Children's Fiction

With this movie, Pixar match the consistently high standards set by the previous Toy Story instalments, and I absolutely loved it.

Even though Toy Story 3 was released in 2010 - 15 years after the first film and 11 after the second, the sharp writing and the way the mythology is blended together makes it seem as if the creation of 3 films was the studio's plan from the start.

It seems to me that this was made not just for children but also fans like me who grew up with the previous films and are now older - watch for references to the 1st film, such as the brilliant opening Wild West action sequence, and the familiar song on the soundtrack that started it all - You've Got a Friend in Me, which is somehow now tinged with real sadness. Randy Newman's music is super.

No longer the child of the first 2 movies, Andy is now 17 and preparing to go to college, and has to decide what to do with all his old toys, Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and the gang. His plan is to put them in the attic.

Unfortunately, they all end up getting accidentally donated to Sunnyside Day Care Centre, presided over by a pink bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty), who appears soft and huggable but is not all he seems....

I actually had a thought that, as if to emphasise the increasingly darker tone of each film and the fact this movie explores how a young person moves on in life - the daycare centre was more like an old people's home, not a happy place but more like somewhere where the toys would go if they weren't wanted by their owner. If this qualifies as social commentary from Pixar, it's just another example of how and why they elevate animation beyond simply "children's films" to a higher plain and produce films for everyone to enjoy.

As the toys find out Day Care isn't what they envisioned they all try to escape and break out, to find their way home.

There were some hilarious moments in this movie (highlights include when Buzz accidentally speaks Spanish, and one of the new characters, thespian hedgehog Mr. Pricklepants), various exciting action set pieces when the toys are trying to flee, and some scary, genuinely moving and heartbreaking moments as well which touch upon complex ideas of abandonment and even death, but also show the true meaning of friendship.

This is not just a great film in its own right but also a superb conclusion to the Toy Story Trilogy which ties the story up nicely. It's such a lovely, touching film. I think the film shows that however painful moving on and letting go is, it's something we all go through and it's shown in such a sensitive and mature way.

Pixar has crafted an exceptional motion picture which isn't really about anthropomorphic toys, but if truth be told, about PEOPLE and human emotions.

All I can say is - thank you Pixar. Thank you so much.
The film truly does look fantastic on Blu Ray with bright and colourful images. I could pick out subtle details like the feel of some of the clothing, the wood grain of Andy's bedroom floor, even the texture of the cardboard box the toys are put in, which looks incredibly lifelike.

The film is on one Blu Ray disc, with lots of extras on the other.

These are divided into 2 main sections, "Family Play" and "Film Fans", and include a commentary track with the filmmakers, a few interesting making of featurettes and Pixar's anecdotes about making the movie (known as "Studio Stories") and, in the Publicity section, some American and Japanese teasers and trailers. By far the oddest extra is a couple of adverts for the Lotso Huggin' Bear toy that are treated to make it look as if they're genuine commercials from the 1980's which are quite funny.

This DVD features a Sesame Street TV special that was originally made in 1978. While there have been a few Sesame Street Christmas specials over the years, this was the first.

Sesame Street was a truly groundbreaking programme in many ways, with the unique way educational concepts were presented to children in the style of TV commercials, and the use of Jim Henson's Muppet characters.

On the DVD, there are lots of the classic cast and characters (human and muppet) that I remember (though the Special was made a few years before I was born) - Bert and Ernie, Kermit, a genuinely grouchy and cynical Oscar, (just listen to his song I Hate Christmas for proof), Maria (Sonia Manzano), Bob (Bob McGrath) and Linda (Linda Bove), who was a deaf actress who introduced sign language and issues facing deaf people.

Though it was first shown in America, I'm sure this special was also shown on Channel 4 in the UK for some years every Christmas, and that's when I used to watch it each year when I was young. It's gentle, heartwarming and still entertaining.

I liked the charming sequences with the life size muppets ice skating, and Big Bird interacting with a little girl, and the sketch with Cookie Monster writing a letter to Santa was funny too.

There's also a really poignant scene that brought a lump to my throat, in which Bert and Ernie (the superb partnership of Frank Oz and Jim Henson) sacrifice their prized possessions so they could buy each other presents. This shows the true meaning of friendship and kindness, and that's for life - not just for Christmas.

Ernie and Bert were believed to have been named after the taxi cab driver and cop from the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, however, one of the show writers of the time, Jon Stone claimed it was just a coincidence.
A number of songs really touch my heart, especially the now famous Keep Christmas with You (All Through the Year) and Bert and Ernie's affecting duet of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

This film evokes genuine feelings of warmth, and - dare I say it, nostalgia and wishing I was a kid again.
As a fan of "old school" Sesame Street, this DVD is fun to watch at Christmas, and brought back some great memories for me. It will bring you back to a simpler time and world.

In 1979 this Special won an Emmy award (the television equivalent of an Oscar) for Outstanding Children's Program, and was nominated for 2 more.

I enjoyed this a lot and can see why it's considered a classic, but it's not my favourite Disney. However, its impact on Disney and indeed, all cinema cannot be underestimated. This film was a milestone, it was the first full length cel-animated film in cinema history, as well as being the first full length animation produced in America.

Before Snow White, Walt Disney had mostly worked on animated shorts such as Mickey Mouse, and the Silly Symphonies series. The budget eventually ran to almost $2m - a massive sum for a film in 1937.

Some critics thought no-one would sit through an animated feature like this, calling it "Disney's folly" when it was in production. Some sequences are magnificent - the Queen in her castle at the beginning, the way the forest comes alive when Snow White tries to run away, and the part when Snow White (Adriana Caselotti)'s evil and jealous stepmother, the Wicked Queen (Lucille La Verne), makes the potion to turn herself into a beggar woman. These sequences of genuine darkness - which I think are what sets this apart from more modern Disney films - combine with cute scenes, comedy from the dwarves (each has their own distinct personality) and woodland animals, and timeless songs that I remember from when I was little and have passed into cinema lore, like Heigh Ho and Whistle While You Work.

Perhaps the darkness isn't surprising when you consider the source material was Grimm's fairy tales which could be quite dark and violent. Also there is some sadness and pathos in the film (at the time, considered unusual in animation) during Snow White's "sleeping death" sequence, when all the dwarves are crying when Snow White is lying in a gold coffin.

It's a shame also that the character of Prince Charming is rather bland - we never even find out his name.
I found Snow White's singing voice hard to get used to - maybe that type of voice was considered attractive in the 1930's but I found it very wobbly and thin. Her vocal style was very much "light opera" which was popular at the time.

While the build up and pacing of the film seems rather uneven (even at 84 minutes long, it takes a while to get going and also ends rather abruptly), I can see why it's so important. We must remember this was an early work for Disney that he was taking a gamble on. If the film had failed, the studio probably would have too.
The Blu Ray transfer is amazing especially considering the film is over 70 years old, with a beautiful restoration. I watched it with it's original Mono soundtrack.

The film was praised by film makers such as Charlie Chaplin, who immediately recognised it's impact (unusual for the time) - Sergei Eisenstein said it was the greatest film ever made. It even inspired MGM to make The Wizard of Oz in 1939, Snow White's massive success convincing them that a fantasy film appealing to both children and adults, could be popular.

Snow White won Disney a special Oscar "as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field". Disney received a full sized Oscar statue and 7 little ones, presented to him by Shirley Temple.

I really enjoyed the film.

"The Beginning" is a BBC box set encapsulating the first three adventures of the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell.

This is where it all began, folks. From such humble beginnings: two school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton follow one of their pupils home. Susan seems out of sorts with the world around her: she has an in-depth knowledge of history but her knowledge of science dwarfs even Ians, yet she has hardly any street savvy and acts extremely mysterious, so much so that Ian and Barbara want to learn more about her. When she leads them to a junk yard on Totters Lane and walks into a discarded Police Telephone Box they are both bemused. They are surprised when she never comes out, and shocked when they force their way inside and are faced with the incomprehensible sight of an interior that is not only completely alien but also much larger on the inside. It is then that they are introduced to Susan's grandfather... The Doctor.

This is a masterful introduction, full of mystery and intrigue and when we first see the TARDIS interior (even after 46 years) it's still a shock -and we know what to expect. Quite what this did to audiences back then is beyond me. The Doctor though is the real enigma. We are so used to the Doctor being a friendly and upbeat character that to see William Hartnell as an irascible and thoroughly unfriendly old man is a shock. In the early episodes of the series he is shown to be an unpleasant troublemaker and the story focuses on the plight of the two schoolteachers. This changes, of course, as the series progresses, but for these first three adventures we are witness to the growing tensions and disputes between the TARDIS crew.

The first adventure, "The Unearthly Child" has a rather forgettable storyline as the TARDIS crew are transported to the beginnings of time by mistake -due to Ian's meddling. However the storyline merely serves as a backdrop to the growing tensions between the two groups of characters: the school teachers and the time travellers. It's this tension that drives the story and means you can almost forgive the dodgy sets and special effects. However, one must remember that this was never envisaged being a cultural phenomena and none of the BBC executives had any idea what it would lead to. None of them could ever have dreamed it would become world renowned as one of the most popular science-fiction franchises.

The second adventure sees the TARDIS landing on an alien planet, which has been decimated by nuclear war. The Doctor wants to investigate further by Ian and Barbara want simply to go home. The Doctor deliberately sabotages the TARDIS so they will have no choice but to explore further, putting the whole crew at risk to radiation poisoning. On discovering a vast metallic city Barbara is separated from the others and trapped deep within where she is faced by something menacing and frightening. Something that would lodge deep within our collective subconscious and send child after child to the back of the sofa: The Daleks. I've often wondered about the reasons for their longevity - why they frighten people still. It could be because of their complete lack of emotion and their total single-mindedness. They are a faceless killer, one you can not reason with or emote against. They live to kill and destroy; annihilate and exterminate. And it is because of the Doctors meddling this time that the companions are threatened by this unimaginable evil.

With The Edge Of Destruction, the third episode in this box-set, the story focuses solely on the four characters and is centred wholly in the TARDIS. Something causes the TARDIS console to explode mid-flight, rendering the crew unconscious. When they all come to they're confronted by a TARDIS which behaves strangely: the main doors open of their own accord and tensions start to fray amongst the teachers and the time-travellers as they have to deal with the realisation that something very deadly might be going on. This is a tense and fraught episode, and a stroke of genius focusing on just the underlying conflict between the TARDIS crew. This is the type of story writing I feel is sorely missing from the recent episodes of Dr Who where they focus on either the big events happening at the cost of the interactions between the characters or focusing on minute details of the characters at the cost of the story.

This is where it all began, as I said at the start, and its easy to see why Dr Who has had such an impact on the imaginations of the thousands and thousands of lives its touched. It was a stroke of genius -as much as out of budgetary constraints, etc- for the writers to shroud the Doctor in mystery and led to the creation of one of the most enduring characters in popular culture of the last century.

A timeless classic - a Disney film for the digital age. It's difficult not to like this film - from the truly amazing, breath-taking animation to the sharp and witty script to the wonderful acting. The story is your typical buddy movie material, but with toys instead of cops and has the predictable twists and turns you'd expect with a firm moral backbone (without it being rammed down your throat). What saves this film from predictability is the fast paced script and hilarious interplay between the two lead characters. It's great to hear Tim Robbins playing the "hero" Buzz Lightyear - he brings an almost "Mel Gibson" quality to the role, but with more sympathy and it was a delight that Tom Hanks was doing comedy again. One of my favourite Tom Hanks films was Big - he made that role completely believable - his character was child-like without ever becoming child-ish- and Hanks is able to bring those qualities to the role of Woody as well.

The supporting cast is inspired as well - having toys as the main characters obviously allowed the writers to run riot with their imagination -and they do!!! In the course of the film we see: a platoon of soldiers (with a drill captain straight of Full Metal Jacket); Mr & Mrs Potato-Head and, my own personal favourite, the dinosaur who hates confrontations.

The main highlight for me is Buzz realising who he really is. His story arc is fascinating. Believing himself to be the real "Buzz Lightyear", a space ranger, he initially becomes the leader of the group -much to Woody's chagrin. When he is faced with the reality that he is just a toy he goes to pieces -his world collapses- but he is able to fight beyond that and realises that he is not "just" anything. He is able to transform himself into something beyond the limiting confines of his "Buzz Lightyear" persona - he truly goes "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!" and actually flies!

If this isn't about self-actualisation I don't know what is...

About the only thing that is a little cheesy -and also hugely ironic to me- are the songs by Randy Newman. Considering the songs he's written in the past (Short People; Simon Smith & His Amazing Dancing Bear), and his cynical, even caustic lyrics it was a source of amusement when I heard him sing "You've Got A Friend In Me.".

That aside, this is a really enjoyable film, and will appeal to the kid in everyone.