This version of a Sherlock Holmes pastiche written by Eve Titus called "Basil of Baker Street" could not be better.

When a toymaker is kidnapped, his daughter must call upon the services of the greatest detective of the mice. Basil quickly deduces that his arch-enemy, Ratigan (A rat that wants to be a mouse? Who can understand that?) is at it again.

This great Sherlock Holmes type story lends itself well to the Disney animation technique. Basil is enough like Holmes so that anyone who has read or seen even one Holmes story will recognize him. His partner, Dr. Dawson, is so much like Dr Watson that it's almost funny. Ratigan, in the role of Moriarty, makes a great enemy for Basil. Basil gets help while rescuing the toymaker in time for Christmas from his daughter and a cast of mice that have banded together in the London underground. Could this be the start of the "Rodent Rescue Aid Society" as seen in Rescuers and Rescuers Down Under? It's never said outright, but it easily could have been.

Look carefully - there's a quick scene where we see the =real= Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. A cute bit that just added to the charm of this relatively undiscovered Disney classic.

A good way to start children on an appreciation of mysteries. Worth looking at for adding to a library of children's movies, and well worth adding to a collection of Disney classics.

Black Cauldron was the first of a very short string of Disney's animated canon movies that was rated PG. (The others, so far, are "Lilo and Stitch" and "Treasure Planet".)

But don't let that deter you from getting this movie and showing it to just about any age group. Although =some= younger children might get upset about the sheer evil of the "Horned King" and his army, he is still one of the best Disney villains ever.

The basic plot is simple. Taran, an assistant pig keeper, finally realizes that the pig he is keeping watch over is a magical animal, capable of foretelling the future. He, along with a few friends, must protect this pig. The evil wizard captures the pig and finds out the location of the Black Cauldron, a very powerful magical device capable of summoning an army of undead warriors. Taran and his friends must somehow prevent the wizard from coming to the full fruition of his plans.

My favorite character was Fflewddur Fflam, the travelling minstrel that is drawn into this quest of Taran's. Every time he tells a lie, a string breaks on his magical instrument. This funny bit reappears several times during the movie, and it is wonderful to see him change what he is going to say in mid-sentence in order to keep his strings from breaking.

Strangely, this movie is based on the =second= book in Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain". I would have liked it much more had they done the other books in the series, but the fantastic bomb this was in the theaters probably prevented that.

A good addition to a library of Children's films, and a great addition for the Disney collector.

Although not one of the shining gems in Disney's "canon" crown, this movie still has a charming quality some will appreciate.

Loosely based on White's "The Once and Future King", although "Sword in the Stone" does no justice to the original material, it is still a fun filled romp that children will love.

The Transformation bits are the best. The young Wart (the future King Arthur, believe it or not) is transformed into a bird, a fish, and a squirrel to teach Wart lessons that he will need to know once he becomes king. These are the highlights of the film.

Younger audiences will enjoy the dancing dishwashing sequence.

The final conflict between Merlin and Mim is almost anti-climatic. But we do get to see Wart withdraw the Sword from the Stone and become King Arthur. I rather liked the few references to modern technology that Merlin throws at an unknowing Wart. It gives him an aura of "I know what's going to happen" that is sorely needed by Merlin as the wizard that trains Wart.

Note that I would have given this DVD four stars if it had been presented in letterbox format (true 16X9 ratio) as well as the included pan-and-scan version.

Worth looking at for any library of children's videos, and well worth adding to a collection of Disney's classics.

Although not one of the greatest Disney "canon" movies, this unusual piece is still a worthy addition to the Disney canon and a personal collection of Disney movies.

This is, so far, one of the only Disney "Canon" movies that has no human characters. ("Lion King" is another.)

The story is right out of English legend. Robin must rob from King John to give back usurious tax money to the people of Nottingham and Sherwood Forest. But this story that underlies the action isn't too strong for younger viewers.

Robin's obvious infatuation with Maid Marion is one of the funnier bits. Little John is absolutely hilarious when he says things like "Aw Robin... Why don't you marry the girl." And, of course, eventually, he does.

The classic Robin Hood sword fights are there. Most of the characters are funny and original without being too far from the expected medieval classics. The scene where Robin is chased all over the grounds is just too funny. The mad football-like rush of the chicken was one of the better bits.

Worth at least a look to see if you would like to add this to any collection of Children's favorites. Well worth adding to a collection of Disney's classics.

I've watched "Xanadu" probably about fifty or sixty times - or more. I've worn out two VHS videos, and am now, even while typing this, watching my Xanadu DVD. I can't believe that anyone would call this undiscovered wonder of the world "wimpy" or "anemic". This movie deserves its current status as a cult classic.

The Stars. I'll have more to say about Gene Kelly later. Olivia Newton John, still on the top of her conversion from Country Western to Pop Rock, never sounded or looked better. Her ability to seemingly switch back and forth on a moments notice from her old image of sweetness and nice to her new image of almost a dominatrix was great. Her combination of any boy's fantasies with a girl you could take home was wonderful. Mike Beck does a good job as "Sonny" - the modern-day version of Danny McGuire, although, in comparison to Kelly and Olivia, he looks kind of flat. But who could hold a candle to that caliber of actor or actress?

The scenes. The scene where Danny dances with Kira and ends up with her in his arms ("Whenever You're Away from Me"), followed by a similar scene with Sonny and Kira minutes later in the movie ("Suddenly"), only help to reinforce the Deja-Vu like sense of wonder that permeates this entire film. We are treated to this sense of deja-vu over and over again. The scene where the Big Band era meets the rock-and-roll era still gives me a thrill. Olivia Newton John's singing blends virtually perfectly with Electric Light Orchestra's symphonic sound, but heavy rock influence.

The musical numbers. Done by Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton John, they include the pop hits "Xanadu" and "Magic", as well as: "I'm Alive", "All Over The World", "Dancin' Round and Round", "Suspended in Time", "Whenever You're Away from Me", "Don't Walk Away" and "Suddenly". Imagine, if you can, a blending of the best of the 30's and 40's Big Bands with the best of the 70's and 80's rock and disco. Now imagine it on the same stage - blended almost perfectly. That =is= what happens in this movie.

The dancing. What can anyone say about Gene Kelly that hasn't been said already? Watching Gene trip the light fantastic with Olivia was worth the price of admission all by itself. This was, I believe, Gene Kelly's last movie, and it is a fitting send-off to his long career. It was kind of fun to see him as a clarinet player and construction company boss. He doesn't look the least bit "silly" - it's easy to see where he could have been Kira's love interest back in the 40's. It was appropriate to see Gene's character called "Danny McGuire" as that was actually the name of one of Gene's characters in another movie.

In addition, to cap off this film, Don Bluth did the animation for a wonderful sequence ("Don't Walk Away") where Kira and Sonny are transformed into fish and birds. This provides a perfect sense of surreal to Sonny's and Kira's developing love.

This movie means more than its outer shell of "a muse is sent from 'heaven' to help with the creation of a disco roller derby". It means it's OK to have dreams - because a dream is a wish your heart makes. The emphasis, told in various ways, that you should always follow your dreams, is a message that needs to be emphasised today. Both Danny's dream of opening a new club, and Sonny's dream to do something more than his boring job of painting recreations of album covers are fused together by Kira (or should I say "Terpsichore"? :-) into a single dream that they, with her help, make a reality. Do a search on the Greek Muses and you'll find a lot of the inspiration for this movie.

If there really is a real Xanadu, I would love to go there. If there never really was a real Xanadu, there should be. This still ranks as one of the most underappreciated musicals ever. Get it. You will not be disappointed.

Just a quick note here - if you are thinking of purchasing a copy of Mary Poppins now, just wait a little while.
Sometime in 2004, Disney will be doing a "Special Edition", two disc DVD release that will be similar to thier recent reissue of Sleeping Beauty.

With all of the features on that, people who buy this DVD recently will be disappointed if they didn't wait.

Disney will be including all of the "Making of", pre-production art, and other features that make their new "Special Editions" great, to the new edition of Pocahontas.

There are three other "Special Editions" due in 2004 - Alice In Wonderland, Lilo and Stitch, and Pocahontas. Alice will be the first released in 2004. Also, there's the "Platinum" edition of Aladdin in October 2004. Worth waiting for in my opinion. You have been warned. :-)

Just a quick note here - if you are thinking of purchasing a copy of Alice in Wonderland now, just wait a little longer.

As of January 27, 2004, Disney is doing a "Special Edition", two disc DVD release that will be similar to thier recent reissue of Sleeping Beauty.

With all of the features that will be on that DVD, people who buy this DVD now will be disappointed if they don't wait.

Disney will be including all of the "Making of", pre-production art, and other features that make their new "Special Editions" great, to this new edition.

There are three other "Special Editions" due in 2004 - Mary Poppins, Lilo and Stitch, and Pocahontas. Alice will be the first released in 2004. Also, there's the "Platinum" edition of Aladdin in October 2004. Worth waiting for in my opinion. You have been warned. :-)

In "Atlantis II: Milo's Return" we are subjected to a series of loosely sewn together pieces of Disney's quickly aborted "Team Atlantis" cartoon.

Due to the bomb this was in the theaters, the "Team Atlantis" cartoon never made it to the Saturday morning schedule. But that was no excuse - Disney had to use the material they made for their stillbirth somehow...

Neither Milo nor Cookie have the same voices. It's doubtful whether even Disney could have come up with enough money to pay Fox to reprise his role in this sequel. The man that voiced Cookie passed away - hopefully before he could see this B-Grade monster fest.

In the first of the three stories, Milo and his "Team Atlantis" (most of the characters from the original Atlantis movie) have to stop a Kraken from destroying a small village.

Then, believe it or not, they all leave Atlantis to go to the American Southwest to tame a pack of Coyotes. Coyotes? I thought they could have come up with something more challenging than that...

Then to top it all off, it's off to Antarctica to battle an ice monster. I almost wish they had run into something a little more life-threatening, like Lovecraft's "Old Ones".

This reminded me a =lot= of the old "Scooby-Doo" mysteries, except with real monsters. You know none of the main characters will ever be killed, so there's no suspense at all.

Only recommended for Disney purists.

Just a quick note here - if you are thinking of purchasing a copy of Pocahontas now, just wait a little while.

Sometime in 2004, Disney will be doing a "Special Edition", two disc DVD release that will be similar to thier recent reissue of Sleeping Beauty.

With all of the features on that, people who buy this DVD recently will be disappointed if they didn't wait.

Disney will be including all of the "Making of", pre-production art, and other features that make their new "Special Editions" great, to the new edition of Pocahontas.

There are three other "Special Editions" due in 2004 - Mary Poppins, Lilo and Stitch, and one other I can't remember right now. Also, there's the "Platinum" edition of Aladdin in October 2004. Worth waiting for in my opinion. You have been warned. :-)

Disney's Lion King looks at first glance to be very similar to Bambi - the storyline is complimentary.

Look at the facts. Simba's father dies in Lion King. Bambi's mother dies in Bambi. Bambi and Simba try to run away from their problems. Finally, Bambi returns to take his father's place as ruler. Simba does the same thing.

But on second glance, there is much more here than Bambi in the Pridelands. Bambi only has one motivation to return - because of his girlfriend, Faline. Simba, however, has both Nala - and the revenge he eventually takes on Scar for killing his father. Thus Simba has a deeper, more well developed character than Bambi.

Simba starts as a youngster wanting to be king, then is forced out of his future role by Scar, then is placed back into it by Nala and Rafiki. This gives him a much more complex character than Bambi. Simba's travels add to the richness of his character and his eventual decision to return and face Scar (who has ruined the Pridelands in the interim) is much more meaningful. Simba's hilarious misadventures with Timon and Pumbaa had me laughing all the way to Simba's reunion with Nala.

The music is good and compliments the movie well. However, the new musical number, "Morning Report", does not seem to be well placed in the story, and, although it does make sense in the whole story, it almost distracts a person from the real reasons to watch. This movie has a great story that was partially responsible for the revival of Disney movies in the present era. Disney did us a favor by including both versions of the film - the newly "restored" original and the "Special Edition" which includes the new song, so you can watch both and decide for yourself which is better.

The moral of "wanting to escape from reality might be fun for a while, but your responsibilities eventually catch up with you" is well stated, but not shoved down your throat. Scar is a wonderful villain. Watching him set up the hyenas to goosestep in huge battalions in front of him was a little chilling. The eventual fate of Scar was even more chilling. I can actually see where some children might be remembering the death of Mufasa and/or Scar even more vividly than the death of Bambi's mother.

This Platinum edition DVD presents all of the extra material that DVD fans have come to want, and kids have come to love. This 2 disc collection is much richer than the original release. Many bonus features, including a cool "virtual safari" game you can play on your home DVD player without any extra controls make this edition a better value than the original DVD. The two extra music videos are fun, and the usual sing-along track had my daughter trying to sing along just as expected.

The Lion King will be one of the Kings of Disney DVD for a long time to come.