Return to the hundred acre wood in an all-new animated feature that brings back some of the most beloved animated characters from our childhood. Winnie, Tigger, Eyeore, Piglet and everyone else return. Craig Ferguson joins the cast as Owl, and John Cleese narrates the stories, with original music by Zooey Deschanel.

The film is split up into a few different stories, based on the original A.A. Milne books which provided inspiration for the interlinking plots of the movie. Pooh and friends set out to “rescue” Christopher Robin after assuming he’s been abducted by a creature in the forest, all of this while on the search for honey and Eeyore’s missing tail.

It’s refreshing to see a feature film that is, not only actual animation, but entertaining and genuinely funny.

Owl Explains \”The Backson\”

The Blu-Ray offers up a host of features, including deleted scenes and a sing-a-long function that lets you (you guessed it!) sing along with the great songs from the film! I also love the “Ballad of Nessie” short film about the Loch Ness Monster as well as the Winnie the Pooh short, “The Balloon” in which Winnie tries to fool a group of bees so he can get his honey. The best part of the film, to me, is the coda after the credits. So when you pick up the film, be sure not to miss it! It will keep you laughing.

At 68 minutes, the film is great for kids and families, or just the young at heart. It’s a great story that keeps you laughing, especially as Cleese talks to Winnie through the narration. And with October being National Honey Month, what better way to celebrate than picking up Winnie the Pooh on Blu-Ray when it released October 25?

You can also get some great honey recipes to go along with the film, just by clicking the banner below!

Winnie the Pooh comes to DVD and Blu-Ray October 25th. Pre-order yours today from Disney DVD.

Winnie the Pooh Trailer

The best installment since the original, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” takes us away from the first trilogy and in search of the Fountain of Youth. It’s a return to the fun we first saw nearly ten years ago with Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm. This time around, Jack travels from caves to jungles encountering Mermaids and even the pirate Blackbeard himself (played by Ian McShane) and Penelope Cruz as Angelica.

 

The film is not lost on Blu-Ray, either. The behind the scenes look at the latest installment in the franchise gives glimpses of how everything came together during production. Great featurettes like “In Search of the Fountain” and “Under the Scene” show the work that went into Pirates 4. Careful detail went into this release during filming, and it shows through these mini-documentaries.

 

Disney also offers up the Second Screen on this outing, which gives users with iPads access to even more in-depth coverage on another display while the film is happening. I admit this can be distracting at times but it is a very technological treat that gives you more bang for your buck. If anything, all these features show you how much more went into this fourth film than the two previous sequels that were more shock and awe than story and fun. Packed with deleted and extended scenes, the Blu-Ray is a vast volume that once again shows that Disney goes the extra mile for its fans.

 

Personal favorite on the Blu-Ray is the Bloopers of the Caribbean, the Lego animated featurette of Captain Jack’s Brick Tales. Also, the director’s commentary is a great treat for learning about how the idea of the film came about and became a reality with Johnny Depp reprising his role.

It’s this week’s choosy pick, and you can get your copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides from Disney DVD.

On Stranger Tides Trailer

 

Not me.  That’s for Sure.

Back in the mid-eighties it seemed that whatever animations companies threw against the wall stuck. It didn’t matter what these guys did, kids seemed to eat it up. Of course, from a business standpoint at the time it was all to promote toy lines.

The most popular properties among kids (after Star Wars) were GI Joe, Transformers, He-Man, and Thundercats. I really think that’s true and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the order of popularity by sells and ratings.

In an effort to capitalize on the success of those most popular properties and products, other lines were launched that were in someway comparable. The answer to Transformers? Go Bots. The answer to GI Joe? Maybe M.A.S.K. The answer to He-Man? I’m not really sure there was a proper answer to He-Man unless it was the Thundercats, but they became so successful that they demanded an answer to their success. Enter The Silverhawks.

The Silverhawks had a lot of similarities to the Tundercats. Instead of organic cat/human amalgams, the Silverhawks seemed to be bionic in nature.

There was the tried and true team line up including a nearly perfect leader of the team, a female counterpart, a strong guy, a kid, and a rocker..uhm…country singer…uhm…he had a guitar.

The villains were the classic big scary guys that tended to screw up a lot with a super scary and vastly superior boss. In this case, the boss actually went through a transformation just like Mum-Ra in Thundercats. I guess that’s what makes them seem so similar.

The Silverhawks were like space police. They took assignments from a leader with a bionic arm and everything.

Of course, at the end of every episode was a lesson of some sort usually featuring the child of the team (who only talked in beeps and whistles) and the cowboy guitar playing guy. These would teach a moral or safety lesson a la GI Joe or He-Man or even a science lesson.

While the Silverhawks never rose to the popularity of He-Man or the Thundercats, they were there and as a kid I enjoyed them and thought they had a great theme song. I don’t know why I thought so then, but it seemed to rock out more to me than any other. Looking at it all through the eyes of an adult though? I’m not so sure…I still love it…just not sure it rocks as hard as I once thought it did.

I’m glad Silverhawks are getting the DVD treatment, now bring on some of those other lesser remembered titles – Turbo Teen, Pac Man, Orbots, and Go Bots.

Use the link below to check it out, and maybe even purchase it from Amazon and support the site.