Most every kid who knows the story of Santa delivering presents to good boys and girls on Christmas Eve has probably, at some point, questioned the logistics of it all. How does Kris Kringle manage to make all of those stops in one night? How does he find the houses when it snows? And, most importantly, how does he get in and out without being seen?
ABC attempted to help parents answer a few of these inevitable questions in 2009 with the animated special “Prep & Landing.” Now available exclusively on DVD (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, MSRP: $19.99), the story follows Wayne (voiced by Dave Foley), an elf with the elite Prep & Landing division at the North Pole. This special force of elves is deployed to houses ahead of Santa to secure the location with military precision, ensuring that the tree and stockings are ready for gifts, the milk is at the optimal temperature and, most importantly, no creatures are stirring.
After 200 years of dousing fires and putting curious pets to sleep, Wayne is ready to move ahead in his career, but instead of the hoped-for promotion to Director of the Naughty List, he gets a new partner freshly graduated from the Kringle Academy.
Where Wayne is jaded and disillusioned, Lanny (voiced by Derek Richardson) is full of Christmas spirit. He’s raring to go, excited to start “the most tinsel job ever.” Upset at being passed over, Wayne decides to let the exuberant newbie handle all the prep work at little Timmy’s house while he indulges in some uncharacteristically naughty behavior. Disaster inevitably strikes, and Santa is about to miss the house entirely when Lanny helps Wayne rediscover his love of the season and they save the day.
Full of charming characters (coffee-fueled Magee, efficient Miss Holly) and witty turns of phrase mixed in with some cool high-tech gadgetry, “Prep & Landing” provides a fresh view of life at the North Pole and is destined to be one of those holiday specials that becomes a tradition, falling somewhere between It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Fans who might be leery of spending their Christmas cash on a DVD lasting only 22 minutes shouldn’t despair: there are plenty of bonus features to flesh out the disc. First off, “Operation Secret Santa” is a short that follows Lanny and Wayne on a mission filled with secret-agent thrills and sentimentality, made even more awesome by the unmistakable vocal talent of Betty White as Mrs. Claus. About half as long as the movie, “Operation Secret Santa” adds more depth to the story of Santa as well as the two main characters.
By comparison, the short “Tiny’s Big Adventure” is only a few minutes long and mostly one long sight gag. There are a few giggles to be had, but, compared to “Operation Secret Santa,” “Tiny’s Big Adventure” is mostly forgettable.
The other two bonus features—the Kringle Academy Training Videos and North Pole Commercials—are interesting but odd. The training videos are meant to look like they were run on projectors, a concept which is probably confusing to those under the age of 20, and feature artwork reminiscent of old World War II-era recruitment efforts, though they feature very modern technology. The nostalgic flavor will probably appeal more to parents (or grandparents!) than children, but the videos may open up a dialogue about how things were “in the old days” that will bond generations.
The commercials are more modern in tone, but don’t make much sense. A dating service for elves? An eatery called The Fruitcake Factory? A spa retreat for tired elves? None of these seem like they would interest kids (or even adults). They would be cute spaced into the commercial break spots in the main feature, but on their own are a little silly.
Like most Disney releases, there are also the requisite commercials (a teaser for the upcoming Disney Studio All Access service, Lady and the Tramp: Diamond Edition, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas) and the FastPlay option.
Overall, “Prep & Landing” is a worthy addition to any holiday movie collection. Fans of the original should keep their eyes peeled for the sequel, “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice,” in which Lanny and Wayne must recover top-secret North Pole technology that has fallen into the hands of a naughty kid hacker. The animated special airs Mon., Dec. 5 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
“Prep & Landing” is now available on DVD.
Published on SoCal.com
Published on SoCal.com
For many years, the only image most people had of Tinker Bell was of the headstrong, bell-voiced fairy who loved Peter Pan and held a major grudge against Wendy Darling. She was rude, impudent and had a major attitude: in short, she was a real brat.
Despite her flaws, Tinker Bell remained hugely popular. It was no surprise then, following the success of the Disney Princess franchise, that the next move was to launch Disney Fairies with 2008’s DVD release Tinker Bell, followed by 2009’s Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.
The third DVD in this series, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, MSRP: $29.99 or 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, MSRP: $39.99) finds the fairies headed to the mainland as summer arrives. Soon after arriving in fairy camp (hidden from human eyes inside a huge tree), Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) is warned to stay away from humans. The sight of an automobile rolling down the road proves too irresistible, however, and Tink is off to investigate.
Her frenemy Vidia (Pamela Adlon) follows along, both trying to talk Tinker Bell out of her adventure and relishing her disobedience. Tinker Bell’s curiosity eventually leads to her capture by a little girl named Lizzy (Lauren Mote), who is summering in the cottage across the field from fairy camp.
Lizzy has believed in fairies her entire life, much to the chagrin of her scientifically-minded father, Dr. Griffiths (Michael Sheen). When the young girl proudly tries to show her father the real live fairy she’s captured, she finds him studying a butterfly specimen and realizes that if he knew about Tink, he’d put her on display in a museum. Instead, she takes her to her room, and Tink is placed in an old birdcage to avoid becoming a meal for a fat housecat. Watching from outside, Vidia is horrified and races back to camp to round up help.
Meanwhile, Tinker Bell warms up to Lizzy, whose great belief in fairies is evident by the many figurines and drawings covering her walls. The fairy soon feels compelled to correct some misconceptions about her kind, despite a few minor communication challenges (every time Tinker Bell speaks, Lizzy only hears ringing bells). Over a rainy afternoon, the two fill a field journal full of “scientific facts” about fairies.
In the meantime, Vidia reaches fairy camp and gathers the others to mount a rescue attempt. The pouring rain makes it impossible to fly, and the meadow is flooded, so it takes some real inspiration to find a solution--fueled, of course, by “faith, trust and pixie dust.”
What follows is an adventure that is bolder than any of the previous Tinker Bell movies, and more fraught with danger. While Tinker Bell is befriending a human, her fairy friends are navigating waterfalls, dodging car tires and playing a literal game of cat-and-mouse with Mr. Twitches. There are also scenes of Tinker Bell flying around inside a moving car that might cause some anxiety.
Though Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is a straight-to-DVD release, it is theatrical quality and worthy of its Disney heritage. Of the three Tinker Bell features, this one offers the biggest emotional payoff, as Lizzy’s father turns from “Without proof, it’s just a fairy tale” to “I do believe!,” connecting with his daughter in a way many children of overscheduled parents might appreciate.
Disney is a company that definitely embraces special features, and The Great Fairy Rescue doesn’t disappoint. Among the many sneak peeks and previews offered is one for the upcoming Rapunzel film, Tangled. The Tangled bonus feature takes viewers behind the scenes of the animated Disney film as co-director Nathan Greno and actors Mandy Moore (Rapunzel) and Zachary Levi (Flynn Ryder) share their experiences along with clips of the movie, due out in theaters Nov. 24.
There is also a preview of the upcoming Tinker Bell and the Mysterious Winter Woods, which is scheduled for release in early 2011. This will complete the four seasons portrayed in the Tinker Bell movies, and brings viewers one step closer to Tink’s meeting with Peter Pan. But fans of the fairy shouldn’t despair: a fifth movie, Tinker Bell: Race Through the Seasons, is slated for mid-2012.
The deleted scenes section offers three scenes that were cut for time or story reasons. As usual with animated features, the scenes are mainly storyboarded (think: those flip books you used to make as a kid), but one scene (“Cat Attack”) was so beloved by the crew that they completed it in full color. “Lizzy’s Bedtime Story” is portrayed both in the storyboard style and in an intermediate “gray scale” version, where some of the scene is colored in. It’s a fascinating peek at the many levels of production that animated movies go through. Finally, “A Real Live Fairy” offers a reason for Lizzy’s father’s firm insistence in scientific fact: when he was a young boy, he encountered a fairy of his own--with disastrous consequences. Though the scene was cut because producers believed that it took away from some of the magic of Lizzy meeting Tinker Bell for the first time, it’s a very strong scene that helps put a new perspective on Dr. Griffiths’ actions.
As with the other two Tinker Bell movies, The Great Fairy Rescue features a polished soundtrack, including the inspiring "How To Believe" by Bridgit Mendler. The video for her song is included as one of the bonus features, and it’s every bit as colorful and frothy as you’d expect it to be.
A feature called “Design a Fairy House” shows director Bradley Raymond talking about a contest that challenged children to design…well, you know. The short documents winner Zoe Periale’s journey from California to Florida, where she lived every little girl’s dream and built a fairy house that was put on display during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.
The final bonus feature, “Fairy Field Guide Builder,” is a game that reviews fairy trivia and offers a simple quiz in order to help viewers build their own field guide of scientific facts. Those who buy the DVD/Blu-ray release can also mail in for a Tinker Bell charm and bracelet with purchase.
Faith, trust and pixie dust. Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue proves that seeing is believing. Without proof, it’s just a fairy tale.
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Published on SoCal.com
The Black Cauldron is an animated Disney classic, but not exactly one of those animated Disney classics. Yes, it features a princess (Eilonwy, voiced by Susan Sheridan), but not one you’ll find on any sleepwear or fruit snacks. It has a dark villain (The Horned King, a menacing John Hurt), but this one is truly terrifying, more reminiscent of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings than Cruella De Vil. And while the movie does features that classic Disney device, magical beings, these creatures do little to make the film the sort of lighthearted family-friendly movie the House of the Mouse is revered for. Plus, there isn’t a single bit of song to stick in viewers’ heads days afterward.
The movie takes place in the fictional land of Prydain and is based on Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain series (which, in turn, was based on Welsh mythology). Viewers begin by meeting a young assistant pig keeper named Taran (Grant Bardsley), whose first words are a lament that the war might end before he has a chance to fight. His master, Dallben (Freddie Jones), tries to temper his bravado with tales of the fearsome Horned King, but Taran seems more fired up than ever, especially when he learns that his pig, Hen Wen, has powers beyond rooting in the dirt. Unfortunately, Taran discovers that she has the ability to deliver hidden knowledge in the form of visions just as The Horned King becomes aware of it.
Taran is entrusted with taking the pig to a safe location, then promptly loses track of her as he daydreams of being a great warrior and defeating The Horned King. As he searches for his lost charge, Taran encounters Gurgi, sort of a cross between a Shih Tzu and a human, who tries to steal the apple Taran is using as bait for Hen Wen. Gurgi tells Taran that he knows where the pig has gone, only to run in fear when they discover Hen Wen being chased (and ultimately grabbed by) two black, dragon-like creatures and taken to a dark castle.
A quick side note: this sequence, just 10 minutes into the movie, is every bit as terrifying as the final scene in Sleeping Beauty, where the prince must fight his way through thorns and a dragon to reach the castle, and it is just the first of many such scary scenes throughout the runtime of this film. There are gnashing rats, brutish henchmen, narrow escapes and the reanimation of corpses, all of which combine to give The Black Cauldron a PG rating, though it actually seems more like PG-13.
Inside the castle, Taran rescues the pig but is captured himself and thrown into the dungeon, where he meets Princess Eilonwy and minstrel Fflewddur Fflam (Nigel Hawthorne). After a daring (and hair-raising) escape, the trio embark on a quest to find (and destroy) the ancient Black Cauldron, which The Horned King seeks in order to create an army of reanimated corpses and rule the world…definitely not the typical Disney plotline!
Along with the animated film, which features a new digital transfer, The Black Cauldron: 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, MSRP: $19.99) also includes a new, never-before-seen deleted scene entitled “The Fairfolk,” which is actually just a different version of a scene that made it into the final cut. Watching deleted scenes in animated features, though, always carries an extra bit of fun, as they are mostly line drawings and rough sketches, with even some of the main characters’ looks shifting from cel to cel. It’s a fascinating peek at the storytelling process, but ultimately not as interesting as the scene that made it into the film.
A gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and the original movie trailer are nice, but a more interesting addition might have been a feature on the fact that The Black Cauldron was the first Disney animated feature to use a new system known as computer-generated imagery (better known today as CGI) as well as the APT process, which replaced xerography and hand-coloring of cels in the animation process (and later was used on The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid). Such a significant historical moment should have been recognized.
Two games are also included on the 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD; the first, “Quest for the Black Cauldron,” is a trivia game in which viewers race The Horned King to reach the titular Cauldron and was carried over from the original 2000 DVD release. The second, “The Witches’ Challenge Game,” dares viewers to solve riddles posed by the Witches of Morva in order to claim a magical sword. Both are easy to play and require only the DVD player and a remote.
Finally, classic Disney fans will get a kick out of the 1952 short “Trick or Treat” featuring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. However, just like the still frame gallery and “Quest for the Black Cauldron,” those who already own The Black Cauldron on DVD will have this bonus feature, too.
The Black Cauldron, the 25th animated feature produced by Disney, was notable for more than its dark feel (which, reputedly, was toned down by new studio head Jeffrey Katzenberger before its release). It was also the most expensive movie Disney had produced to date at $25 million. But does The Black Cauldron, which only earned $21 million domestically at the box office, deserve the 25th anniversary treatment? On its own, the movie is just middle-of-the-road in terms of memorability and appeal, although its dark overtones and lack of a peppy soundtrack make it stand out from other frothy fare. But it’s the historical aspect of the film that marks the beginning of a new era in animation and CGI that ultimately earns the recognition this DVD release provides.
The Black Cauldron: 25th Anniversary Special Edition is now available on DVD.
