Bolt
Disney
DVD and Blu-ray

“The best since The Incredibles,” says the cover of this release, quoting a newspaper chain.  Uh, what about the brilliant Wall-E?  Or shouldn’t the tag be best “non-Pixar Disney?”  Bolt is good, but really, so was Meet the Robinsons a couple of years ago.  The tale of a TV Dog (voiced by John Travolta) who thinks he really does have the superpowers displayed on his program finds him thrust in the real world searching for his co-star human girl Penny (Miley Cyrus). Also on hand is the always-fun-at-being-sinister Malcolm McDowell as the baddie Dr. Calico.  Along the way, Bolt picks up sidekicks, of course, friendships form, and they all find they have gifts to offer.  Full of kid-friendly adventure, it has the right touch of sentiment and sweetness too.  Available on DVD (with a digital copy), the best bet (if you’ve gone Blu-ray or are planning to this year or so) is the Blu-ray combo pack that includes a DVD along with the digi copy.  Special features include a “Super Rhino” (one of the sidekicks) short film, deleted scenes, a look at the voice cast at work (and play) and the 3Dish (even without actual 3D effects, though it was shown that way in theaters) CGI look of the film.  So, as good as The Incredibles?  Not quite, but fine family fare nonetheless.

Lilo and Stitch
2-Disc Big Wave Edition
Disney

It hasn’t been that long since Lilo and Stitch first appeared in theaters — seven years.  But it led to numerous direct-to-DVD sequels and an animated TV series that are just and good and featured the original voice cast too.  The story of the Elvis-loving Hawaiian little girl who adopts a strange-looking blue dog that’s really an evil experiment from far beyond our solar system became sci-fi adventure meets island paradise hijinks, and since Stitch was experiment 626, opened the door to meet more of his brethern, created by not-so-evil, semi-bumbling scientist Jumb Jookiba. This original movie that began it all, directed by Dean Dubois and Chris Sanders (who not only wrote the story but has voiced Stich through the years), is really a story of family — or Ohana – at it heart.  And that’s the way it’s stayed. This new edition includes more than two hours of bonus material, such as deleted scenes, a chronological look at Lilo & Stitch over the years, a “Disneypedia” on Hawaii and an Adventure Game. If you do have a well-worn original DVD from a half-dozen years back, this is a case where the update is well worth it.  Aloha, E Komo Mai.

Win a Buzzine double-shot of Bolt and Lilo and Stitch for a limited time!  Visit the Buzzine Giveaway Page for details!

Happily N’Ever After 2
Lionsgate
DVD

Like Shrek, the first Happily N’Ever After played fast and loose with Brothers Grimm fairy tales such as Cinderella with plenty of wink-nudges for grown-ups that a lot of older kids probably got as well. The direct-to-video sequel follows in the same manner, continuing to send up classic stories, this time Snow White and The Three Little Pigs. Here, Snow is not sweetness and light, but an annoying teen princess whose father (the King, of course) dates Lady Vain, who still schemes through a magic mirror though with an assist from Rumpelstiltskin, while the seven dwarves help teen Snow become a better person.  The characters speak with contemporary slang, use cellphones, and it’s cutesy-hip, one supposes.  Snow’s BFFs (since we’re going so terribly “with it”) include Goldilocks, Little Bo Peep (who is black) and Latina Little Red Riding Hood. Other characters revamped include Pinocchio and the ugly duckling. Again, it’s second-tier Shrek, but so was the last Shrek film in that series, and this is just as funny or not, at times.

The Man Who Walked Between Towers...and More Inspiring Tales
Scholastic/Weston Woods/New Video
DVD

The fine Scholastic Video Series featuring animated-style adaptations of children’s books continues with this release.  The lead story, which won the Andrew Carnegie Medal, is based on real-life tightrope walker Phillippe Petit, who balanced his way between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, which, in historical context for grown-ups, is surely even more poignant.  The narration: by Jake Gyllenhal. The other stories on the DVD include other true stories: “Snowflake Bentley,” the world’s most-famous snowflake authority (narration by Sean Astin); global dreamer “Miss Rumphius” (narrated by Claire Danes); “The Pot That Juan Built,” about Mexican craftsman Juan Quezada, (narrated by Alfred Molina).  Educational, yes, but also engaging for kids to spark some different kind of wonder. Purchase it here.