Belle’s Magical World (1998)

“Beauty and the Beast” was a smash hit for Disney, and I can see wanting to capitalize on that success as much as possible. This thinking brought us “Belle’s Magical World,” a movie comprised of a series of stories that supposedly took place between Belle’s arrival at the castle and the Beast’s magical transformation back into a prince. All of the characters are still household items, and there are more of them than ever before, making me wonder – just how many servants worked in that castle, anyway? I’m being a little more cynical than this movie really deserves – … Continue reading →

The Jungle Book 2 (2003)

At the end of “The Jungle Book,” we saw Mowgli lured into the Man Village by a beautiful girl with large brown eyes. As we begin “The Jungle Book 2,” we find that her name was Shanti, and she and her family have taken Mowgli in and given him a home. Shanti’s parents have done everything they can to make him feel more comfortable and welcome, and her little brother Ranjan practically worships him, but despite all this, Mowgli still misses his jungle life. It doesn’t make it any easier that he’s forbidden to cross the river – his new … Continue reading →

Inspector Gadget (1999)

I grew up watching the cartoon, so when I saw that the adventures of the lovable cyber-sleuth had been made into a movie, I was excited to see it. The jury’s still out on what I thought of it – perhaps writing this review will help crystallize my opinion. Matthew Broderick stars as John Brown, a security guard who longs to be a real policeman. He is the guardian of Penny, a pre-teen girl with a puppy named Brain, and he lives a simple, uncomplicated life, watching over the laboratory owned by Dr. Brenda Bradford (Joely Fisher) and her father, … Continue reading →

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002)

I’m rather pleased to say that I didn’t hate “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II” as much as I did the first film. With the death of Frollo, many of the evil influences left as well, and we were given a story with suspense rather than demons. A good trade, I think. Quasimodo still lives in the cathedral, ringing the bells. But his life is dramatically different. He’s now accepted by the people of Paris and has the freedom to go to the town square without fear of what everyone will say. He participates in the festivals and shops in … Continue reading →

The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

Do appliances think? And if so, what do they think about you as their owner? Apparently, it’s pretty easy for those lovable hunks of metal to get attached. Such is certainly the case with a toaster, radio, electric blanket, lamp and vacuum cleaner that live in a summer vacation cabin. Their master, a little red-haired boy named Rob, hasn’t been back to the cabin for a while, and the appliances are beginning to wonder if they’ll ever see him again. When they hear that the cabin and all the contents are to be sold, these five friends decide to set … Continue reading →

Ratatouille (2007)

Let me preface this review by saying that although this movie is gorgeously done animation by director and writer Brad Bird (The Incredibles 2004), this fairytale about a Remy the Rat’s dreams of being a master chef coming true does have one significant problem for parents. The animation is so well done that the scenes of the rats fleeing one home at the beginning or swarming together to help Remy towards the end are so very well done that it was nauseating. It was like actually watching a tidal wave of rats and I’m sorry Disney and Pixar – you … Continue reading →

Flubber (1997)

“Flubber” is a remake of the old Fred MacMurray film, “The Absent-Minded Professor,” but Robin Williams, in the role of Phillip Brainard, takes absent-minded to a whole new level. He’s even spaced off his own wedding twice, and as the movie begins, his patient fiancé Sara (Marcia Gay Harden) is preparing to give it one more go that very night. With the school where they both teach on the brink of financial ruin, it’s a grim time, but a wedding will be just the thing to pull them out of the doldrums. Phillip has been working for two years on … Continue reading →

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)

Released in the year 2000, “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea” tells us the story of Melody, daughter of Ariel and Eric. Soon after Melody’s birth, the proud parents took her on a ship out into the ocean so she could meet her grandpa, King Triton. But Morgana, the jealous sister of Ursula, shows up, determined to take Triton’s trident and rule the waters herself, hoping to wreak her revenge for Ursula’s death. She takes the baby and makes a deal with Triton: the trident for the child. He’s ready to turn it over, but Ariel won’t have … Continue reading →

The Lion King 1 ½ (2004)

“The Lion King 1 ½” is my favorite out of the three “Lion King” movies, mostly because of the sheer comedic genius of Nathan Lane, who voices Timon the meerkat. He’s hysterical, and he makes the movie. In this film, we get to see what was happening even before Simba was born. Timon was an outcast in his meerkat town. He couldn’t do anything he was asked to do – he was flighty and irresponsible. He caused many a cave-in of the meerkat tunnels, and other disasters too numerous to mention. His mother feared he’d never make a decent meerkat, … Continue reading →

Dinosaur (2000)

In this sweeping 2000 computer animated film, we get caught up in the prehistoric world of the dinosaurs. An unhatched dinosaur egg is stolen from its nest and carried off to an island inhabited by lemurs, where it is adopted by a cute little lemur family. The father of the lemur family is worried that taking in a strange animal will be harmful to the group, but as the baby dinosaur hatches and looks up at him with big, soft eyes, he can’t help but accept the fact that this baby is here to stay. Years go by and the … Continue reading →