Tales as old as time come to life in this enchanting assortment of animated feature films.
Multicom put out a new DVD with old stories retold with new cartoons. Mind you, the stories do not even attempt to follow the original cartoons. I’m all for theatrical license, but if someone takes the time to changes something, possibly for the purpose of improving upon something already created, they should do some justice to the original. This edition of the classics fails in almost every way possible.
The disc attempts to recreate “The Jungle Book,” “Cinderella,” “The Legend of Snow White,” and “Simba.” I want to be completely honest. I sat through all of Jungle and Cinderella before the disc ran out of steam at Snow White. The first two were bearable, but even the writers were gone by the time we got to Simba. You have no idea how badly they ruined “The Lion King” nor do you want to find out. Let’s start in the Jungle.
If you manage to get past the mediocre cartoons, you will find a distorted version of Mowgli living out his formative years in the Jungle with a bear named Baloo. Yes, some names are the same as was the basic premise. In this version, Mowgli is stolen by a bad kitty, Shere Khan, where wolves took him into their pack. Unlike the Disney version, you won’t find any laughs just poignant drama. The remake wouldn’t be bad if the cartoons lived up to the Disney quality or even a step or two down!
The Cinderella story I enjoyed, much to my surprise. Hearing the inner thoughts of our friend Cindy definitely brought a new element to the story. Even the stepsister changed. Their passive-aggressive treatment of Cindy made more sense than the Disney portrayal. However, everything else about the cartoon fell flat with no laughter or obnoxious cat to scorn.
Snow White for some unknown reason meets her prince multiple times before he kisses her to wake her from slumber. The story takes dreary to a new level. As this movie is made for young children, only put on Snow White if you want your child to fall asleep. If they wake up, play Simba, all two hours of it, and they will pass back out. I promise! Simba somehow lived in both the forest and the jungle. If you figure it out, let me know as I think I fell asleep a few minutes in with the nonsensical plot streaming as white noise in the background. Good grief.
The case comes with six additional animated adventures vaguely resembling Disney cartoons if you use the digital redemption code. I can’t imagine anyone would bother once they watch the over six hours of the first four cartoons. You might just make the trip back to Walmart to get your money back. Yes, it’s really that bad. I would watch this version of “Cinderella” with my preteen daughter as she likes anime and the cartoons vaguely resemble Japanese anime. She might find some interest in this sulky version of a princess movie. Otherwise, the disc doesn’t even deserve a spot in my DVD cabinet. Save your money and get the Disney versions. What good is a cartoon with no laughs? None, I tell you. None at all especially when it’s supposed to at least moderately entertain children long enough for mom to get some work done.
Now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment
