Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection

by Al Kessel 

What's better than a Disney Animated flick? TWELVE DISNEY ANIMATED FLICKS!!! Ok, well, TECHNICALLY, twelve Disney Animated Short Films, to be exact.  Today, August 18, 2015,Walt Disney Animation Studios released a collection of twelve animated shorts, in an extraordinary new collection of award winning and beloved short films. These shorts range from a continuation of the hit films Frozen and Tangled, to some original shorts, destined to be classics. 

Ok, here's the scoop: These animated shorts aren't new, with the exception of Frozen Fever, which was shown in front of the 2015 live action version of Cinderella. But that doesn't mean they're not worth watching. The great thing about this collection is that Disney has compiled several fan favorite animated shorts into one pretty great presentation. However...out of the twelve, there were a few that, although cute, well drawn and interesting, were not shorts that we would watch over and over. Ok, on with the review...

Now, if you've ever read any of our reviews, you know that we don't like to add anything that would spoil the movie for you. So, with that in mind, here we go:

Here are the twelve animated shorts, in order as they appear on the Blu-Ray, with a short (yeah, pun) synopsis and my (our) thoughts on it.

 * John Henry

    Originally released on October 30, 2000, John Henry is a musical short that celebrates the life and legend of a great African-American folk hero. As viewed through the eyes of his widow, Polly, the film explores Henry's tall tale adventures as he challenges a powerful steam drill in a climactic confrontation of man versus machine. We really did enjoy this short, even the musical numbers didn't bother me too much! The only odd thing was that in a lot of the scenes, the animation style was kind of strange, they left in some of the guide lines in the characters, like it was almost an unfinished piece. 

* Lorenzo 

   Well, THIS one was strange. Originally released on May 28, 2004, this very colorful short centers around a pompous, pampered cat named Lorenzo who teases the neighborhood felines, until he faces cat-astrophic consequences when he's hexed by a rival cat. Ok, when I say strange, I mean, kind of like someone on a drug trip strange. Really don't know how else to say it! You'll have to see this one for yourself. 

* The Little Matchgirl 

  Originally released on September 7, 2006, The Little Matchgirl is a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen classic tale about a poor homeless young girl whose burning desire to find comfort and happiness. Very richly animated, and honestly beautifully scored with some great classical music, this one is a tad depressing. If you know the story, then you know what I mean. Although we enjoyed it for it's style, it was kind of a bummer. 

*How To Hook Up Your Home Theater 

   Originally released December 21, 2007 in front of National Treasure: Book of Secrets, this is probably one of our favorite shorts in the collection. Disney's beloved animated "everyman," Goofy, returned to the big screen for the first time in 42 years to entertain and educate viewers about the challenges of modern technology and following directions when it comes to hooking up a home entertainment system.  The enthusiastic but clueless Goofy is confronted by a huge instruction "manual," and has to deal with a gargantuan universal remote as he tries to install a new home theater in time to enjoy the big game. Voiced by the very talented Bill Farmer, Goofy once again proves his name! This is without a doubt an instant classic, as far as I'm concerned! I've always loved these Disney shorts. 

* Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa 

   Yeah, we LOVE the Prep & Landing movies!! Originally released December 7, 2010, "Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa” follows the further comic adventures of Santa’s stealthiest elves, Lanny and Wayne (who debuted the previous year in the Emmy® Award-winning ABC-TV special).  With Christmas only a few short days away, Mrs. Claus (voiced by Betty White) and Magee (Sarah Chalke) enlist Wayne (Dave Foley) and Lanny (Derek Richardson) on a secret mission to retrieve a mysterious item hidden deep within the office of Santa Claus!  Can the intrepid duo acquire the target in time, or will they be discovered by the Big Guy (Morgan Sheppard) and doomed to placement on the Naughty List? How can you NOT love this?! This will be a welcome addition to our Holiday traditions. 

* Tick Tock Tale 

   Originally released on June 8, 2010, Tick Tock Tale is a Walt Disney Animation Studio's computer animated short film that transports audiences to the foggy streets of Victorian era London, when, after the shop closes, the clocks all come to life, and one discarded old clock has to save the day from a burglar!! We liked this one a lot as well. Great animation and a great story. 

* The Ballad Of Nessie 

    Originally released on July 15, 2011 in front of Winnie The Pooh. Have you ever wondered where the Loch Ness Monster came from? Well, wonder no more! Set in the 'bonny blue highlands' of Scotland, this is a cute, whimsical and very colorful (literally) tall tale about how the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie to her friends, came to be in the Loch Ness! Narrated by the wonderfully talented Billy Connolly, The Ballad Of Nessie is another short for the entire family! 

*Tangled Ever After 

   Originally released on January 13, 2012 in front of Beauty And The Beast 3D, Tangled Ever After picks up where Tangled left off, and we see Rapunzel and Flynn tying the knot...but, when Pascal and Maximus are in charge of delivering the wedding rings, well, suffice it to say, a very funny and raucous time ensues! We LOVED this animated short and are sure most will as well.  

* Paperman 

   Originally released on November 2, 2012 in front of Wreck-It-Ralph, Paperman is one that we've seen before. This one introduces a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer generated and hand drawn animation techniques. Presented in a minimalist black and white style, this short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful young woman. The animation in Paperman is truly spectacular, and, although it IS animation, it's kind of easy to get caught up in it! 

*Get A Horse! 

  Originally released on November 27, 2013 in front of Frozen, this is another one we've seen previously, BUT, will gladly watch over and over. Get A Horse !” follows Mickey, his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow as they delight in a musical hay wagon ride—until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road. With both classic black-and-white, hand-drawn animation and up-to-the-minute technical wizardry (often in the same frame), this groundbreaking short takes a sharp turn when Mickey finds himself separated from Minnie and must use every trick up his sleeve to find his way back to her. THIS is a MUST SEE! It starts off as all classic Walt Disney Mickey Mouse cartoons did, and in fact, truly looks like one. A very groundbreaking and unique short, and the coolest thing about this one? Walt Disney was the voice for Mickey Mouse!!

* Feast 

   Originally released on November 7, 2014 in front of Big Hero 6, Feast is the story of one man's love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share. Ok, cute doesn't even begin to describe Feast. The animators got the actions, expressions and well, everything PERFECT on Winston that it looks and sounds so lifelike. In fact, our dog Kate got so excited when we watched Feast, she actually thought Winston was a real dog! Seriously! She jumped off the couch, ran up to the TV and started barking and wagging her tail!! An instant classic. 

* Frozen Fever 

   Originally released on March 13, 2015 in front of the live action Disney movie Cinderella, it's Anna's birthday and Elsa and Kristoff are determined to give her the best celebration ever, but when Elsa catches a cold, her powers may put more than just the party at risk. This original continuation of Frozen is 100% pure cute and fun. All the original voice actors return for this short, and honestly, it may even be better than Frozen. Yes, there is a musical number through it, and yes, Elsa does sing, but not Let It Go!! And they even poke a little fun at Frozen! 

Like I said, all of these shorts have been around awhile, and odds are you've seen at least a few of them. But the cool thing is that now they're all in one easy to view collection. Without a doubt, Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection is a must have addition for any Disney fan, or, for anyone who loves a great short animated film! Two Thumbs Up from us!!!!

Each short runs at about 5-9 minutes, so it's simple to watch all at one sitting, or watch a few and continue later. 

Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection is available everywhere now, on Blu-Ray and Digital HD/Disney Movies Anywhere.

Big Hero 6 Review

BIG HERO 6 REVIEW
by Loren R. Javier

Our good friend and fellow Disney lover Loren Javier picks up the Tales pen for this entry! He's written an awesome review of the newest Walt Disney Animation Studios release, Big Hero 6. Enjoy! 

Just before Frozen was released in 2013, I visited a friend at Walt Disney Animation Studios. I asked him, “What film are you guys working on next that you can tell me without killing me?”

“A Marvel movie,” he said.

Being a huge Marvel fan, I immediately asked him with great excitement, “Which one?!?!”

“Oh, you probably don’t know this comic. It’s called ‘Big Hero 6,’” he replied, fully expecting me to be dumbfounded.  But, being the big Marvel fan I was, my eyes lit up and said, “Oh, my god! I totally know what you’re talking about!”

But, of course, after that, I was loaded with questions that he couldn’t answer. While I was familiar with the comic, it was an extremely obscure one. And, it was based on a Japanese super hero team with less conventional names such as Honey Lemon and Wasabi No Ginger. How would they pull this off?

And, while Walt Disney Animation Studios has set movies in more modern times, they’ve never tackled a story about super heroes. And, before you say, let’s not forget The Incredibles, let’s remember that was produced by Pixar which has a different philosophy to storytelling.

Big Hero 6 tells the story of Hiro Hamada who tries to solve the mystery behind his brother Tadashi’s death. Through this journey, he meets an incredible team of like minded friends as well as Baymax, an artificial intelligence that is the last remnant of his brother. It is a story of loss and it is a story of learning about the people in your lives.

Thankfully, Walt Disney Animation Studios was able to create a film worthy of both the Disney and Marvel brands. I’ve been involved in several conversations about whether one would consider Big Hero 6 to be a Disney or Marvel film. We know that Disney has distanced itself from the source material in some ways with very little mention of Marvel in the movie. I understand that this was a way to allow Disney to have some leeway in storytelling that doesn’t bind itself so closely to the source material. But, I think, as I’ve said, Disney was able to strike a fantastic blend of the two brands.  

From the Marvel brand, it was able to bring some great action sequences and the creation of a ragtag group of individuals wanting to do good in the world. Yes, a super hero team.  I’ve read the “Big Hero 6” books and the film definitely captures the spirit. And from the Disney brand, it was able to bring in the heart. Disney always does an amazing job of finding the relationships that people can really relate to. For me, the film is all about the impact that people make in your own life, whether it mean the support Tadashi, Baymax or the rest of the team gave to Hiro, or, how we can’t take for granted the people who are in our lives. It is touching and heartbreaking, but, with the everlasting message of hope.

On Tuesday, February 24, Walt DIsney Home Entertainment released Big Hero 6 on Blu-Ray and DVD (although, it did release it in Digital HD and Disney Movie Anywhere earlier in the month). I chose to wait for the Blu-Ray release because it had an exclusive special feature called “Big Hero Secrets,” showing the various Easter Eggs in the movie. We learned about hidden references to Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled and others as well as some very Hidden Mickeys. It’s a great special feature, but it is actually hard to find. In fact, I, at first, thought it was left off my Blu-Ray and look it up. If you want to spend the time figuring out how to activate it, skip the rest of this paragraph. Otherwise, here’s the secret….When you go to the Special Features menu, press “Up.” You will see Baymax appear in the upper right part of the menu. Press select and you got your special feature!

The longest and, to me, the most interesting special feature was entitled “The Origin Story of Big Hero 6: Hiro’s Journey.” Hosted by Jamie Chung, who provides to voice for Go Go Tomago, we learn how the film was brought from the pages of a Marvel comic and made its way to your local movie theater. It was interesting hearing some of the collaborative process between Disney and Marvel as well as showing Marvel’s confidence in Disney’s bringing this obscure property to the big screen. It was also really interesting to see how Baymax went from more of a monster looking robot in the comics to a soft personal healthcare companion.

Loren and Baymax!

“Big Animator 6: The Characters Behind The Characters” was a fine special feature. In this feature, we watch interviews about the artists involved in the film. There’s some nice interviews, but nothing earth shatteringly educational either.

The deleted scenes were also interesting to watch I always love to see early thought process behind a film and why certain scenes are cut. While the scenes were definitely entertaining and fun, but I’m also glad they went the direction they did. They’re definitely worth watching, though.

The piece d’ resistance of all the special features, though, is the accompanying theatrical short Feast, which, along with Big Hero 6, recently won an Academy Award! This short film follows a young Boston Terrier puppy named Winston and how he relates to the world around him by the food he’s given. My sister has a Boston Terrier puppy and it’s amazing how realistic Winston is! It is also worth noting that, if you have a Disney Movie Anywhere account, it includes the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Short Tokyo Go which features Mickey Mouse braving the bullet train in Tokyo during rush hour. If you aren’t watching these Mickey Mouse shorts, you are missing on some fun animation!

Thanks Loren for a GREAT review!! - Al & Joyce

Loren R. Javier, Guest Blogger and Super Hero!