Walt Disney's Timeless Tales: Volumes 1 & 2 Combined DVD Review

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Title: Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volumes 1 & 2

Region: One

Genre: Animated Fairy Tales

Animated Shorts – Volume 1: “Three Little Pigs”, “The Grasshopper And The Ants”, “The Tortoise And The Hare”, “The Pied Piper”, “The Prince And The Pauper”

Animated Shorts – Volume 2: “The Wind In The Willows”, “Ugly Duckling”, “The Country Cousin”, “Ferdinand The Bull”

Feature length: 58 minutes/60 minutes

Extras: Collectible Storybook Per Volume, Preview Trailers

Languages: English and French Dubbed Language Dolby Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions

Packaging: Keep Case

Sound: Dolby Surround Sound

Year of DVD Release: 2005

Home Video Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: G

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Somewhat like the Warner Brothers animated shorts that appeared in theaters as part of a matinee or night at the movies, these nine animated shorts cover classic fairytales with Walt Disney’s touch of soft brilliance that made many of his films enjoyable for the whole family to watch. These two volumes are must-own discs not only for parents who want to share some quality stories with their kids, “the Disney way,” but for students of animation as well as Disney animation fans and collectors, these shorts are a real treat.

Volume One features “The Three Little Pigs,” which features the now-famous song “Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf” and was the winner of a Best Animated Short, 1933 Academy Award®. I had forgotten the song, but immediately recognized it when I heard the characters singing it. I wonder if this cartoon was ever shown early in the morning before school or on a Saturday as part of a block of children’s network programming. When I was a kid I remember watching old animated shorts early in the morning before I had to go to school. I always thought the song was related to a Warner Brothers cartoon because with the exception of “Popeye” the old Warner shorts were on every morning and afternoon too back in the 1970s. Now I can’t get the song out of my head… Another Academy Award® winning short from 1935 is Disney’s version of “The Tortoise And The Hare” where the animated rabbit is just obnoxious enough to give Bugs Bunny a run for his money though I doubt anyone can truly beat good old Bugs.

“The Grasshopper And The Ants” is not as much fun as the first two shorts, but it does feature a now-classic tune entitled “The World Owes Me A Living.” Perhaps the most Disney-fied animated short is “The Pied Piper,” which always struck me as a creepy story. In fact I’m not too fond of this “happier” version either. The headliner of the bunch is “The Prince And The Pauper,” which features Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto too. There is a noticeable difference in overall picture quality and color for this short above the others in Volume One.

Picture wise they all look remarkably clean considering their age, but there is one point toward the end of “The Pied Piper” where it looks as though an element from a video source was edited into the film to restore it. It sticks out way too much to be anything else in my opinion. Perhaps a scene was lost and the video segment was the best available material left for use in the making of this DVD?

Volume Two features the fabulous animated short “The Wind In The Willows” as well as two more Academy Award® winning shorts entitled “The Country Cousin” from 1936 and “Ferdinand The Bull” from 1938. An animated version of “The Ugly Duckling concludes the shorts on Volume Two. The average running time for most of the shorts is between 7 ½ and 9 minutes with the exception of “The Prince And The Pauper,” which has running time of 25 minutes and “The Wind And The Willows,” which has a running time of 34 minutes. Storybooks for both animated shorts are also included in their respective volumes as well as some introductory notes and tips for parents to make the storytelling experience grander are printed on the reverse side of the inserts within each keep case.

The picture quality for Volume Two is quite good and both volumes feature a clear English Dolby Surround Soundtrack mix as well as a French Language Dubbed Dolby Surround Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired encoded as options. All of the shorts are presented in a (1.33:1) aspect ratio too. One can view the shorts individually or in sequence with a “Play All” feature and the discs also features the Disney Fast Play option that will run through all the animated shorts once the disc is placed in the player without the need of a remote. A reel of trailers (3:55) that include “Cinderella: 2-Disc Special Edition”, “Chicken Little”, and “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch” precede the main menu or animated shorts depending on how one chooses to view the content on the respective discs. Additional previews that include “Kronk’s New Groove”, “The Parent Trap”, “Kermit’s 50^th Anniversary”, and “Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween” are also included on both discs. The interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate too. “Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume One” and “Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales: Volume Two” will debut for sale separately at retailers on and offline on Tuesday, August 16, 2005 courtesy of Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

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