Beauty And The Beast - Belle's Magical World (Special Edition) (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)I find it interesting that many of the reactions to this collection of shorts are extremely hostile. The shorts are not that bad, but neither are they that good. This DVD is much like three Saturday morning cartoons that are in one collection. My only complaint is that the price of the DVD is quite high for the value received, which may have been the reason some reviewers were upset.
The title of the first story is "The Perfect Word." In this story the Beast and Belle disagree and there is a copious amount of rudeness and insensitivity all around. The story heaps on the need for each of the characters to forgive each other, which I found distracting. The story made the point early and was relentless in setting up the need for people to apologize and forgive.
The second story is "Fifi's Folly." This time Fifi, Lumiere's girlfriend, is upset with Lumiere because she thinks that Belle is trying to steal Lumiere away. Fifi acts meanly and tries to sabotage the evening that she thinks Belle and Lumiere are going to have. Of course, the evening is for Fifi and Lumiere and the plan predictably backfires. Once again the story was heavy-handed because the point was made early in the short, but the point was continually ground in until the final moments of the short.
The final story is "Broken Wing," which I found charming in some ways. Belle rescues a small bird with a broken wing. The Beast first wants to throw the bird out and then he wants to cage the bird. I was annoyed that the Beast's behavior was so awful. I thought that some younger children might find the beast to be terrifying in some places, particularly as the Beast seemed prepared to hurt the bird. However, the bird was nicely animated and Belle tried her best to get the Beast to be kind. This story has a nice ending if you can reach it through the Beast's heavy-handed and over-the-top behavior.
In addition to the three shorts are a variety of other features on this DVD. While some of the features are interesting, the value of this DVD should be the "feature," which is not a feature because the three stories are independent stories. The voices of Robby Benson, Paige O'Hara, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers and others are unable to make this DVD a must have. The stories are too forced and try too hard to capitalize on the success of the original "Beauty and the Beast" movie. I recommend this movie only to those who must have all the "Beauty and the Beast" movies, or all Disney movies. Everyone else should move on to better Disney movies.


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Enter the enchanting world of Belle, one of Disney's most beautiful Princesses, as her adventures continue in the Beast's unpredictable castle. This Special Edition full-length movie, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: BELLE'S MAGICAL WORLD, brims with delightful stories and songs, and all your favorite characters and voice cast from the acclaimed and beloved movie masterpiece. Share in the fun as Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, Lumiere, and charming new friends work side-by-side to bring new happiness to the castle and all its inhabitants. You'll discover how true friendship and cooperation can turn a gloomy castle into an enchanted palace fit for a Princess!

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)What do you want when you watch a sequel?
Well, if you really loved the first movie, you want to see your favorite characters in a new adventure with the same feel as the first movie, right?
You're not going to get what you want when you watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. The old characters are there....sort of, but they look like they went through plastic surgery and act so...not like themselves. And they follow up the wonderfully dark, complex story in the first movie with an overly-sweet simple romance.
Now, the original Hunchback of Notre Dame happens to be my favorite movie of all time! (see my review of it) When I watch a sequel, I want to visit the same world again, not a sweetened-up, underdrawn version. This movie was NOT aimed at fans of the original, but rather at the parents and critics who complained that the first movie was too dark for the wittle kiddies.
Okay, I'll tell you what's so bad about this sequel, and how big a disgrace it is to its preceedor.
1. Animation. It STANK!!! Of course no DTV project could live up to the dazzling work of the original, but this animation truely STANK. Characters moved so choppily at some scenes that I wondered if there were frames missing. When people talked (particually Phoebus), their jaws appeared to be broken. And come on, can't they at least decide what color to make Esmeralda's skin???
2. Story. A circus comes to Paris and the ringmaster Sarousch wants to steal the La Fiedle bell from Notre Dame. The bell is used in a festival that appears to involve nothing execpt every couple in Paris shouting out their true love's names (oh pleeeeaase!). Sarousch sends his assistant Madellaine to trick Quasimodo into showing her where the bell is, but she ends up becoming fond of Quasimodo (ala Hercules and Megara). But Sarousch takes the bell and Quasi now has to learn how to trust Madellaine and find true love (blah, blah, blah).
First off, everyone knows that the whole city would rejoice if they were spared having to shout who they loved to the world while a big bell clanged.
Secondly, Quasimodo and Madellaine's romance (the sole purpose for this movie's existance) is one of the weakest love stories Disney has ever cooked up. They meet with a string of bad jokes and obnoxious laughter, then Maddy sees Quasi's face and runs away, then Quasi immediatly starts dreaming about marrying the girl. Oh PLEASE!!! Esmeralda and Phoebus had a more believeable love story in the first movie, and their romance wasn't even the center of the story!
3. Characters. Like I said, the old characters act nothing like themselves. And the new characters are hardly memorable.
Quasimodo acted like a total dip. He must be at least 26 by now, but he acts SO IMMATURE!! He babbles on and on about being lovesick for Madellaine like a dope (he acted much more dignified when he was in love with Esmeralda!). What happened to his deep personality???
Esmeralda didn't seem to do much other than counsel Quasimodo about how to find true love and get angry at Phoebus for being prejudiced. NOOOOOOOO!!! SHE NEEDS MORE SCREEN TIME THAN THAT!!! Did they keep her out of the story so they wouldn't have to pay Demi Moore as much???? Well....at least her character wasn't butchered so much as some of the other characters.
Phoebus acted like a jerk. Since WHEN is he prejudiced against circus people???? They turned him into a not-as-mean version of Frollo! He kept rambling on and on about how circus people can't be trusted, but then he plays right into Sarousch's plan like an idiot. "How could I have been such a fool?" he moans. I don't know, Phoebus, you tell me!
Madellaine was a hundred times inferior to Esmeralda. I lost count how many times she'd say something like "Oh, I'm so stupid," and then Quasimodo would tell her she's not. And she has a real silly sense of humor (discribing a bell as a big hat for one thing). I cannot believe Quasimodo would go from loving Esmeralda to loving her! And if the whole purpose of the sequel is to give Quasimodo true love, shouldn't his new love be as good or better than his old one?? Quasi deserves better than this!
Sarousch has to be one of the stupidest characters ever to come off the drawing board. We follow Frollo, the deepest, darkest, and most intruiging villian ever with a vain, one-dimentional ringmaster who was ALWAYS looking in the mirror and saying things like "Oh, lovely." I can't believe Disney would even CONSIDER this!!!!!
And Esmeralda and Phoebus's son Zephyr is one of the most one-dimentional kid characters they've ever done. (Is it just me, or is Disney obessed with their heroes and heroines having children lately?) Most of his lines consisted of "Wow!" and "Yay!" over and over again, and his sole purpose in the story seemed to be to get kidnapped, so the climax wouldn't be just about saving a bell. And his design looks like they simply took Phoebus and made him 20 years younger. (Very fitting for the child of an interracial marriage, right?)
4. Songs. Awful. Typical DTV junk, especially one where Quasimodo and Zephyr sing about their friendship. How on EARTH could they follow Alan Menken and Steven Schwartch's wonderful soundtrack with this!!!!
I could go on ranting forever, but I have a feeling I'm reaching the 1000 word limit. In short, if you're a critic who hated the first movie because it was too dark for kiddies, you'll be satisfied.
But we Hunchback fans are left with a murder.

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Return to the magnificence of Notre Dame in Disney's all-new movie, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II - a fun, romantic adventure told with vibrant animation and music as soaring as its setting. Still the faithful protector of Notre Dame's beloved bells, Quasimodo now rings them with the help of Zephyr, who is Quasi's best friend. Stopping with Zephyr at a traveling circus owned by the evil magician Sarousch, Quasi is captivated by Sarousch's lovely assistant, Madellaine. But greedy Sarousch is about to force Madellaine to help him steal the Cathedral's most famous bell. Encouraged by some laughable romantic advice from his gargoyle pals, Quasi listens to his own heart and discovers that he, too, must look past appearances to find true love.

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Cinderella II - Dreams Come True (Special Edition) (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've often said that Cinderella 2's biggest problem, when you get beyond the fact that it was clearly made purely for kids and is really just another form of princess "merchandise," is that it was falsely advertised to increase sales. Disney does that quite often with their direct-to-video releases, and it makes it difficult to distinguish the good ones from the bad before buying or renting. And, make no mistake, Disney DOES make some very good direct-to-video releases. Cinderella 3, for example, is an excellent film. Cinderella 2... not so much. It's the title that's the biggest problem for the consumer though. "Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True" implies some grand, feature-length sequel to the classic Disney film. In fact, that is nothing like what you actually get here. Again, for something like that, I recommend "Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time." Cinderella 2 would have been better titled "Mouse Mouse Tales" or "Tales From Cinderella's Castle." See, that's all it really is. It's three tales from the mice that were Cinderella's best friends since before she became a princess.
In truth, the stories really aren't that bad. Okay, the first one is kinda weak, and it's the one that is the most about Cindy herself, but the other two are pretty interesting. The stories are introduced by the mice and the Fairy Godmother as they work to make a gift for Cinderella, a book she can read to them about their first experiences after moving into the castle. Something I found a bit odd in these sequences was how these storybook-period characters had access to Crayolas and number-two pencils. The first tale is about Cinderella struggling to do things right in the castle in preparation for a ball and finally realizing she must do things "her" way. The Second story is about Jaq the mouse making a wish to be a human so that he can be more helpful to Cinderella. Of course, by the end of the story, he learns that he's better off being a mouse. In the third story, Cinderella plays matchmaker for her apparently not so bad stepsister, Anastasia. Anastasia has fallen in love with the village baker, and he with her. It's probably the best story, but in the sad tradition of Shrek and OTHER films, in teaching its moral it also teaches that unattractive people belong with unattractive people, and beautiful people with beautiful people. I'll jump for joy when one of these films gets the anti-superficiality statement right! Oh, and Lucifer the cat makes a deal with the mice to help him win the heart of Pom Pom, the palace feline. Naturally, that doesn't work out.
While the film is watchable, depending of course on how much you love animation and how much quality is necessary in said medium to hold your interest, it all feels like a long episode of an animated series aimed at a very young, female crowd. The songs are atrocious. They're not good and they don't fit! The voices don't do much to recall those in the original film, especially Cinderella's and the Fairy Godmother's. The mice are fine but speak too clearly in comparison to the original film. Cinderella is out of character at times (seems more like the more recent Disney princesses), and the film does nothing to help us get to know Prince Charming more. As for the animation, well, while the characters are recognizable, they are extremely flat and without style. It all basically looks like TV animation. Sometimes good TV animation, sometimes bad TV animation. Overall, it's a cheap Cinderella experience to recruit younger consumers and maybe provide a little enjoyment for those fans of the original that aren't too particular about quality or substance. "Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True" isn't without its entertainment value, especially for small girls or fans of Cindy's mice, and surely it's a must for the completist collector, but if you're looking for something really good to compliment the original, go for "Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time." It's not perfect, and the very first moments might make you worry, but if you give it time, you'll find it to be a wonderful experience. Cinderella 3 succeeds nearly everywhere that Cinderella 2 fails.
As for the extras on Cinderella 2, they're nothing to write home about. There's a simple game that basically lets you experience what it's like to be Cinderella. You have to clean up parts of the castle. It's actually kinda fun, but I can't imagine playing it more than once. There's a DVD-Rom activity called "Cinderella's Doll House Game," but I don't bother with DVD-Rom stuff. You also get a music video of one of the horrible songs set to clips from the film and a featurette on the film's awful music. Finally, there's a pretty lame Cinderella story that you can have read to you or read by yourself. Yeah, the extras are pretty awful on this DVD. Still, as I said, it's okay if you just have a Cinderella fanatic in your home that doesn't require everything to be feature film quality. If you ever had the desire for a Cinderella animated series, this might be welcome in your DVD collection. Myself, I am a Disney fanatic, and I love their gorgeous princesses, so owning this is simply a must, even if it is disappointing on many levels.

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Disney continues to "sequelize" its classic features. With smart foresight,the filmmakers choose to go with three snappy short films to comprise this 73-minutefeature with the Fairy Godmother granting wishes to various characters. In the openingshort, Cinderella must pursue life as queen. Several feathers are ruffled as she brings herdown-home ways to the castle (bring the commoners in and open those darn curtains). Inthe other tales, one of Cinderella's animal pals receives a chance to see the world quitedifferently, and finally, Anastasia, Cinderella's formerly evil stepsister, finds love with alittle help. As with the other sequels, the look of the film helps bridge the distance betweenthe original and the sequel (here over 50 years) and it comes together seamlessly. Little onesfrom ages 4 to 9 should be entertained while purists may be a bit aghast. "--DougThomas"

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