After many years of waiting, fans of “Dennis the Menace” finally have their precocious trouble maker on DVD thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment. In 1986, Hank Ketcham’s hit newspaper comic strip was adapted once again in to an animated series that played on Saturday mornings. I watched “Dennis the Menace” a lot as a child as the networks played the series through syndication allowing me to see the show every single day. “Dennis the Menace” is a fun and pleasant animated series that channels the antics of Dennis the Menace, along with the colorful characters and unique world that comes with the territory.
Tag Archives: Kids
Beauty and the Beast (1991): 25th Anniversary Signature Edition [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
I can’t believe it’s actually been twenty five years since “Beauty and the Beast” actually came to theaters. It’s one of the many Disney films I went to see as a child, and loved it for its amazing animation and fantastic tale. Disney offered up their own twist on the fairy tale many read as children, and it’s a unique iteration that managed to be a huge hit in the 90’s. It is also the last animated movie to be a serious Oscar contender before the Oscars stuffed animation in to their own category away from live action fare. “Beauty and the Beast” thankfully still holds up as a moving and charming tale that takes a very epic tone toward the classic fairy tale.
The PC Thug: In The 90’s, “Darkwing Duck” is the Superhero We Needed
The nineties were a peculiar time. The comic book industry was coming out of the huge success of Alan Moore’s “Watchmen,” and Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns,” while a bunch of young artists formed Image Comics and gave us a slew of new superheroes and avengers, all of whom were dark, bloody, brooding, and hairy. All the clean cut awe of Superman and Captain America went out of style giving way to a decade of muscle bound heroes with pouches, giant guns, massive swords, and a lot of angst that came with their back story. Even a very nineties hero like Spawn was made even more nineties being transformed in to a gun toting bad ass in his own movie. For a decade where superheroes were all doom and gloom, Disney seemed to play off of that trend by offering up a goofy satire called “Darkwing Duck.”
The Iron Giant (1999): Signature Edition [Blu-Ray]
A few years ago, Warner Bros. announced plans to give “The Iron Giant” a new Blu-Ray release, and merely was content with stuffing the DVD port over to Blu. Director Brad Bird was not happy with the announcement and asked fans to demand so much better as “The Iron Giant” deserved a lot better than a mere DVD transfer. I was one of those fans that tweeted and asked Warner Bros. to give “The Iron Giant” much better treatment than a simple transfer. I’m happy a shortly after, Warner has allowed consumers the option of two special deluxe editions of “The Iron Giant,” and Brad Bird is able to give fans a bang up edition that is pretty much the ultimate realization of his masterpiece. Not only is director Bird able to deliver his film in High Definition, but he manages to add a few small scenes here and there to inject more nuance and character depth. These alterations work in favor of “The Iron Giant” adding a bit more dimension and length for folks that always hoped for an extended edition.
The Neverending Story (1984)
IN LIMITED RE-RELEASE September 4th and September 7th – Wolfgang Peterson’s fantasy epic is a tribute to the thrill of reading and a pretty excellent meta trip in to the human psyche that can often help build the worlds we read on the page. “The Neverending Story” takes great strides in delivering a unique fantasy experience, and it’s nice to see Peterson aiming for something different in a decade where every studio wanted their own “Star Wars.” Despite being adapted from the novel and embracing its format, “The Neverending Story” feels a lot like an experience you can find with “The Princess Bride” in which we get to experience such a vast world that is brought to life with the thrill of storytelling.
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The best way to describe “The Secret Life of Pets” is “Toy Story” meets “Looney Tunes.” In fact the “Toy Story” comparisons are never far off, as the film’s formula is most derived from Pixar’s film where we view the secret lives of everyday household elements when their owners aren’t looking. This time we set down on a random apartment complex in the middle of Manhattan where a slew of household pets commune and indulge in their own hobbies when their owners are out for the day. Louis CK does a wonderful job voicing Max, the hero of the film who is a terrier and loyal friend to his owner Katie. While Katie is gone for the day, Max gets together with the pets of the building to talk over the day and discuss what they think happens when their masters are gone.
Eliie Kemper as Katie is a single working woman with a heart for dogs who bonds with Max, and then suddenly brings home a new dog one day. Max is horrified and angry when Katie brings home big fluffy dog Duke, a well meaning adopted pet who tries to make friends with Max and then forms a rivalry when he realizes Max is trying to get him kicked out of the house. While being walked one day, Duke tricks Max in to going on to a construction site, prompting the pair to get lost in the city. With dog hunters and vicious cat on their tail, the two have to work together with the help of anti-owner revolutionary leader, the bunny Snowball. Meanwhile puffy dog and neighbor Gidget goes looking for Max and Duke, hell bent on bringing them back home.
“The Secret Life of Pets” is a subtle celebration of New York City, where our animal characters travel all throughout New York in an attempt to get hack home. The movie doesn’t attempt too much emotional complexity or adult themes, but instead revels in its silliness, ace animation, and often laugh out loud comedy. One particular scene involving an old woman’s reaction to a baby in its carriage is quite hysterical. The animation opts for a very unique and fun style in the vein of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. Despite the movie injecting a lot of heart at the core of its narrative about animals and their devotion to their humans, the animation is decidedly exaggerated with a lot of the characters presented in over the top animated forms.
Even tough heroine Gidget is presented as something of a barking and talking puff ball throughout the film. At a little over seventy minutes, “The Secret Life of Pets” has no room for filler or flab to its story, providing a brisk and hilarious adventure with a genuine sense of emotion to it. It’s a fun, funny, and simple animated film, and one of the better animated entries to come to theaters. While yes it can be accused of taking from “Toy Story,” Max and Duke are genuinely entertaining heroes I hope we can see more of soon.
Adventures in Babysitting (2016) (DVD)
What a difference from 1987 to 2016, isn’t it? In the original “Adventures in Babysitting,” our intrepid heroes led by their babysitter are evading a group of car thieves anxiously trying to get back their notes that they scribbled on a playboy that one of the characters stashed accidentally. Here, the group runs afoul two inept pawn shop clerks that want the camera character Lola has after taking a picture of their illegal exotic animal. Disney’s newest stars Sabrina Carpenter and Sofia Carson are charming in their co-starring roles as high schoolers competing for a photography internship.
Both girls end up in a variety of misadventures as babysitters caring for a small group of rambunctious kids after a cell phone mix up. Over the course of the night, they cross criminals, mean car towers, and even have to talk their way out of a police station when they’re accused of committing a crime. They now have to get their car back home before midnight hoping to beat the parents of their charges home. While I’d still watch Columbus’ original with my family, Disney takes great lengths to tone down a lot of the menace and hazards from the original. This means no college party, no drunken girl hitting on one of the characters, no gang war in a train, and no one mistaking one of the babysitters for a Playboy centerfold.
Considering co-star Sabrina Carpenter is barely eighteen, that’d be painfully creepy, so that’s not a huge omission, all things considered. That said, “Adventures in Babysitting” is a solid diversion with some neat adventure and antics, even if it isn’t one of Disney’s best original films. It garners solid performances, kid friendly antics, and includes a lot of its own twists on the original film’s events, including a huge chase through a Laundromat, and an impromptu performance that results in a rap battle. With Disney Channel Original Movies, you have to take the good with the bad, and thankfully this remake offers a lot more good than bad.
It’s certainly better than “The Descendents.”
The DVD only comes with a two minute blooper reel, and a fridge magnet that doubles as a picture frame and a check list for babysitters. Frankly, I’m surprised Disney didn’t make a bigger deal out of their one hundredth television movie for this home release. If you’ve watched the Disney Channel for the last three months, they’ve had behind the scenes segments, interviews with Sabrina Carpenter and Sofia Carson, a music video with the pair, and a “making of” with the pair recording the film’s theme song.