Ever since Toy Story burst on the scene with its incredible computer generated images, hand drawn animation began to fade away. After the release of Toy Story, each new CGI feature seemed to outdo the others, advancing the state of art even further, with more realistic and lifelike animation and movement. When it comes to CGI, the sky really seems to be the limit. However, lost in all this technical advancement was the sheer beauty of hand drawn animation, the kind that the folks at Disney Studios made so famous. I guess it was fitting that Disney, under the helm of John Lassiter of Pixar fame, would be the ones to bring hand drawn animation back to the screen with 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, which has finally made its way to Blu-ray. Read the full story

Being one of the few people I know who is not a huge Star Wars fan, only seeing the original trilogy and The Phantom Menace, I was pretty bewildered when I heard that not only was there an animated film that was made to fit within the new trilogy, but there was an entire television series that predated the film… And this isn’t even that series! This is a new unrelated series that takes places throughout the Star Wars chronology at different times. Confused? Let’s see if it’s worth figuring out.

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Wow, has it really been 20 years since The Simpsons has been on the air? I can still remember when the Simpsons appeared as a regular short feature on the old Tracy Ullman show before the folks at Fox decided to make it into a 30 minute show. Now into their 21st season (and still going strong), The Simpsons 20th season has now made its way to Blu-ray and is the subject of today’s review. Read the full story

Adding your typical Jerry Bruckheimer action fare and his team’s excellent CGI capability with a kids story about guinea pigs who are trained by the FBI to be secret agents sounded like an iffy proposition. The trailer did look promising so I was hoping to get my hands on a review copy of the film G-Force once it debuted on Blu-ray. Well, the review copy arrived yesterday and I popped it in to the player for a look last night. I was glad I did. Read the full story

We all know Tinker Bell as the inspirational fairy who stood alongside Peter Pan with motivational support and knowledge. Well since her original conception she has quite literally taken on wings of her own spawning her own line of books, plays, video games, TV shows, and yes even her own movies. Really she needs no introduction, but can this buzzing side kick really carry her own movie? Preceded by 2008’s self titled Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue made its way straight to DVD and Blu ray with respectable cast of voice actors. With a third installment already planned this sequel can’t be all that bad, right? Read the full story

DC and Warner Bros. certainly seem to have it together as they have released not only animated film after animated film the past couple of years, but they are all great stories with strong characters (both physically and in a literary sense) that provide a high value of entertainment.  Following up this year’s release of the the Green Lantern on Blu-ray is the highly anticipated release of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.  Promoted heavily at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, DC’s latest story made a thunderous arrival upon its release. Read the full story

Monsters, Inc. was one of those films that simply looked great on DVD on any HDTV. I was really interested to see just how much better the film could look in high def and even better on Blu-ray. Given that the same team involved with UP were involved in the production of Monsters, Inc. I guess it is appropriate that the release of Monsters, Inc. on Blu-ray is timed to the release of UP. I am pleased to report that the video as well as the audio improvement on the Blu-ray edition of Monsters, Inc. over the DVD is simply staggering and a must buy for fans of the film. Read the full story

The folks at Pixar have quite a track record in a rather short period of time. They crank out one great film after another, amazingly topping themselves each time in the process, both in terms of the quality of their computer generated images as well as their story telling. As all Phillies fans know thanks to Brad Lidge, a perfect streak must eventually come to an end and when they do, the result is not a pretty sight. Thankfully, with their latest effort, UP, the folks at Pixar have avoided a Brad Lidge-ish meltdown and continue their streak of incredible films, releasing what is probably, all things considered, their best ever film. UP is a release that is a must have for all film fans. Read the full story

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the third film in the Ice Age trilogy and is making its way to Blu-ray this month. While I enjoyed the first film, Ice Age a lot, I found the second installment, Ice Age: The Meltdown, to be a bit of a let down although is sure did well at the box office. Will the third installment continue the downward slid or match the level of the first? Read the full story

The release of just about every Disney animated film on Blu-ray is eagerly anticipated, especially the old classic films. As far as this writer is concerned, the folks at Disney set the bar real high when it comes to their older venerated catalog with the simply stellar release of Pinocchio earlier this year. An even more eagerly awaited release is the classic film Snow White, which underwent a total restoration as did Pinocchio in preparation for its release on Blu-ray. Well, Snow White has finally arrived on Blu-ray. Was it worth the wait? Will it meet or possibly even exceed the quality of the Pinocchio release? Read the full story

While Marvel Studios is pumping out one live-action comic book film after another, DC is delivering the goods on the animated side of things.  Green Lantern: First Flight is the latest production to hit store shelves, courtesy of Detective Comics and Warner Bros.  It features one of DC’s most recognizable heroes, the Green Lantern, along with a back story that will surely have you on board by the time the film is over.  He’s more than just a guy in a suit with a funny ring.  Let’s power up and take off in the review of this latest comic book to home video translation! Read the full story

What an intro paragraph this is going to be.  There’s nothing like raw brutal honesty to create a catalyst spark.  With that being said welcome to my 42^nd Blu-ray review.  So let’s cut out the pleasantries and be real here.  Seth MacFarlane’s Cartoon Cavalcade of Comedy: Uncensored! was one of the worst Blu-rays I have ever had the displeasure to sit down to watch, not because of the horrid picture/audio quality, but because of the lackluster content.  To say the content was a bore would be an understatement.  To put it into quantitative terms, it translates to 54 minutes of my life that I can never get back.  I know you are probably thinking what a way for me to start off a review.  Quite frankly, unless you have dire interest in this Blu-ray release, I encourage you to stop reading this review right now or else it could equate to 5 minutes of your life you’ll never reclaim, and I honestly don’t want to bear that burden.  Read the full story

Not for kids.  Got it?  That’s my disclaimer on the The Venture Bros. cartoon series.  Usually, I start these reviews off with a soft intro before getting into a little meat of the film/show.  As I was about to do that here, I remember many moons ago when The Simpsons were in their heyday.  Parents were griping all across the country.  “How could you put this on TV for my kids to watch?!”  You’re the parent!  Nobody’s making your kids watch it!  So, with that being said, don’t say I didn’t warn you, and if someone was ever offended by The Simpsons, wow…wait until you see Cartoon Network’s The Venture Bros.  Oh, and that ‘little meat of the film’ line I mentioned earlier, yeah, well you’ll see that on the disc too.  Read the full story

Back at the turn of the century when I purchased my first HDTV, one of the DVD’s I used to show off the set was the Collector’s Edition of A Bug’s Life, which, unlike the regular DVD edition, had an anamorphic transfer that featured striking detail and depth. It also helped that I loved the film. Since the advent of high def media, I have not had the opportunity to pull out that disc to check it out to see how well it holds up on a bigger screen. I have now with the release of A Bug’s Life on Blu-ray. I had high expectations here given the picture quality of the other Pixar Blu-ray titles. How does A Bug’s Life compare? Well, the old DVD is headed to Amazon for sale as this Blu-ray release puts it to shame. Read the full story

If you haven’t already seen Gulliver’s Travels I imagine you have at least heard the title, at least in passing. Not that the film has garnered so much attention, but the fact that the title is synonymous when regarding classic literature. Cue another history lesson, this time dating back to 1726 and across the pond. Jonathan Swift a Dublin born satirist and poet wrote the appropriately titled Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships. Almost sounds like the ramblings of a crazy old man, but it’s very highly regarded and an early form of satire on human nature, still relevant in this day and age. Read the full story

If you are a comic book fan, now is a great time to be involved in that genre.  Industry experts say we’re passed the golden and silver age of this colorful medium.  If that’s true, then I guess the name to bestow the industry today would be prefixed by the word ‘platinum.’  The stories are stronger, the artwork more sophisticated and the marketing is far greater.  Nevertheless, I am always skeptical of the animated releases.  Marvel’s Doctor Strange was okay but nothing grand.  The Hulk Vs. compilation was far superior, yet I’m still apprehensive to be as ambitious with cartoon comic book movies as I am with the comic book itself.  Then came the recent release of the animated Wonder Woman movie.  Read the full story

I am a self-professed animated film junkie. Wall•E was my favorite film from last year, edging out many of the fan favorites, so The Tale of Despereaux should be right in my wheelhouse, right?  Like many of its counterparts these days, it has a loveable main character, a cast of star voice actors and a slew of slick visuals, so it should be a success… right? It turns out that isn’t the case.  Despite everything Despereaux has going for it, the film is less than the sum of its parts.  Fans and critics agreed – Desperaux took in less than $51 million in U.S. markets and suffered mixed reviews.  It’s not all bad though; this film is definitely nice to look at.  Read on for the full breakdown of the details. Read the full story