar, or at least their product. Water it down, make it feel forced or corporate but I didn’t believe it. Everything about Pixar and they way they do business, make films, and tell stories adds to the mystique and charm that’s seen through their films.

Buzz, Woody, The Potato Heads and the rest, had insecurities older audiences could relate to and the fear of mortality is a story that bears repeating in a brilliant and fresh progression, 10 years after the last time we heard Buzz Lightyear said, “To Infinity and Beyond!” Toy Story 3 has no shortage of adventure, laughs, and visuals that will have you shaking your head, amazed and in awe.

Our characters’ fate, their desire to be played, and not forgotten is not only a metaphor for aging and the working environment, but the simplicity and straight forward story of the appreciation of toys and the joy that they can bring to those who can get lost in their imagination is the magic of Toy Story. We all had something to take us back when we were young, when we obsessed, not on their limitations but their endless potential.

Video:A+/Audio A+
Toy Story 3 has another amazing 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. It’s a sparkling Disney presentation that showcases every bit of detail laid down by the animators. Every frame is full of stylized delight, tip-toeing the line of near realistic but not so far you forget you’re watching an animated film. It’s cliche to say that Pixar outdid themselves, but seeing is believing. They really did and the high definition transfer in its entirety is reference material. That includes the 7.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio track. Make sure you try not to blink in the film’s climax at the landfill. You’ll swear you were in the middle of the piles of garbage. The sound is accurate, and full of activity. The rumbling machinery keeps your subwoofers bumping while the zipping action of the toys keeps your surround channels active.

Other audio selections include: 5.1 DTS-HD ES Master Audio, 2.0 English Descriptive Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX French and Spanish tracks and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:A+
A staple of all Pixar Blu-rays is a toy chest full of extra material that’s geared towards every kind of Pixar fan. The second disc in particular is split into four sections: Family, Film Fans, Publicity and Games and Activities. Fans of the animation process will find the Film Fans section to have everything they are looking for including two fine commentary tracks and looks into the technical challenges addressed in this latest film.

Disc 1
Day and Night Theatrical Short HD (6:02) The short film that aired prior to Toy Story 3 in the theaters. Day and Night is a mixture of classic cel animation and live action video.

Toys! HD (6:39) a featurette about updating the models for the returning Toy Story cast and the gang Stretch, Big Baby, Chunk, Twitch, Ken, and Lots-O-Huggin Bear.

Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs – The Science of Adventure HD (4:25) Continuing the blu-ray series of looks into the various NASA space missions done by real astronauts.

Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go HD (1:04) a quick tutorial on using the Digital Copy Disc

Sneak Peeks HD (3:54) Mater’s Tall Tales – Nine short films featuring Cars’ Mater; Incredibles on Blu-ray; and Disney Parks.

Screen Saver in the settings menu, you can choose to have a screen saver should you want to prevent any risk of burn in on your flat screen TV or monitor.

Disc 2

FILM FANS
Cine-Explore HD Commentary with Director Lee Unkrich and Producer Darla Anderson is an entertaining that’s balanced with good conversation about the story elements, working with the voice actors and pointing out the animators’ dazzling achievements.

Beyond The Toybox Audio Commentary by Leads from Story, Tech, Art and Animation is a brainier and more focused discussion with the Pixar crew commiserating about the minutia of Toy Story 3 and why no one wants to see a garbage bag again.

Roudnin Up a Western Opening HD (5:42) The opening scene of the movie is discussed.

Bonnie’s Playtime: A Story Roundtable HD (6:26) Unkrich talk about creating Bonnie, Bonnies toys and how she plays with them and the connection that would need to be made with this new family and the Toy Story cast. This was a pivotal scene, one which the filmmakers had a lot of problems with.

Beginnings: Seeting a Story in Motion HD (8:13) Michael Arndt wrote the screenplay for Toy Story 3 and talks about the challenges of starting the script. He breaks down the story basics and how he looked at Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and The Incredibles to see how the stories are set up from the beginning. As always, the entire sequence is told in an animated form.

Life of a Shot HD (6:57) shows the evolution of a scene, in particular the opening action sequence.

Making of Day & Night HD (2:00) shows the thoughts behind the aforementioned short film.

Paths to Pixar Editorial HD (4:38) is a collection of the editorial group of Pixar talking about how they came to work there and what they do.

Studio Stories Where’s Gordon HD (2:16) Andrew Gordon and the secret room of Pixar

Studio Stories Cereal Bar HD (1:36) The legendary Pixar Cereal room is revealed.

Studio Stories Clean Start HD (3:05) The animators bond over beginning a new production by shaving heads and beards.

FAMILY
The Gang’s All Here HD (10:24) A look into the voice actors, returning and new.

Goodbye Andy HD (8:02) Toy Story 3 deals with change, and embracing it and getting the aged Andy correct and stylizing him correctly so he doesn’t look creepy. John Morris was also brought back who voiced Andy in Toy Story 1 and 2. It was also important to tell Andy’s story and complete it the right way in this farewell and dealing with mortality.

Accidental Toymakers HD (3:59) How creating characters took small toy company Thinkway Toys into a global player with one movie franchise.

Creating a Whole New Land HD (5:29)Getting Toy Story into the Disney Theme Parks

Epilogue HD (4:22)See the film’s closing sequence without the rolling credits.

PUBLICITY
In the Publicity section of the DVD are tons of shorts, and promo trailers that continue the fun tradition of Pixar and Toy Story. They include:

Grab Bag HD (4:00)
Ken’s Dating TipsHD (1:30)
Lots-o-Huggin Bear Commercial HD (0:30)
Lots-o-Huggin Bear Commercial Japan HD (0:30)
Making of Lots-o-Huggin Bear Commercials HD (1:28)
Internet Chat HD (1:00)
Security Cam HD (1:12)
Gadgets HD (0:58)
Dancing With the Stars on Toy Story HD (2:21) DWTS choreographers Tony Dovolani and Cheryl Burke
TS3 Silence Trailer HD (0:40) Movie Theater Cellphone trailer to asking you to turn off your cell phone.
TS3 Antipiracy HD (1:08) Movie Theater Anti-piracy trailer.
Five Trailers HD
Poster Gallery

GAMES and ACTIVITIES
Toy Story Trivia Dash There’s two thing you need to do well in this game. Know your Toy Story films front to back, even the details. And the second thing you need is, lightning quick reflexes because you’re not given much time to think about the questions.

Disc 3
DVD of Feature Film + Bonus
The DVD of the feature plus a large portion of the extras are included for those who still use portable DVD players in cars, travel or laptops.

Disc 4
And if you you want even more mobility with Toy Story 3, you can use this disc for uploads to your portable media player whether it be iPhone, iPod, Android phone, or laptop. It is compatible with iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Overall Shock Value: A+
There was no doubt what this score would be. With the inclusion of the DVD and digital copy of the disc, there is an abundance of value and great potential for several different experiences and repeat viewings. Toy Story 3 is undoubtedly one of the best films of the year, and one of the best family experiences that movies can provide. Even though the themes remain the same, the third installment does not water down the original Toy Story concept, it provides a just close to it and reminder of the joy and memories toys can bring someone.

“Three Men and a Bride” will bring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg together once again in the third installment of the franchise started with ‘Three Men and a Baby’ (1987).

“It’s real. Disney is developing a script. They’re waiting until they get it just right,” Selleck revealed. “It’s a great idea. I know Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg and I all feel the same way — the franchise was so good to us. We want it to be a good story and good script. If it’s that, we are all on board.”

Film/Feature: C+

With Disney’s big push to get most if not all of its animated films on blu-ray, James and the Giant Peach was next to get the digital treatment, a hybrid film that was part animation, and part live-action. It’s also the second collaboration between directors Henry Selick and Tim Burton, the first being Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton acts as a producer on this 1996 film that used similar stop-motion animation techniques that was used on Nightmare. It’s a beautiful technique that immediately casts an antique, nostalgic feel to the film. The style has this haunting, almost hollow eeriness, resembling something that would come out of the crooked minds of Selick and Burton.

The story is based on a Roald Dahl novel, VERY loosely I might add, and swirls around an orphan boy named James (Paul Terry) who has been forced to live with his evil aunts, Spiker and Sponge (Joanna Lumley and Miriam Margolyes). He is approached by an old man who offers him a way out, gives him a sack of crocodile tongues that have been brewed all sorts of nasty ways to become the key to his escape. On his way home, James spills the tongues onto the ground by an old peach tree, which suddenly bears one fruit, one large, and continuously growing peach.

It’s as if Jack and the Beanstalk grew through the ears and mind of Dahl and Burton alike. You can see the similar arc though in Dahl’s stories, a sense of wonder overcoming a poor boy, down on his luck. And in this wonderland askew, the boy realizes lessons in life.

Here, the Peach stops swelling, and James’ aunts pounce on the peach for a money-scam but James visits the Peach at night and takes a bite of it, while one of the magical tongues enter the piece he’s eating. The enchanted piece transforms the large peach through which James crawls into where he meets a handful of insects: Grasshopper (Simon Callow), Centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), Earthworm (David Thewlis), Miss Spider (Susan Darandon), and Ladybug (Jame Leeves) and they are set forth to an adventure over the Atlantic Ocean from London to New York, the place his parents told him they’d visit one day. Tying some of Miss Spider’s webbing to seagulls, they lift off above the ocean on what they hope is a one-way flight to the Big Apple, but it doesn’t work out that way.

It’s a tale of dreaming, and believing, but never limiting yourself to your surroundings. If someone made this film today, perhaps it would have been named King James and his Giant Ego. Burton and Selick unfortunately can’t work the magic they created in Nightmare Before Christmas. Two things hold the film from pushing the boundaries of what could have been.

First, Randy Newman’s music, which is appropriate most of the time, really grates in this film. It just takes you out of the creepy and dark mood the production design worked so hard to establish. Instead when the film breaks into musical numbers, it gets this “gee golly, aww shucks” piano bar feel to it. Secondly, the live action beginning and end to the film were just unnecessary. The aunts looked scary but could have been scarier had they been animated. The film went far, but not far enough and the ending felt like every clichéd Disney movie almost derailing the wickedly fun middle section of the film.

James and the Giant Peach has this strange mixture of animation and live action that places it alongside other older films that haven’t aged particularly well. It could have been better had the live segments worked, but they were too over-the-top, and too corny. It doesn’t know what it wants to be. Selick wanted there to be this separation of the “magic” world and the real world, which is noted, but when the two come together at the end, it’s to put it lightly, rough. The aunts catch up to the James in New York, setting up for a finale that tries too hard to remind you the magic’s gone.

What the film does manage to do is recharge the curiosity in Dahl’s children’s novel, and his work in particular which has gone on to other mediums such as film and TV, like Gremlins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Where those succeeded and this falls short lies in the dark, insidious fun that can be read in Dahl’s work can be felt in those other adaptations. The Giant Peach is almost like wax fruit; looks right, feels right, but you know the difference once you bite into it.

Video: C+

James and the Giant Peach is an imperfect 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.66:1 aspect ratio. As a fan of film grain, I’m glad Disney didn’t scrub it clean of all of its original integrity since there’s plenty of grain, a comfortable level to my eye, but consumers who think everything in high definition needs to look like a 2010 film, is misguided as to what blu-ray is supposed to provide. To those who want to generalize what blu-rays are supposed to look like, the colors will probably leave those uneducated disappointed at the films intended subtle color palette. It’s supposed to be on the de-saturated side.

Now what isn’t acceptable is the inconsistency in the picture like the wavering contrast throughout. Black crush is also rampant too; sometimes the picture is way too dark to see any of the intricate detail of the set designs. It’s a real shame. Details are much more noticeable in the live action sequences from the glittery costumes of the aunts, to the pores on actors’ faces can all be seen, however the pink-orange skintones in nearly everyone’s faces shows that this is not Disney’s best effort. In the live action ending, on the streets of New York, again, too much information is lost in darkness.

Audio: B

Even though the video needed a lot more work, the 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track is remarkable when it needs to be. Dialogue is stable and clear in every scene, while the large action scenes like when things get rough on the water in Chapter 16, burst through your living room with plenty of thunder and crashes for your subwoofer. Sound in the front, left to right is fabulous, though rear channels don’t get much I’m afraid. Don’t get too down on the blu-ray, for its visual shortcomings; it’s not all bad. Other audio selections include: French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby TrueHD DTS Digital tracks and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:D
The only new and exclusive extras to the blu-ray are the Games and Activities

Spike the Aunts Game is a lame interactive game that I think even kids would get bored of quickly.

Production Featurette SD (4:34) is a very basic ‘making of’ that fares in comparison to the behind the scene extras we see in today’s films.

Good News Music Video by Randy Newman HD (2:29) I’m a fan of Randy Newman but his music just seems like a mismatch with this film. The music video here is a blend of standard definition footage of Newman but all of the film clips are now in high def.

Still Frame Gallery SD a gallery of the concept art, puppets, behind the scenes and live action stills.

Original Theatrical Trailer SD (1:27) SD I’m really let down the lack of effort to give us a high definition trailer. It’s doubtful anyone will revisit this after one viewing.

James and the Giant Peach DVD the film and its original extras are on this DVD which is a great win for parents with players in their vehicles or who have portable players for traveling.

Overall Shock Value: C–

In its time James and the Giant Peach was a great trip back to when there were more stop-motion animated films. Since then we’ve seen Coraline, the Fantastic Mr. Fox, and all of the great Wallace and Gromitt shorts which have raised the bar and have since made James and the Giant Peach look somewhat outdated. The blu-ray release could have shown some more consistency in the video transfer/mastering, but the new audio soundtrack makes the film come alive. Subpar extras and a lack of effort to provide anything new or imaginative makes this Peach lacking in lasting flavor.

First up is Colleen Atwood who has a mile long list of films to her credit including many of Burton’s films and won two Oscars for Memoirs of a Geisha (2006) and Chicago (2002) and has been nominated for several others. She just finished The Rum Diary (2010) based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel and Johnny Depp’s latest film, The Tourist (2011). She will be teaming up with Depp and Burton again for Dark Shadows (2011).

You’ve worked with Tim Burton multiple times. What has it been like to work with him, and how are his films different to work for than say your next film, The Rum Diary?
Colleen Atwood: Tim is one of a kind, he is really an artist and visually gifted.
The choice of material really determines a lot of design, so in that way, his sensibility would be quite different from that of Bruce Robinson who did The Rum Diary, which is a very gritty journalistic story.

What is the look that you are going for The Rum Diary? What was the inspiration?
CA: The look for The Rum Diary is based on journalistic photos of the time, the budding sixties, contrasting the oil and sugar rich, with the abject poverty of the island.

What is so attractive Burton’s films?
CA: The collaborative process with Tim is a rare gift in the world of film.

How close did you make the costume designs to Tim’s original sketches?
CA: Usually I see the sketches later, as Tim does not just stick a drawing in front of me.

How close do you work with the director?
CA: The director is my first collaborator, even before the actor. For me it is a very close working relationship.

With working with Burton as many times as you have, are there any sort of things that you automatically know to do or to come up with style wise? Or is each film sort of a different beast?
CA: Every film Tim makes is a new experience, there are no givens. I’d say a graphic sense would be the strongest continuum.

Why are (the right) costumes important for a movie?
CA: The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.

How much power does the clothing have over the character?
CA: Clothing serves to help create character, along with the writing and acting.

I read somewhere that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp both do sketches of Depp’s characters before filming. I was wondering how their creative process plays into yours?
CA: So far it has been great. With the Hatter, we pretty much all came up with the same vibe.

For these Burton films, but also for movies like Public Enemies, you designed a lot of costumes for Johnny Depp. Does the process get easier if you know an actor?
CA: The level of trust is an important part of collaboration, so I would say that makes it more relaxed, but it also makes it more of a challenge since you always want change it up and come up with new ideas.

When do you know, when a character is finished?
CA: Never.

When you took on the “Alice” project, did you aim to separate the costumes from the Disney animated classic, or did you try to play off the animated movie? Was there a balance that you felt had to be met?
CA: I really didn’t look to the animated version as much as I did to the Tenniel and Carroll illustrations-then I moved on.

How much inspiration did you draw from the original book?
CA: I gave a sort of nod to the young Alice, then departure…oh and the hat…

Which character’s costumes did you find the most challenging to design, and which came most easily?
CA: In Alice, the technical side of Alice’s shrinking and growing were very challenging. Stayne (Crispin Glover) was originally not a real costume, but we couldn’t quite get it right, so we ended up actually making it in order for it to work.

How many dresses did you make for Alice and what have inspired you to create them?
CA: Alice had around 8 looks, and multiples of most of them, so there were around 20 hand-made costumes. The script and idea of Alice as an exploring spirit really inspired me.

What was the inspiration for the red and white world of Alice in Wonderland?
CA: The Red Queen and White Queen were named in the script, so for the Red Kingdom it was the playing card motif and for the White Kingdom the inspiration was more Nordic meets Louis 14

What were the challenges of making costumes for such oddly-shaped characters and CGI?
CA: I love an odd shape, so all the bodies in Alice were wonderful fun for me. The CGI element was interesting because so much of my process is in the actual draping on a body. I swatched all the virtual fabrics, trims and buttons to help in the visual process and give continuity to the world.

What stories would you like to tell with the clothes?
CA: So many. I love the story “Daughter of Fortune”, spanning the 1800s in North and South America. I love anything that is a great tale.

You have also done films like Public Enemies. How is the experience of working on a film with historical references different than that of something that allows more creativity, like Alice?
CA: I love the experience of examining history that my work gives me.
The gritty reality of John Dillinger’s world is as fascinating to me as the fantastical world of Alice. The human factor of the story is what attracts me.

What movie are you most proud of?
CA: I really don’t have that emotion with my work on a one by one basis. I think that I am very lucky to be able to do the work I have done, and am happy to be creating what I create.

What has been your hardest movie to design for?
CA: Planet of the Apes was physically the most difficult movie of my
career. The challenges were vast, and the day to day running of that sort of film is daunting

Designers are often dressed minimalistic and in black, because they’re ‘full’ of clothing. How are you dressing yourself?
CA: I am fond of black, but try to add a little white around my face.
I wear jeans a lot for work because they are good for a 14-hour day, which is my norm.

Any final thoughts on ALICE IN WONDERLAND?
CA: Alice in Wonderland was a dream project. The collaboration between Tim and Johnny, along with the amazing cast, made bringing such a historic piece to the world of 3D animation, one of my favorite projects for life.

Next we have Dermot Power, a conceptual artist who has worked on films such as V for Vendetta, Batman Begins, and the Bioshock videogame. He worked with Tim Burton to help establish the eerie and wickedly fun atmosphere of Alice in Wonderland. This is a virtual presentation of Dermot’s artwork with moderation by Mindy Johnson of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Dermot Power, David Jessen, VP of DVD Productions at WDHE, and Jim Davy, producer of the Alice in Wonderland Blu-Ray/DVD. I am in the conference via phone and ask a few questions at the end of the conference.

Mindy Johnson: Dermot, talk a little bit about, when you first got the call for this film. And we’re going to shift to a couple of your – one of your first images of Alice. But if you’d like to give us some insight into certainly your work with Tim.

Dermot Power: Yes, I got a call from Tim’s assistant, (Derrick). And I’ve worked with Tim in the past on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and – but there was a big team of concept artists on that, and I never actually met Tim himself, but he knew my work. So he sort of asked his assistant to track the guy who did that type of stuff on the other film down, and he wanted to have a chat. He was quite (led) into the production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and was trying to get the design and look of the film you know to match his vision. It was a dream come true for me, because I’m a big fan of Tim Burton, and to sit there and have a chat with him, and I’m obviously a big fan of “Alice in Wonderland.” In fact, I’ve worked on another “Alice in Wonderland” production about 10 years before. It was a great opportunity.

The bonus was that, while I was having a chat with Tim, he said, “Well, where do you want to work?” And he said, you can work here in the editing, where he was, or from home or – and then he said, “But you know – you know Arthur Rackham?” I’m like, “Yeah, of course.” Arthur Rackham is the 19th century illustrator of “Alice in Wonderland,” and I’m a huge fan of his work. Tim was like well, ‘I bought his studio. So do you want to work in the studio?’ So that was where I ended up working for almost a year. Tim bought (Arthur Racken)’s studio which just happens to be very near where he lives in London and he set up an office there himself. And then I was up in the literally in the attic like the artists in the garrot. Yes, it was great. It was great opportunity.

MJ: Brilliant. I can imagine the inspiration you got from that.

DP: Yes.

MJ: We’re looking at one of the early pieces, (Dermot) if you could explain sort of the construct of this – of Alice, as she is first approaching Wonderland.

DP: So that shot I actually one of the very first shots I did. What I did was I did a very quick sketch for Tim of what I felt the woods should look like. Have that feel, the feel for them which he really liked. And then I took distance from an edited sequence so I knew exactly where – I mean Alice is just a figure in a green environment. And there was nothing in it. What was important to me was to have – with all the things that I designed is contrasting forms. So you know Alice is running straight into the woods on a straight path and crossing her path is this straight tree and then off that you have these very curved shapes that the trees, twisting trees and twisting ferns. Of course when you work for Tim Burton you attempt to find spires you know and excuses for drawing them everyplace so that was the thinking there. And very dark and lines…menacing out in the field I wanted to go for. In fact I did a much more detailed visual of the same shot and when Tim saw it he was like ‘yes, that’s cool’ but you know we don’t – he didn’t need me to do that. He wanted me to do the quite sort of very impressionistic – I don’t want to say simple, but minimalist illustrations that go to the point and didn’t hide the point of the design and the detail. I think before I had arrived on the firm there was a lot of beautiful t-frames illustrated by some of the guys like (Dillion Cole) and people like that at Sony. And I think the problem with that is their’s is so finished and beautiful it’s a little distracting so Tim asked me to come in and just do these quite minimalist, but strong concepts for the shapes and the things that she’d see in Underland.

MJ: Great. Let’s move to the next image of Alice as she is miniaturized. And can you talk a bit about the combination of incorporating the live action imagery into at artwork.

DP: Yes, sure because the sequences were already edited. So I had kind of the luxury of working on what was going to be the final edited sequences in the film, which is very unusual. Usually that’s because I came in quite late and into the production I had that luxury. So, again it’s quite simply done. The painting of the various elements around her but their very, very carefully placed if you know what I mean. So those dandelion clocks and all these kind of little elements, I tried to place them so that it’s a very kind of pleasing composition. But again very simply done, not, I think what it is when I design I like to leave a lot of creative input to the person next along the line. So I prefer to work to that level and then people can put their details and colors and everything in afterwards. I think next is maybe the Hatter.

MJ: Is the Hatter in the concept piece?

DP: Yes that’s purely a concept, in that it doesn’t, it’s not taken from any other edit or anything. It’s just a moment that Tim was trying to think about that hat which was on top of the may pole, in the scene where the Mad Hatter is trying to…it’s like a symbol of what has happened. I mean that didn’t end up in the film actually. But it was sort of trying to think about scale of the hat to the Hatter and that’s quite a conversational piece. I love drawing it to engage in a dialog, conversation with Tim about what he’s thinking about the scene. Rather than the previous image, which was very directly drawn to guide the animators and people afterwards as to where things should be in the sequence. This is more kind of a discussion piece. I remember Tim had in mind what he wanted for that sequence where the village is being, Mad Hatters village is being burned out, it was very, very tricky to get what he needed because it needed to be quite minimal. And I was trying to, I was looking for symbols to put across what had happened. And the top hat, the Hatter looking under the hat. I don’t know if you see that little skull under there. That would have never had made it in a Disney Alice in Wonderland. Maybe a Tim Burton one but yes, I don’t know what I was thinking there.

MJ: Definitely, let’s move to the next piece. Now you also did some design work on props as well.

DP: Yes very little. I did a couple of different of pieces of props. My role kind of became whatever Tim would throw at me I would solve it. So if he needed me to do a prop I would do the prop. In fact the dodo, what was quite funny was I did another, maybe I should have sent you that. I did another exact visual of the dodo carrying the flamingos in the caddy, croquet caddy, and I completely got it wrong. In that I had it that the pelicans were trying to burst out of the caddy and they were full of energy and they were, and the dodo was like being crushed by the weight of this and he was sweating and it was completely a different take on it. Tim came in and he looked at it and just was, because he doesn’t say an awful lot. And he just went, ohh ahh, like that. I mean it was completely wrong. He just went, no like this, he drew that essentially, I mean I drew that what you’re looking at but he very quickly did a sketch. What’s wonderful about working for a director who can draw is that he can explain himself, he doesn’t need to say anything he can just do a quick sketch.

MJ: Absolutely. We’re now looking of course at the image with the red queen and the flamingo and the croquet match.

DP: It’s more to the left of the flamingo, but the background, it’s just to design all the shapes that would be behind her head. That’s sort of how I like to design. I don’t think there’s any confusion in about what that background is, even if it isn’t full of photographic detail.

MJ: And moving on to the chambers.

DP: Yes, I think Tim wanted the inside of the palace to reflect the crazy kind of shapes and crazy world that you see from outside. And for inspiration I actually had a researcher dig out as many strange and extraordinary buildings as I could, that I tried to do it myself, I love working with researchers because that way when I’m drawing something else they start digging things out. That’s actually very inspired, now I can’t remember the name but we might have to dig that out, it’s a hotel that (Gaudi) did. It has very similar kind of…it’s got that swirling kind of cast ceiling, it’s based on a real thing. I think Tim wanted everything to look really kind of bonkers and it was really nice to find some actual architecture that was almost as bonkers. I mean it’s not exactly it, but its inspired by it. Yes.

MJ: Well speaking of architecture that’s inspiring, looking at the next slide, if you talk a bit about this.

DP: Yes, again this is part of the sequence where she arrives at the palace and then goes on to the moat of heads. The real sort of doing this is to put across some of that sort of Tim Burton gothiness. I didn’t design the palace though. It had already been done, it was more a case of saying, you know if you guys can find an angle, to give you a flavor of these gothic arches and spiral, that would suit what Tim’s looking for. You’ve moved on to the red queen looking down at the floating heads?

MJ: Yes.

DP: Yes. That’s quite an interesting one because I wasn’t familiar with all of the script and everything that was happening. I mean I read the script and forgot some of it but when Alice was jumping across the heads I got it wrong. I thought it was, that she was jumping across giant heads and not that she was tiny. Which was kind of stupid of me to think that. So I kept, this sequence, I kept drawing the heads quite big and then Tim would come in and go, yes they need to be a little smaller. And then I’d keep making them smaller and smaller and smaller and eventually I was like are these supposed to be human sized heads?

MJ: Yes.

DP: Yes, yes, yes, but because he doesn’t say an awful lot it took me redrawing it, and redrawing it, and redrawing it, but that sequence of her looking in the, down on the moat is, I was really pleased because it’s a lock shot it was almost exactly like that in the film. That’s what Ken Ralston’s team did, which was amazing there, it’s really beautiful. The shot where she’s jumping across again that’s a more finished illustration because Tim was going to the San Diego Comic Con and they wanted some artwork to show from the film and so that was a more simple illustration but I kind of tightened up a little bit. That’s why you’re seeing a rare color one. So I think the other one was as well where the queen was looking down on the head. It’s quite important to Tim as well when I’m doing these visuals that I don’t bring it up to a level of detail that’s trying to mimic the film. Because the film, you don’t want to, I mean for my own personal way of designing I don’t see the point in that, I think designers are trying to inspire and help get to the final vision. But I’m not so sure you need ever to pretend that the frame is the final shot, film sequence, a shot from the film. And I think Tim appreciated the fact that I paid a lot of attention to the kind of light and the mist and everything. You don’t look at that and think oh this is a frame from the film. It’s still quite painterly, which I think he really likes.

MJ: Nice. Moving on to a couple of Jabberwocky images.

DP: They’re actually very late Jabberwocky images, because they already had it done. I think Tim gets notions and ideas and he just wants to explore them and he said oh have a go, because I think what happened is at one point the Jabberwocky that ends up in the film is mostly, it’s very similar to a dragon, traditional dragon but it doesn’t fly in the film. There was decision made at some point by Tim that it wouldn’t fly that it would walk through the woods. He was wondering if he needed to change the design completely. So, again, to help him think about it, I’ll just do a couple of drawings. The one on the left is very much based on the Jabberwocky from John Tenniel’s 18th century illustration, from the original book. When I looked at that illustration, I looked at it as if it was a puppet on strings, if you know what I mean? So when you look at that, if you imagine what my thinking with this, it should be hanging there as if the loose head and limbs have been held by strings. That’s the kind of look I was going for. Also, because every dragon has been done, it’s so difficult to come up with a new one. I just thought I wouldn’t do a dragon. I’d just do something completely different. And the one on the right, again, it’s more like a demon or something. I think Tim liked them, but then they went with the original design anyway. So, fun to do, though, great fun to do.

MJ: Last one for your concept pieces, we do have a few slides of some of the final artwork that, as you mentioned, appeared in the film. Can you talk a bit to these?

DP: During the designing of some of the inside of the palace, I’ve put in a lot of picture frames and then of course they needed to be filled with something. And Tim was like, ‘well, what are you going to do?’ So I was, ‘oh, I’ll just build scenes and sequences from the original Alice in Wonderland book. So that’s the lion and the unicorn and I think represent – I’m trying to get my history right here, but represents the two sides of the British Empire in the 18th century – 19th century. So it was a great excuse for me to just paint some crazy stuff from the originals books. At that point – I’ve been on the film about eight or nine months and I think Tim trusted me to – you know, he knew I got into his mindset. I knew what he liked, and I think he trusted me to just kind of risk on these things. So because they were just going to be a theme in passing in the frames, they didn’t need a lot of art direction from him. The mural, and the red-green on the Jabberwocky, that was because when I revised the throne room and the sequence where the Mad Hatter walks in through the doors and is being presented to the queen, the walls looked a little bit grey and dark and dank, and I thought, you know. So I suggested to Tim, like, I’m going to get the name wrong, but what’s the castle, that palace in Germany?

MJ: Neuschwanstein?

DP: Yes. That’s the one. There are beautiful murals on the walls in that palace, so I said why don’t we do something like that but have it really, really faded, like it’s been up there for years? And so I did. The way the tone and colors are laid out, (embossed) on those little corners and all these things, don’t really mean anything, except that when they were in the sequence, it balanced all the little colors out. So in the red rooms and the blue rooms, it just adds in the shot where you are. Because they were so faded and scrubbed out, you’re just going to get an impression of something being there, these guys are ancestors – very obviously. They had the heart motif, wherever we could put it in. Because it’s something you’re going to see so quickly in the film, of course you can pause the DVD now, but there’s not a huge amount of detail there, but I think it’s just the right amount for a quick little shot. Towards the end of the film, I just thought I’m going to go mad here. I’ll just draw some really crazy shapes and – you know, in the style that I really love to work in and not try to be imitating (inaudible) painter (that kind of thing), just to see what would happen. And Tim really loved that, so he was like, yes, yes. The crazier the better, which is probably not surprising as well.

MJ: Well, beautiful work. And I want to move on to your extraordinary work in the Oraculum. That was a pretty important prop; an important (McGuffin) in this story. Talk a little bit Dermot, about how this was approached. And not only from a design standpoint but in terms of story.

DP: From the design point theory, I think that a placeholder for the Oraculum with some of the Tenniel illustrations. And a couple of other bits and pieces, again it was one of those things where I was chatting to Tim about it and I just said well if you want me to I’ll bash it and illustrating it I’d love to do it, (I’ll have a go).

I think originally we talked about doing it in a kind of John Tenniel style and part of the problem is doing that as illustrations from a book work in the context of the book and it’s weird when you try to ape that style for another thing like the Oraculum. It didn’t quite work as well. That’s my excuse for very quickly just doing it the way I like to draw. So what I did was I said OK this thing is going to end up being a foot and a half or two feet tall by I don’t know maybe 8-10 feet. It’s going to be huge so. I’m not sure how much time we have. So what I did was I started on the sequences that I knew the camera was definitely going to be on. Obviously where Alice is looking at the Oraculum and the sequence where she’s fighting the Jabberwocky, and the idea was that it should look like an illustrator’s version of events and not an exact copy of it. Because I could have taken the actual green screen sequences and traced the Oraculum illustrations over it but I think Tim wanted it to look like it was an artist impression. And so what I did was I did very detailed illustrations of the main part and then for the left and right, because they would end up in the camera, possibly in the camera I then just illustrated whatever.

And again like the, I just randomly picked scenes from the film or characters from the film and just kind of illustrated them in there in a way that, because the viewer in the cinema, in the theater just wants to get an impression that the Oraculum doesn’t stop at that point that you’re looking at. So it was really enjoyable to do. And then I think late in the process it was decided that maybe we should have a 3D element that you can separate out the different layers of the scene. Which meant that the Oraculum took, I don’t know, 3 times longer to do because I then have to cut out Alice and the Dodo and the mushrooms and then put them on a separate layer and illustrate everything behind her. So there’s layered versions of the Oraculum where you can switch each character off and there’s details in behind. Which was it was great fun to do that. Again this film, project gave me a chance to do every kind of art style that an artist is apt to do. From very chunky paintings and murals to these, I end up doing these very tight line drawings. It was great fun.

MJ: A lot of great variety. It is the Oraculum that’s being utilized as part of the living menus on the upcoming blue ray release of Alice in Wonderland and so we’re going to kind of stroll through these particular images that are broken down, not only of your drawings Dermot but also the screen imagery of the menus and, David perhaps if you could talk just a bit about how these were integrated and utilized in the set up of the Blu-ray.

David Jessen: Well when you enter the Blu-ray this is our other menu system and in the U. S., Mexico and Canada currently we call it our living menu system. So if you’re BD Live connected what happens is, the very first thing that occurs is that whatever your weather is in your particular climate Dermot was very generous and gracious to design new Oraculum art for us that features whatever that is, either it’s a sunny day, a cloudy day, a rainy day, a snowy day, a clear night, a cloudy night, a rainy night, a snowy night, and the cool thing is that this is new Blue Ray exclusive material that you can get nowhere else. So it’s pretty cool. Also if you not on BD Live connected the fact that you get to see the Oraculum in its entirety. It’s the first opportunity also a person would have to actually see it laid out for them in the menus and have it and own it.

MJ: We’re running edited sequences of these various illustrations, Dermot if you could talk a bit about these

DP: Oh it’s fantastic, I’m just bowled over by what you guys have done, and it’s beautiful. Seeing my drawings come to life like that, it’s just fantastic.

MJ: (David) if you can just talk a little bit about as to how this works. When you turn on your disk.

DJ: So when if you’re BD Live connected and you put your disk in, it’s automatically going to pin your local weather through the BD Live system in the States and in Canada and the U. S. and Mexico and it will load these pieces of art and these little animations that we have done. Like its right here it’s showing that if it’s raining in your climate it’s going to be raining on screen in the Oraculum magically. And it will depend on whatever it is, if it’s sunny you’ll have a beautiful sunny image, if it’s snowing you’ll have some snow. It’s just a magical way to bring your blu-ray disk to life.

MJ: Two more sequence of these and then Dermot in terms of creating this type of art work, did you have to do anything above and beyond just the standard illustrations?

DP: I think what you guys have done its fantastic to see it now real, it’s the first time I’m seeing it. It’s beautifully realized. The rays of the sun coming out, that’s absolutely perfect. It was difficult because you didn’t have a defined boarder and for ink drawings, you know if you do cloudy night for example it can be a little difficult just knowing where to border what you’re doing and things like that. Really it’s just an excuse for me to feel like a traditional book illustrator for a week or so, or a few days. I really enjoyed doing it. But yes it’s great to see it being used so, so beautiful.

MJ: There’s a sequence of the additional art, Oraculum artwork that is also on the DVD menus.

DJ: What’s wonderful is, we at Disney are always trying to find a way to extend the film experience organically and work with the film talent to do that, and I think this is the perfect example of that.

Jim Davy: When we first saw Dermot’s Oraculum art we just thought what a perfect way to have that be the theme for the menus for the whole disk experience.

DP: Yes that’s great, and to have something made drawn for the film which can be the end of its existence and have another life outside of it is kind of a rare opportunity for me. To tell you the truth it’s fantastic.

Ernie Estrella: Concerning the living menus and these seem to be more the norm back when DVDs were being pumped out and they seemingly been scraped recently–sadly I think, (especially with Blu-Ray). What made the decision to go with the more intricate menus and kind of utilize some of the Blu-Ray technology where it seems like it hasn’t been utilized properly I think enough?

DJ: It’s funny that you say that I mean, because at Disney, and I head up creative productions for DVD and Blu-Ray we’ve been, menus have always been integral to the experience. We always try to make menus organic to the entertainment experience so it’s a holistic experience and with living menus we did use them on “Sleeping Beauty.” We then followed up with “Earth” and we had them on “Snow White” so the magic mirror had artificial intelligence so whenever you put your disk in he would say something new to you and he knew what the weather was and were now continuing it with Alice in a different way. So be sure to check out those other disks.

MJ: As (Jim) mentioned Dermot artwork is so compelling that, and such a key part of the story, that.

JD: One thing I should add actually on these menus we forgot to say is that if your BD Live connected not only does it show your current weather in that very first panel with the White Night, but there’s a little banner there and an icon that Dermot created and it shows you tomorrows forecast. And it has a little temperature, Fahrenheit and Celsius and a little icon of what tomorrow’s weather would be. That wasn’t shown there but on the example that will be there on the actual product.

DP: It won’t work in the UK.

JD: We’re slowly rolling BD Live out.

DP: Yes, yes, I know, it’s always raining here.

EE: Dermot you were talking about the variety that you’re able to do on this film as far as the different styles your able to do. Maybe you can talk about, was this kind of the biggest draw for you or was it more working with Tim Burton or the ability to work with this kind of range?

DP: To me it’s working with Tim Burton really. The thing is when I started, as often happens in film, it was quite late in the production and Tim asked me to help out visualize, come up with the environments behind the green screen edits. I was meant to be in it for, actually I was due to start another production and I had to cancel it because Tim said oh I just need you for 6 weeks maybe and then it just expanded. So I had no idea when I was starting, the range of work I would end up doing and I think what happens is because I was around Tim, he was downstairs or literally in the attic of the (Rackem) Building, whenever it would occur to him, he had an idea or something to do and we talked about it, I would go ‘OK I’ll just draw it.’ Whatever he would throw at me I would just go ‘oh lets, I’ll have a go, I’ll have a go,’ and it was very casual. So from doing the Oraculum I was like ‘I’ll have a go if you like.’ Because I’ve been working as an illustrator for I don’t know 20 years or something, working in the film industry 15 years, I’ve kind of developed a wide range of styles for different things.

So I’m not intimidated by trying anything and because Tim is an artist he’s not fearful about asking for anything. He can read very quickly whether a design or drawing is working. So it’s not as if a director who is not sure is asking you to do things and then is not sure, he’s sure immediately. Not everything worked but most of the things I was doing he was like, ‘Yes-yes! Just keep going!’ It was really, really enjoyable. But the draw in the first place was just to work with him because I know he’s great fun to be around and to work for and he’s a real visionary. He drags the best out of people. We talked about this before we started that a lot of the kind of motion captured, live action crossovers have been done up in them. But I think Tim used the tools that have been developed, including the skills that have been developed over the last few years at Sony for other productions. He just knows how to get the best out of people and I kind of knew that if I was working around that environment was going to be really creative and really energetic and a bit crazy and hard to predict what was going to happen. And it doesn’t get more fun in life than asked to do what you do and then not being absolutely sure what tomorrows going to bring. It was wonderful.

EE: Because of the range that your able to play with what would you say of all the pieces you did for Alice was the most maybe challenging or time consuming piece that you did.

DP: Well the Oraculum was the most challenging but it needed to work on the screen; it needed to work when you saw it very quickly and if you saw it very closely. We didn’t want it to look modern so it was a bit of a challenge. I work completely digitally–and I have for the last 15 years–but I’ve like 8 or ten years before that when I worked traditionally with paint and ink and everything. So I had to go out and buy nibs and ink and draw a little bit in the real world on real paper to make sure it looked and then scanned it in and make sure it looked correct. Doesn’t have that line wave and everything. So that was technically kind of difficult. I think when you work a long time in the film industry you get used to; it’s all about puzzle solving, about doing what’s appropriate. So I never really thought all this was too difficult. Not really.

EE: On the Oraculum, in the blu-ray menus, did you have input as far as what would be animated?

DP: No, no, (Ken Ralston) was and his team at Sony sort of said can you do some layers, well actually they asked me to, can I send over some layers, but I don’t really work in layers digitally. So no not really, and then of course when it came to the Blu-Ray menu, all the ideas were Jim and his team. I’m right about that, not crediting the wrong people?

JD: Yes we took Dermot’s art for the menus and we saw that in the movie the team there animated certain sections and we thought that would be fun to do the same thing for the menus and animate certain things, clock hands moving, leaves blowing through, some subtle details of animation throughout the menus.

DJ: And of course we had Tim’s input along the way.

DP: Yes it’s great, it’s like here’s a crazy idea, go for it. It’s great. Yes.

You can visit Dermot’s website to see more of his powerful conceptual art. And be sure to check out the Alice in Wonderland blu-ray and my review to see both Colleen’s and Dermot’s work on the film. If you haven’t already, make sure you visit the big Q/A session with AIW’s special effects crew, Ken Ralston and David Schaub. Click Here for that article.

Year: 2010
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $ 39.99
Studio(s): Disney
Release Date: June 1, 2010

Film/Feature: C+
This Alice in Wonderland is a reaches a bit to be a “sequel” of sorts, but doesn’t do much to deviate from the conventional structure of what alice is about, except this time she’s older, more independent, sharper and has a nasty wit about her. Alice (Mia Wasikoawska) is free thinker in her day and she’d be cast as an outsider trying to fight the system of arranged marriages and all that is Jane Austen. Spurred by a marriage proposal, Alice has visions of another world, but are they dreams or memories? She follows a rabbit from her dreams down a fifty-story drop in the forest only to be confronted by the “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” concoctions that will make her fit into the spastic world of Lewis Carroll.

Pale as a frequent blood donor, Alice believes “Underland” is a dream, while the everyone she meets is skeptical that she is their savior. There’s the Tweedle twins (Matt Lucas), the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse), the Absolem (Alan Rickman) and the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry). Her reluctance and failure to remember this world goes against the Oraculum a prophecy scroll that shows what’s to come, and Alice is depicted killing the menacing Jaberwocky with the Vorpal Sword; thus resolving the land of the war between the kingdom’s patriarchal sisters: The hot-headed (and bulbous) Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who has stolen the crown from her younger sibling, the aloof pacifist, White Queen (Anne Hathaway). The creatures of Underland need Alice to remember who she is and grow some courage quick. Once she does, she can steal the sword from the Bandersnatch, find the White Queen and lead an all out attack of the Red Army. That’s not too much to ask from someone who appears to be suffering from amnesia, is it?

While many waited to see Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, it’s been too soon since Sweeney Todd and even Depp played a deranged and spaced out Hatter isn’t as special as it could be. Depp played up the mad angle since many hatters back in the day went crazy from the glue used in the industry. Wasikowska is a surprise treat, portraying such naïvety and sweetness and is contrasted by the vitriolic Carter as the Red Queen stealing every scene she’s in. Hathaway is too bohemian, but Crispin Glover as the Red Queen’s Knave is just right.

The problem with Alice, well actually Wonderland, is that it’s not bizarre enough. Gothic, yes, but such dark and twisted re-imaginings have become run-of-the-mill for Burton, and truth be told, it’s almost mainstream these days. It’s a byproduct of Burton’s success and long tenure as a filmmaker. With Emily the Strange and Twilight gone mainstream, Burton’s goth have become like a passé. It’s odd, I know. Burton walks the fine line of what I consider style over substance. One film he’s just off, the other he’s just on. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney it was just enough Burton, too much in Planet of the Apes and Sleepy Hollow; but it’s so perfect in Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Nightmare Before Christmas so he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

On a visual and technical level, I have no problems with Alice, I only wish Underland and the darker concepts were taken further and deeper story-wise. Some of the visuals will be permanently etched in such insidious ways, like the Red Queen’s moat. But I should catch myself, since this is a Disney, PG film, so we’re not going to see them go crazy. If only the story had a much more luxurious travel to the end perhaps I wouldn’t have been so content with Alice ‘s decision at the end. It all just felt a bit rushed, like they were trying not to be late to the tea party. If Alice’s adventure was supposed to be like a dream then it worked, just like the dreams where you wake up way too early.

Video: A+
I’ve seen my fair share of blu-rays this year and few can boast a better transfer than Alice in Wonderland’s 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Close ups reveal detail of the white, caked makeup on Johnny Depp’s face. Every strand of the Cheshire cat can be plucked if only you could reach into your screen. One impressive scene of note is the tea party when Alice reunites with the Mad Hatter. There’s layers upon layers of fog billowing in and out each frame and the depth perception is phenomenal. There is a wide scope of colors of eye-bursting hues like the orange in Mad Hatter’s hair, the blood crimson of the Red Army, and there’s a wide spectrum within the range of grays and browns too. In between are clothes with a pastel color palette. It’s stunning that there’s this level of detail, texture, shadow delineation and atmosphere considering most of the film was shot in front of a green screen. It should be interesting to see just how well this picture holds up when the eventual 3D version comes out for the new televisions.

Audio:A+
Not to be overshadowed is the blissful 6.1 English DTS-HD audio track, an active and at times knockout soundtrack that is full of swirling sound effects, a Danny Elfman score and just the right amount of bass during the action scenes to help make you feel as if you were standing next to Alice fighting dragons. Dialogue holds true in each scene, is clear and is never too faint to hear. Disney knows how to Other audio selections include: 2.0 English Descriptive Video, and 5.1 French and Spanish Dolby Digital tracks and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras: C
Blu-Ray Exclusive: Living Menus This is no extraordinary extra but it is a cool detail piece. I’ve always felt that blu-ray menus have taken a step back compared to DVD menus in the early 2000′s. The menus here connect to BD Live: and upon loading up, you’ll see your local weather as well as be greeted by a part of the Oraculum that mirrors your local weather. I was able to sample this on a cloudy day and sunny day and confirm these do change with the weather. Readers out there with snowy or rainy weather feel free to post comments if you see different images. I won’t get too many chances in California.

Wonderland Characters HD (27:56) features a selection of characters and their quirks Finding Alice, The Mad Hatter, The Futterwacken, The Red Queen, Time Lapse: Sculpting the Red Queen, The White Queen.

Making Wonderland HD (19:29) is a general making-of extra that focuses on primarily the post-production part of Alice in Wonderland including Scoring Wonderland, Effecting Wonderland, Stunts of Wonderland, Making the Proper Size, Cakes of Wonderland, and Tea Party Props. I’m a sucker for anything that involves scoring films, but the bits about the effects and Alice’s changing proportions could have been longer. The cakes and props featurettes are fun too.

DVD Copy a great option for those with DVD players in their cars or portable players for the vacation trips.

Digital Copy another option for those who can stomach watching full-length feature films on tiny mobile devices or on their computer and is compatible with iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Overall Shock Value:B–
Alice in Wonderland pushed the edges of Lewis Carroll’s story but it could have been shoved much further. It’s not to take away from the film’s success, but it’s just knowing there was potential for meatier story that keeps it from being a landmark film. What one has to remember is that it set out to be a family film first, and I think it achieved that well enough. The extras department was underwhelming considering the artistry and craft in Alice; it’s certainly one of the most visually memorable films of 2010 so far and a cargo full of supplemental material would have supported that. Despite those shortcomings, this is a visual show-stopper, and the sound is splendid. I’m going to recommend Alice in Wonderland with a Rent It stamp of approval, but it might be a keeper for film students and parents of gothic children who want to see a fairy tale they can stand behind.

And please check out Ernie’s other Alice in Wonderland articles including a lengthy Q/A interview with Ken Ralston and David Schaub, two of the wizards behind the visual effects of Alice in Wonderland, and a two roundtable interviews with costume designer Colleen Atwood and conceptual artist Dermot Power.

Year: 1994
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Rated: G
SRP: $ 39.99
Studio(s): Disney / Pixar Studios
Release Date: March 23, 2010

Film/Feature: A+
It’s hard to imagine that its first feature film, Toy Story has just been released in high definition this past March. For many people, Pixar’s films inspired many to go out and buy a DVD player or soon after a DVD Player was accepted as a gift, a Pixar film brought home was a common ritual, soon to follow. And now the same thing could be said about blu-ray since Pixar films easily show a night and day comparison, ensuring that jump to high definition is well worth it. But Toy Story isn’t all about cutting technology in animation, there’s a great story about a young boy named Andy and the toys he loves to play with, or make that, loved to play with. If the toys could speak, what would they say? What would they think about? What would they fear most?

Toy Story believes that toys fear being forgotten. It sounds logical when you think about it. Every birthday and holiday when children are given a newly wrapped box, their old toys shake in fear that what’s inside is a toy so cool that all of their insecurities come out. Andy and his baby sister have a Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), a Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a Tyrannosaurus Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenberger), and an army of Little Green Men (R. Lee Ermey) amongst dozens of other toys stuck in a chest. Word has it that the family they belong to is moving, so like any concerned toy, they are worried about being left behind. But before they can worry about that, Andy’s favorite toy is was Woody (Tom Hanks) but for his birthday this year, he opens up the hottest toy amongst boys, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). Buzz is so new that he doesn’t realize that he’s a toy. Nothing more and nothing less. While the rest of Andy’s toys are enamored by him, Woody is unimpressed and does not hid his jealousy well. While Andy is stuck on going to “Infinity and Beyond” Woody does whatever he can to stay in the picture, even if it means compromising his good name among the rest of the toys. Woody’s plans begin to backfire on him while Buzz comes to grips that he’s nothing more than a pre-programmed toy with gimmicky bells and whistles.

The two of them get separated from the rest of the pack and eventually they find themselves trapped by the neighbor’s kid, Sid, who does has very destructive tendencies. This is what I love about Pixar, they have this great hook of a main story and then bring in this interesting character study. Sid reminds you of all of those kids who would do awful things to pets, pull the wings off of insects and do unspoken things to his toys. Buzz and Woody have to escape his grips before they’re blown to smithereens and at the same time get to the moving truck before Andy, his family, and the rest of their toy friends are gone forever.

What Toy Story accomplished with their first film and established from that point on is create adventures; ones that opened the mind of creativity and amazement in the inner child in us all. These qualities that often escape most films, regardless of who they’re aimed at. There’s nothing forced or contrived, this is just unfiltered fun. But Toy Story understood that it’s the details that count, the concepts that have to easily communicable, and the story needs to be flawless and that sums up what Toy Story and ultimately Pixar have since become.

Video:A+
What would the jump to blu-ray be, if there wasn’t a leap in picture quality and boy is there ever one here. Toy Story comes equipped with a 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Two things jump out on this blu-ray, first the color looks ravishing. Blistering hues will scream off of your LCD screen or plasma television. I could list off a grocery list of scenes that looks better than the standard definition transfer but I’ll save time by saying that it all looks better. The other thing I want to note is the details in the texture. Plastic looks like shiny plastic, metal looks like metal (Slinky Dog), and fabric is well, you get the picture. Denim (on Woody), shine (on Buzz), lace (on Bo Peep); all look as if they existed in real life instead of being fabricated on a computer. I know there are some skeptics out there who think that the Toy Story DVDs are not chopped liver, but I’m sorry, but those of you who adore this film, need to see it in high definition because in this case, the DVD is a severely inferior product.

Audio: A+
Just because you can blow the roof off your building with an amazing audio mix, doesn’t mean you have to. Toy story picks its spots to show off its 5.1 English DTS-HD master audio track. When the film opens with all of the toys scrambling to organize a townhall meeting, there’s lots of surround sound chaos. Sound just whizzes by your head, and closing your eyes you can imagine what scene is happening where. And then Toy Story just lulls you with dialogue while the story sets in with front-heavy activity, until Buzz and Woody end up outside the house. The last half hour of the story plays out superbly in 5.1. Dialogue and Randy Newman’s score are also expertly mixed so as not to drown out or overpower any other sound or audio. Other audio selections include: French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital EX tracks, English DTS-HD 2.0, English DVS 2.0 and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras: A+

When the 10th Anniversary DVD came out a few years back, it was chock full of extras, and the fine folks at Pixar packaged that and much more exclusive stuff for the blu-ray to make it worth buying again.

BLU RAY EXTRAS

Audio Commentary by Director John Lasseter, Co-Writer Andrew Stanton, Supervising Animator Pete Doctor, Art Director Ralph Eggleston, Supervising Technical Director Bill Reeves, and producers Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold. A brand new commentary track by many of the main cogs of the Pixar machine. Even though the room is jammed with speakers, Pixar commentary tracks are always informative, light in tone and full of insight into the animating and storytelling processes.

Toy Story 3 Sneak Peek HD (2:02) A little of the story is leaked out about what the third installment is about.

Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs: Blast Off HD (3:27) A look into Buzz’s latest adventure into NASA’s space station up in orbit.

Path to Pixar – Artists HD (4:49) a few introductions of some of the cool people who work at Pixar and what they do now and when the started their careers at the famed animation studio.

Studio Stories: John’s Car HD (1:27) a story about John Lasseter’s humble beginnings and his method of transportation.

Studio Stories: Baby AJ HD (1:38) another story from the animators about a Halloween costume contest at Pixar.

Studio Stories: Scooter Races HD (2:16) one last story from the old Pixar studio vault.

Buzz takes Manhattan HD (2:13) Buzz Lightyear finally gets to fly, in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Black Friday: The Toy Story You Never Saw HD (7:34) Lasseter tells the story about the first reel shown to the Disney execs who wanted Toy Story to have a hard edge to it and why it didn’t work. In fact it nearly ended the film.

CLASSIC DVD EXTRAS
For those who never got the 10th Anniversary DVDs, those extras have been ported over in their entirety. They are in standard definition, with may of them in 4:3 full frame and 1.85:1 widescreen.

Filmmakers Reflect (16:56) The four main heads of Pixar (Joe Ranft, John Lasseter, gather around and reflect back over the past ten years and Toy Story and creating an environment to create fun films that everyone would enjoy. They paint a picture of what it was like making Toy Story and beginning what would be the studio that couldn’t do wrong.

Making Toy Story (20:17) Is a step-by-step telling how Toy Story came together from concept to finished film and using the computer as a tool along with the creative human process in making a great story.

The Legacy of Toy Story (11:41) is a series of interview clips from animators, actors, filmmakers, and those associated with films discussing the impact of Toy Story on the film and animation industries.

Designing Toy Story (6:12) detailing the textured world of Toy Story.

Deleted Scenes (18:50) Nine deleted scenes

Design are 11 Galleries of the different set designs (14:03), seven galleries on 3-D Visualizations (5:41), three galleries on the storytelling device of Color (7:54).

Story (13:56) Pixar’s unique and organic storyboarding and script review process is shown in three different scenes and has since been followed in each of the studio’s subsequent films.

Production (13:41) explains the animation process from the storyboards, layouts, animation, to the finished product. And as a bonus is a short reel of Toy Story in the various languages it was translated.

Music and Sound: Randy Newman Demos (17:30) is a collection of songs Newman created for the film. They can be heard one-by-one, or altogether. They are as follows: Plastic Spaceman 1 (3:18) and 2 (3:16), Strange Things (2:58), The Fool (2:09), I Will Go Sailing No More (3:32), You’ve Got a Friend in Me (2:17).

Publicity SD (10:14) a series of promotional Trailers, TV Spots, Posters, and much more.

Sneak Peeks for Disney Movie Rewards, Toy Story 1 and 2, The Princess and the Frog, James and the Giant Peach Special Edition, and Beauty and the Beast.

Toy Story 3 Coupon included is a $8.50 off a single admission ticket for Toy Story 3 which adds a little incentive for anyone who thinks they’ve bought this film enough. Gotta make sure to use it, though!

Overall Shock Value: A+
Chances are you already have the DVD of Toy Story, but as it was an early reference title for DVD technology, it has the same value for Blu-Ray. Looking even better in high definition, Toy Story is a justifiable double dip worth every single penny and you can give your old DVD to someone who doesn’t already have it and won’t make the leap to high def anytime soon. While it is already beginning to look outdated as far as computer-animated films is concerned, Toy Story holds up extremely well because of how good the story still is and there’s plenty of new bonus features and incentives to Buy It again!

Year: 2009
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Rated: G
SRP: $44.95
Studio(s): Disney Studios
Release Date: March 16, 2010

Film/Feature: A–

You’re never too old to enjoy a Disney film, and if you find yourself at that place, then you may have lost your ability to have fun. Luckily for Disney animation, they haven’t lost their touch in making family films to lose yourself for an hour or two and let your inner-kid enjoy itself. In a brave move, Disney went against the grain and made a new hand-drawn animated feature going back to its roots to put their spin on another fairy tale. This time it was the Brothers Grimm tale of The Princess and the Frog.

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a young and independent woman raised by a hard-working parents (Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard) and is saving up to open her own restaurant. She has been childhood friends with Charlotte, who was raised in a well-to-do aristocrat family and has taken the “wishing upon a star” literally. Tiana on the other hand, thinks good will only come to those who work for it.

Fifteen minutes in, and you might look at the cover of the box and wonder if you bought the right film. Disney’s twist of the Princess and the Frog fairy tale finally takes form when Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) and his servant, Lawrence arrive to look for a rich suitor because they are broke. Charlotte’s father gets wind that a prince is in town and gets whatever his little girl wants and throws a big ball for his daughter to meet the prince. However, New Orleans is a town of opportunists like Dr. Facilier (Keith David), a voodoo magician who promises to fulfill their wishes before showing up to the ball. But the servant has taken the form of Prince Naveen, and Naveen has been turned into a frog. Naveen is able to convince Tiana that he is a prince, and all she needs to do is give him a kiss and he’ll revert back to his human form.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out that smoothly and Tiana is instead turned into a frog and the leap into the swamps and bayou with the help of Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a trumpet-tooting alligator and Ray (Jim Cummings), a romantic ragin’ Cajun lightning bug to find Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), a good witch who they hope to have some answers for them. If they remain in frog form too long, they could stay that way forever. The story is light road tale of perseverance, but has enough plot elements that keep pulling along your interest throughout.

It’s impossible to avoid the attempt Disney is making to fill a lacking hole in their library of films that would appease the African-American audiences. Tiana becomes the first African-American princess that Disney has ever revolved a story around and they did it successfully with a talented cast headed by Anika Noni Rose whose strong voice and cheerful spirit fit her character’s design of a strong-minded and head strong woman. Keith David plays Dr. Facilier, a conniving conjurer, and toned-down version of the popular folklore occult Shadow Man. His voice has prominence, a chilling ring, and David’s singing chops aren’t bad either.

There’s still a gap in how much this story can touch you as opposed to what comes out of Disney Pixar Studios but that’s the difference in working off a fairy tale and doing something completely original. The Princess and the Frog’s message of ‘not just wishing and a star and waiting, but also doing something about it’ is clear enough to not feel like it’s a one-note story, and so is its other lesson of ‘not working so much you forget to have fun.’ There are themes of class, work ethic, small business, and much more. Fun characters and music by Randy Newman solidify this release as a must-see for young, old, girls and boys; and there should not be any questions one whether or not everyone will enjoy this.

Video: A+
Disney’s triumphant return to drawn animation is supported by this terrific high definition 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Backgrounds have layers of painted detail, characters have loads of vibrant hues and color that are as visually stunning as some of the very best Disney films. Nice touches like opaque reflections in water, the amber glow of an oil lamp and smoke from a shotgun have no banding or signs of artificial enhancement. I want to call to attention three chapters which make for good visual tests of this blu-ray (as well as audio). Chapter 4 is Tiara’s first big musical number and the animation goes from the “Disney” style to 1940′s deco art full of bright oranges and yellows only seen on gerber daisies. Chapter 5 is Dr. Facilier’s introduction and his lair is full of the occult and voodoo magic. Rich purple hues and psychedelic imagery that are reminiscent of a Victor Moscoso painting. Every scene has something much deeper to look at and other good stuff like deep blacks and smooth gradient color will impress. And shadow delineation, accentuated by the shadow monsters have clear definition.

Audio: A+
Accompanying the strong visuals is the equally impressive 5.1 English DTS-HD master audio track. The music reflects each of the delicious flavors of the southern creole cooking pots. From the dixie jazz, to the gospel chorals, and the rhythm and blues will have you snapping your fingers, clapping your hands and shaking your thang down Bourbon Street. Your ear will be able to place where the instruments were from the drums to the sharp brass section. Dialogue is flawless as distinct accents don’t make the words any less difficult to hear but instead make them that much more memorable. Mama Odie and Louis for example, have subtle but very different accents that help distinguish not only who they are, but what region of New Orleans they’d be from. The shadow monsters have an eerie and haunting sound that swirls all around. Ray’s buzzing moves around the room as he moves on the screen and every musical performance is over-the-top with highly active sound movement, native surround effects heard in the swamps and a well-balanced mix of it all. Again, pay attention to Chapters 4, 5, and 11 offer up some of the very best this blu-ray has to offer. Other audio selections include: French, Spanish, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks and a English 2.0 DVS track; subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: B
I’ve got to knock Disney a few on their extras department which left lots to desire. First of all what’s on the disc is very short. We’re talking about a family film which should have a wealth of material, that will not only consume time, but shed a lot of light on the film. For being one of the first hand-drawn films in a long time, most of the featurettes could have been grouped together for one sitting or allow the option of playing them individually instead of forcing to view it in two-to-five minute segments. Another thing I have to take down on is for a Disney musical film, where are the Sing-a-long extras? A big-big-big misstep there. When I compare these to say, a Disney Pixar film and the hours of material there, I wonder why so little was given to The Princess and the Frog.

Disc One
Audio Commentary by Co-Directors John Musker and Ron Clements and Producer Peter Del Vecho is a scene-specific, on point track that covers a variety of subjects from Randy Newman’s musical contribution, the setting of New Orleans, and creating a brand new story, with new characters with the Disney twist of a classic fairy tale. All three men contribute equally, do not talk over each other and give a fine diversion for budding animators or Disney loyalists.

Work in Progress Track HD Here’s a neat blu-ray exclusive track which allows you to view the film alongside in-progress storyboards, pencil layouts, and rough animations as a Picture-in-Picture feature. I think what would have made this even better though would have been the ability to view this during the commentary. In fact, they should have fused the two tracks as a CineExplore commentary, often seen on other family films.

Deleted Scenes HD (11:43) There are five deleted / alternate scenes in storyboard form with different voices that were cut before animation and voices were recorded. The reasons they didn’t make the cut were mainly due to time constraints.

Music and More HD (4:04) Here’s where I really took issue with the extras. In this section there is only one option, so I’m not sure where the “and More” comes into play, but this is just the music video for “Never Knew I Needed” by Ne-Yo, which is only used on the closing credits. Where are the extras on the songs, the musical elements of the film? This is where a sing-a-long extra needed to be placed, a usual staple of classic Disney releases.

Bringing Life to Animation HD (8:08) Two scenes, “Dig a Little Deeper” and “The Proposal” are broken down with live action sequences used as visual references for the animators, a technique that was used throughout the golden age of Disney. They show different angles and choreography, along with commentary by Musker and Clements.

Magic in the Bayou: The Making of a Princess HD (22:11) John Lasster joins the production party to discuss the creative energy behind The Princess and the Frog and the universal buzz among the cast and crew that a new hand-drawn animated feature was pumping through the veins of the Disney offices, as well as the all of the major themes and elements of the film.

The Return to Hand Drawn Animation HD (2:43) The excitement of the return to a 2D film lit a fire under the animators because it’s what brought so many people to work at Disney in the first place. The animators of the film talk about wanting to continue the art of Disney filmmaking.

The Disney Legacy HD (2:31) A look at the great animators of Disney and their impact on the current animators who were able to work with people who worked alongside Walt Disney.

Disney’s Newest Princess HD (2:51) The attention swings to actress Anika Noni Rose and the 1920′s inspired character, who is a strong and independent woman who little girls can aspire to.

The Princess and the Animator HD (2:26) The supervising animator for Princess Tiana, Mark Henn talks about creating another strong princess character for Disney having worked on Ariel, Belle, Mulan and Jasmine.

Conjuring the Villain HD (1:50) Animators and Keith David talk about the story’s villain, Dr. Facilier.

A Return to the Animated Musical HD (3:13) a short featurette about the musical score for The Princess and the Frog involving Randy Newman’s composition of jazz, gospel and the blues.

Art Galleries Peruse a number of the developmental, conceptual, and design art for the film including Character Design, Visual Development, Layouts and Backgrounds and Storyboards.

What do you See: Princess Portraits is a guessing game where images are created by fireflies and you have to guess which Disney princess it is. Hosted by Mama Odie, after ten tries

Disc Two: DVD
The DVD includes the full film, deleted scenes, audio commentary, the Princess Portraits game, and the music video by Ne-Yo. If you have a family and you have outfitted your fan or travel packs with the ability to watch DVDs on the go, you will love this added option. However, to those thinking that the DVD version will suffice, the digital sound and vision of the blu-ray is unmatched.

Disc Three: Digital Copy Disc
Take The Princess and the Frog with you on the go to watch it on your laptop, desktop computer, or portable media player.

Overall Shock Value: A–
As a fan of all types of animation, Disney’s hit it our of the park with another musical twist on a classic fairy tale and presenting an enjoyable film that should connect with plenty of families on family night. There some real delightful performances especially by Keith David and Anika Noni Rose both in their acting and singing. The visuals are splendidly classic but also has that jolt of high definition pop. The Princess and the Frog offers a diverse option for families who want to expand from the classic Disney canon with a great message and a infectious blend of music ranging from jazz, gospel and blues. A definite Buy it! especially with every format imaginable is available in one package.

He is the terror that flaps in the night. He is the super-hero that is about to make his return. He is…Darkwing Duck! This June, Disney and BOOM! Studios herald the triumphant comeback of the beloved Disney Afternoon star with Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns. Lanchpad McQuack, Gosalyn Mallard, and the fiercest of Darkwing’s rogue gallery all join the daring duck of mystery in an all-new, completely original four-issue mini-series: Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns!

Whether you’re a Darkwing fan from the hit TV show or want to discover this cherished character for the first time, this new mini-series delivers all the madcap adventurous spirit that made a fan out of millions!

Written by Ian Brill (Zombie Tales) and James Silvani (Muppet King Arthur), the mini-series sees Darkwing’s city of St. Canard under the control of a mysterious corporation. Darkwing’s been out of commission for a while but when his friends and family are under attack…you better watch out you bad boys! Darkwing fights new villains as well as old, for Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator and Bushroot are on the loose!

“It’s such a dream to bring back Darkwing, a favorite of mine and millions of other’s,” says series writer Brill. “Everyone involved in this book are working tirelessly to make sure this comic has the same feel of anarchic fun of the TV series, while still presenting a whole new adventure in the life of Darkwing.”

Debuting in 1991 as a spin-off of the hugely popular Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck brought super-hero action and excitement to the Disney Afternoon animation block, captivating viewers for years. Shown around the world, Darkwing Duck is still a fan-favorite of pop culture fans everywhere.

Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns #1 is written by Ian Brill with interior art by James Silvani. The debut issues features two covers in a 50/50 split by Magic Eye Studios and Silvani respectively and a 1-in-10 incentive cover by Silvani and Jake Myler.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $45.99
Studio(s): Disney Pixar
Release Date: November 10, 2009

Feature/Film: A
Instead of sequels like Toy Story 3 and Cars 2, I’ve preferred the more recent Pixar projects like Ratatouille and Wall-E for their “big picture” concepts and experimental narrative devices. Their latest release, Up has all of those things, and something no other Pixar film has, an lasting emotional effect that will bore into your heart. Co-drected by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, the Monsters Inc. tandem returns to showcase the full life of Carl Fredricksen voiced by Ed Asner, a lonely and retired balloon salesman who jumps into adventure to honor a promise he made to his late wife.

Up’s opening is like a complete film all by himself, Carl’s life unfolds before us as a young boy who meets a girl named Ellie, brought together by their love of explorers and adventurers, one in particular, Charles Muntz (Chistorpher Plummer) who seeks out new worlds in his zeppelin. Muntz is accused of being a phony and gets in his dirigible and goes to South America to bring back proof of his findings. Next is a montage assembly of important scenes of their Carl and Elli’s life together is done without dialogue, just big band music behind a sweet love story playing out from their friendship into boyfriend and girlfriend, then husband and wife who renovate the old abandoned house they used to play in as children. Then his entire world was taken away from him.

Now a shut-in, Carl turns his hearing aid down, closes the shutter and longs for the days when he and Ellie rebuilt that home, shingle by shingle. The house serves as a living mausoleum. Even the neighborhood has left him and his house is the only speed bump that stands in the way of commercialization.

Rather than be dragged away to the nursing home, he devises a getaway, loading every balloon he has to lift the house into the sky where he’ll navigate to the flat-headed tepuis of Paradise Falls in South America, the place where he and Ellie said they’d retire. They never did go on that adventure they saved up for, because the complexities of life got in the way. What else does Carl have to lose, as long as he takes the house with him, Ellie is at his side, right? What he doesn’t know is that an 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai) stowed away on his porch, leaving him in the care of Carl.

Russell is best described as…a whole-hearted, adorable Asian-American boy, eager, and yearning for adventure. He has his own story but that’s not as important as him being a trusting friend. There’s no turning back now, and once they crash land in the tropical jungle, they must finish the journey on foot, dragging Carl’s house behind them. And this is where Carl’s adventure begins, the same place Muntz just happens to be.

What’s more interesting is the somber and powerful portrait of a cantankerous old fool who never thought his actions through. He is unlikeliest of interesting protagonists, but bears with him a very heavy and sad story. Once a romantic, always a romantic and Carl just can’t let his wife go, dragging behind him all of his memories, but Russell shows him, through his innocence–while testing Carl’s patience–that there’s still much to live for. Carl sees a lot of young self in Russell, someone who he’s departed long away from.

Carl realizes he needs to allow another person into his heart, to care again for someone other than Ellie, and let the house go. But that’s easier said than done, especially when one spends their whole life building towards something, and is a few days walk of fulfilling it. With every hurdle that stands in his way, Carl is tested in what burden he must bestow and decide what kind of happiness will drive him forward.

While Pixar’s Wall-E was environmentally responsibility, Up is a much more mature film that allows the audience to look within for the need of some cathartic release, studying life’s highs and lows, how the best people can be dragged down to misery by their regrets and sorrows instead of facing life’s changes as new challenges; it happens to more people than you think. While Up reminds us of what a sad and scary life can be in the later years and that without companionship, or someone to share it with, life can be one big drag; it also shows that as long as you hold those near to your heart, and the desire to bring out that young explorer, then there’s always time for new adventures.

Video: A+
Disney/Pixar once again keeps the bar high for how good animated films look in high definition. Up has a 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. There were several times I had to say out loud, “Wow!” The primary and secondary hues are almost like neon lights because they burst off the screen. From the colors of the balloons to the color of the natural landscapes, they’re clean, bright, and provide unmatched boldness and rich quality. Blacks tend to go on and on and on, and for an animated film there’s plenty of blacks used in this film, giving a much more cinematic feel to the film. Detail is crisp in every shot but it’s hard not to notice the level of exhaustive efforts reproducing Dug’s body of hair, the hundreds of balloons, to the multi-textured skin of Carl is superb.

Audio: A+
The folks at Disney/Pixar are not going to let anyone down with Up’s 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio audio track. It’s a whimsical, playful, and active soundtrack that does a fair amount of movement around a home theater and maintains dialogue and LFE sound at comfortable levels. Scenes like when the House pulls up from the ground, or when Carl flies into a rain storm really come alive in high definition audio. Really take note of the storm scene where the thunder and lightning just burst out of nowhere like a real storm of that nature. The howling winds blow laterally to the left and right and swirl all around the room. Immersive environments like the jungle scenes, or when our heroes are surrounded by a pack of rabid dogs, both impress with proper placement and and add to a scene’s depth perception. Echoes play correctly and there’s no drop offs when the sound does move. There was really no doubt going in that the audio would kick a lot of butt on this blu-ray and it did not disappoint. Other audio selections include: 2.0 English DTS-HD, English Descriptive Service 2.0, 5.1 Dolby Digital EX tracks for French, Spanish and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Spanish. There are test bars and audio tests to optimize your home theater and a screen saver in the setup menu.

Extras: A-
Like all Disney discs, there a overwhelming amount of extra material that should take plenty of hours of exploration. First off, the design of the entire package is clever. The menus and load screens play up the whole balloon and Dug theme. The delightful big band score plays in the background and makes you want to jump up and waltz with your kids or spouse. I wasn’t too fond of the lack of creativity on the menu navigation which was at times a bit clunky, nor was I appreciative of the lack of a “Play All” feature on any of the discs. While this Up’s extras don’t come close to that on Wall-E, there’s still plenty to make Up an investment of your time.

Disc 1
I love Pixar’s Cinexplore Audio Commentary by Bob Peterson and Pete Doctor who co-directed the film. They are some of the most intelligible tracks you’ll hear because they talk about all of the elements of taking a concept and carrying it through. Meanwhile storyboards, animatics, the discussion of themes and design amongst other visual aids are thrown up into the picture-in-picture box. Cinexplore track are some of the finest around and make that eighth or ninth viewing in the middle of the week a little more bearable.

Partly Cloudy: Theatrical Short HD (5:46) is an adorable animated short on how storks get their deliveries. It’s so good, I may use it someday when my future kid asks where babies come from.

Dug’s Special Mission: All New Original Short HD (4:40) like the Wall-E original short, This Dug short gives a little bit of back story that brings up to the point where we meet Dug in the movie.

Adventure is Out There HD (22:17) is probably my favorite extra outside of the Cinexplore Commentary. This shows the inspiration for Up’s setting, which had to be a place where Carl couldn’t just dump Russell to the nearest social worker, so the filmmakers were inspired by these large flat-topped mountain cliffs that rose up out of Venezuela called Tepuis. They were originally brought to their attention by tepui naturalist and filmmaker, Adrian Warren. They feature some of the oldest exposed rocks in the planet and Peterson, Del Carmen, Docter and the lead animators actually made the multiple day trek through rigorous terrain, and climbed the tepuis to research them for the film. Some of the tepuis visited were Roraima, Kukenan, and Angel Falls.

Alternative Scene: The Many Endings of Muntz (4:56) is a deeper look into Muntz and his character, whether or not he’s a villain and other alternate endings

Digital Copy Tutorial (1:00) shows you how to activate your digital copy disc.

Sneak Peek Previews for Disney Movie Rewards, Dumbo 70th Anniversary Edition, Ponyo, Disney Prep & Landing, Toy Story 3, The Princess and the Frog and Santa Buddies.

The Egg HD (1:57) is an easter egg (get it?) short of an early concept that had Muntz relating special powers with egg and the Fountain of Youth and it didn’t match Carl’s story.

Disc 2

Global Guardian Badge Game Try and help Russell earn his geography badge patch by trying to match cities, countries and states. I dare anyone to do well in this without throwing their remote at the television. 1) It’s a difficult game to race against the clock, and 2) to maneuver in small spots on the map makes for a frustrating experience. However, it is addictive because the idea of being bested by a blu-ray game doesn’t sit well.

Documentaries

• Geriatric Hero HD (6:24) looks deeper into our grouchy protagonist and his life story. The Pixar animators tapped their grandparents while studying aging, as well as, the movement of the elderly.

• Canine Companions HD (8:26) takes a look at Muntz’s talking dogs.

• Russell: Wilderness Explorer HD (9:00) shows the creation and design of the character of Russell, the young boy who would voice his role.

• Our Giant Flightless Friend, Kevin HD (5:04) You guessed it, a whole feature on that crazy looking bird, Kevin.

• Homemakers of Pixar HD (4:38) reveals how Carl’s house was built, and how models were built to accurately get lighting and shadows just right. The symbolism of the house

• Balloons and Flight HD (6:25) is a look at dirigibles, balloons, and the nostalgia of a future promised.

• Composing for Characters HD (7:37) the emotional heart of the film is added in the composition of the score done by Michael Giacchino who made sure to give every character a theme.

Alternative Scene: Married Life HD (9:13) is an explanation and storyboarded punchy alternative to the Carl and Ellie’s childhood romance.

Up Promo Montage HD (5:52) is a bunch of cute Up shorts strung together.

Worldwide Trailers HD Trailer #1 (1:52) Trailer #2 (2:33)

The DVD is included for all those folks or parents who have DVD players in the kids rooms, in the van or a portable player. This is a real ingenious move by Disney to think about those worried about having to rebuy it in the future. They give you the film in every single way you can imagine. Including…

Digital Copy Disc for when you want to take Up with you on the go.

Overall Shock Value: A+
For the first time I felt some real emotional reaction watching a Pixar film. Sure, there’s lots of adventure and fun for the entire family, but the big moments in Up for me are the ones that really tug heavily at the heart strings. I’m still thinking about it, actually. The extras are nothing short of amazing and could eat away a day in one sitting but since I doubt Up is a film you’ll only watch once, savor those supplements over time. The beautiful design and animation teams of Up deserve once again high praise and their work can best be experienced on blu-ray. With this package where you get the blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy disc all in one, there’s not better value for your movie dollar.

The Bleeding Cool Rich Johnston noted some rumblings at the Long Beach Comic Con about DC Comics packing up its New York-based headquarters to move publishing to the West Coast, presumably as part of the new Warner Brothers interest in consolodating and energizing its efforts with “DC Entertainment.”

The New York Comics Scene is already a bit of a myth, what with so many of the most popular talents who work for the NY-based Big Two phoning in to their Gotham masters from other states or countries–and more and more of them from LA, especially. With all forms of print media dying a slow, painful death, a move like this could be another sign that the only thing left of the industry in NYC will be the underground  comix–and even that subculture is being co-opted by the worldwide net of webcomics.

But then again, Disney already headquarters its publishing division in New York. Now that Marvel is set to become part of the House of Mouse and DC is going surfing, Spider-Man and his amazing fictional friends will have this town all to themselves (just like they do in the comics). Sure, plenty of freelance creators live out west, and even Marvel dabbles in plenty of West Coast activity regarding Marvel Films…New York City will always be the heart of the Marvel Universe. I have a feeling the Bullpen will always be in the Big Apple. East Side fo’ life!!!

Does this make Stan the Man an O.G.?

(Then again, the most mainstream representation of comics these days is the San Diego Comic Con…crap. We’re losing already, aren’t we?)

Khary Randolph via his Facebook page

Matt Occhuizzo via Wednesday’s Child (click for more!)

Season Two: A
For those who haven’t checked out season one or any other Lost seasons may want to read my review of season one first as the rest of this write-up may be full of spoilers.

The second season of Lost takes it up another notch as it begins with Locke and Jack sitting atop the hatch door having blown it wide open. What awaits for them is the key to the entire season and escalates the level of danger on the island, but it’s nothing compared to what the rest of the season has in store. Michael, Sawyer, and Jinn make it back to the island after being ambushed by the Others out at sea, but land on the other side and are captured by another group of people who appear have been on the island for a long time. Have the Lost version of the three stooges been captured by the Others or some other tribe? Michael has lost Walt again, and becomes an unstable force this season.

The hatch is actually some type of underground scientific bunker equipped with modern amenities such as a bathroom, kitchen, an armory of weapons, and a computer room where every 108 minutes a numeric sequence must be typed into a computer as follows, “4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42” and a clock resets once that code is executed. These numbers have been coming up in conversations and flashbacks from season one and has once again appeared in a maddening task that may or may not ensure the safety of those on the island.

Aside from what information could be gathered from the orientation videos, the function of the button is unknown. But what happens if the number sequence is not entered? Is it just a test to see if people would perform a task on the mere suggestion of its importance? The hatch also serves as a test to those who spend time in it. The worst comes out of those who spend any duration in the hatch, physical or mental. And the hatch becomes the most important character in the second season. It’s purpose and possible link to flight 815.

The raft captors turn out to be the few survivors of the tail of the Oceanic Air 815, Michelle Rodriguez plays Ana Lucia, a hot-headed former cop, and Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje plays Mr. Eko a former drug lord turned priest who is connected to one of the major finds in season one. The “Tailies” have been thinned out by the Others and have led a much different month and a half compared to the survivors we’ve been following. Trust, and a lack of it is a big theme in this season and a reason why the Tailies act the way they do, practically enslaving Michael, Jinn, and Sawyer. Kate’s sketchy past is in full bloom as we discover what got the authorities hot on her trail, and tensions build between Kate, Sawyer, Jack, and Locke. Faith is another theme that weighs heavily on the Lost cast which goes hand-in-hand with trust. Locke has faith that he’s meant to push those numbers but when he is tested, how strong is his faith? Jack, who is a man of science has no faith in what Locke believes, only what he sees and knows what is right. Mr. Eko plays a priest whose faith in continually tested. Locke’s ability to walk isn’t the only miracle on the island. And the reunion between spouses may bring a tear to the kind-hearted.

Connections between survivors are slowly revealed, unbeknownst to the characters and this adds more levels of questions to the show. Many of them have met prior to the crash or have come into contact with a common acquaintance. How many more are there? If that wasn’t enough, a powerful body blow was delivered in Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) who is captured and suspected as being one of the Others. He claims to be another survivor from a hot air balloon crash but Sayid thinks otherwise.

The performances of season two was another fearless signature. Rodriguez, and Akinnoye-Agbaje were exciting additions and stole every scene that they were in but Emerson’s turn will stiffen your spine. Evangeline Lilly, Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia also made good on opportunities to shine. Guest starring roles by Julie Bowen as Jack’s ex-wife, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, the hatch station agent in waiting were good too. By season’s end, a majority of the questions going into this season have been answered but the higher stakes gave way to a whole new set of questions that rope you into season three. Lost surrendered the information you wanted, but they dictated pace and then took that satisfaction away from you by leaving you at the altar crying. But there’s no reason to be sad, because you can watch it over and over and over.

Video: A+
The wrinkles in season one have been ironed out in this 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Having been to Hawaii I can attest to the stunning signs of the different terrains and landscapes. Seeing all of it in high def was almost as good as being there. I found no poor contrast ratio or grainy night scenes in this box set. The colors were just full of intricate range, skin colors warm, pores present, stubble-VERY present. This is what I expected out of the first season but there’s nothing to groan about this transfer. No muddy scenes, no edge enhancement or the fading Textures reproduced very well, shadow delineation was good as were the contrast and details. It’s a sparkling gemstone of a transfer and is enough reason to upgrade to blu-ray because it’s certainly better than what’s seen on digital downloads and previous DVD transfers.

Audio: A+
The English 5.1 Uncompressed DTS-HD master audio track is again, another spectacular audio mix. The same great jungle and atmospheric noises from season one are present in this track as well, but there’s a lot more gunfire being shot and some blaring sound effects like the alarm in the hatch to enter the numbers can get on your nerves. One particular episode that shows Claire remembering her abduction from the first season has noises that quickly flash and is grating after awhile inducing a migraine so believe me when I say that this thing is mixed darn well because the effect worked. Much like the video, the audio mix is notched up a bit and you almost don’t notice it as much because you’re sucked into the show so intensely but there’s so much attentive detail to the surrounding channels. It’s just a perfect mix on all fronts (and backs). Also included are English and French 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks, a Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital track, and subtitles for practically every major language.

Extras: A
Season Play is a blu-ray exclusive where multiple users can view the season and follow the show at their own pace and pick up wherever they leave off. I don’t see why this is such a big deal, as it’s a feature that should be on all blu-rays (the resume function anyway) but I do like the idea of having different profiles because it’s easy in a family to get ahead of someone or fall behind but it will always remember where each person off. It unfortunately does not carry into subsequent seasons.

For owners of the DVD box set, there’s a coupon inserted which is a Mail-In certificate that will rebate you $20 for upgrading to blu-ray. A small incentive for stepping up and double dipping. Of course the likelihood of anyone who still has the original receipt I’m betting is slim. Still, it’s a nice offer. And to those who do have the DVDs will see most of these extras are the same ones ported over and unfortunately are still in 480i standard definition.

There are five Audio Commentaries spread throughout the first six discs on episodes “Man of Science, Man of Faith” with Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk and Jack Bender; “23rd Psalm,” with Lindelof, Cuse, and Burk, “Dave” with Bender, Jorge Garcia and Cynthia Watros; “What Kate Did” with director Paul Edwards, cinematographer Michael Bonvillain, and Evangeline Lilly; and “The Whole Truth,” with staff writers Elizabeth Sarnoff, Christina Kim and actors Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim. These range from an hour full of chatting in the “Man of Science, Man of Faith” ep full of observations and what the producers and writers wanted to establish in the second season to absolute torture in “Dave” where it Bender was pulling teeth to get Garcia and Watros to fill the dead air with real conversation.

Disc Seven holds the remaining extras which are split into three sections once again, carrying the theme of the Dharma Initiative videos into the menu and selection options. Disappointingly, most of the extras are in standard 480i definition and stereo 2.0 but subtitles are available for all the extras in several languages.

Phase 1: Observation

Fire + Water: Anatomy of an Episode (31:46) – The episode that rocks the relationship of Claire and Charlie gets broken apart piece by piece from the on-location pre-production, to shooting, color correction, and adding in post-production dialogue.

Lost: On Location (1:02:00) – is another excellent extra broken up into 13 parts and like in other seasons reveals behind the scenes challenges, themes and important moments episode by episode. Actors, producers, digital effects crew, and many others contribute entertaining interviews and personal experiences that pertain to that episode although Michelle Rodriguez seems to say the same thing over and over.

The World According to Sawyer (4:31) – Sawyer’s awesome catch phrases are highlighted here.

Phase 2: Conditioning

The Lost Flashbacks SD : The Wake, The New Au Pair and Locke’s Father are three character flashbacks that were kept out of the final cut for episodes: Abandoned and Lockdown.

19 Deleted Scenes SD (22:55) – show what was left on the curring room floor which is mostly side conversations or some other story telling devices.

Lost Bloopers SD (4:05) – I normally hate bloopers because they’re worth viewing again but this I found myself laughing pretty hard and would consider revisiting at a later date.

Channel 4 UK Promo Directed by David LaChapelle (1:06) – Another sexy and slick short commercial by music video extraordinaire, LaChapelle. It shows you the voice and style you can have as a director when you take the same characters and settings and give a completely different vibe.

Phase 3: Conclusion

Lost Connections HD – is a useful organizational chart of who is connected to who and how. The six degrees of Jack is amplified in this follow-up season and this chart is based on the theory of centrality in that strangers cross paths multiple times in their life.

Mysteries, Theories and Conspiracies SD (10:17) – Show producers and writers and yes, even fan groups form their theories and cases of mythology that surrounds the show.

Secrets from the Hatch SD (15:47) – Take a deeper look into the big arcs in season two. Not only is what happened inside the hatch set talked about here, but also the designing and creating it, and what manifested out of the main characters as a result from this major plot element.

Easter Eggs
There are as many as ten easter eggs that I found by navigating around in the menu. It’s hard to pick up from all of the artificial “distressed film” but the cursor dot jumps around when you push up/down/ or diagonal from the Phase 1, 2, or 3 position. Of the ones I found are Bernard up in the air (1:11) Kraft services dishing Dharma cookies on the set (1:16) and very brief diagram of island sweat (0:36). On the Beach with Evi (4:28) is an interview with Evangeline Lilly who is asked about the second season preparation and her character. Dominic Monaghan with a joke (0:26) Walt getting wet (1:12) a deleted scene of Hurley and Rose (0:29) Jack with a bleep-worthy outtake (0:50) Lilly with the baby who plays Aaron (0:31) and season 2 rain delays (1:12).

Overall Shock Value: A+
This season of Lost started by going against the grain of what made the show so good, but that proved that the Damon Lindelof and the rest of the writers/producers were not afraid to shake it up. By the end this season was even better than the first revealing even more about each castaway, sometimes giving more doubt about certain characters who many so blindly rooted for in the first season. The connections between passengers/survivors create even more intrigue and mystery than before and despite all of the guess work that’s involved, Lost is headed towards somewhere and not just spinning its wheels. There was lots of new energy brought forth with new cast members and the dynamics that came from the hatch. With a truck load of extras, high definition video and audio, Lost: The Complete Second Season is another must-buy package. Namaste!

Season One: A-
For the longest time I came up with every excuse not to watch Lost. I simply couldn’t keep up with it week to week and knew that it was the type of show that you could miss an occasional episode, and sure I could watched it online but I hate watching anything outside of my home theater. And after the DVDs started coming out, I knew a high definition version would soon come. That time has finally arrived.

For the few that haven’t seen Lost, the show is about the survivors of flight Oceanic Air 815 and the mystery that surrounds the island they now call home. En route from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, the flight steered far off course and split into three parts. The fuselage landed in the jungle, the main cabin landed on the beach and the tail and the passengers in it ripped away in mid-air. It was concluded that the rescue search is probably looking in the wrong place and a rescue would be unlikely arriving. The survivors realize that they must work together to survive the dangers on the island, which include a monster, a mysterious tribe and even themselves. Each survivor carried baggage on board, and I’m not talking about luggage. They are all “lost” in their own life, many of them flawed with troubled paths that brought to Australia and ultimately flight 815.

Jack (Matthew Fox) is a doctor who never reconciled with his father before his death was bringing his body home for the funeral; Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yunjin Kim) are a Korean couple with secrets; Kate (Evangeline Lilly) is a deadly fugitive on the run; Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is a conman looking to settle a score; Hurley (Jorge Garcia) won the lottery on cursed numbers; Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is a heroin addict and one half of a British pop band “Drive Shaft”; Michael (Harrold Perrineau) is forced to be with his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) for the first time since he was a baby; Claire (Emile de Ravin) is pregnant with an unwanted child but is told by a psychic to keep it; Sayid (Naveen Andrews) is a former soldier for the Iraqi Republican Guard Army looking for his lost love; Shannon (Maggie Grace) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder) are emotionally damaged step-siblings; Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) was separated from her husband who was in the back of the plane but is adamant he is still alive; And John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), a tormented man, who up until the plane crash was paralyzed from the waist down.

While flashbacks are often a weak story device, Lost relies on them to reveal details about each survivor in clever ways. Because we know so little about these people the flashbacks are crucial and dispel preconceived notions that develop out of the willingness to succumb to stereotypes and tried and true archetypes for example: There’s no way a fat man can be rich. There’s no way a woman can be so deadly. Surely the redneck is stupid and killing things come easy for him. An Iraqi soldier is not to be trusted. There’s no emotional love in an Asian couple. And that’s when the writers of Lost get you with the element of surprise. Eventually, answers come but not before more questions present themselves. These characters have an opportunity to reshape their path in life in front a strangers who don’t know their past. Tthe audience often has more knowledge than what the characters know.

Eventually people split off into their role on the island, some set up camp on the beach, others at inland caves. Some build a raft to get off the island and get help prompted by Claire being abducted during by one of the Others, (a group of people who were previously living on the island) infiltrated the survivors. Locke and Boone meanwhile find a hatch to some type of underground bunker to which Locke feels he was meant to find since he has already been gifted with the ability to walk again. I’m leaving out dozens more storylines but mostly the show is best experienced with fresh eyes.

There is more than island action and science fiction though. The flashbacks open human stories that people can relate to. But it’s how these flashbacks carry you through the higher concept is the fun. There is such a large ensemble in Lost and yet not a single one gets grates on the nerves. The performances from Fox, O’Quinn, Andrews, in particular are the best of their careers and that’s not a slight to Monaghan, Perrineau and the rest of the cast because there’s not a weak link here, but it’s been some time since I’ve been this impressed with network television. While JJ Abrams, gave Lost a much needed midas touch, the credit should be given to Damon Lindelof who is the lead writer and continues to be an ever-present guiding force behind the show. Lost is show about redemption and reinvention and whether it’s the exploration of these themes, or you just want to come up with your own mythological theory of a bigger picture as to why all of these people survived, you can do it now endlessly in high definition.

Video: B+
Of all of the Lost box sets, Season One has to be the weakest of the bunch, but not by much. Lost was still trying to find its way including the pilot which was produced at a different time than the rest of the show. The presence of grain is more prominent in this first season compared to its subsequent siblings. Still the blacks are rich and dark but contrast is not as fine tuned as one would like as one can see during some of the night scenes when the details just get lost. Considering the rest of the beautiful bold green foliage and serene postcard views of Hawaii are clear to see, I think this lack of stability in the darker scenes just may be due to the way it was originally shot. Neither that or any noticeable presence of artificial enhancement should detract you away from this release though. It’s got the goods where it counts thanks to a fine 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

Audio: A
For a television show, Lost is the type of show that is enhanced by having surround sound. The audio, in high definition as well, comes by way of a English 5.1 Uncompressed DTS-HD master audio track and it sounds spectacular. It has both power and grace. The opening scene of the pilot has it all, a pure reference scene to be played in home theaters for sure. The high pitch ween of the engine turbine spinning with made chaos surrounding Jack will put you right in the middle of the sand. I haven’t made much mention of the monster on the island which is obscured on purpose but you can’t avoid the sound of it. Upon its arrival, your subwoofer will punch holes through your room as trees are ripped out of the ground and tossed into the air with a loud roar; it’s a magnificent spectacle that puts you in that fearful moment. Island noises like the constant surf, jungle noises, and the constant rain are pretty accurate even though much of the audio is put in afterwards since filming on an island can often be difficult. When things rustle at night you’ll find yourself looking in the direction that they’re coming in as the spatial sound has been mixed very well. Dialogue is set at a comfortable level no matter if it’s whispered or someone is screaming. I can’t imagine watching the show on a laptop after seeing it like this. Also included are English and French 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks, a Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital track, and subtitles for practically every major language-I’m not kidding.

Extras: A
Season Play is a blu-ray exclusive where multiple users can view the season and follow the show at their own pace and pick up wherever they leave off. I don’t see why this is such a big deal, as it’s a feature that should be on all blu-rays (the resume function anyway) but I do like the idea of having different profiles because it’s easy in a family to get ahead of someone or fall behind but it will always remember where each person off. It unfortunately does not carry into subsequent seasons.

There are five Audio Commentaries spread throughout the 7 disc set for episodes: “Pilot I & II,” with JJ Abrams, Lindelof, and Bryan Burk; “Walkabout,” with Jack Bender, Terry O’Quinn, and David Fury; “The Moth,” with Lindelof, Burk, and Dominic Monghan; “Hearts and Minds,” with Carlton Cuse, Javier Grill Marxuach, Maggie Grace, and Ian Sommerhalder. I love commentaries and all of these with the exception of the “Hearts and Minds” commentary are full of great depth of the each episodes characters, storylines, themes and how each show took shape.

The rest of the extras are presented in three groups (Departure, Tales From the Island, and Lost Revealed) which have a play all option or can be taken in small bites. Disappointingly, most of the extras are in standard 480i definition and stereo 2.0 but subtitles are available for all the extras in several languages. There’s also very little that’s new for those who already own the DVD but, there is a Mail-In certificate that will refund you $20 for upgrading to blu-ray. A small incentive for stepping up and double dipping. Of course the likelihood of anyone who still has the original receipt I’m betting is slim. Still, it’s a nice offer.

Departure

The Genesis of Lost SD (8:40) speaks of the early inception and concepts of what would become Lost, as well as the early syncopation and bromance between JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof.

Designing a Disaster SD (7:59) shows how producers and set designers found a plane for the pilot episode and how they constructed the opening minutes of that initial scene.

Before They Were Lost SD (23:01) is your typical “assembling the cast” extra.

Audition Tapes (24:39) – 14 total audition tapes of the principal cast members.

Welcome to Oahu: The Making of the Pilot (33:22) – Shooting on location and the pilot and plane scenes

The Art of Matthew Fox (6:07) – Fox narrating a nice montage of black and white photos he took while on the set of principal shooting and later gave as gifts to the cast and crew.

Lost at San Diego Comic-Con (1:50) – is a brief reaction to the fan fare of Comic-Con where Lost premiered to an audience and instantly got great feedback.

Tales From the Island

Lost: On Location SD – is my favorite featurette on the disc where themes of the episodes are discussed, actors who are featured get to speak about their character’s arc, and any special effect unique to that episode is explored. I suggest seeing it in one bundle but I’ve marked out the time for each segment should you want to view them separately. (5:20) The Trouble with boars, (3:20) White Rabbit (7:19) House of the Rising Sun (1:48) The Moth (4:24) The Confidence Man (4:55) All the Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (2:57) Whatever the Case May Be (6:21) Hearts and Minds (3:05) Special (9:21) Exodus

On Set with Jimmy Kimmel SD (7:15) – is a funny bit from Kimmel’s television show and his shtick when he was on location and just being Jimmy.

Backstage with Drive Shaft SD (6:40) – A short featurette about where the song sung by the “legendary” pop band came from which isn’t as interesting as the strange lyrics or the bad sound of it all.

Lost Revealed

The Lost Flashbacks SD are exactly what it says, character flashbacks that weren’t used. At the Airport Claire (3:07) At the Airport Sayid (1:28)

Deleted Scenes SD are a mixture of extended scenes and ones that didn’t make the cut. Most of them not particularly missed but are worth a one-time viewing. Smoking (1:10) Chicken or Lasagna (0:42) Kate and Sayid (1:09) The Climb (2:02) Finding the Tell (1:03) For Vincent (0:54) Partners (0:55) Where did You Go? (0:55) The Huddle (0:53) Claire’s Doctor Visit (1:55) A Deal’s A Deal (0:47) Captive (0:28) Secrets (1:49) The Jack Situation (0:42) Whispers (1:00).

Bloopers From the Set SD (4:17) – A substandard collection of bloopers

Live from the Museum of Television and Radio SD (10:56) – a Q&A with cast and crew in front of a live audience that shows what funny guys Garcia and Holloway are in real life hosted by Hollywood Reporter’s Robert Dowling.

Flashbacks & Mythologies SD (7:28) – an extra about how the flashbacks were so important to the success of the show and specifically how much more is learned than the characters themselves. Also laying down the gridwork of the connections and questions without revealing too many of the answers too early.

While I haven’t found any Easter Eggs yet, I’m sure there are some because almost every other season has them. Feel free to share them here. Lost: The Complete First season is also tricked out with D-Box technology for those tycoons who have it.

Overall Shock Value: A
Lost is a beautiful, beefy, sexy beast on blu-ray that secures its hold as one of the best shows on television, now enhanced with a stunning HD transfer and immersive sound that lurks all around you. I’m not going to apologize for experiencing it for the first time this way because this is the way to watch it. But even if you have seen it all before, Lost is the type of show that you get something new with each viewing. There are details and hints dropped about the bigger story, and being obsessed enough to go back to hunt for these clues are not above the casual fan. It’s just a rites of passage. Offered at an affordable price with internet deals to be in abundance, Lost: The Complete First Season on blu-ray is one of the best bundles of high def enjoyment money can buy.

The Diamond Collection debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will keep audiences spellbound for hours with exciting content exclusive to this historic release, presented with spectacular newly restored picture and 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound. Utilizing the latest in technology, possible only by the power of Blu-ray, the release includes Disney Smart Navigation, allowing the magic and personality of Disney Characters to come to life as never before. Disney Family Play, the ultimate interactive Hi-Def experience, offers a variety of immersive games, activities and unprecedented levels of personalization and customization features, to transform how families experience home entertainment together. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition is a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack (2 Blu-ray discs + DVD).

Exclusive Snow White Diamond Edition Bonus Features

-Hyperion Studios Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand the Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built and where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark experiencing life at Hyperion Studios back in the 1930′s. This amazing Backstage Disney feature contains newly dimensionalized archival photos, animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney’s gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.

-Magic Mirror Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic Magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition features with ease serving as the “host for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognize viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of artificial intelligence in a Disney Blu-ray release and provides viewers the control to personally create a customized Snow White experience.

-DisneyView Disney’s pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth was able to “draw” beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of their animated classic favorite.

-About Toby Bluth Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.

-Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Through BD-Live, this mirror can find the secret princess inside each viewer with a series of questions, then create for them a personal message from their favorite princess who will call them on the telephone.

-What Do You See? To win this exciting interactive game, players must untangle scrambled images.

-Jewel Jumble Players put jewels from the Dwarfs? mine in the proper order to win this game.

-Scene Stealer Allows viewers to upload a personal photo and experience life as one of the Seven Dwarfs on-screen in the actual film.

The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition is priced at $39.99 SRP.

STREET DATE: October 6, 2009
Direct prebook: August 11, 2009
Distributor prebook: August 25, 2009
Pricing: Diamond Edition Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack: $39.99 SRP
Feature run time: 84 minutes
Rated: G
FastPlay?: FastPlay enabled on DVD
Aspect ratio: Widescreen (1.33:1)
Sound: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French and Spanish Language Tracks
Languages: English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Technical specifications may only apply to feature.

So when the two become accidentally separated, Bolt finds himself in a box shipped to New York City confused of the world around him. Determined to find his way back to Penny, he relies on his dog skills and super powers to track her down, but there are no special effects crew to make him as incredible as he thinks he is. He meets an alley cat named Mittens (Susie Essman) who is forced to help him and the film makes a major turn from being an action film, to a road adventure across middle America as Bolt realizes the reality of his lack of abilities and what it’s like to be a real dog in the real world.

The harsh and cruel world of the Hollywood machine is satirized throughout Bolt. The excess, the lack of warmth, and the lack of real connection between people in Los Angeles is not far from many people’s experiences. James Lipton (Inside the Actor’s Studio) plays the director of the show, whose grip on reality is questionable at best and Mark Walton, a storyboard artist was chosen to voice Rhino, is inspired as the chubby gerbil Bolt and Mittens meet when they make a stop in Ohio, and he steals every single scene he’s in. From the performances to the work of the animators, Bolt satisfies everything you want in a movie.

Since the merge with Pixar there’s been some speculation of what the films will be like now that the animation houses have combined for the long road. Bolt gives us a hybrid of those classic cogs of the Disney machine and all of the ground-breaking technical achievements of Pixar. The affect of Monsters Inc. continues to live on as the detail of the animal hair is frighteningly accurate, and how animators are able to move a dogs face so that it convey the emotion of a person creates that magic of an animated feature film. The most striking thing about Bolt though is the painted backgrounds. Still a trademark, this new division of Disney blended computer animation with the painterly scenery giving the overall look a life-like stamp other studios will surely try to one-up.

Yet despite all this gushing about the animators, the bottom line is will the kids like it? Most definitely. Will the parents like it who have to see/hear it, oh several dozen times? You bet. Sounds like the old Disney to me.

Video: A+
I’m a film purist when it comes to having that thin veil of grain on my blu-rays, but every time an animated feature comes along, especially as good as Bolt, I can’t wait to see it in high definition. Bolt does not disappoint. Colors explode on the screen with complete clarity and appear crisp like fresh lettuce. Gradient color is seamless and band-less and the only time things look out of focus or fuzzy is when animators purposely created that to mimic what a camera would do. The transfer is in 1080p and 1.78:1 aspect ratio and is a magnificent example of reference material.

Audio: A+
The first 10 minutes of the film is jam packed with action that will keep your entire home theater very active with zipping sounds, helicopters rumbling through your room, and big LFE to wake up your subwoofer with something fierce. After that it calms down with some occasional music and atmospheric noise before the next big action sequence. Everything culminates to a big action ending, but the sound stage of the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track accurately places you in the scene. Directional audio is exceptional whether the sound is traveling left to right or front to back. Dialogue is mixed at a fine level, balanced with the remaining big audio. Technically, this is one of the best titles to come out in recent months and I challenge anyone to find something wrong with the video or the audio.

Extras: B-
If you’re a film buff, then there might not be enough here to satisfy you, as far as lengthy documentaries or picture-in-picture commentaries which I’ve really enjoyed with some recent animated features of late, however, there’s still plenty to dive into and for creative viewers and aspiring animators will enjoy everything that is on the disc.

There are three discs in all, but everything is on the blu-ray. The second disc is the wonderful inclusion of the standard DVD of the movie, for taking in the car or plane, and the third disc is the Digital Copy Disc for portable media and computer viewing.

New Breed of Directors: A Filmakers’ Journey HD- (4:34) looks behind the new division of Disney Animation under Pixar’s John Lasseter. The new blood looks to take their own approach and although brief, they make a great advertisement for the animation market, because where else can you get paid to run around in a human hamster wheel and get paid for it.

Super Rhino HD (4:27) – Rhino gets his own feature film that unfortunately for him is on the short side.

Deleted Scenes HD (6:38) – Two scenes storyboarded out with audio reveal Bolt’s lack of superpowers much earlier in the script; with introductions by directors, Chris Williams and Byron Howard.

Act, Speak! The Voices of Bolt HD (9:48) – Actors and animators talk about working together and the challenges each side presents. I think it’s always fun to see who’s behind the acting and seeing them in action. If you’re the same, you’ll love watching who plays Rhino.

Creating the World of Bolt HD (6:45) – Probably one of the best extras on the disc, this reveals Bolt’s crew discussing the painterly look of the film mixed with 3-D animation; also capturing the look of middle Ohio, the vast and open desert of Las Vegas, and the diffused lighting of New York City.

Bolt’s Be Awesome Mission - A cool extra exclusive to blu-ray is this three level video game of simple but fun shoot-and-duck gameplay enabling you to get better acquainted with the other buttons on your blu-ray remote.

Art Galleries – Lots to explore on the animation side of things in Character Design, Color Script, Storyboard Art and Visual Development galleries. Nearly 250 in all, this collection of the creative process often says more than what any little interview can say. Take a good look at the Color Scripts especially.

“I thought I lost You” Music Video HD MPEG-2 (1:47) – A bright but thankfully brief music video performed by Travolta and Cyrus. I’m sure the young girls would love this.

In Session with John Travolta and Miley Cyrus HD (0:59) - Lasting about as long as a sneeze, this sidebar interview with the film’s star voice talent glances over their recording the above song together.

Sneak Peeks Monsters, Inc., Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Disney XD, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition, The Princess and the Frog and Bedtime Stories.

Overall Shock Value: A
Unique and familiar, Disney’s Bolt is a hybrid of Pixar animation and something completely different. It is just a blast to see Disney forge ahead and take the great assets that are available to them (Lasseter) but also begin to redefine themselves apart from Pixar while retaining an all-ages story that’s been the trademark of Disney for decades. It’s a technical masterpiece that has to be seen and heard in high definition. The extras will leave you wanting some more but that shouldn’t sway you from picking up the Bolt Blu-Ray/DVD Combo. Highly recommended!

Ernie Estrella

Most things begin to show their age at 70. Not Disney films on blu-ray In fact they seem to get better and better as time passes by. Disney opens the vault once again for their version of Pinocchio, a sing-songy version of the morality tale “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi in this 70th Anniversary Blu-ray+DVD combo package.

Pinocchio has gone on to find other ways to seep into pop culture such as Astro Boy, Steven Spielberg’s A.I., and probably most successfully and recently by PCS readers in the comic book, Fables created by Bill Willingham. The sarcastic and often crude wooden boy in the Vertigo series is so popular with readers because it’s such a departure from the Disney adaptation, in reality is more like Collodi’s original story. But hand it to Walt Disney though, his version of the fable has graced history as one of the finest-crafted animated feature films. The story of an old and lonely toymaker and his finest creation coming to life has plucked the heart strings of several generations. Pinocchio also served as a public service announcement of “do’s and don’ts” showing the negative effects of lying, drinking and smoking.

Disney’s films did more than that though, and in Pinocchio he gave us characters that whether they’re singing or turning into a jackass, literally, we genuinely empathized with them. Disney turned Pinocchio into vibrant, gullible, and joyful slab of wood. We knew what Pinocchio was doing was wrong, but we wanted Pinocchio to turn it around. Jiminy Cricket became more than just an arbitrary character, he became almost the main character as we witness the impact Pinocchio has on Gepetto and those he comes into contact with. And the Cricket archetype continues to live on today, just look at most of Morgan Freeman’s career. Now while they Blue Fairy conveniently resolves things or corrects things with the wave of the wand, Pinocchio showed many at an early age, that there is consequence for your actions and no matter how many times we fail to see that in life, there’s usually at least one person out there who cares.

On the technical side, Pinocchio really turned animation on its side with its revolutionary recreation of movement and life underwater and the great chase scene with Monstro, the killer whale. The film is a real testament to the animators and what they were able to do to stretch the minds of viewer and allow yourself to believe that this world is almost real, for an hour and a half at least. There a lot of subtle brilliance in the craft behind Pinocchio and lots of the details can finally be seen in high definition for many more generations. I’m hoping that treasures like this are not forgotten in the often cynical scope of movie making and the three-dimensional animation we appear to be heading towards more and more. I still enjoy Pinocchio for its candy-coated simplicity, grand sense of adventure and the animation work of art that it continues to be.

Video: A

Pinocchio is presented in its original full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio in 1080p VC-encoded high definition. The sidebars can be viewed in either plain black, or you can view them with painted in art which fills them in to match the background art of that particular scene. It’s not bad most of the time as the change is gradual, but in some instances it switches back between and forth in color and can be distracting. In short, Pinocchio has never looked better, and that’s no fib. The multitude of colors in Gepetto’s workshop for example shows the detail of every cell and painted background have all come out, not to the point of over saturation, there’s still a soft appearance a look given off by the all of the painted work, but reds and greens do pop on the screen. Jiminy Cricket’s detail down the bridge of his nose is ever present and is something I never really paid attention to before because it’s never been so clear.

Audio: A-

There are two audio soundtracks, a new 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and the restored original mono soundtrack and surprisingly both are satisfying. Now the new surround track has a full-bodied sound with moderate use of the rear channels for music spill and sound effects that make you feel like your in a crowd or help you get into brute force and power of Monstro. The original mono track holds its own and that’s the way it’s been heard for years, with solid range and balance. The DTS-HD track is a nice upgrade and is a pleasurable experience for the family that doesn’t sound overproduced or unnatural, which can be a concern going from mono to surround sound.

The Extras: A+

Disc One

The big score starts with a great Cine-Explore commentary with critic, Leonard Maltin, animation historian Eric Goldberg and film historian, J.B. Kaufman. Every nuance and uncommon fact is explored in this track. The Cine-Explore experience is a great way to view the film with as many as three picture-in-picture windows showing storyboards, interviews with the original animators all while the commentary rolls along.

You can watch the film with on screen lyrics or just jump to the separate songs if singing in front of the TV is your thing. There’s a HD Music Video (3:15) by Meaghan Jette Martin, which is a 5.1, Dolby Digital, modernized butchering of “When you Wish Upon a Star.” There’s a Fun Facts track to choose while you’re watching the film, a trivia challenge, and sneak peek trailers for Disney Parks and Rewards, Bolt, Monsters Inc., Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition, Up, and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasures

Disc Two

Split into two categories: Games & Activities and Backstage Disney. All of the featurettes are in 1080p HD, VC-1 encoded, and in Dolby Digital Stereo.

GAMES & ACTIVITIES

Put together six jigsaw puzzles in the Puzzle Maker. These games lack much difficulty because you can already see the piece in the direction it’s going to fit, and all of the pieces are different shapes. Something a bit more amusing are the four Pleasure Island Carnival Games though that require some button mashing on your blu-ray remote. Most are designed for kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years but falls short of the 8-bit games of the Wall-E blu-ray.

BACKSTAGE DISNEY

No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio (55:58) – After the commentary, fans will want to race to the nearly hour-long documentary where the three men from the commentary come back to talk more about the evolution of the Disney film. Could there be some fatigue and repetition with the Cine-Explore? Yes, but not so much that you won’t feel like you’re wasting time, again especially if you love this film.

Deleted Scenes (10:23) – There’s some cut footage that never made it much father than the storyboards but they’ve included them here like the Story of the Grandfather Tree, (the tree from whichh he was cut from), In the Belly of the Whale and an Alternate Ending.

Sweatbox (6:25) – Film historians and former animators recall Walt Disney’s process of reviewing the progress of the animation with the animators and the director. This added pressure but opened dialogue to improve the film, a process widely used today, especially at Pixar.

Gepetto Then and Now (10:57) – A pretty cool extra that looks at how different real life toy makers and their approach in what they do for a living including a real Gepetto, a marionette maker, a toy collector, a Disney toy maker, a Tomy toy maker and Emotiv a video game that responds to your emotions.

Live Action Reference Footage (9:57) - Some revealing archive footage on how animators used live action film and trace over frames.

To wrap everything are three Pinocchio trailers (1940, 1984, and 1992), a deleted song about “Honest John” (2:37) and art galleries full of stills, storyboards and 360 degree videos of reference maquettes.

Disc Three

The third disc is actually the DVD with Quick Play which is great for parents who want to be able to take Pinocchio in the mini-vans and planes.

Overall Shock Value: A

If you still have it in you to enjoy Walt Disney films, or if you’re starting a library of movies for your family Pinocchio is a great addition. With plenty of extras to keep them busy afterwards and the included DVD, the high price of this combo package is well worth the investment. The story is still timeless, and the animation was and still ahead of its time. And perhaps you’ll think twice the next time you tell a lie.

Ernie Estrella

Feature: C+

A Spanish-based race of Telmarines have conquered Narnia some 1300 years after the Pevensies left (See the end of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe) and their prince, Caspian’s life is in danger when his corrupt uncle Miraz and his wife give birth to a new son. Having killed his brother, Caspian’s father, Miraz sets his aim on his nephew so that he may be given sole rule over the kingdom but Caspian escapes and sounds the horn that would bring back the Pevensie kids back Narnia who are stuck in our world in England.

Sucked back into the world of Narnia, Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) rescuing them from the mundane human world having spent years tasting the life of a monarchy in Narnia. They regroup in a beach lair and pick up weapons and quickly rescue a dwarf named Trumpkin who was about to be killed by Telmarines. The kids don’t meet Trumpkin’s expectation and reluctantly brings them back into Narnia and explains his disposition. Thought to have been abandoned by the Pevensie kings and queens, Narnians (including the talking animals) fled to hidden corners of the world afraid of the Telmarines, without any leadership to take back what’s rightfully theirs.

On their path, Lucy thinks she sees Aslan (reprised by Liam Neeson’s voice) still having much stronger “faith” than the others. Eventually they meet up with Caspian and a small front of Narnian soldiers who are made up of centaurs, minotaurs, mice, and dwarves who reluctantly entrust the Pevensie’s expecting much older and experienced kings and queens. Peter thinks it’s best to take Miraz at night at his home and argues he knows best.

So they storm Miraz’s castle, only to have been defeated and Peter is now filled with guilt of sacrificing Narnians for nothing on top of abandoning them and a crucial moment takes place. Emotionally and physically spent, they retreat with their depleted forces and leave themselves weak mentally and nearly succumb to the White Witch who makes a grand cameo. Licking their wounds the Pensevies come up with another plan which invites all of Miraz and his men to their home base, Aslan’s burial spot setting up for a messy, convoluted battle that has Aslan coming out of nowhere and tearing the roof off this mother sucker with his massive roar.

There’s much too many battles, duals, and confrontations motivated by impulse for my liking and not enough in between to develop our four protagonists as to why these battles must occur. The Pevensies play out the same roles we saw in first installment and any potential to grow is wasted and so is the interest in either child. Difficulties presented themselves in adapting a screenplay since in C.S. Lewis’ book as Trumpkin tells Caspian’s story for nearly half the book but that’s not the biggest problem or deviation. A fabricated tension between Caspian and Peter (not present in the novel) was forced upon viewers with no real motive but the most interesting aspect of the story for me was the failure, short-sidghtedness and guilt felt by Peter. Everything culminating towards the peak of interest where the White Witch appeared but dashed soon after her exit.

Peter is able to redeem himself in the final dual with Miraz and all seems erased in that large moment for him, along went everything else in the film. Aslan’s easy disposal of the Telmarines is all too convenient and the quick resolution to mop up the mess appears largely negligent as far as I’m concerned. Why would it take you 1300 years to intervene? And now we’re getting religious.

The Christian themes are toned down in this story but they’re still there. The largest is a loss of faith amongst the Pevensies and Narnians in general and how corruption feeds on that letdown. Trumpkin represents that largely, ironic since he’s a dwarf, but if you have faith and persevere, you will be rewarded and it’s Lucy at the end who stands with Aslan. Loyal to the source literature, Peter and Susan find themselves never allowed to enter Narnia again (perhaps because they lost their faith?), Edmund will return with Lucy in the third installment because they still have much to learn and offer to Narnia, but I fear whether they’d be able to hold a film together or if people would care enough to know what happens from here.

Presentation A -

For packaging, Disney used the fatter three disc blu-ray holder and there’s a cardboard embossed-raised slipcase and I dug the menus a lot. The have just enough character with very subtle animation in the far background. A clip of the fine score and a tiny window scrolls through scenes in the film. As you thumb through the menus the run time changes under the title logo with a description of each extra. One typgraphic complaint though, the font used in the main menus is very difficult to read unless you have a big screen TV. It’s a gothic gont, but there are much cleaner old school fonts that would give that same old world feel. The loading screen has Reepicheep swinging his sword, very cute and if you bring up the menu while watching or listening to the commentary, the film shrinks down to the small picture-in-picture — a nice touch! Setup includes Subtitles for the English for the Hearing impared, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Korean, Taiwan. Bahasa, and Malay.

Audio: B+

Now this is what I call big sound. The 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio is treat for those who may seem a bit underwhelmed by some blu-rays out there. Prince Caspian is very aggressive at the low end. Whether you’re pumping it through five or seven speakers, it will fill the room with an immersive mix of panning effects and constant presence of the score that gets you edging closer to the edge of your seat. But sometimes you’re actually edging closer because you have to strain to pick up the softer dialogue. This is not the best balanced soundtrack. If you turn it up louder for the soft speak, the big actions scenes could blow out some holes in your walls. I found my wife sitting five feet from the center channel just so she could hear everything. There are also 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and practically any major world language it seems.

VIDEO: A+
The video transfer is phenomenal. Prince Caspian’s escape in the film’s opening is proof of that with lush forest environments, leafs on the ground, and just lot of fine details seen very clearly. It almost feels like Planet Earth because of the big New Zealand landscapes. The CG work looks equally good, the close-ups on the mice reveal many colors in their hair, the level of quality in the costumes is apparent and go to chapter ten to see how deep the blacks can go. This film looks first rate and the 2.40 AVC MPEG-4 transfer is as good as I’ve seen from the Disney library.

Extras: A+

Disc One:

There are two big extras on the first disc, Audio Commentary and Circle Vision Interactive.

The commentary has the four main cast members William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, and director, Andrew Adamson. A lot of it is the kids laughing amongst themselves and asking Adamson questions and him answering and lots of back and forth afterwards. It gets a little hairy because sometimes five people are talking over each other so to clearly tell who’s talking when gets to be a bit of a trick. Still, it’s a highly chatty track, which I’m drawn to and is full of good dialogue for fans of the film who want to walk that extra mile.

Next is the massive interactive experience of Circle Vision Interactive: Creating the Castle Raid which is introduced by Adamson (2:01) and are then presented with 10 deeper looks into the highly complex scene. Six of the features are narrated by Producer Mark Johnson, Stunt and Fight Coodinator Allan Poppleton, Visual Effects Supervisor Dean Wright, Special Make-up and Creaters Howard Berger, Andrew Adamson, Costume Designer Isis Mussenden all of which are insightful and exhaustive in breaking down theirs and their team’s personal involvement in the scene. All of them oddly enough have a running time each of 6:49.

The second part of Circle Vision are four interactive maps On the Scaffolds, Gateway Alley, Courtyard Nightshift, Telmarine Casualty allowing you to pan around Miraz’s castle in 360 degrees and are able to explore the minutia of the castle raid through quick facts, brief looks at the animation and CG work done, conceptual work and a handful of five to seven 1-3 minute long vignettes. I discovered that there was an index so you can see everything without having to go through the maps in circles clicking on everything. A massive supplement best taken in bites or else by the end, you’ll get pretty weary of the whole scene.

Sneak Peeks Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition, Earth, and Disney Movie Rewards finish off the extras for the first disc.

Disc Two:

Inside Narnia: The Adventure Returns (34:45) is an on-set experience, revisiting the returning cast and higher expectations of the crew. Adamson is interviewed often. Mild affair, not too deep, but enough for an appetizer for what else is on the disc. Sets of Narnia: A Classic Comes to Life (23:44) is introduce by Doug Gresham (Co-Producer and stepson of C.S. Lewis) who reads excerpts from the book and then shows how that scene came to be. Cathedral Cove in New Zealand as a setting. They even redirected a riverbed to shoot a scene. One of the interesting things about shooting a film is where to shoot it. Producing a movie in the city can present multiple challenges, but filming in the small town of Bovec, Slovenia is a different story. Big Movie Comes to a Small Town (23:13) takes a look at that experience. Missteps, mistakes, outtakes are found on Bloopers of Narnia (3:06) which I always think at most are worth playing once and not much more. Since it’s vogue to make ecological statements, Talking Animals and Walking Trees: The Magical World of Narnia (4:51) is about writing the theme of nature fighting back. Secrets of the Duel (6:48) takes a closer look at the big fight between Peter and Miraz.

The star of the film for me was Peter Dunklage, who I’ll admit is a favorite actor of mine, and watching him run wild with an over-the-top fantasy film made the film more enjoyable to me, so for other fans, check out (4:48) Becoming Trumpkin which does a nice feature on him and going through the body casting process. Get to spend a day on the set with Narnia’s other big little actor, Warwick Davis in the Man behind Nikabrik (11:08) another fantasy veteran. He’s got a charisma about him that’s easy to be caught up into following him around all day. Finally there are ten Deleted Scenes (11:15) with introductions/ explanations for most of which are extended scenes or were cut for redundancy.

Snoop around the second disc for Easter Eggs and look for symbols to appear and you’ll see in the dialogue window, no time or description is shown making it an egg. They’re pretty easy to find compared to what some discs, but so far I’ve found six: (2:25) Blonde Cam, (1:19) Toastie, (1:49) KC Hodenfield First assistnat Director/Co-Producer, (1:00 Monster Cam a first person perspective of being a horse-person, (0:54) Anna Popplewell, (7:46) Shane Rigi Bullgy Bear, Dead Minotaur.

Disc Three
Just your now run-of-the mill digital copy disc.

Overall Shock Value: B-

Technically this is a great disc. From the big sound to the brilliant picture quality this is one of the best looking live action Disney blu-rays to date, and I’m willing to put it side-to-side with other epic fantasies if we’re talking about how good films look and sound in high definition. If we’re talking about content, well that depends on your opinion of the movie. Folks drawn in by the first installment could be let down a bit because those introductory movies are really about discovery and opening the imagination to a brand new world, a viable entry point and way to be held throughout. Prince Caspian is the type of sequel that will probably keep you in the Narnia world for at least another installment or let you off at the next stop. A darker film than The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, with a lot more cynicism and direction setup for lots of large scale action and not a lot of development, but the roots are still deeply buried in family friendly adventure (despite all of the killing). It won’t get carved into the stone tablets of your favorite films and falls well-short of achieving LOTR-lite status, but it’s entertaining enough and gets a first rate treatment in blu-ray.