This review is not for the movies in this collection, but for the collection itself. I love both Meet me in St. Louis and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Music Man is ok. If you want reviews on the calibre of these films they can be found on pages devoted to the individual films themselves, but this page is dedicated to the medium through which these films are being presented, and I have a problem with it.

To begin with I feel I must say that I'm something of a movie buff and that may affect my opinion. I didn't give this collection one star because the films themselves are fine, but the special features are a complete after thought and half of them aren't even included in the package. The special features even state the the rest of the features can be found on a non-existent disc two. Why would they even have that in writing? The audio commentary on Meet Me in St. Louis even refers to a small documentary that can be found in these additional special features, which the viewer will never be able to see without buying the individual film again. And this is all due to what can only be perceived as laziness and cheapness. It's as though Warner just took the first discs of these movies out of their original cases, slapped them together in a shiny box and hoped no one would notice. Is it really so absurd an idea that if you're going to release a product you do if thoroughly? That you spend the time and money to do a good job?

There are many people who will read this and roll their eyes, many people who didn't even notice that there was a disc two and that it wasn't included, and that's fine. That is one type of audience that will want to enjoy these films. Another type of audience likes to take their experience one step further and learn about the film behind the scenes. Whether that means the history of the time period, the actors and actresses thoughts on the movie, what gave the director or writers their inspiration or drive, etc. The whole 'bonus features' deal. This type of audience may love these films, but won't enjoy their experience because it cannot be complete. If Warner Home Video didn't want to spend the time or money on making the special features, they should have just left them out all together. It will go over the heads of the people who don't care, and won't anger the people who do. Don't hint that there is something the viewer is missing... that's just asking for trouble. Take the time and spend the money to edit and reprint new DVDs if you're going to release them like they're new (that's right... alien concept I know). There isn't even a warning on the box, you just have to buy it and be surprised that you were cheated. As a consumer I want to be able to know what I'm buying and be satisfied with it. If I spend money I worked hard to earn... I want what I paid for.

In the end, all that can be said about this collection is that it's a inadequate disgrace resulting in an incomplete 'collectors' box set that is a waste of your time if you're a collector.

This is a cute picture book mocking the ultra- techno society we seem to becoming. The book is about a monkey and a donkey. The donkey is on his computer when he notices that the monkey has a weird rectangular thing made of paper in his hands. He then proceeds to ask him what it is and how to use it, but he keeps asking questions that would only apply to an electronic device. For example the donkey would ask 'how do you scroll down?' or 'does it need a password?' to which the monkey always replies 'it's a book'. It's a funny and playful reflection on the move from physical things to more digital medium.

This is a story about high school massacre in Vancouver in 1988 and how that massacre affected various characters in the novel, at least on the surface. More than this story being about a cause and effect play by play of an unfortunate event, it is about how people deal with situations with faith and the difference between religion and spirituality. Before I get ahead of myself here I would like to say that this book is not at all preachy, nor is it accusatory or abrasive. It is not so much a book about religion as it is a book about how people act when being 'religious' or not, and what that actually means. Each of the main characters in turn display a fervent belief and then a denial or realization that what they once believed may not be what they supposed it to be. Some people may not want to read this book because it has religion in it, and to those under that category I say that you will not be offended and will enjoy the book. To those who may read the book because it is about religion I want to say that it is more about individual interpretation and potentially exploitation for personal gain than it is a celebration of any faith, and you may be offended at some parts, but not deeply.

The novel told through the eyes of four people, and each person was strongly impacted by the narrator before him or her. The story begins with two high school sweethearts, Cheryl and Jason, who love each other immensely and get secretly married (both because they love each other and because they want to have sex without committing a sin). Cheryl, the first narrator, became religious because she liked Jason and he was very religious (because of family reasons), but she soon come to strongly associate with the faith personally and throughout her segment of the story she speaks only to god, and we the audience over hear her prayers. Then one day a couple of youths from their high school hijack the school cafeteria with a couple of guns and kill some people, one of those people being Cheryl. Jason comes in to save her at the last minute and kills one of the terrorists, but is too late to save Cheryl.

Jason is the next narrator and we come into his life several years after the tragedy. Though Jason was seemingly religious in high school, he was so because of his father's fervent, almost nervous devotion to religion. His father was a very judgmental man and Jason could never seem to do anything quite good enough to satisfy him. After the massacre it was rumoured that Jason had planned the entire thing, and of course a majority of the town believed it. Even after he was proved innocent by the law and was named a hero by some of the papers his father could only see the fact that he'd killed a boy, no matter how many lives he might have saved in the process. Jason's account is very bitter in some places. The world had not been kind to him and he could not move on. Unlike the other narrators, Jason's account doesn't largely deal with his own personal relationship with religion. He talks more about how others relationships with religion have affected him, and how even though he isn't religious himself, he still falls back on some of the institutional rituals followed by people who believe.

The next narrator is named Heather, a woman who enters a sort of awkward relationship with and eventually marries Jason. Jason disappears shortly after her segment begins, and Heather deals with a psychic named Allison who seems to be in contact with Jason on some sort of spiritual level. This segment was interesting for me because it made me reflect on how people in contemporary, secular society seem to find pathways to express some sort of religious behaviour. Obviously believing in a psychic being able to contact individuals is a reflection of faith on some level. But more than the whole psychic thing, what was interesting to observe was Heather's behaviour and relationship with her desire to contact this person. Her need at these times were, while completely devoid of religion, were still strongly tied to faith. And what's more is I could associate her behaviour to what I've seen people feel while in a romantic relationship, or while at work, or studying, etc. That almost feverish desire is present in many aspects of life, not just religion, and that calls into question where one can draw the line between faith and religion. Or where one can start to separate faith and spirituality. Religion has a very defined identity in pop culture, and if you're not a card carrying member, the idea of it can be very unattractive. But how many of our day to day hopes and dreams and actions could be classified by an outsider as being likened to what we classify religious action? Just something to think about.

The last narrator is Jason's father, Reg. We hear many tales of this man throughout the novel, most of them unflattering. So by the time we get to hear him speak there is already a sort of prejudice against the man. Reg's account is more of a reflection than it is a narration or a tale recounted. He speaks of his faith, but in a refreshing way that I will not go into detail about.

I listened to this book aurally and I really enjoyed the voice actors. I thought the people chosen were well suited to their roles and were a pleasure to listen to. Overall this was a good book and I would recommend it.

Lantern Hill is based on the novel Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery, the same author who wrote Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon. The movie was produced by Sullivan Entertainment, like Anne was, and just like Anne, this movie is a great find. I'm actually surprised I hadn't heard of it before acquiring it by chance and watching it. It really is very good.

The story follows a girl named Jane who lives in Toronto with her mother in the early 1900's. Her mother comes down with a serious illness however and Jane is forced to leave her middle class home to move in with her very wealthy grandmother while her mother recovers. Jane doesn't fit in very well here and, much to her grandmother's horror, would much rather spend her time in the kitchen or doing housework than socializing with other girls from elite families. She is also frequently bullied by her cousin who one day tells her that her father, whom she was told passed away, is alive. Her grandmother receives a letter soon after that from her father, requesting that Jane comes to live with him for a time in Prince Edward Island. Fearful of legal issues that could arise, her grandmother has no choice but to send her away. Jane of course goes along and, like many heroines in LMM books we get the sense that she isn't really wanted or needed (unlike many heroines though she does have both parents alive). Jane arrives and is picked up by her father's sister, who Jane seems not to gel with immediately. Jane meets her father, who is a writer, and he's a scatter brained person with a big dog and a house by the sea on Lantern Hill. At first she feels just as ostracized and out or place as she did back in Toronto, but as her relationship with her father gets a little better and she slowly settles into island life she feels happy. She also finds out that there is a potential woman in her father's life now, but he has never remarried since her mother. Jane of course wants her parents to reunite.

This movie is fantastic. It has the same level of production as Anne of Green Gables, but the story and character types are different so it has a different feel to it. Jane is a really great heroine. She's a good heroine because even though she loves doing domestic things (unpopular even today as something a woman should aspire to or even enjoy in some circles) she doesn't give in to the situations she's thrust into. She isn't very vocal about what she wants, but she stubbornly stays true to herself.

Also, a young Sarah Polley has a role in the film as a young scullery maid who befriends Jane. As fans may know, Sarah Polley stars in another successful Sullivan production called Road to Avonlea, which is a series featuring the town Anne was a part of, though she's not in the show at all.

This is a Japanese cartoon adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk. I don't know what it is about it, but I think I will always remember watching this film. It's not traumatizing or overly weird, I felt more hypnotized than anything while watching it. It's just like any other film, but I just re-watched it recently after about a 15 year gap of having no seen it and I was hit with huge wave of nostalgia, every line and song and movement was familiar. I thought it was just me of course as I am sometimes told that I have a very esoteric taste in' everything, but after browsing through some forums I discovered that almost everyone who watched this film when they were younger loved it intensely and it has affected them in someway or another. And as I re-watched it I'd have to say that I agree with the sentiment.

The story is a familiar one. A poor boy and his mother live in a little shack of a house trying to make ends meet when one day their cow stops giving milk. The mother sends the boy, Jack, to the market to get a decent price for it. On the way to the market however, the boy is intercepted by a man playing weird piano (the note from which I can always remember so clearly as they were so queer), who convinces him to take a handful of magic beans in exchange for the cow. His mother is furious and throws the beans out the window, and after disciplining Jack, goes to bed. In the night the beanstalk grows and a little mouse comes running down it. The mouse motions to Jack's dog of trouble up the beanstalk and Jack comes out of the house marvelling at what had grown in his backyard. Jack, his dog, and the mouse all climb up the beanstalk. When they get to the top they come out of an old well in the courtyard of a castle and see this girl standing there watching them with an oddly vacant expression. She is the princess of castle and she tells Jack of the joy she will have when she marries her beloved prince Tulip. Jack soon discovers that Tulip is a giant and that his mother is an evil witch who is trying become queen by enchanting the princess to want to marry her son. Jack then faces the dilemma of whether or not to help the princess or leave with his gold.

I enjoyed the characters a lot, but what I like about it is there are two stories going on at the same time, one involving people and one with animals. Jack can't understand what any of the animals say and he doesn't even pay much attention to them most of the time because he's busy with his own plot line and agenda, but there are animals throughout the movie and the all have very vibrant personalities. Even the audience can't understand what they're saying, but through movements and expressions you can tell what they're trying to say. A lot of story lines with both people and animals bridge the gap between them and let them talk to each other or let the audience understand them if the people in the film don't. The animals in this film actually have their own sub-plot.

The music in this movie is captivating. It's not an award-winning score by any means, but there is just something odd about it that catches at one's interest. It's not quite unsettling, but it doesn't fade into the background either. The music is definitely one of the aspect that will draw you into the film to make you love it. The characters are good and the plot is very interesting, but the music is what will get you. The artwork too. There's just something about the movements of the characters and the setting, especially in the castle.

As I said, this isn't the best movie I've ever seen, nor is it even the best Jack and the Beanstalk story I've heard. Despite that, this is the kind of film that you'll remember after you've grown up. I don't know what exactly it is about it, but I do know that I enjoy watching it and will probably try to obtain it at some point on dvd.

This is the story of a young boy named Brendan who lives with him uncle who is the head of the monastery, Kells. They are living in a time where invaders are pillaging and killing small villages and Brendan's uncle is obsessed with building a wall he thinks will keep them out. He has forbidden Brendan from ever travelling outside of the walls. Then another monk, brother Aiden, comes to Kells and he is the holder of a book that has the most amazing illuminations in it. The book is supposed to change with life of anyone who reads it, but it isn't finished yet. Brendan's uncle has also forbade Brendan and the other monks from doing any illumination because he wanted everyone to be as consumed with the building of the wall as he was. When brother Aiden came however, he inspired Brendan to want to see his illuminations. Aiden sent Brendan into the forest to find berries he needed to make ink, and he went. This was Brendan's first rebellions against his uncle and he was very nervous and got lost in the forest. There he meets a wolf who turns into a girl, named Ashley. She's a fairy and befriends and helps Brendan. On the way back to the monastery they come across an evil presence which we deal with later. So Brendan studies illumination under the tutelage of Aiden and things are progressing quite well until Aiden realized he lost a glass that helps him do the most intricate work, and the name of the glass shares the name of the evil presence Brendan and Ashley passed in the forest. So Brendan takes it upon himself to fight this beast for the sake of the book that will change the world.

This film is a visual masterpiece. Everything is geometrical. At first glance the animation looks juvenile and simple, but the scenes are so well laid out and intricate. The characters are very geometrical in nature, and when they run in a group they form a single shape. The cracks or shapes in between objects or objects themselves are all patterned.

One flaw I found in the film was that the monks were all of different nationalities and the portrayal of their different nationalities was really racist, almost offensively so. They weren't a large part of the film though, so it didn't bother me as much as they would have if they'd played a larger role.

This is a cute story about a little gypsy named Cinnamon who is free-spirited and fun. She can play musical instruments and dance with bears, but what Cinnamon has always wanted is to see what it's like to be a real princess. One day her wish is answered when a princess comes to get her fortune told by Cinnamon. The princess is so entertained by Cinnamon that she invites her to come live in the palace. Cinnamon goes to live at the palace obviously and delights in the fancy dresses and parties, but after a while she starts to feel sad and misses the freedom she had as a gypsy. The princess soon tires of her and gets new companions and the gypsy girl starts to feel very homesick. So one day instead of letting the maid dress and fuss over her, she leaves the palace in search of her home. She finds the bear she used to dance with and takes down her hair hoping he'll recognize her, and of course he does and they begin to dance.

This is a great story for young girls because, especially for the 'girly' girls, being a princess is such a big deal. They dress up as princesses, obsess over Disney princesses, and want so badly to be a princess themselves, and it's good to let them explore that part of their imagination. It is also important to let them see or realize the goodness in themselves that they may not necessarily need to be a princess to be great, though playing can be fun.

This is an adorable book. The story opens with a little boy who talks about how very badly he wants a pet, and of all the pets, a dog is the best pet of all. It is fun, cuddly and it plays with you. So the boy outs an ad in the paper for a dog to be his pet. Far away a duck who lives on a hill-top is very lonely. He reads the ad in the news paper and decides he will try to be the perfect pet for this boy. He disguises himself as a dog and goes to meet his new owner. When he gets there the boy is overjoyed to finally have a dog all his own and takes it out to play immediately. He notices however that his dog isn't really good at doing regular doggy things such as play fetch or run around and soon the duck is revealed for who he truly is. The boy is somewhat dismayed to learn that his dog was in fact a duck and goes inside. The duck is of course heart-broken and dejectedly goes in to find the boy reading a book, the encyclopedia. The boy looked up what ducks can do and made a list of all of the good things about ducks and tells the duck that he is the perfect pet for him. And they're both happy.

This story is adorable. The illustrations are so cute and they compliment the story line so well. The story is about seeing the good in what you have and what comes your way, even if it's not exactly as you expected it, and it's told in a way that makes it a touching read for both young and old.

Miri, named for a small flower that grows in the mountains, is a 14-year-old girl who lives in a mountain village. All of the people in the village work in the mountains to quarry the precious rock, which they in turn barter for food with traders from the lowlands. Everyone work in the quarry. Men, women and children all have a role to play, whether it's mining, cutting, or even delivering water to people busily hammering away, everyone except Miri that is. Her father has forbidden her to work with the rest of the village in the quarry and Miri believes this is because she is so much smaller and weaker than everyone else, so she has always felt somewhat left out. All is normal in the small village until one trading day when along with the lowland traders comes an emissary from the royal palace saying that all of the girls in the village would have to attend a princess academy because the prince would be choosing one of them to be the new princess. As is tradition in the kingdom, the royal oracles have a vision that tells them which village the next princess will come from. There is then a princess academy opened up in that area to prepare the eligible young girls to meet the prince and have him choose one of them. Up until this moment however, Miri's village had never heard of this tradition. The only real contact they have with the rest of the kingdom is through the traders. Miri and several of the other girls go to a makeshift school some distance away from the village and are taught to read as well as think and act like polished young ladies found in a royal court. Miri, as well as several of the other girls enjoy learning these new things and realize just how far removed their little village was from the rest of the kingdom and just how much they did not know. As the girls learn more and the day the prince will come gets closer, the competition between the girls get fierce and Miri feels more alone than she ever has in her life. Despite this, Miri remains strong and even finds some unexpected friendships. Trouble falls upon the girls and Miri takes it upon herself to save both herself and the girls from the danger.

Miri is a spunky heroine. Because she is so small she acts larger than life. She can be kind of mouthy at times and you can picture her as one of those tiny people who never stop talking. There are moments when her personality is almost too big to be believable and kind of obnoxious, but the author does a good job of stopping at that point. There is a thin line between spunky and obnoxious and though Miri has moments of coming close to being obnoxious, she is mostly just high- spirited. She is a proactive heroine which is great. She always tries to make the situations she is in work for her. She doesn't just stand for injustice or bullying, she acts in a way that will best accomplish what she is ultimately after, which is surprisingly not the prince. Miri is interested in the prince, but she's not boy-crazy. She actually gets more out of learning at the academy than she does preparing for the prince and actually uses her knowledge to help her village. In many of these prince princess stories the heroine is insanely in love with the prince and want to become a princess, but Miri notes practically that she's never even met the prince. As the story progresses Miri thinks more and more that she wouldn't mind being picked by the prince, but this is because she wants to see more of the world and not so much because she's in love with the title. In that sense the heroine reminded me of the heroines of the Alanna series by Pierce and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Wrede.

The story also really promoted education. As Miri learns more and more her desire to learn becomes voracious and she tries to learn as much as she can. She then applies what she learned to various situations, and this can really help children see the wonder in learning and the reason we learn things. A common complaint I've heard in school is that the kids don't know why they're learning what they're learning. This book could be an inspiration of sorts to these kinds of kids, more to girls than boys due to the subject matter.

Overall I think this was a good read. It isn't ground breaking topic-wise, but the heroine has a back-bone. The story isn't an adventure, but there is action, danger, suspense, and a little bit of romance. The story a mix between a fantasy and a Victorian novel for kids. Pretty good read.

This was one of the most well-crafted, imaginative, adventurous, addicting show's I've seen in a long time. It's so well put together and the world they've created is such a fascinating place.

The story takes place in a world where certain groups of people are connected to or have an affinity with a certain element. There are 4 nations all together; fire, water, earth, and air. Some people in these four nations have a special ability to manipulate the element their nation is associated with and these people are called benders. A person can only bend one element, but there is one person called the Avatar who can bend all four elements. The Avatar is reborn into each of the nations in the order of earth, fire, air, water. On the year the avatar is born into the air nation however, he disappears and the fire nation attacks the rest of the world to expand their empire dramatically. For 100 years the avatar is nowhere to be seen until one day two adolescents from the water nation come upon something in the ice. When the girl, Katara, breaks it apart a small boy emerges from the ice with a large flying bison, the boy is the avatar. After a run in with a fire nation raid, wherein we meet the prince of the fire nation, Zuko, the two water nation kids, Saka and Katara, go with the avatar to help him learn the four elements and become a fully realized avatar. This isn't as easy as it seems however. The fire nation has become a wide-spread terror and they are looking for the avatar to kill him. They have wiped out the entire air nation in hopes of killing the avatar, but missed Aang as he was buried in an ice block. The three go around world inspiring hope in those who have lost it, and becoming stronger as they learn more about themselves and the people they come across. There are three seasons in total; Book One: Water, Book Two: Earth, Book Three: Fire, and with each season Aang works on learning a new element and someone joins the group.

I think this series is so successful because there is real danger. I've read that the creators were fans of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and that definitely shows, not because the story line imitates those stories, because it doesn't, but because there is a definite and real danger that follows Aang and gang (sorry I had to) around. There is the possibility that their enemies will catch up with them and if that happens, the avatar will never become fully realized and the fire nation will terrorize and enslave the rest of the world forever. The entire world is resting on their shoulders. And yet it isn't too serious or depressing. There are several really funny scenes and for the most part the series is very up beat.

The character development is great also. At the beginning of the series Aang is so carefree and fun-loving, Saka is so cautious and prejudiced, and they remain that way for the entire series but as more and more things happen to them we see them mature. They still keep their vitality and energy, Aang is always optimistic and Saka, though he's the comic relief, is always something of a buzz kill, but they grow from their experiences and become a little bit wiser with each encounter. The same thing with Katara, but her transformation isn't as apparent. In the entire series, she is the character that is the beacon of hope for all whom she meets. She always believes that any situation is possible and that the world will be saved and that all people are or can be essentially good. Many instances in the series she stops the journey to help someone who has lost hope or who is being taken advantage or abused, despite the rest of the group's urgings to push on. Their adventure began by Katara first breaking Aang out of the ice and then insisting on journeying with him. She's more practical and almost motherly compared the other characters, but she is also the gutsiest of the group and is most likely to do what is right no matter the consequences. She is also a very strong female character, which is hard to find many tv shows, for both kids and adults. If there is action the woman is either wilting and useless or hard-hearted and ruthless. There is rarely a female character that displays a quiet strength in the way Katara does. She's one of my favourite characters. Toph, a character in the later seasons, has just as much inner strength as Katara, but again displays that differently. She is a little more rough around the edges, and is blind, which I thought was great because blind people are rarely main characters, and if they are their blindness is most often seen as a weakness or a crutch. But many times Toph's blindness is a strength, as she has used that handicap to heighten other senses. Many times I forgot that she was blind. She also grows immensely, more emotionally than anything else.

The animation is good, if somewhat childish. Basically the animation is presumably targeting an elementary aged audience, and the content is appropriate for that level. However this somewhat underplays the show's potential for an older audience. Many people I've spoken to have heard of the show, but haven't watched it because it looked like a kid's show, which of course it is, but then again so is Harry Potter and that has a world-wide audience of all ages. The characters are rich and multi-faceted. I won't go into too much detail so as not to spoil anything, but the characters' growth as well as characters' break downs are very well done. Also, the ways the creators thought of using the bending was really ingenious and well thought out. My favourite example of this I cannot tell you, because if you're watching the show and think as I do, when you discover that part it will blow you mind with awesome a little bit. For those who have seen the show it's the part in the third season when Katara meets that old woman. This may just be my inner nerd breaking free, but it's pretty cool to say the least. So bottom line, if you haven't seen this show you should. It has adventure, romance, heart-break, combat, political intrigue, and magic. A little bit of something for everyone.

Also, the movie fails in comparison.