Blu-ray Review: Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection

Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 18, 2015
Retail: $39.99
ASIN: B00WU5B494
Running Time: 79 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this week is Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection, featuring 12 celebrated Disney Shorts, including Frozen Fever!

The only bonus feature is @DisneyAnimaton - An inside look at the process of developing and producing a short. Hosted by actor - T.J. Miller (voice of "Fred" in Big Hero 6).

Frozen Fever! is the sequel to 2013's mega-hit Frozen with the returning voice-cast of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. The short centers on Elsa planning a big surprise party for her sister Anna, but there is a slight problem - Elsa is catching a cold. It features a new cute song - Making Today a Perfect Day.

Last year's Feast centers on Winston, a Boston Terrier puppy that enjoys life with his bachelor owner James. He especially likes that he gets to eat all the junk food that he wants to that is until James gets a girlfriend and she forever changes their diets. It won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject at the 42nd Annie Awards and an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

Mickey Mouse returned to the big screen in the 2013's Get A Horse! The short blends black-and-white hand-drawn animation and color CGI animation along with archival recordings of Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse. It starts out as a short from the 1920s and eventually Mickey pops out of the screen in 3D.

Paperman was the first Disney short to win an Academy Award in 43 years. Directed by John Kahrs, it blended traditional animation with computer animation. Set in the 1940s, the short tells the tale of a man who's trying to get the attention of a woman that is across the street in the another building. To do so, he makes paper airplanes and tosses out the window in the hope that it will go through the other building's window and land in her lap.

Tangled Ever After is the sequel to 2010's Tangled, which shows the royal wedding of Rapunzel and Eugene Fitzherbert, well that is if Pascal and Maximus can recover the wedding rings that they had lost. The duo race across the kingdom in the hope of retrieving the rings before the wedding ceremony ends.

Disney puts their spin on the Loch Ness monster myth in 2011's The Ballad Of Nessie, which uses traditionally animation. The short shows that Nessie is a friendly creature that is best friends with her rubber duck MacQuack. Her is life is destroyed when a land developer puts a golf course over her pond. Nessie must pack her bags and go on a quest to find a new home.

Prep & Landing - Operation: Secret Santa is a short that aired on ABC in 2010 along with the Prep & Landing Christmas Special. The short involves Wayne and Lanny being sent on an special assignment by Mrs. Claus to retrieve a box from Santa’s secret workshop, but they must accomplish their mission without waking up Santa.

Tick Tock Tale tells the story of a clockmaker that tries to fix a broken clock, but is unable to do fix it, so he puts a figurine on top it and marks down the price before turning in for the night. What he doesn't know is that when his shop is closed, the clocks come to life. The broken clock tries its best to get the figurine off. Suddenly, a thief breaks into the store and the broken clock must become a hero.

Goofy returns to the big screen in 2007's How To Hook Up Your Home Theater. In this short, the loveable Goofy head to an electronic store to purchase a new home entertainment system, which he buys about everything. He returns home in attempt to set everything up before the football game starts, but it turns into a complete disaster.

The Little Matchgirl was originally attended to be featured in the canceled third Fantasia film. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story entitled The Little Girl with the Matches, the short is set in Russia and tells the tale of an orphan young girl trying to sell matches during a harsh winter.

Another short that would have appeared in the third Fantasia film is Lorenzo, which tells the tale of a cat being cursed by a black cat. Lorenzo's own tail comes to life and he is desperate to get rid of his it! It won the 2005 Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject.

The last short is John Henry, which was featured in Disney's American Legends. Directed by Mark Henn, the short retold the story of John Henry and his race against a steam drill.

Besides from Tangled Ever After, I had never seen any of these shorts before watching the Blu-ray over the weekend. While I'm not the biggest Frozen fan, Frozen Fever! was a delight to watch, though my favorites from this release was Feast, Tick Tock Tale, Paperman and The Little Matchgirl. All the other shorts are entertaining, especially the How To Hook Up Your Home Theater, which was a throwback to the old Goofy shorts. Overall, the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection is a must have for any animation fan. Both children and adults will enjoy watching all the shorts.