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Winnie the Pooh on Blu-ray and DVD

November 7, 2011 By

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Winnie the Pooh,”  a delightful romp through the Hundred Acre Wood that is sure to entertain kids of all ages. This is the first new Pooh movie in 35 years! I received the Winnie the Pooh Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy from Disney Home Entertainment to review.

“The entire story takes place in the course of a day,” says director Don Hall. “It’s business as usual in the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh wakes up absolutely famished and he happens to have no honey. So that sets him out on his journey, which is ultimately derailed-first by a contest to find Eeyore a new tail.”

Pooh later finds a note from Christopher Robin that reads: “Gone out. Busy. Back soon.” But then Owl misinterprets the note, proclaiming that the boy has been captured by a creature called a “Backson.” Soon, the whole gang is on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from the imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply hoped to find some honey.

I saw the movie at a special screening during BlogHer this past summer, and I couldn’t wait to share it with my kids, especially my 5 year old daughter. To my surprise, not only did she watch (and love!) it, but my 15 and almost-13 year old sons watched it as well and really enjoyed it. They got a kick out of John Cleese’s narration, Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob) as Rabbit, and Craig Ferguson as Owl. There’s a sequence where Pooh daydreams about a world made of honey that my oldest son thought was amazingly done.

One tip for watching this movie – watch the credits. ALL the credits, because not only do the characters interact with the credits, but then there’s another bit of the movie at the end that is a must-see. Trust me!

I was also thrilled to see that the digital copy, DVD, and Blu-ray are all packed with bonus features. Check these out!

Blu-ray Bonus Features:

  • Exclusive bonus short “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon” – In this charming short, Pooh comes up with a daring plan to get a hold of some honey by fooling a group of bees.
  • “The Ballad of Nessie” – The animated short film included in the theatrical release is the heartwarming tale of how Nessie found her new home in the Loch Ness.
  • “Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too” – A fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film, designed for the whole family. Hosted by John Cleese (narrator of the film), and with occasional help from Pooh himself, this featurette explores Winnie the Pooh?s history from his beginnings as a character in a book, to his continued life in the movies. The filmmakers reveal how they worked to keep the look of the characters and settings in this movie consistent with their first appearances on-screen in 1966. Pooh, being a bear of very little mind, finds much of this confusing, but the Narrator and the filmmakers make it all clear to Pooh – and you!
  • Deleted Scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 5 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit?s Friends and Relations,” “Original Eeyore Intro,” “Original Tigger Intro” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”
  • Sing-Along with the Movie – Follow the red balloon and changing word colors to seven song lyrics featured in the film.
  • Disney Song Selection – “Winnie the Pooh Theme Song,” “The Tummy Song, “A Very Important Thing To Do,” “The Backson Song,” “It?s Gonna Be Great,” “Everything is Honey” and “The Winner Song Finale”.

DVD Bonus Features:

  • “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
  • “The Ballad of Nessie”
  • Deleted scenes introduced by directors, Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “”Rabbit?s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

Movie Download Bonus Features:

  • “Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon”
  • “The Ballad of Nessie”
  • Deleted Scenes introduced directors. Stephen Anderson and Don Hall – 3 deleted scenes including “The Tummy Song,” “Rabbit?s Friends and Relations” and “Pooh Searches for a Tail”

The Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy of Winnie the Pooh as well as the Winnie The Pooh Movie Two-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo in DVD Packaging are available where movies are sold as well as from Amazon.com. Either would make a wonderful holiday gift for a special little one on your list!
 
 

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Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Pack Giveaway from Sam’s Club

October 7, 2011 By

Disney's Tangled Blu-Ray

Every Friday night, we have takeout or frozen pizza, and have video game or movie night, depending on what we’re in the mood for.  We even eat right in the living room, using our coffee table as a makeshift kitchen table, and the kids get to have root beer or lemonade with their pizza, instead of the usual milk. It’s a treat for them, and it’s much less cleanup afterwards!

Thanks to Sam’s Club and Jenn Sbranti (Editor-in-Chief and founder of Hostess with the Mostess), I have some great tips to make Family Movie Night even better. I also have tips I found at About.com for throwing a Rapunzel party to go along with watching Tangled!

1. SETTING THE MOOD
Get creative with a few fun (and EASY!) decorations inspired by your feature presentation. Example: for a Star Wars viewing party, turn off all the lights, hang white string lights across the room and scatter some glow-in-the-dark stars around the coffee table to help bring the “galaxy” to life in your own living room. For a Tangled party, insert battery-operated tea lights or glow sticks inside paper lanterns.

2. DELICIOUS DRINKS
Sip creative, themed drinks inspired by the movie of the night, such as “Yoda Soda” (lime sherbet + lemon-lime soda) or “Frozen Jedi Juice” for a screening of Star Wars.  To make “Frozen Jedi Juice”, partially freeze your favorite flavor of juice or koolaid and serve it “slushy style” from cups embellished with the phrase “May the Freeze be with you.”  For a Tangled party, think of the scene where Flynn and Rapunzel go to the Snuggly Duckling pub, and serve root beer in mugs.

3. THEMED TREATS
Think outside the popcorn box and serve up clever treats named after elements of the movie, such as “Darth Cheddars” (grilled cheese sandwiches) or “Storm Trooper Sundaes“. Make edible “Light Sabers” by dipping pretzel rods in colored candy melts or tinted white chocolate. After the candy has dried, wrap one end of the “light saber” with tin foil to create the “handle”.

For all your Family Movie Night needs, Sam’s Club has great deals on televisions, home theater sound systems, blu-ray players, and of course, drinks and snacks.  Stop by Sam’s Club before your next Family Movie Night to stock up!

WIN IT: Thanks to Sam’s Club, one lucky MomReviews reader will win the Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack!

MAIN ENTRY: For your main entry, visit the Sam’s Club homepage, browse around, then come back and leave a comment telling me something you learned on the site. This must be done before any bonus entries will count.

ENTRY DATES AND RULES: Enter by October 21st 2011 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only. The winner will be chosen using the “And The Winner Is” plugin and emailed for their mailing address and daytime phone number (for package tracking). Shipping will be handled by the PR firm organizing the giveaway. MomReviews is not responsible for lost or stolen prizes.

BONUS ENTRIES: Earn a bonus entry for each of the following that you do or have done. Leave a separate comment for each-

  • Subscribe to the MomReviews feed in a reader or by email using the convenient RSS button in the sidebar. Leave a comment telling me which way you subscribed. (1 entry)
  • Stumble or Digg this post or use any of the social bookmarking buttons at the end of the post to bookmark it. Leave a comment with the URL for EACH site where you bookmarked the post. (1 entry for each site you submit this post to)
  • Like this giveaway on Facebook using the Like button at the bottom of the post, leave a comment letting me know. (1 entry)
  • Add the giveaway URL to any blog contest linky. You get one bonus entry for each site where you link the giveaway! Leave a comment for each that includes the URL of the linky site. (1 entry for each)
  • Follow @MomReviews on Twitter and tweet the giveaway by using the retweet button at the bottom of the post or by copy/pasting this message: I’m entering to win the Tangled Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack from @MomReviews. Ends 10/21, 11:59 pm EST. http://bit.ly/nlqYWM You can tweet once per day, leave a separate comment for each with your tweet URL. (1 entry per day)

THESE ARE WORTH THREE ENTRIES. LEAVE THREE NUMBERED COMMENTS FOR EACH THAT YOU DO:

  • Connect to Me! Become a Google Friend Connect Fan of mine using the button in the footer and let me know in each comment
  • Network with Me! If you use NetworkedBlogs, follow me using the badge in the footer and let me know in each comment
  • “Like” MomReviews on Facebook by clicking the “like” button in the footer and let me know in each comment. My page loves having fans! :)

THESE ARE WORTH FIVE ENTRIES. LEAVE FIVE NUMBERED COMMENTS FOR EACH THAT YOU DO:

  • Link to MomReviews on your sidebar or grab my button from the sidebar and post it on your blog. Leave five separate, numbered comments with the URL.
  • Blog about the giveaway with a link back to this post. Leave five separate, numbered comments with the URL.

NOTE: Spam stinks. Comments left with keywords instead of a real first name or blog name will be DELETED, no exceptions. Comments that do not follow the main entry rules will also be deleted, no exceptions.
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I’ll choose the winner using the “And the Winner Is” plugin on October 22nd, announce it by editing the post, and email the winner for their mailing address. Shipping will be handled by the sponsor. Thanks for entering and good luck everybody!

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Hoodwinked on Blu-ray Review

February 17, 2011 By

Vivendi Entertainment released Hoodwinked on DVD February 15th, and sent me the Hoodwinked Blu-ray/ DVD Combo to review. It’s a fun movie, although a lot happens and there are a lot of plot points and characters to keep track of. Here’s my summary of the movie-

The movie opens with Little Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway) going to her Granny’s house and discovering that the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) has disguised himself as Red’s Granny (Glenn Close), just as the ax-wielding Woodsman (Jim Belushi) bursts through the window. Detective Nicky Flippers (David Ogden Stiers) arrives, finds Granny tied up in the closet,  and begins questioning  the four about the events leading up to the incident.

Here’s where it gets a little complicated. Red is attempting to protect her Granny’s recipe book from the “Goody Bandit”, and meets the Wolf, an investigative journalist also tracking down thefts by the Goody Bandit with his hyperactive photographer squirrel, Twitchy. Red is scared of the Wolf and runs away from him, but then when she sees him again she fights with him and then runs up into the mountains where she meets a singing mountain goat.

We learn that Granny is competing as extreme sports athlete “Triple-G” and has entered a skiing competition, where she meets a European ski team who is trying to disable her so she can’t compete. Granny learns from them that the Goody Bandit hired them to take her out. During a race, Granny uses grenades to cause an avalanche, which is noticed by Japeth the goat, Red, Wolf and Twitchy. Granny wins the ski race “by a landslide” (ha!)  and escapes the avalanche by deploying a parachute and parasailing towards home.

Granny, as she tries to land, finds herself entangled in the parachute’s drawstrings, and lands in her closet tangled up in the ropes. The Wolf quickly dons his Granny disguise before Red arrives in order to try to apprehend her. At the same time, the Woodsman, an aspiring actor, receives an audition callback and practices by chopping down trees, accidentally causing one to nearly run him over as it falls, forcing him to jump through Granny’s window to get away safely, just as Red discovers the Wolf.
So that explains why everyone is at Granny’s house and why she was tied up in the closet, but who is the Goody Bandit? You’ll have to watch the movie yourself to find out! The Hoodwinked Blu-ray/ DVD Combo is $18.50 from Amazon.com.

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