|
|
Rating:  - Skip this DVD - not suitable for children
I picked this DVD up at Target yesterday for my 4 and 2 year olds. This DVD was very disturbing to my children. With all the violence, typical also of Warner Brothers, it really should be rated PG-13. First of all, the 1950's was an era (error) of celebrating violence and bullying as fun and comedy. As a child growing up with this too in the 1960's, I never thought it was funny either. I did not like getting bullied at school and I'm sure that kids didn't like it when I beat the hell out of them either after getting bullied. But this is what I learned from such shows as Popeye, etc.
Review of each short:
First Aiders was fairly ok and was more just teasing, but with some unfortunate events that resulted.
Bath Day promotes gang violence (gang of cats) and was very scary to my children.
Pluto and Gopher were ok, but Minnie's home is destroyed.
Figaro and Frankie absolutely terrified my kids with Butch the Bulldog's teeth and fangs enlarged full screen. My daughter was dismayed that Minnie was crying after she thought her pet bird, Frankie, had been killed and eaten by the cat, Figaro. My daughter said "Mickey's crying." At this point, my 4 year old told pushed the EJECT button, and said he didn't like this DVD. We won't be watching it again.
I know a lot of people have posted positive reviews on this DVD as they have happy memories of watching these cartoons as children. I didn't grow up seeing any of these, and have no attachments and can view them more objectively because of that. These simply are not appropriate for children as they are comedy based on negative behaviors (hitting, chasing, teasing, lying, pretending to be innocent, gang violence and bullying). Not good messages for kids. As an exhausted mom who has done no less than 1000 time-outs for my kids for when they hit over last 3 years, I do not appreciate them viewing a DVD that promotes this behavior. I realize it's human nature to hurt others unfortunately, but the victim does not find it funny at all and it's not funny to watch. Stick with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse series instead. I record those to TIVO and we have the GREAT CLUBHOUSE HUNT DVD. These are modernized and there is no violence or disrespect promoted.
Other DVD's I recommend for young children (I have all in each series almost so have specified the best):
Maisy (Good Morning, Good Night & Playtime)
Dora the Explorer (Fairytale Advertures and Dora saves the Mermaids are best)
Bob the Builder (Snowed Under & Build It and They Will Come are best ones)
Teletubbies (all but Here Come the Teletubbies is favorite with kids)
Winnie the Pooh (all 4 in Friendship Series)
The Alphabet Train
Wiggles Big Red Car (don't bother with other DVDs that duplicate)
Cars (except for some language like "stupid", "idiot" and "moron")
Ratatouille (except for gun fire by old woman trying to kill mice)
Leap Frog (5 pack Factory Series)
Baby Einstein (box set of 15 - I got mine off eBay for $[...] as hard to find)
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hunt
Barney Let's Play School
Thomas the Tank Engine Calling All Engines
Angelina Ballerina The Silver Locket
Kipper (all of them are loved by my kids)
Hope my recommendations help. We are about to view Stuart Little 2 and Charlotte's Web and will review those next.
Rating:  - Really cute cartoons
This is a sweet DVD with classic Mickey Cartoons. These older cartoons (from the 1940's - 1960's) are really cute and a lot less violent then Looney Tunes. Older kids might find them too tame, but my 4 year old daughter absolutley loves them and watches them all of the time. My only complaint is that Disney could have fit more cartoons on the disc. They have a whole series and obviously want you to buy more!
Rating:  - These Are Good...
We bought this DVD to watch with our granddaughter when she is at our house.Kiersten enjoys watching Disney cartoons and Mickey Mouse and Pluto are some of her favorites.She particularly liked the episodes with Figaro(the little kitten)and Mickey's Delayed Date.The title is a bit misleading though.Mickey and Minnie were together on only 3 of the cartoons.I also thought that Pluto was Mickey's dog,but in several of these cartoons he appeared to be Minnie's dog.We still enjoyed watching these.The DVD is 57 minutes long,8 cartoons.We bought this at Best Buy for $9.99.
Rating: - A Must for any Figaro Fan
I love these classic disney shorts. I've collected all of the "Walt Disney Treasures" and all of the "Classic Cartoon Favorites" as well. Yes, many of them are duplicates and can cause some annoyance to some veiwers. However, for a collector who is serious about watching and/or owning all the disney shorts from the 1920's through the 1960's, these DVDs are the only ones worth considering investing in.
"Best Pals: Mickey & Minnie" has got to be my favorite of the "Classic Cartoon Favorties" series. This DVD has four cartoons that repeat in the "Walt Disney Treasures" series, yes, but they are among the best that do. There are four brand new cartoons to the DVD series' and I must say that are by far one of the most enjoyable shorts yet. Two of them alone are straight up figaro; cartoons I've never seen before. There's not many Figaro cartoons out there, but in on this DVD alone, you will get four.
I have to admit I was a little sceptical about buying DVDs and even more so this wave due to the overwhelming duplication in the past. However, the cartoons on these discs are becoming more and more of the popular ones and of the rariest ones, as well. If you have not bought any of the discs from the "Classic Cartoon Favorites" collection, this latest wave of DVDs will be one everyone surely will enjoy. The "Best Pals" edition of this series (Volumes 10 through 12) are well worth the investment this time around.
Rating: - GOOD SHORTS...MORE DISNEY DUPLICATION THOUGH
Disney is releasing yet another wave of DVD shorts which can be a positive or a negative. From a negative point of view, several of these shorts can already be found in the Disney Treasures Mickey in Color sets 1 or 2 or the Disney Treasures Pluto set. So if you have those then there really isn't a lot of value in buying this set. On the other hand, a few of the shorts are not on those sets and haven't been released on DVD as of yet. This gets right down to the problem with Disney. I don't know why they didn't do the Mickey shorts in chronological order like they did with Donald Duck. Of course, it's more than likely an insidious plot on their part to make us spend even more money. That will be up to you to determine if this set is worth $15 to get only four shorts that are new. If you own the Disney Treasures sets, I would say no, unless you're a completist.
Now, don't get me wrong, these are solid shorts, but make sure you know the title is Best Pals as a few of these are Pluto and Figaro the cat shorts.
First Aiders - Minnie's learning first aid; she asks Pluto and Figaro for help. Pluto keeps throwing Figaro into buckets and otherwise getting him into trouble. Then, when Minnie has Pluto all trussed up in splints, Figaro taunts him.
Bath Day - Minnie gives Figaro a bath and ties a ribbon around his neck. Figaro feels like a sissy, and when he mixes it up with some alley cats, they mock him, and the leader attacks. But Figaro is so afraid that his shaking topples a series of trash cans onto the aggressor. The rest of the cats didn't see this happen, and think Figaro defeated their leader. Of course, now he's all dirty, and he needs another bath...
Pluto and the Gopher - A gopher sucks a flower into his hole, waking up Pluto. He chases the critter, but gets scolded by Minnie for digging up her flower bed. She pots the flower he dug up, and unknowingly includes the gopher in the pot, which she carries inside. The frustrated gopher digs under the rug, which wakes Pluto up again. This is his turf, and he manages to toy with the gopher for a while, until it climbs into a fireplace bellows.
Figaro and Frankie - Figaro the kitten is annoyed by the chirpings of Frankie the canary. He knocks over Frankie's cage; Minnie thinks he's eaten Frankie and throws him out. But Frankie was only hiding, and flies out the window straight into the clutches of Butch the bulldog. Figaro wrestles with his conscience (literally), but ultimately saves Frankie and gets thanks from Minnie..
Mickey's Rival - Minnie's old friend, Mortimer Mouse, drops in on Mickey and Minnie's picnic. His practical jokes and coming on to Minnie soon have Mickey stewing, and their car isn't happy either. When Mortimer gets a nearby bull enraged and takes off, the car comes to the rescue after Mickey gets tangled up in a red blanket.
The Nifty Nineties - Mickey courts Minnie in the Gay Nineties: they take in a vaudeville show and go for a drive in his horseless carriage, to the strains of "While Strolling Through the Park" and "In the Good Old Summertime". Goofy rides by on a penny-farthing bicycle, and the whole Duck family rides by on a bicycle built for five.
Pluto's Sweater - Minnie has just finished knitting a sweater that, to the horror of Pluto and the amusement of Figaro, is for Pluto. He's thrown outside and has to hide from his buddies. He then has problems getting tangled up in the sweater. Then he goes in a lake, and the sweater barely covers his head. Minnie is reading the book "The Hooded Monster" when Pluto pops up and scares her, then she's crushed that the sweater has shrunk so small until Pluto points out it's now the perfect size for Figaro.
Mickey's Delayed Date - Mickey oversleeps; Minnie calls from the dance he should be at. He dresses quickly and makes a mad dash for the dance hall, but what he doesn't realize is that the tickets have dropped out of the envelope Pluto brought to him. Pluto sees the tickets and races to meet Mickey, but he ends up rolling Mickey in a trash can. This trashes his suit, but it works out, because the dance is a "hard times" costume party. And Pluto shows up in the nick of time with the tickets, saving the day.
|
|