Horton Hears a Who! Blu-ray Review

Posted 11 years ago by Television

Horton Hears A Who Blu-ray

Woo-hoo, more classic animation on Blu-ray! You’ll hear me screaming from the rooftops that we need more classic animation on Blu-ray (in fact, I’m working on a whole site on the subject), so I welcome all new releases. Even if Horton Hears a Who! isn’t my favorite Dr. Seuss story, it’s fun to have in High Definition.

Horton

This is a Seuss cartoon that I haven’t seen near as much as I’ve seen the Grinch or the Cat in the Hat. In fact, I’ve probably seen the 2008 film more times than I’ve actually seen this, and I hate to say it, but I think I like the 2008 film better.

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A Muppets Christmas Letters to Santa DVD Review

Posted 11 years ago by Television

A Muppets Christmas Letters to Santa DVD

Even though I could watch the Muppets every day, there’s something about them and Christmas that go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Maybe it’s the Muppet Christmas Carol, John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together, or the Muppet Family Christmas, but I end up thinking about the Muppets a lot this time of year.

So I was naturally excited to finally get to watch the Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa DVD, having missed it’s premier last year. I had read a lot about it, and fans seemed to be pretty happy with it.

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas Blu-ray Review

Posted 11 years ago by Television

How the Grinch Stole Christmas Blu-ray

The Christmas spirit continues today on SMC with another classic animated TV special on Blu-ray, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. This was released at the same time as A Charlie Brown Christmas and Horton Hears a Who! by Warner Bros. This is oddly the first time I’ve owned this special on any format, but at least I’m starting with the best.

The Grinch looks great in HD, and much like the Charlie Brown Christmas, it seems like it couldn’t ever get any better. A lot of the bonus features from the previous versions are here, including the awesomely cheesy TNT special hosted by Phil Hartman. I remember watching this at my sister’s house every year (that’s probably why I’ve never bought it), and it’s as fun as it was in the 90s. There are also a few more featurettes, a commentary by legendary June Foray and Phil Roman, and a DVD and Digital copy.

Is it worth upgrading from DVD? I think so, but I’m an HD junkie. It’s definitely nice to have some more classic Christmas content on Blu-ray. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is available on Blu-ray now.

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A Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray Review

Posted 11 years ago by Television

Charlie Brown Christmas Blu-ray

It’s so refreshing to see some classic holiday animation coming to Blu-ray. Until now, there hasn’t really been any classic animation on the format from anyone but Disney, but Warner Bros. is showing their support in a big way recently. All at once they dropped A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Horton Hears a Who! on Blu-ray. Sweet.

A Charlie Brown Christmas doesn’t really need an introduction, and it’s been written about so many times online. This is the first time it’s been available in high-definition though, and it looks amazing. I didn’t think a Peanuts special would look this good in HD, but I’m pretty sure that this is about as accurate of a reproduction of the original cels and painted backgrounds that you could get.

The special itself looks great. Normally, when I watch something 4:3 on my TV, I stretch it out to reduce the chance of burn-in on my plasma, but this looked so good I finally got over my paranoia (this article helped too). The colors pop and the familiar designs we’ve come to adore for decades look better than ever.

Included in the set is It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown in HD, which is a plus or not, depending on what you think of the 1992 follow up to A Charlie Brown Christmas. The real draw in the bonus features is the 16 minute, surprisingly in-depth documentary on the making of the special.

Other than the documentary and the bonus special, there is a DVD copy (as if we don’t own it three times over already), and a digital copy.

A Charlie Brown Christmas + Blu-ray = pure awesomeness, so get yourself a little something extra this year and pick it up, it’s available now.

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Disclaimer: This review is based on product provided by Warner Bros.

A Miser Brothers’ Christmas DVD Review

Posted 11 years ago by Television

A Miser Brothers Christmas DVD

Ah, Rankin/Bass. You can’t have Christmas without at least a few of their classic holiday specials. Of those, 1974’s A Year Without Santa Claus has received a modern spin-off starring the Miser Brothers, Snow Miser and Heat Miser. Canadian animation studio Cuppa Coffee and Warner Bros.

A Miser Brothers Christmas premiered last year on ABC Family, and is now available on DVD from Warner Bros. Mickey Rooney is back (albeit in raspier form) to voice Santa, and the special is a pretty decent attempt to emulate the look and feel of classic Rankin/Bass.

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