UltimateDisney.com's Reviews - Feedback, 2/05 - 1/06

[The Little Merman]

and of the Sing-A-Long Songs.

I'm always willing to led a helping hand. I'm glad you took time to read the reviews like I asked

*tlm

[Lucylover1986]

I hope the Cinderella review is up tonight or tomorrow! I still wanna know if it's worth it to spring for the gift set. No review has talked about it.

[pinkrenata]

I hope the Cinderella review is up tonight or tomorrow! I still wanna know if it's worth it to spring for the gift set. No review has talked about it.

Review copies of the gift set weren't distributed, so you probably are best off waiting for word of mouth to find out whether or not it's worth a purchase.

[Luke]

I'm hoping to have my <i>Cinderella</i> review done sometime tomorrow. It will take an awful lot to not have it done in time for release, but like Renata says, it won't be of the Gift Set, I'm afraid.

[Robin Hood]

Luke, when will the Lost: The Complete First Season review be up?

[Lucylover1986]

I'm hoping to have my <i>Cinderella</i> review done sometime tomorrow. It will take an awful lot to not have it done in time for release, but like Renata says, it won't be of the Gift Set, I'm afraid.

Are you going to add a page to the review eventually detailing the gift set like you did for Aladdin?

[Luke]

Luke, when will the Lost: The Complete First Season review be up?

When I get it + probably 24 hours for formatting. As I am not the one writing the review, I can't give you a more accurate answer than that.

Are you going to add a page to the review eventually detailing the gift set like you did for Aladdin?

The page didn't come from me - the text was from Jake Lipson and the pictures from a forum member named Clayton. If someone who has written reviews for the site in the past is interested in helping out in this regard textually (so long as they have the Gift Set, of course) and someone else (or that same person) is interested in helping out visually, that'd be terrific and I'd definitely make an effort to edit/format/upload in a punctual manner. As it is, no one has offered, so there are no firm plans. After <i>Cinderella</i>, I'll be moving on to the two late-to-arrive Classic Cartoon Favorites volumes as far as DVDs are concerned.

It would be a lot simpler if Disney simply sent out Gift Sets to outlets willing and able to review well in advance of the release date, but this is not the case.

[Paka]

Luke, when will the Lost: The Complete First Season review be up?

I'm writing the Lost review, Robin. It was somewhat lost (no pun intended ) in the sea of schoolwork that overtook me when I started school again, but I'm currently re-prioritizing it to get it done soon! I hope.

[Luke]

In case this thread is the only place you look for UD's new DVD reviews, here is one:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/cinderella.html

[Lucylover1986]

I'm dissapointed it only got 4 stars. It should have gotten 5 for sure. It's not on the same level as the one sing along songs DVD for example. The two Halloweentwon movies aren't better than Cinderella either.

[Luke]

I'm dissapointed it only got 4 stars. It should have gotten 5 for sure. It's not on the same level as the one sing along songs DVD for example. The two Halloweentwon movies aren't better than Cinderella either.

The star ratings are not an exact science (which is why don't just have them instead of text), and DVDs are scored not against each other but on their own merits. There's just no way that a $14.99 SRP Sing Along Songs DVD from 1990 is going to get a Lowry Digital Restoration and hours of bonus features - just like there is no way that a film like <i>Cinderella</i> isn't going to get any bonus features and a nice clean-up job.

As far as Sing Along Songs go, <i>Disneyland Fun</i> is about as fun as they get - and it delivers an enjoyable half-hour of viewing with lots of replay value. It's not quite perfect, and not everyone will even find it enjoyable, but it stands out from among its kin. For <i>Cinderella</i>, you have a film that in my opinion does not rank anywhere near the best of Disney and has a disappointing shortage of film-related supplemental substance versus style, thus making it far from the perfect DVD (a 5). I think I'm still being generous only knocking off half-a-star for each fault. When it comes to video, it would receive 5 stars. In other areas, there is room for improvement. The score takes into consideration all things about the DVD and if everything were treated on the same scale (expecting commentary, deleted scene, music video, a slipcover, animated menus, and so on), then there'd be little to distinguish one type (say, Platinum Edition or Disney Princess or TV box set) from another - this is where human judgment comes in, namely the opinion of the critic to come up with an overall rating of the DVD. It's not a perfect system since you're juggling a bunch of different factors and need to place just one rating on a DVD made up of many parts. But it's not as if the ratings are being picked out of the sky. I'm glad that people (well, at least one person) take note of them because thought does go into deciding on them.

[musicradio77]

What a great review on "Cinderella", Luke. I'm getting the DVD by tomorrow or probably some other time whenever I get a chance to.

[Robin Hood]

Great job on the Cinderella review, Luke!

[MickeyMousePal]

Great Review on Cinderella, Luke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[n69n]

i think i enjoyed your CINDERELLA review more than i would the actual feature!

all that i was looking forward to on it was the mary blair & the nine old men.

i am glad i am not the only one cynical about the espn, disney channel singers (or whatever) & "how to be a princess"

i think instead i will just buy the ART OF MARY BLAIR book!

[n69n]

even laughingplace.com is bashing the bonus features, calling them "tacky tack-ons"

“Music and More” foists a new “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes” Music Video on us, performed by the so-called “Disney Channel Circle of Stars”. I only recognized Raven, the grand doyenne of such things, so their use of the term “stars” is questionable at best. The gaggle of teeny-boopers does their best to out American Idol each other, destroying the classic song in the process. Inexplicably, there is also the Making of the Music Video feature … why, because the video was so esthetically important to humankind that its very creation needed to be documented for the ages? Note to the producers of these “special features”: a “making of” should not be the same length as the subject it is documenting.

...

Now, for the Award for the Most Shallow Attempt at Corporate Synergy at its Lowest goes to the 33-minute featurette Cinderella Stores - Presented by ESPN Classic. Hosted by a waxen, smarmy Joe Namath, this desperate attempt focuses on such famous sports icons as Pele and Lance Armstrong and the “Cinderella stories” that enshrined them …like, who cares? What do sports have to do with fairy tales? Why is this on here? Who do they expect to watch this - dads trapped into watching their daughter’s DVDs? Do they expect little Johnny Little Leaguer to see the ad on the box and beg mom to buy it for him? Who thought this up? Someone who has seen Cinderella Man too much? Too much indeed …

[Luke]

Thanks to all who have posted kind words. This comment in particular made me laugh....

i think i enjoyed your CINDERELLA review more than i would the actual feature!

Anyway, there's another new review from the Miramax branch, this one from Renata. Long before Rowling and Lewis, there was E. Nesbit and she dazzled young minds with her fantasy literature. Renata's review covers <b><i>The Phoenix and the Carpet</b></i>, an odd presentation of a late-'90s BBC series:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/phoenix.html

Definitely read it - she did a great job with this review!

[Luke]

Yet another 4-star review, and like <i>The Phoenix & The Carpet</i>, this is strictly based on the quality of the featured content (and the attractive low price), not exemplary picture and sound or bonus features in this latest Classic Cartoon Favorites volume:

Classic Cartoon Favorites: Volume 9 - Classic Holiday Stories
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/ccf9-holidaystories.html

The disc contains just three shorts, but two are featurette-length: <i>The Small One</i> (1978, making its R1 DVD debut), <i>Pluto's Christmas Tree</i> (1952), and <i>Mickey's Christmas Carol</i> (1983).

[RJKD23]

I've caught up with the reviews--favorite being Cinderella and Desperate Housewives, mostly because I wanted an opinion of what I've bought before opening and watching them! BUT all the reviews were good, and definitely interesting to read!

[Luke]

BUT all the reviews were good, and definitely interesting to read!

Nice to hear from someone who reads them. Thanks for the encouragement, Krystal!

Now, here are nine new reviews! Yes, they're slightly shorter as they are CDs, but together, you can be certain plenty of work went into them:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/cdroundup ... l2005.html

Hope you enjoy reading them!