2006 Gift Guide
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DVDs - Children/Family
Cars ($29.99)
Supercharged animation is the real star of this popular (if long) Pixar film, in which a cartoon car with a high-octane ego is waylaid in the forgotten Route 66 town of Radiator Springs and taught a lesson about the value of slowing down. Attention to detail is made plain from the first frames, in which screaming racers leave tiny bits of tire rubber skittering across the asphalt. Best extra: a meaty interview with creator John Lasseter, who describes the work as a joyous endeavor for which he drew upon the influences of his mother (an artist), his father (once parts manager at a Chevy dealership), and his wife (who persuaded him to slow-track his professional life enough to enjoy his children). Another gem: the marvelous Pixar short "One Man Band."
Curious George ($29.98)
This sweet-natured film starring H.A. Rey's character was one of the happiest surprises at the movies this year. Will Ferrell delivers a surprisingly gentle vocal portrayal of The Man With the Yellow Hat, here named "Ted." A geeky employee at a failing museum, Ted is sent to Africa to retrieve the lost shrine of Zagawa to restore the museum's fortunes. There, he plays peek-a-boo with a little monkey, who tails him back to New York and upends his life (for the better). The movie features warm vocal performances by Dick Van Dyke, Drew Barrymore, and the fabulous David Cross. Extras include 15 deleted scenes in various stages of animation, two shorts on how to draw and animate George, and several games.
Ice Age: The Meltdown ($29.98)
Prehistoric pals Sid the sloth, Manny the mammoth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and that nut-crazed squirrel, Scrat, scamper across the screen again in this entertaining sequel. This time, global thawing threatens to melt a glacial dam and flood the animals' home. Their only hope is to journey across the valley. Along the way, they make a new friend, Ellie, possibly the last female woolly mammoth on earth (no pressure, Manny). Only problem: She thinks she's a possum. Meanwhile, Sid is mistaken by fellow sloths for the fire king, leading to one of the funniest scenes: his impromptu fire dance (you can learn it through one of the DVD's extras). There's also a game arcade, a character-drawing tutorial, and a sound-effects demonstration. And don't miss Scrat's short film, "No Time for Nuts," about his frenzied, time-traveling quest for an acorn.
Sesame Street - Old School Vol. 1 1969-1974 ($39.98)
This three-disc boxed set offers a trip back to the glory days of the 37-year-old staple, when the genius of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and songwriters Joe Raposo and Jeffrey Moss combined to transform children's television into something sublime. The classic songs, from "Rubber Duckie" to "Bein' Green," are all here, as well as a few surprises. Who knew Oscar the Grouch used to be orange? The series première and the first episode from each of the first five seasons have been remastered, but the content doesn't need any touching up. And not once during seven hours of programming did my son ask, "Where's Elmo?" Extras include not-to-be-missed highlight reels from each of the five seasons, and the original sales pitch. Now, bring on Vol. 2!
True-Life Adventures ($32.99 each)
Before Animal Planet and the National Geographic Channel, these fantastic Disney nature movies were watched by an entire generation. In 13 films that won eight Oscars, crews circled the globe to bring back rare pictures of baby polar bears nursing in an ice cave as well as shots of the most exotic cats in the African jungles. The documentaries were the brainchild of Walt himself, who combined the astonishingly raw and intimate images of animals at rest and play to create a new genre of entertainment - the natural world in action. Four packages, elegantly restored and presented in two-disc sets, are both groundbreaking and timeless treasures.
The Wind in the Willows - Feature Films Collection ($29.95)
In the mid-1980s, Britain's Cosgrove Hall created a lovely family series around Kenneth Grahame's classic characters. The first feature-length film is a remarkably faithful adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows," with Badger, Mole, and Ratty rescuing the pompous Mr. Toad's home from villainous weasels. In the second feature, "A Tale of Two Toads," Toad needs their help again, when the Weasels kidnap him and install an impostor at Toad Hall. The stop-motion animation isn't quite up to the heights of "Wallace & Gromit," but the characters and sets are warmly and wonderfully rendered. The first two seasons of animated shorts also have been released in separate boxed sets. Extras: one bonus short and an interview with creator Brian Cosgrove.
DVDs - TV Series
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. - The Complete Series ($99.98)
Folks, there are so few comic sci-fi/Westerns, they should be celebrated, not canceled prematurely. ("Firefly" fans know what I'm talking about.) Bruce Campbell gives just the right air of "bemusement" as the titular Harvard-educated lawyer turned bounty hunter who's tracking his father's killers (and some mysterious golden orbs). Along the way, they discover everything from denim to Dunkin' Donuts. This boxed set of 27 episodes delighted three generations of my family - from my dad, who was a fan when it first aired in 1993, to my son, who promptly named his hobbyhorse Comet. Extras: The pilot episode features one of the few commentaries worth your time, thanks to Campbell, who has something interesting to say about every set and stuntman, and generously makes sure that everyone from the writers to the four horses who played Comet gets credit.
Seinfeld - Season Seven ($49.95)
It's hard to look at Kramer these days without recalling actor Michael Richards's bizarre and inexcusable rant last month. But this set justly celebrates a highly creative period in the nine-year run of the Emmy-hoarding "show about nothing." Fans will enjoy reprising Larry David's absurdist and wonderfully interwoven subplots (Exhibit A: "The Calzone" episode on disc 4, which showcases the George Costanza character). Extras include previously unseen Jerry Seinfeld stand-up, optional screen-text production "Notes About Nothing," and voice-over commentary in which the show's creators riff about scenes. We learn, for example, that Elaine's dangerously chipper first encounter with a scowling server in the legendary "Soup Nazi" episode - she tells him he resembles Al Pacino - was based on a bold woman customer. Also: outtakes, animated scenes, yada, yada, yada.
The West Wing - The Complete Series Collection ($299.98)
This show may be just about the best-written drama ever to run on network TV - literate, topical, witty, with a nearly perfect cast and only a slight swoon in the quality after Season 4 when creator Aaron Sorkin left. Each season already has come out on DVD but, just in time for the holidays, NBC has thoughtfully packaged the entire seven years in one single, elegantly boxed set. New additions: two glossy books containing full episode recaps and the script for the pilot, which, beepers notwithstanding (how 20th century!), still plays as well today as it did back in 1999. With the possibility of a Democratic administration on the horizon, there's no better Hollywood primer for the pros and cons of that party in charge.
24 - Season Five ($59.98)
If you love this TV show, then you've already watched it in real time, but as every aficionado knows, there is an entirely new joy to be had in watching it straight through in a single DVD day marathon with no commercial zapping or having to wait a week between episodes. In a fun gesture, this seven-disc set actually provides a season six prequel, a sort of entr'acte, filling us in on what happens when Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is captured by the Chinese - and why his snarly captors keep Jack alive (other than to ensure he's around to save another day). Put it this way: if Jack can rise from the dead at the beginning of this season, then surviving 18 months of Chinese torture is child's play in his skilled hands. Viewer alert: Torture tactics and use of chemical weapons raise the violence levels to new highs this season.
Saturday Night Live - Season One ($69.98)
It hardly seems possible that more than three decades have elapsed since the launch of the Lorne Michaels show that went on to become a reliable feeder system for the American comedy scene, a factory of Who's Who-caliber talents, many of whom stormed Hollywood. Some of the sketches in this eight-disc first season feel almost high school thin, but viewers will see a fast evolution across episodes, and thrill to nostalgic encounters with John Belushi's muttering samurai, Gilda Radner's inspired "Ba-Ba Wah-Wah" (interviewing, to hilarious effect, Madeline Kahn's Marlene Dietrich), and a perpetually pratfalling Chevy Chase (breaking things as Gerald Ford). Hosts include the likes of George Carlin and Richard Pryor. Musical acts: Simon and Garfunkel, and Jimmy Cliff. Extras: a set of highly creative (and occasionally profane) screen tests of these "Beatles of Comedy," a nice little photo yearbook, and a short introductory Tom Snyder interview with the
ensemble.
2006 GIFT GUIDE
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