The Doc Is In...Doc McStuffins Review

Tales From The Mouse House Co-Host Joyce shares her review on Disney Jr's all new Doc McStuffins DVD! 


Our Granddaughter, Emma loves Doc McStuffins and tell us all about Lambie, Hallie and friends who are loved and nurtured by Doc in the backyard clinic. 

She cannot get enough of the show and loves to sing along with Doc McStuffins and friends.  After watching Doc McStuffins: Time For Your Checkup on DVD, I understand why she loves the Disney Junior Original Program so much!

The Doc Is In and “On” whenever and wherever your child or the child at heart, needs to visit the this imaginative six-year old girl, better known as Doc.  The  2012 #1 cable series in preschool age children tells the story of a girl who heals stuffed animals and broken toys out of her backyard playhouse clinic.  Assisting Doc at the clinic are her trusty team of lovable stuffed animals including: Stuffy, an overly proud dragon; Lambie, her  cuddly best friend lamb; Hallie, a jolly and caring  hippo nurse; and Chilly, a snowman who spends a lot of time getting check-ups at the clinic.  Whether it's a case of loose stitching, low batteries or a blow-up toy who has sprung a leak, Doc and her pals are always there to lend a helping hand, while imparting to young viewers the importance of taking care of oneself and others.

The DVD arrived in stores May 7th and brings five full length episodes each consisting of two separate adventures.

The episodes featured on this DVD include:
1. Gulpy Gulpy Gators! – Doc and her toys learn a lesson about overeating when Donny overfills his game and Gus the Gator is diagnosed with Stuffedfulliosis and can't gulp again.
One Note Wonder – Alma's xylophone toy, Xyla, loses a key by accident and needs Doc's help to play in the band again.
2. Tea Party Tantrum – When Susie Sunshine doesn't get any sleep, she ends up cranky and not wanting to play. Doc and her trusty team have to help her get a nap so that she can be full of sunshine and cheer again.
Blast Off! – Along with Star Blazer Zero, Doc and her pals find out about the importance of always wearing a seat belt.
3. Arcade Escapade – When Doc visits an arcade, she discovers a stuffed giraffe in need of help who is trapped inside the claw game. Can Doc successfully get her out and repair her so that she can go to a good home?
Starry, Starry Night – Doc discovers a telescope that has lost her eyepiece, showing the importance of wearing glasses when needed to make the world clear.
4. Bronto Boo-Boos – Doc tells Donny's new brontosaurus toy, Bronty, that he needs to be careful when the other toys are diagnosed with a bad case of Bronto Boo-Boos.
Brontosaurus Breath – Doc helps Bronty brush his teeth after she diagnoses him with Stinkysalamibreath.
5. Doctoring The Doc – Even doctors get sick sometimes. Doc's toys find out that sometimes the best medicine for getting well is a lot of rest and love.
Hot Pursuit – When Doc and her toys spend time outdoors in the sun, they find out just why it is important to take breaks and rest in the shade. 

Even our pup Katie LOVES Doc McStuffins!

The Run Time is 120 minutes and the DVD retails for $19.99. At this time, this second DVD compilation of the Disney Junior hit is only available on DVD

Wings Of Life

When Walt Disney was very young, he and his family lived on a farm in Marceline, Missouri. In many interviews, Walt mentioned that living on that farm was perhaps some of the greatest times in his life. He "met" nature there, got to really experience the awesome beauty that "wild life" has to offer. And years later, that passion could be seen in the many films Disney made, especially the True-Life Adventure Series, where Walt featured, in true Disney fashion, nature at it's best in his oft awarded documentary shorts. 

Acrobatic Warrior

That awesome tradition is still alive today in the newest entry to the Disney nature line-up: Disneynature Wings Of Life.  This beautifully photographed film is told from a unique perspective, from that of the majestic flower. Not just one flower but ALL the flowers of the world. 

The incomparable Meryl Streep narrates this look inside the world most of us take for granted, as she "speaks" as all the flowers of the world. Wings Of Life tells the story about the pollinators of the world: humming birds, bees, butterflies and even bats, and the incredibly vital role they all play in life on the planet Earth. And since this IS a Disney film, it is presented as an adventure full of intrigue, drama and mesmerizing beauty! A true life and death struggle for survival, which in a way it is. For without the magic flowers bring to the world, the planet on which we live would be a much more hostile and boring looking place.

Pollinators To The Rescue - Majestic Monarch Butterfly

Disneynature Wings Of Life is without doubt a beautifully visual movie. The film follows the various creatures that aid the flowers in spreading their pollen throughout the world of nature, bees (of both honey and bumble variety!), the beautifully majestic butterfly, humming birds (who, despite their petite size and beautifully ornate feathers CAN be quite the warrior), and even bats. The intricate partnership these creatures have created with flowers has become an integral part of life as we know it. By creating a system in which plants create the pollen and these cooperative creatures carry the needed mixture to other plants to complete the pollination process, they have helped all species of the Earth survive.  In fact, a third of the world's food supply depends on these incredible (and unfortunately increasingly threatened) creatures. 

Disneynature Wings Of Life is absolutely a film that is a must see. As with all of Disney's Nature series, Wings Of Life presents us with a seriously important subject, but in a way that we can all relate to. It gets its message of conservation across without being preachy, and by the end of the film, you find yourself WANTING to find ways to help the flowers and little critters that help us live! In fact, we've decided to build a wild flower garden in our back yard, to try to bring at least a little nature back to our lives! Wings Of Nature is the perfect film to start that conversation with your kids about how the world works, and what WE MUST do to help keep it working. In fact, Disneynature Wings Of Life would be a terrific film to show in school science and nature classes. This is certainly one film we are happy to have received to review. A beautifully written, directed, filmed and presented movie. With shots you'd swear are CGI (computer generated image), Wings Of Life uses riveting high-speed, time-lapse and macro filmmaking to showcase in spectacular detail these unsung heroes of our planet. 

Disneynature was launched in April, 2008. It's mission is to bring the world's top nature filmmakers together to share a wide variety of wildlife stories on the big screen in order to engage, inspire and educate audiences everywhere. Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife filmmaking, producing 13 True-Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, which earned eight Academy Awards. To learn more about this wonderful venture, and the other movies in the Disneynature series, visit Disneynature online.

Disneynature Wings Of Life is available now on the following:
 * Blu-Ray Combo Pack (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital and On Demand copy) SRP $34.99. Running time approximately 80 minutes

A Monster...In Paris!

We often receive DVD's and Blu Rays for review that we really enjoy. Some that never really received much attention when they were released, but really have that special something that makes them instant classics. Then, there's A Monster In Paris. 

Ok, before I go much further let me preface this review by saying A Monster In Paris isn't a HORRIBLE movie, it's actually ok, but misses the mark for us as an animated adventure. 

Here's the story: Set in Paris, France during the 1910's, A Monster In Paris follows the adventures of Emile (an extremely shy projectionist voiced by Jay Harrington), his wacky inventor/delivery man and friend Raoul (voiced by Adam Goldberg). Now, Emile secretly adores Maud, a co-worker at the cinema but of course, is too shy to profess his love. One day, Raoul invites Emile to go on a delivery with him to the botanical gardens, but also the home of a plant "genius". As Raoul and Emile enter, they find the professor is in New York, however, left his monkey Charles (who seems to have a great vocabulary via flash cards) in charge, with specific instructions for Raoul - DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Of course, Raoul just can't help himself and finds a potion marked "Atomize-A-Tune" (which gives Charles a terrific operatic voice) and one marked "Super Fertilizer - Unstable". So, what does our wacky inventor do? Yep, he "experiments" with the super fertilizer by pouring it on a sunflower seed - which grows to an enormous size. While Raoul and Emile discuss the potential of such a wonderful potion, the sunflower topples over, crashing into the shelves housing the two potions creating an explosion. Everyone escapes the chaos unscathed, however, Emile catches footage via his movie camera, of a hideous monster!

Raoul and Emile

Now, if you've read any of our reviews you know we're not into spoilers, so that's all you're going to get out of me story wise! Suffice it to say,  the troublesome trio accidentally creates Franc, the product of a reaction between a common flea and the two potions mentioned earlier. What they fail to realize, however, is that this ‘monster’ is actually a soft-centered soul with an astounding talent for music.

 

"Franc" the Monster In Paris - With A Voice!

With the help of an enchanting nightclub singer Lucille, Franc becomes the talk of the town, just as stories of Paris’s newest monster attract the attention of the egotistical police commissioner, hell bent on securing a big prize to help his battle to become mayor. The unwitting trio and the singer must team up to protect Franc, a monster with more than a musical career to protect!

A Monster In Paris, as you may have guessed, is a straight to DVD/Blu Ray release and was originally produced in France, with French voice actors/singers, in 2011, then translated for English speaking audiences in 2013. Since we did not view the original version (and...we don't speak French), we're going to talk about the English version.

Charles The Monkey

As I said at the beginning, this wasn't a horrible movie, but not something I'd watch again. The basic plot is of course predicable, but entertaining. You have the shy hero, the wacky does nothing right side-kick, the beautiful damsel in distress (well, actually TWO in this movie), the monster who's actually a big misunderstood gentle giant, the evil "good guy" who's hunting the monster and of course, the aid to the evil "good guy" who eventually sees the light. The "feel" of this animated movie is truly Persian and the music is heavily influenced by that as well. The tunes, although not Disney worthy, are kind of catchy but quickly become annoying. The movie (and the DVD case) really promote the fact that Sean Lennon (son of the famous Beatle John Lennon) appears in this movie, but the truth is only in song...and only 2 or 3 at that. Could have been any singer truthfully. The voice acting was ok, nothing to "write home" about, and the animation reminded me of an art school project. Not great, but not terrible. 

Lucile

I can see that this movie would appeal to some, especially the younger viewers, but honestly, not something I'd even put on my top 25 list. The music didn't have that something special to keep you humming it all day, and to be honest, it was more grown up than child type music. 

As we always say, don't take our word as canon, watch it for yourself. Currently available from Shout! Factory, in collaboration with EuropaCorp, A Monster In Paris is available on DVD, and on a two-disc Blu-Ray 3D Combo Pack. The movie runs about an hour and 27 minutes, and SRP is $24.97 for the Blu-Ray Combo Pack (which does come with a digital copy by the way) and the DVD for $14.97.

If you do watch A Monster In Paris, let us know what YOU think...peace out --- Al 

Tales From The Mouse House....Episode 68

Happy Easter and welcome to episode 68! We're back to a more...."normal" format on this episode! We discuss all kinds of fun stuff in our Host Chat, like, the crazy weather in Arizona and how it's creating all kinds of misery.....like Joyce's allergies raging full speed ahead! Because of the weird weather - one week it was freezing cold, the next HOT, then the next cold, well, you get the picture, all the desert plants are blooming early and in full force. So, poor Joyce is suffering horribly from it. Oh, and we have a winner in our audiobook giveaway! Tune in to find out WHO! If you "LIKE" our FaceBook page, keep an eye out because we're going to launch another contest this coming week on FaceBook for...yep, ANOTHER copy of the audiobook!

Oh how we MISS THEE!

 

And of course, as many of you already know, I (Al) am without formal employment (nice way to put it, huh?) so I've been really working on my VoiceOver stuff. In fact, Joyce and I decided to take our podcast production "company" and turn it in to a legitimate COMPANY. We're calling it Storyteller Productions (cuz, well, we tell stories...) and I've embarked on a fun voiceover career. I've taken our good friend Dave Smith's (author of In The Shadow Of The Matterhorn) advice and have begun seeking audiobook narration gigs. And I've got FOUR in production right now! One is a book I'm REALLY suited for: a Walt Disney biography! YEAH!! 

Brand New Audiobook!

In our Attraction Reviews, I start a new series reviewing extinct attractions, but only ones that were around since 2007 when we started visiting. Should be fun! And in Food Reviews, Joyce discusses some alternatives for those Resort Guests who would rather have something not of the meat variety! 

Joyce and I really want to thank all of you who tune in to our fun little show. We truly have a passion for Walt Disney and his beloved Disneyland, and we're honored that you allow us to share that love with you!  


Hey, if YOU'RE in need of a great travel agent, why not give our sponsor, Randy Crane from Mouse Ear Vacations a holler! I bet he can make YOUR vacation a MAGICAL one! Visit Randy at www.randyc-mouseearvacations.com 

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 68, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

AND, we're listed on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…
"Make It A Mickey Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce

(Enjoy a little Splash Mountain...)

Tales From The Mouse House...Episode 67

Dapper Days 2013

Welcome to episode 67! As we said at the beginning of the year...we’re offering up some out of the normal episodes in 2013 and THIS episode is ONE OF THOSE! On this PACKED FULL episode (yeah, it’s LONG), we share two awesome interviews and a terrific review from our GREAT Disney friend Mr. Daps! First up, our recent chat with Michele Morabito about her experiences at the Dapper Days event at Disneyland. This is one cool "unofficial but recognized" Day to behold. Imagine visiting Disneyland when Walt himself walked the Resort. Everyone dressed up in their "Sunday Best". Well, THAT'S what Dapper Days is like! Guests wearing awesome period outfits, from the 1940's and 50's. Michele describes her visit and her lucky breakfast at Club 33!

Michele at Dapper Days...Inside Club 33!

Then, our great friend Mr. Daps is joined by Murray The Bell Hop and Roger Rabbit to discuss their coverage of the all new Fantasy Faire in Fantasy Land (Disneyland). Talk about adding a bit of fairytale magic to your Disneyland Resort vacation...recently Disney did JUST that! And Daps Magic was there for the scoop, and shares with us!

All New Fantasy Faire at Disneyland

Then, if all THAT weren’t enough, Joyce turns the microphone on me and author David Smith and we discuss Dave’s awesome new book, In The Shadow of the Matterhorn: Intimate Stories about Life, Love and Laughter at Disneyland - his behind the scenes look at Disneyland from a cast members perspective! Then, we launch an awesome new contest that can put YOU in the Shadow Of The Matterhorn!

All New Audiobook Narrated By Al Kessel!

Hey, if YOU'RE in need of a great travel agent, why not give our sponsor, Randy Crane from Mouse Ear Vacations a holler! I bet he can make YOUR vacation a MAGICAL one! Visit Randy at www.randyc-mouseearvacations.com 

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! If you'd like to listen to the show, you can find it on iTunes, on our podcast site at talescast.com, the direct episode link: Episode 67, or on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

AND, we're listed on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…
"Make It A Mickey Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce

I'm Gonna WRECK IT!...The Review

Ok, so the term "completely and totally unequivocally awesome" may be over used these days (yeah, ok, I made that up), but it DOES apply to Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. When we first saw some unfinished footage of this film during the D23 Expo in 2011, we KNEW this would be one of those rare movies we would brave the theater crowds for...and we were not disappointed. Well, now The Walt Disney Studios has given us one of the greatest gifts of all: Wreck-It Ralph on DVD and Blu-Ray so we can enjoy it as often as we like, in the comfort of our OWN HOME (excuse me for a moment...I need to weep a bit). 

Weekly Meeting of Bad Anon

On February 5, 2013, Wreck-It Ralph was released on HD Digital Download. The early digital release marks a first for the Disney company. Then, on March 5, 2013, the HD Digital 3D formats will be released. 

Winner of five Annie Awards including Best Animated Feature, the Producers Guild Award, a Critics Choice Film Awards and National Board of Review for Best Animated Film, Wreck-It Ralph, as you may have guessed, brings to life the world of video games, where, after the arcade closes for the day, "Game Central Station" comes alive with characters from our favorite video games, including cameos from Sonic The Hedgehog, Q-Bert and more. 

Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is the villain in 30 year old (but still fairly popular) arcade game called Fix It Felix. It's Ralph's job to wreck the apartment building the good citizens all live in, and of course, it's up to Felix (voiced by Jack McBrayer) to repair all Ralph's damage with his magic hammer. For 30 long years, Ralph has lived in Felix's shadow. Every night after the arcade closes, the good citizens celebrate Felix's heroism, while poor Ralph is banished to his rubble-pile home. Then, for the 30th anniversary of Fix It Felix, Ralph sees that the citizens have thrown a huge party for Felix, complete with CAKE, but have neglected to include Ralph - without whom there would be NO game. As Ralph attempts to crash the party, he's informed that he's the bad guy and will be nothing more. Of course, this does not sit well with our hero...err, I mean villain. 

Ralph In Action..HUGE hands!

So, Ralph decides he's tired of playing the role of bad-guy and takes matters into his own hands and sets out to prove everyone wrong, and he embarks on an action-packed adventure to prove to everyone that he is a true hero with a BIG heart! As he explores some exciting new worlds, he teams up with some unlikely new friends, including a feisty "glitch" of a program by the name of Vanellope von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman). And that's where things get interesting! Now, I'd go into deeper detail, but then, why would you have to see it for yourselves??? Besides...no spoilers here!

Ralph and Vanellope

Wreck It Ralph is without doubt one of the best movies we've seen in a long time. The animation is fantastic and seeing it on Blu-Ray is as beautiful as seeing it in digital 3D. As is usual, Disney paid so much attention to detail in this film that you almost forget it's animation - until Ralph knocks down a building! This film appeals to all ages really, and it's truly appropriate for everyone. The story is terrific, but beyond that, there is a touching and heartwarming message. It's about friendship, being true to yourself, to who and what you really are, and about sacrifice. 

Best Friends Come In All Sizes

Wreck It Ralph offers a great escape from the real world, if only for a short time (something Disney is absolutely perfect at giving us). Yet it also serves up some valuable lessons, not just for the young ones but for adults as well. Without realizing we've just been schooled, Disney has created a great portal to teach everyone the value of others, to look past what we see, and see others as they are deep down. And when a movie can make me feel good about learning something, AND entertain me...well, full endorsement from me!  And you thought it was just another cute cartoon!  

Director Rich Moore

Now, there are some pretty cool features that are exclusive to the Blu-Ray editions, and trust me, they ARE cool. When you pause the movie, instead of the boring old pause menu, you see a count-down to intermission pop up. Then, a new feature called "Disney Intermission: The Gamer's Guide To Wreck-It Ralph" begins! Hosted by Chris Hardwick (of Walking Dead/Talking Dead fame) this pause feature takes viewers through a series of 10 video segments offering an inside look at the many video game references, Disney references and other hidden surprises featured in the film! Now, I'm not going to spoil all of them, but for example, on the Fix-It Felix game, notice the high score of 120501. There's a very important significance to those numbers...think you can figure it out? And, there are at LEAST two hidden Mickey's in the film (but I'm not saying where!), and finally, director Rich Moore has a sort of...cameo in the film. See if you can spot him! Oh, and be sure to watch until the VERY end of the movie, you'll notice some pixelated code that some of you out there may be able to decipher! 

Disney's Wreck-It Ralph will be available on Tuesday March 5, 2013 on the following formats:

• 4-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack
• (Blu-Ray 3D + Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy)
• MSRP $49.99 in the US and $56.99 in Canada
• 2-Disc Blu-Ray Combo Pack
• (Blu-Ray+DVD)
• MSRP $39.99 in the US and $46.99 in Canada
• DVD
• MRSP $29.99 in the US and $35.99 in Canada

All the Blu-Ray versions come with the following Features:

• Bit by Bit: Creating the worlds of "Wreck-It Ralph"
• The short takes viewers into Game Central Station with the artists who brought Sugar Rush, Hero's Duty and Fix It Felix, Jr to life
• Alternate & Deleted Scenes
• Video Game Commercials 
• Viewers can check out the commercials created for the video games featured in the film!
• "Paperman" 
• This Academy Award Winning short showcases first time director John Kahrs' minimalist black and white style with his story about a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, who relies on his heart, imagination, a stack of papers and a little luck, to change his destiny and win the girl of his dreams!

The DVD version has the feature "Paperman". 

You can buy Disney's Wreck-It Ralph just about anywhere, or, you can help out Tales From The Mouse House and purchase it from our Tales Amazon Store (just click the link)

Bottom line is, there are many, many films out there that are entertaining, moral, teaches a decent lesson, and visually beautiful, but there are very few that have all of these qualities. Disney's Wreck-It Ralph definitely has all of them! A must have for any movie fan! 

Tales From The Mouse House...Episode 66

Welcome to episode 66! On this show we thought we’d give you all a special treat...we share some of our favorite audio from the Disneyland Resort! That’s right, every time we visit the Happiest Place On Earth, we take our trusty Sony personal recorder with us and capture as much audio as we can: from the attractions, the shows and even just the atmospheric stuff! We LOVE the sounds of Disneyland! On this episode, we share some of our favorites. First up, the BEST sound you can hear: the opening announcement from Disneyland for the day! 

You Are Part Of The Rebellion!

Our next offering is the ACTUAL audio from Star Tours 2.0! Join us as we unwittingly join the Rebel Alliance in a...gulp...battle with the EMPIRE! Will we survive??? 

Then a couple that will make you laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more - our good friend Kenny (from the M*A*S*H 4077th podcast) met us at Disneyland during one visit and he rode California Screamin’ with Joyce (and yes, he DID scream!) and the Hollywood Tower Of Terror with me (and yes, he DID scream!). 

Get Ready Screamers!!

Oh By The Way...It's HAUNTED

Then we close it out with a long audio from one of the classic shows from Disneyland - Captain EO! The ENTIRE SHOW AUDIO...including those snazzy dance numbers!

He's Bad, He's Bad, You Know It!!

We've got a lot of great shows planned for you coming soon. As we mentioned, we're going to the Disney D23 Fanniversary Event in Phoenix this Wednesday, and you know us! We'll take LOTS of photos, LOTS of video and LOTS of audio (and I won't wait to put them up this time!). And...in case you haven't heard yet, the audiobook version of In The Shadow Of The Matterhorn: Intimate Stories about Life, Love and Laughter at Disneyland is complete AND available for purchase! YEAH! You can visit Audible.Com to pick up YOUR copy, or visit iTunes and buy it there. It's an awesome story and, oh, by the way...I narrated it!! (me...Al). The author, David Smith, will be on Tales From The Mouse House Disneyland Podcast VERY soon to chat about the book...in fact, Joyce is turning the tables on ME and putting me in the interviewee seat, and she'll interview me and Dave about the whole audiobook conversion process...so yeah...THAT's going to be FUN! A LOT of funny stories, let me tell you. 

Hey, if YOU'RE in need of a great travel agent, why not give our sponsor, Randy Crane from Mouse Ear Vacations a holler! I bet he can make YOUR vacation a MAGICAL one! Visit Randy at www.randyc-mouseearvacations.com 

As always, If you’d like to send in comments for the show, you can send us an email to talespodcast@cox.net, leave us voicemail on the Hotline at 304-TALES23, leave us feedback in iTunes or leave comments for us on our Twitter account @talespodcast. Heck, you can even find us on FaceBook, just search for Tales From The House House - Disneyland podcast! And why not check out our new blog site at www.talespodcast.blogspot.com for some awesome stories? You can find more detailed show notes there as well.

AND, we're listed on Stitcher Radio now! Just visit www.stitcher.com and search for Tales From The Mouse House - Disneyland Podcast!

Thanks for making us part of your Disney experience and remember…
"Make It A Mickey Day!" ~~ Al & Joyce