Disney‘s latest (and reportedly final) foray into Princess-dom, Tangled has only been in cinemas a few weeks now and already we’re seeing the Blu-ray up for pre-order on Amazon, this time complete with a full listing of special features and a coupon for $8 off! While none of this information has been confirmed by the studio as yet, you shouldn’t let that stop you from taking advantage of the digital coupon which brings the price of the 4-Disc Combo Pack down to $21.99! More information on this title as it’s revealed.

Special Features:

• Two original storybook openings
• 50th Animated Countdown
• Three deleted scenes
• The Making of a Fairy Tale
• Two extended songs
• Nine Theatrical Teasers

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Next up: Classics on Blu-ray

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

Animation just doesn’t get any better than the work of Hayao Miyazaki. His latest film, Ponyo is also his first on Blu-ray. This is not only a perfect gift for kids and animation fans but also for film fans of all ages.

Highest possible recommendation!!

READ MORE: Ponyo Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $21.99

I reviewed the Fantastic Mr. Fox Blu-ray way back in March and, let me tell you, I’m still surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I’m a fan of Wes Anderson but didn’t think I’d care for this stop-motion animation take on the classic Roald Dahl tale. What a pleasant surprise! It’s a great film with a stellar presentation on Blu-ray disc.

READ MORE: Fantastic Mr. Fox Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $17.49

Highly recommended!!

READ MORE: Neon Genesis Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $16.49

I’m still hoping to get my hands on a copy of The Secret of Kells Blu-ray disc (hint hint!) but understand that it’s stellar in just about every possible way. The film itself is one of the best animated films to be released in years and worth your every attention. If the Blu-ray lives up to its reputation of having a killer transfer and great audio, this one could end up with a special place on my Blu-ray “shelf-of-honour“.

READ MORE: Oscar nominated animated film The Secret of Kells coming to Blu-ray

AMAZON: $18.49

Disney is really killing it with the Blu-ray releases of their classic catalogue titles. And Beauty and the Beast is one of the most significant, as it truly ushered in the modern renaissance of the studio’s 2D animated offerings. The film looks unbelievably great on Blu-ray and features tons of amazing special features. Again, another pick that’ll please animation AND film fans alike.

READ MORE: Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $19.49

I’m really steamed that I missed out How to Train Your Dragon. By all accounts, this is one of the best animated films to come out in the past number of years and the finest work of Dreamworks animations studios since the original Shrek. I just might have to grab a copy of the Blu-ray disc for my niece and nephew for Christmas, just so that I can finally get to see it myself!

AMAZON: $18.99

Warner Home Video and DC Comics continued their onslaught of animated superhero adaptations throughout the year, releasing four new Blu-ray discs in 2010, culminating with the DC Showcase collection of exceptional short films this past month. My favourite disc of the lot (though I enjoyed them all) is the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths disc, which features a fun dimension-hopping story, great character designs and a slate of decent special features. But they’re all highly recommended for fans of the comics.

READ MORE:

• Batman: Under the Red Hood Blu-ray Disc Review
• Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray Disc Review
• Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $18.99, $20.99, $10.99, $9.99

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn’t look like a whole hell of a lot but it’s one of my girlfriend’s favourite films of the entire year (and I thought it was pretty all right too!) Released way back of the beginning of January the title is now available in a Blu-ray 3D edition as well as the standard, old Blu-ray combo pack.

READ MORE: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $14.99

As I said before, Disney is on a roll with its Blu-ray releases of catalogue animation titles. Fantasia and its sister film, Fantasia 2000 both look and sound stellar in high-def. It’s unfortunate that most of the old DVD special features have been relegated to an online BD-Live archive, providing the sole option of streaming the content to your screen, as opposed to putting it on a local disc. Don’t let this single shortcoming keep you from adding this exceptional presentation of a classic film to your collection. Recommended!

READ MORE: Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $27.99

FUNimation has been releasing some great anime series on Blu-ray this year. Not all of them were created in HD, so the studio has been tirelessly improving their up-conversion process (taking the standard definition material and turning it into HD goodness!) to provide the best looking presentation possible. And you know, they’re doing a bang up job. The titles above are among my favourite released this year, with Eden of the East being one of the best looking, best written, most compelling animated series I’ve seen in an age. It especially comes highly recommended!

READ MORE:

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 18 – DRAGONBALL Z KAI: PART ONE
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 25 – FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: BROTHERHOOD PART 1
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of October 19 – Eden of the East: The Complete Series

AMAZON: $37.99, $19.99, $69.98, $19.99

I’m not a big fan of the Family Guy but I kinda get how their Star Wars spoof episodes are so popular. Anyway, all three shows will be available for the first time in this brand new Blu-ray boxed set on December 21st.

AMAZON: $27.99

Far from Disney’s absolute best animated film but a decent return to form as the studio’s first hand-drawn effort in years, The Princess and the Frog is a great choice for any young girl who loves a musical rags-to-princess story.

READ MORE: The Princess and the Frog Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $28.99

And while we’re on the subject of Disney and the films that little girl’s might like, it’s hard to beat the revisionist (it’s hard to believe this is the same character from J.M. Barrie‘s Peter Pan!) direct-to-video Tinkerbell series. These things have been consistently entertaining and this years’ entry, The Great Fairy Rescue is no exception.

READ MORE: Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $18.49

ANIMATION ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* CLASSICS
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

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FANTASIA/FANTASIA 2000 (1940 / 1999, Blu-ray released November 30, 2010 – MSRP $45.99)

Disney‘s Fantasia is out on Blu-ray and I don’t know what to rave about first – the beautiful, fully restored animation or the robust, full DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround tracks!

Walt Disney’s animation classic was intended to be something of an experiment – animated shorts inspired by and set to pieces of classical music. When it was released in 1940 it didn’t perform as well at the box-office as Disney had hoped and as a result he abandoned his plan to update the film and re-release it with new animated segments. Cut to 1999 when, in an effort to honour their founders’ dream, the studio which bears his name created a whole host of brand new shorts released under the name Fantasia 2000. Cut to the 2010 release of both films together in a great new Blu-ray combo pack set, where each film and its related special features are given their own BD as well as an accompanying copy on DVD.

Both films look stunning on Blu-ray. But you’d expect no less from Disney, after incredible releases like Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. Fantasia and its sequel are so vivid and colourful, with every detail perfectly rendered. Fans will note that the controversial footage edited out of the original film in 1969 is still absent from this version, with the offensive images simply kept off screen as the camera zooms into a part of the frame that’s more appealing.

Speaking of absent film elements, it turns out that when Fantasia was restored and re-assembled, a lot of the reinstated footage of host Deems Taylor was without any usable soundtrack. The decision was made to use an actor (Corey Burton, Braniac in Superman: The Animated Series) to dub all of his dialogue. I find the slightly out-of-sync dialogue awkward but honestly, all the Taylor footage is a bit superfluous. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound track is fantastic and full, expressing the full dynamic range of the music. It’s truly a joy to listen to and one of the highlights of the disc set.

There’s both good and bad news regarding the special features of the Fantasia Blu-ray set. The good news is that both Blu-ray discs have an abundance of quality extras on them. The bad news is that almost all of the great docs and featurettes from the Legacy series DVD set have been relegated to an online repository, accessible via BD-Live from the Fantasia 2000 disc. That’s almost 5-hours of stuff not included on the discs this time around, that you’ll have to stream through your network connected player anytime you want to watch it. Kind of a drag. I mean, I’m happy it’s still available but would have much preferred the features be included on a disc.

What is included in the 4-disc set is a collection of excellent commentary tracks, several per film, new HD short featurettes and “Interactive Art Galleries“. The high-point of the special features collection is, without question, the Salvador Dali/Walt Disney short film called Destino. Competed only recently but begun decades before when both men were in their prime, Destino is truly a unique combination of both artist’s styles, rendered using modern animation techniques. The 82-minute “Dali & Disney: A Date with Destino” documents their friendship and the process that brought the short film to completion.

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1. FANTASIA / FANTASIA 2000

Once again, Disney blows its competition out of the water with this stunning new release of their family-favourite film, Fantasia on Blu-ray – the high-def debut of the studio’s signature collection of animated vignettes set to classical music. Joining Fantasia in this double-feature disc set is its sister film, Fantasia 2000, an aesthetically different but conceptually identical, modern take on the idea.

Both films look incredible and sound nearly perfect on Blu. Fans of the films will enjoy the new special features on the 4-disc set – including the home video premiere of the Disney/Dali team-up, Destino – but might want to hang onto their DVD editions as all the previously available extras are only accessible via BD-Live network connection, not on the discs themselves.

Fantasia

• DisneyView
• Audio commentaries
• Disney Family Museum
• The Schultheis Notebook: newly discovered document revealing movie secrets
• Interactive Art Gallery

Fantasia 2000

• Audio commentaries
• Destino: 2003 animated short debuting on Blu-ray
• Dali and Disney – a date with Destino: documentary
• Musicana: Walt’s inpiration for a sequel
• BD-Live
  • Disney’s Virtual Vault

Amazon: $28.99

2. THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE

Here we are, a good couple of years into the madness that is the Twilight phenomenon and I still haven’t seen a single one of these films. Missed them all in the theatre and missed out on all three as review discs. One of these days, I’ll give the whole series a rent and see what all the hubbub is about. From what I understand from my peers, this third film in the series, Eclipse, is the finest of the bunch. Should I just start watching from here?

The disc contains a Blu-ray exclusive picture-in-picture commentary track, as well as cast and creator commentaries, deleted and extended scenes , a six-part “making of” documentary and some music videos.

Amazon: $24.99

3. SPACE 1999: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE

Have you seen the restoration job on Space 1999? Comparing the stills and watching the promo videos (which you can find in our previous post, here) leaves one with the impression that souls have been sold and miracles have been performed here. These do not look like episodes from a 1970s tv show. I can’t say I was ever a huge fan of the show, myself, but I have friends who swear by it. And who can possibly argue with this premise:

“In the year 1999, a spectacular explosion at a lunar nuclear waste dump sends the moon out of Earth’s orbit. In this seminal sci-fi series from producer Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, UFO), the men and women of Moonbase Alpha are suddenly propelled on a treacherous journey across the universe in search of extraordinary new worlds. Left with no way home, the Earthling citizens are forced to embark upon the greatest adventure of their lives, encountering bizarre life forms and strange phenomena as they struggle to survive among the awe-inspiring wonders of outer space.”

Amazon: $64.49

4. KILL ZONE

Dragon Dynasty (a Weinstein label) releases some amazing films, from classic Shaw Brothers fliks from the seventies to modern Hong Kong action extravaganzas. Kill Zone, otherwise known as Sha Po Lang (or Saat Po Long on IMDb) stars Donnie Yen as a valiant cop and Sammo Hung as a violent crime-boss, in a very Woo-inspired city noir tale that exchanges the master’s famous slo-mo gun-play for martial arts and sword-play. The film is fantastic but the Blu-ray fails to impress, as is the standard for DD titles. Wait a while and this will drop in price. It’s a worthy buy for the film alone. Includes commentary track, almost two-hours of interviews and a trailer.

Amazon: $17.99

5. THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

Well, this was a toss up. As far as I’m concerned the number five slot this week could have equally be handed to this film, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action/rom-com Knight and Day or the straight up Drew Barrymore rom-com, Going the Distance. I’m not particularly into any three of these films but I recognize that they’re all major releases from major studios and that they all have their audience. That said, though I’m not a fan of the film, Sorcerer’s Apprentice nudges out the competition by having some genuinely fun action scenes.

Meh.

Amazon: $19.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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I was seriously only a few days away from placing my order for the Japanese release of Miyazaki‘s Nausicaä on Blu-ray, sick and tired of waiting to hear any news whatsoever about a domestic edition. And just as I’m about to finally pull the trigger, wouldn’t you know it, this news hits. So, it looks like Disney is finally getting their act together and delivering the goods – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind will hit shops on March 8th with cover art and a feature set that’s in line with the Ponyo Blu-ray of this past year.

I’m sure Disney’s release is going to be fine and dandy but I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment that we won’t be seeing any of the special features from the Japanese disc – specifically the Anno Hideaki and Katayama Kazuyoshi commentary track and the 44-minute “Anno Hideaki and Suzuki Toshio discussion from December 2009.“ Optimum‘s U.K. release (which is Region B locked) has included both extras subtitled in English, so I’m not sure why we have to go without.

Also, I can’t help but feel let down by the package art of the U.S. edition of the Blu-ray. The Japanese release (which you can see here in all its glory) is so classy and minimalist where ours just feels so…bland. I guess it could be worse. We could have gotten stuck with the U.K. cover art.

In the end, I feel like I’m going to have to get comfortable with the notion of ponying up the cash for all three versions of the release in order to have everything I want from the Blu-ray presentation of Miyazaki’s Nausicaä. Yes, I will be considerably poorer for it but these are the lengths to which I must go to satisfy my inner nerd. Damn you, Ghibli/Disney! DAMN YOU!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• The World of Ghibli: Visit Nausicaa’s world in this enchanted interactive experience
• Behind the Studio: Discover the film’s fantastic origins in this fascinating documentary, including an interview with Hayao Miyazaki
• Creating Nausicaa
• Enter the Lands: Explore the many worlds of Studio Ghibl
• Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge: Test your Knowledge
• Original Japanese storyboards
• DVD of the film including:
  • Behind the Microphone: with A-list voice talent
  • The Birth Story of Studio Ghibli
  • Original TV trailers

Via: The Digital Bits.com

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I’ve never been a big fan of Disney‘s Bambi. But I’ll tell you, with the quality of these recent restorations prepared for the Blu-ray Diamond Editions, I’ll happily sit through any of Disney’s catalogue, no matter my feelings on the subject matter. The transfers have been immaculate to this point, and I suspect Bambi will follow suit. We’ll know for sure in March when the Blu-ray disc hits shops.

Special Features:

• Disney’s Second Screen – Content comes alive on your laptop, iPad, or smartphone as you watch the movie.
• Disney View – 16×9 Full frame viewing experience
• Intro by Diane Disney Miller
• Inside Walt’s Story Meetings – Enhanced interactive edition
• Two never-before-seen deleted scenes
• Deleted song
• Blu-ray interactive galleries
• Game: Disney Big Book of Knowledge
• Classic DVD bonus features

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I should know by now that the Toy Story films have grown as I have, over time. And Toy Story 3 speaks more clearly to me now than its predecessors do. It’s a story about change and how we accept it or fight to stave it off. Absolutely brilliant. The little-boy-that-was is now grown to a young man, preparing to move off to a college life and leave his childhood behind. That childhood, of course, consists of toys – Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear et al. In this animated universe, however, those toys don’t drift off silently into the twilight (or garbage truck, or what have you.) These toys fight back. And they won’t be abandoned or destroyed. They will be played with. They will be loved. And they will make you cry.

Yeah, I got choked up a bit. The story is great here. The performances by the old standards (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Joan Cusack etc.) and the new crew (Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton) are spot on. And the animation is beyond reproach – miles beyond what Pixar was able to accomplish in their last outing with the franchise. Toy Story 3 is as close to perfection as modern animated filmmaking can be.

Speaking of perfection, I can’t find even the slightest fault with the digital-to-digital transfer of the Blu-ray disc. This is phenomenal work from the folks at Disney/Pixar. Vibrant, pitch perfect colours, deep, dark blacks and incredible detail are the hallmark of every Pixar Blu-ray presentation and Toy Story 3 is amongst their finest. The same can be said for the stunning DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track. With clean, clear voices up the middle, ever-present ambiance from the rear and a thundering LFE presence, this soundtrack is some of the finest demo-material you’ll find on Blu-ray this year. All around technical perfection!

Where do I start with the extras? Hmm… Well, there’s a ton of them. Enough to keep you engaged with this 4-disc combo pack for hours beyond your initial viewing of the film. There are two excellent commentary tracks, both found on the second Blu-ray disc of the set. Strange, I know, but I have a feeling that since the primary commentary track comes with picture-in-picture content in tow, the powers that be decided to move it over to the bonus repository where they could crunch the heck out of it (compress it down, taking up fewer gigs of precious disc space), leaving more bandwidth for the feature presentation on Disc 1. Good move! I don’t mind at all, Disney! They did leave enough room on that first disc, however, for the requisite accompanying short film. Day and Night screened alongside Toy Story 3 in theatres and is a wonderful complement here on the Blu-ray disc as well.

The bulk of the remaining extras are featurettes (you’ll find a couple of featurette clips above) covering every aspect of production from “Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion” all the way to a look at film editing in “Paths to Pixar“. They can be found on the second Blu-ray disc of the set, organized into to convenient categories for easier consumption – “Film Fans” Featurettes and “Family Play” Features along with additional categories “Games and Activities” (containing the lone game, the “Toy Story Trivia Dash”) and “Publicity” (trailers, promos and posters.) The third disc in the set is a DVD copy of the film with the fourth a digital copy.

For a detailed list of the ample collection of special features, read our previous post here: Toy Story 3 and Ultimate Toy Box 3-movie collection coming to Blu-ray

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ARGH!! It’s another one of those killer, five-million-amazing-new Blu-ray-disc release weeks! Having so many great new titles out all at the same time makes it damn near impossible to choose a best and a second best release of the week. Unlike last week, where I felt the Alien Anthology was clearly the must-own newly released title, I wouldn’t blame you if you grabbed up any one of the discs listed below. They’re all equally amazing! But for the sake of the Top 5, here they are in somewhat arbitrary order…

1. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (45TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

There are a few classic releases out on Blu-ray this week but none sport a superior transfer or feature set to The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition. This is probably your best bet. Unless you hate musicals. In which case, I would usher you on to our number two pick this week.

For more information, read our rundown of the Blu-ray disc set here: The Sound of Music: 45th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray officially announced and detailed

Special Features:

Limited Edition Collector’s Set

• 2-Disc Blu-ray with all extras as detailed below
• Standard Definition DVD
• 45th Anniversary Soundtrack
• 100-Page “My Favorite Things” scrapbook
• Snapshots from Salzburg
• Reproduction of the original 1965 Souvenir program
• Exclusive “My Favorite Things” Music Box with letter of authenticity

Blu-ray Details: Blu-ray Disc 1:

• Feature Film Remastered in 1080p Hi-Def with 7.1 DTS-HD Sound
• Your Favorite Things: An Interactive Celebration — All-New Immersive Viewing Experience with Behind-the-Scenes Images, On-Screen Lyrics, Trivia Track and Location Quiz
• Music Machine Sing-Along
• Audio Commentaries with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and Director Robert Wise
• BD-LIVE**: Live Lookup™ Powered by IMDb®

Blu-ray Disc 2:

• Musical Stages: Creating The Sound of Music — All-New Interactive “Backlot Tour” with In-Depth Featurettes on the Songs, the Stage Show & Movie, the Film and Sound Restoration and the Real-Life von Trapp Family
• A City of Song — Virtual Map of Filming Locations in Salzburg, Austria
• Vintage Rodgers & Hammerstein and The Sound of Music Programs
• Screen Tests, Rare Treasures, Interviews, Photo Galleries & More!

DVD Disc:

• Feature Film In Standard Definition
  • Newly Remastered Picture and Sound
  • Optional Sing-Along Track
• Music Machine Sing-Along
• The Sound of Music Tour – A Living Story

Amazon: $19.99

ALSO AVAILABLE: The Sound of Music (Limited Edition Collector’s Set) – $59.99

2. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

David Lean on Blu-ray. ‘Nuff said, right? Well, The Bridge on the River Kwai is most certainly my personal top pick of the week but while it looks and sounds way better on Blu than ever before on a home video format, the disc itself is simply just not as technically impressive as The Sound of Music and doesn’t include anywhere near the exhaustive amount of special features as that title. Bridge is a must-own for any film fan but won’t blow you away, if you’re looking for the colour and pizazz of newer, slicker discs.

READ MORE: The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray officially announced and detailed

Amazon: $20.99

3. TOY STORY 3

Toy Story 3 is, without question, one of the best films of the year. I finally got a chance to see it thanks to the Blu-ray screener that showed up last week and I have to say, the movie really delivers on every level. One of the finest to come out of Pixar. And, it goes without saying, that the digital-to-digital transfer is absolutely pixel-perfect, affording the Blu-ray disc one of the most stunning images of any disc released this year. The 4-disc combo pack includes a seemingly endless supply of special features as well as a DVD and digital copy of the film.

READ MORE: Toy Story 3 and Ultimate Toy Box 3-movie collection coming to Blu-ray

Amazon: $24.99

4. THE PACIFIC

I haven’t watched HBO‘s The Pacific yet (still waiting on my review copy!) but I’m setting this robust disc-set in the number-four position this week on the basis of the quality of it’s sibling show, Band of Brothers. If The Pacific is anywhere near as brilliant as Brothers, it’ll end up being one of my favourite TV shows of the year. And if the Blu-ray set is anywhere near as perfect as Brothers’, The Pacific could be a contender for TV-on-Blu set of the year!

READ MORE: HBO The Pacific Blu-ray set announced and detailed

Amazon: $56.99

5. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

Ian Fleming wrote more than James Bond novels back in the day. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a Ken Hughes/Roald Dahl adaptation of Fleming’s children book about an eccentric professor and the fantastic car he invents. No screener for this one yet either but I’m hoping for the best for the transfer. The special features on the disc are, sadly, quite focused on the younger-set but thankfully offer up a few nuggets for cinefiles, like the “Remembering Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke” and “A Fantasmagorical Motorcar” featurettes.

Amazon: $19.49

6. THE GOONIES (25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

Another week with six films in the Top 5?! I just couldn’t let the list go without mentioning that The Goonies is out on Blu-ray today. I’m excited to see it for the first time in years in this new Blu-ray edition from Warner. If you’re not interested in picking up this huge boxed-set edition of the film, filled to the brim with goo-gahs and goodies, I’m certain that there will be a film-only release cropping up at some point in the next year. As much as I want to see the film again, I’ll be holding out for the version without the crap.

READ MORE: The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray coming in November

Amazon: $34.99

TV ON BLU-RAY: V: The Complete First Season

Despite my better sense, I really enjoy this revisionist modern version of V. I doesn’t have the impact of the original mini-series’ (naturally, as both the original and sequel series were finite stories with a definitive ending) but it certainly has its charms. The cast is strong and the sci-fi concepts are as fun as ever. I wish the show had a bigger budget or was given more production time though, as I find myself being taken out of the program every time the characters appear to be floating in their greenscreen environments. And they float a lot. The second season of V kicks off in January with a very special, very evil guest star from the original series! Can’t wait!

Amazon: $33.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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• Toy Story 3 Blu-ray Disc Review (1)

I understand that the quality of the film is somewhat due to the shifting studio structure at the time – Michael Eisner barreling his way into the captain’s chair, with Jeffrey Katzenberg at his side, charged with breathing new life into the aging, stale animation department – but I tend to believe that the backbone of the sheer awesomeness that is Disney’s Beauty and the Beast lies in the damn-near perfect songs of Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman.

Know this about me: I hate, hate, hate musicals and musical theatre. With great, profound passion. Hate. Hatred. Can’t stand them. And yet, I find myself not only enjoying the witty, acerbic songwriting of Ashman and Menken but believing it to be an essential ingredient to the success of the film. I can’t imagine Beauty and the Beast without it! Well, Disney’s animated incarnation of the story anyway. From the opening song, Belle describing her experiences walking through her town while longing for something more, to the classic “Be Our Guest” sung by Law and Order‘s Lenny Briscoe (the late Jerry Orbach playing a talking candelabra named Lumiere) to the lyrically brilliant and hilariously funny “Gaston” (featuring those classic lines “I’m especially good at expectorating” and “I use antlers in all of my decorating!”), damn near every song, every note of music in the film carries more than its fair share of storytelling weight while maintaining that classic Disney sing-song feel.

And that bridge from old to new seems to be critical to the success of Beauty and the Beast. It’s the only film from the studio that, in the last quarter-century or so, has managed to bring forward all the classic elements of Disney’s animated successes from times past and balance them with a more modern sensibility: Menken’s score is suitably timeless, character designs hold true to the spirit of the work of the nine-old-men, backgrounds are wonderfully lush yet not bogged down by overactive detail. It can safely and proudly stand beside decades old films like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty without feeling out of place, still holding its head up high as a contemporary piece of animated cinema. There’s a reason Beauty and the Beast was nominated for a best picture Oscar!

I’m not going to mince any words here – This Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray disc is absolutely stunning! If you love Disney film, old-school, hand drawn animation or are just a fan of the Blu-ray format you owe it to yourself to at least rent this disc, if you are, for some strange reason, unwilling to own it. Prepare to be blown away by the crisp, clean, colourful transfer (look at the brush strokes in the hand-painted backgrounds!) and the rich, robust and atmospheric 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (listen to the cutlery dance about your head!). I could pick at inconsequential nits here, but this is pure demo-disc material, if you ask me.

This disc is worth picking up for the film alone, nevermind that it comes packed with a veritable cornucopia of bonus goodies! Not only does the main feature disc include both the theatrical and extended versions of the film but it also houses a picture-in-picture storyboard track, a commentary track from producer Don Hahn and co-directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale and a sing-along track. It also features a really great sit-down with Menken, Hahn and agent/historian Richard Kraft that feels off-the-cuff and genuine – a very refreshing 20-minute featurette! The disc is rounded out with a collection of deleted and unfinished scenes.

As if that bounty of extras isn’t enough, Disney has packed in another BD-50 disc of bonus content. Taking up most of the space on the disc is the worthwhile and exhaustive 157-minute interactive HD documentary “Beyond Beauty “, which allows the viewer to click through, at certain marked scenes, to view extended or branching content featurettes. It’s impressive to be sure, but not exactly my cup of tea. I don’t care to interact with a film. I would prefer to just sit back and watch. But maybe that’s just me. You’ll also find over an hour of standard-def content here from the original DVD, ported over so that you may safely get rid of your old copy of the film (I’m giving mine to my 4-year old niece). But that’s not all – there are a couple of interactive games for the kiddies, a Jordin Sparks music vid and more sneak peeks than you can shake a stick at.

Super-extra-awesome highly recommended!

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Still catching up on news announcements, here’s a look at all the great new Toy Story Blu-ray stuff coming out in November – a couple of different versions of Toy Story 3 and the full 3-movie, 10-disc Toy Box Collection.

Toy Story 3 comes in a standard 2-disc Blu-ray edition as well as a 4-disc Combo Pack that comes with a DVD and a Digital Copy. The Toy Box Collection (MSRP $100.00) simply contains the 3 Combo Pack versions of all 3 films. No extra content there, so no real reason for fans who’ve already got the first two films on Blu to re-purchase.

Special Features:

• Day & Night: The innovative and entertaining short from the imagination of Pixar artist and director Teddy Newton.
• Making of Day & Night: The story behind the unique 2D/3D blended short (BD-exclusive)
• Cine-Explore: commentary by director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla K. Anderson (BD-exclusive)
• Beyond the Toybox: an alternative commentary track featuring leads from story, tech, art and animation – commentary by story supervisor Jason Katz, supervising technical director Guido Quaroni, production designer Bob Pauley and supervising animators Bobby Podesta and Michael Venturini (BD-exclusive)
• Beginnings: Setting a Story in Motion – Screenwriter Michael Arndt analyzes successful opening scenes from Toy Story, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles (BD-exclusive)
• Bonnie’s Playtime: A Story Roundtable: A roundtable discussion with Director Lee Unkrich and the story artists who brought the “Bonnie’s Playtime” scene to life (BD-exclusive)
• Roundin’ Up a Western Opening: The development of the movie’s exciting opening scene (BD-exclusive)
• Life of a Shot: Toy Story 3 artists and technicians describe their contributions to a few of the shots in the film’s “Western Opening.” (BD-exclusive)
• Goodbye Andy: an exploration of character design, acting and animation in the scene “Andy’s Goodbye.” (BD-exclusive)
• Accidental Toymakers: by creating the Toy Story characters, the Pixar filmmakers found themselves in the unlikely role of toy designers. Meet the toy company that took a chance on manufacturing the now iconic toys and learn of their incredible success that began with a modest number of Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys 15 years ago. (BD-exclusive)
• Toys!: A closer look at all of Toy Story 3′s beloved toys from updating the classic characters to the creation of the Sunnyside Daycare and Bonnie’s Room toys.
• Buzz Lightyear Mission Logs – The Science of Adventure: Produced in conjunction with NASA, this hybrid animation documentary of Buzz’s visit to the International Space Station focuses on research in zero gravity and Buzz’s triumphant return to Earth.
• Paths to Pixar – Editorial: Pixar editors, past and future share anecdotes about their careers.
• The Gang’s All Here: A touching look at the returning voice talent for Toy Story 3 and an introduction to the voices of the new characters.
• A Toy’s Eye View – Creating a Whole New Land: A sneak peek at the new Toy Story-themed playland at Hong Kong Disneyland.
• Studio Stories – A series of amusing animated anecdotes about life at Pixar.
  • “Where’s Gordon?” – An animator finds a hidden room at Pixar.
  • “Cereal Bar” – The majestic and expansive Pixar cereal bar is explored.
  • “Clean Start” – The Toy Story 3 animators shave their heads to mark the start of the film.
• Toy Story Trivia Dash – This game challenges you to sprint to the finish with Woody, Buzz, Jessie and Rex as you quickly answer questions about all three Toy Story movies (BD-exclusive)

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