There have been a fair number of catalog Blu-ray reissues at this point, and consumers have had to resign themselves to the fact that not all hi-def upgrades were created equal — when you’re dealing with source material from more than, say, 20 years ago, you’re going to see a fair number of defects, even after the most painstaking remastering job (see the Batman Blu-ray for an example). Given this, you’d expect the Snow White Blu-ray to be the kind of pleasant-but-not-remarkable upgrade you’d get out of most older films, but you’d be wrong — Disney has been rolling out some truly breathtaking restoration jobs in the last year or so, and Snow White might be the fairest of them all. Is it perfect? Probably not — you can go over any transfer with a magnifying glass and pick out flaws here and there, however minor. But watching Snow White, you won’t want to; you’ll be too busy marveling at just how incredibly lush and beautiful this hand-drawn classic remains more than 70 years after its release. Every feature-length animated film has its roots in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — along with quite a few live-action movies — and this set gives it the fawning respect it deserves.

I grew up in a pretty Disneyfied household, but I was never really into the movies — I preferred the vinegar of Warner Bros.’ Looney Toons humor to the saccharine sweetness of Disney’s princesses and singing animals — and as a result, I’ve always taken Snow White more or less for granted. This new Diamond Edition was a quick cure for that, though — both because of the gorgeous 1080p transfer and because I watched it with my daughter, who had never seen Snow White before. She was immediately enraptured, and seeing it through her eyes really underscored what a beautifully made film this is. I mean, okay, the characters are strictly stock, and the storyline is extremely hokey, but they all undeniably work — and the songs are pure magic, written with the kind of cleverness and attention to detail that used to be commonplace in pop songwriting. You’ve seen and heard it all before a million times, but this package makes it possible for you to go back and take in Snow White almost like a brand new movie.

The remastered movie is this package’s main draw, but Disney has included plenty of bonus materials, too. Again, there’s a little room for quibbling here; though the package includes two Blu-ray discs, owners of the 2001 reissue will notice that a number of that set’s bonus features are missing here, and of course, Disney has larded it up with crap nobody wants, like an extended commercial for The Princess and the Frog and a music video for a glossy new version of “Someday My Prince Will Come,” performed by Disney Channel starlet Tiffany Thornton. It’s hard to get too worked up about it, though, because what remains is so outstanding — right down to the menu, which features a talking Magic Mirror and uses your Blu-ray player’s Internet connection to make comments about the time and weather as it’s commenting on all the areas of the disc you haven’t visited yet. You also have the option of watching the movie in “DisneyView,” a feature also used for the Pinocchio Blu-ray, which adds subtle artwork borders to fill out the widescreen view. And then there are the real bonus features, which include games like Dopey’s Wild Ride and featurettes about everything from the sequel that might have been (Snow White Returns) to the inner workings of the studio itself (a fantastically in-depth interactive documentary titled Hyperion Studios). It’s all interesting stuff, but none of it will keep you (or your little ones) from wanting to go back and watch the main feature again.

The bottom line is that no film collection is really complete without Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, either from an entertainment or a historical perspective, and the new Diamond Edition is the one to own…at least until Disney decides to outdo it again by adding a few more discs of bonus material and packaging the whole thing in a gold-and-glass coffin for the 75th anniversary. In the meantime, this is definitely $24.99 well spent.

Disney took some heat for the way Earth was assembled, and perhaps rightly so; it’s basically a boiled-down version of the BBC’s mammoth Planet Earth series, and though it uses some footage that wasn’t aired on the show, it’s still mostly reheated goods. But nobody wants to watch seven and a half hours of anything in a theater, and this is Disney — they’re aiming Earth at kids, whose attention spans are built for the film’s 90-minute length. This is actually one of the first projects from the studio’s new Disneynature banner, intended to expose the Disney demographic to the sights and sounds of the world around us, which is awfully hard to complain about. Even if you were enthralled by Planet Earth during its TV run, in other words, don’t be so quick to write off Earth as its shrimpier cousin; in any house with kids, it’s got a charm all its own.

As you might expect, the movie’s narrative structure is also condensed. Led by some typically stentorian narration from James Earl Jones, Earth follows the travels (and travails) of three animal families — polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales — as they migrate in search of food, water, and shelter. Given the film’s target audience, it should not surprise you that it’s been carefully edited to omit most of Mother Nature’s darker side; although we do see some heartbreaking stuff, and there is a fair amount of animal-on-animal violence, there isn’t much in the way of blood and guts, and a precocious four-year-old should be able to take all of it in stride — with parental supervision and discussion, of course.

For adults, Earth might prove to be a bit of a snoozer, but if you’ve invested in a 1080p screen, you’ll get a kick out of how unbelievably lovely these scenes are, and how they jump off the screen. It’s a film the whole family can enjoy — for different reasons, of course, but so what?

Like other recent Disney releases, the Earth Blu-ray comes bundled with a DVD version, but the extras don’t end there. You also get a series of picture-in-picture “filmmaker annotations,” in which the folks behind the scenes talk about how different scenes were shot, which footage was left behind, and more. There’s also a 45-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as a nifty little wrinkle called “Living Menus,” which lets you use the menu (updated using your Blu-ray player’s wi-fi connection) to access additional text and video information about various hotspots around the globe. On the short list of Blu-ray discs that are worth your $25, Earth ranks near the top.

Purchase Earth at Amazon on Blu-ray or standard DVD.

Pinocchio (2009, Walt Disney)
purchase this Blu-ray/DVD (Amazon)

Okay, see, here’s how you get cash-conscious consumers to climb aboard a new, more expensive technology bandwagon: You release lovingly curated, value-stuffed titles like Disney’s recent string of “platinum edition” Blu-ray/DVD combo packs. It helps, of course, that Disney is forever taking its classic titles out of print for years at a time, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this 70th anniversary reissue of Pinocchio is well worth the $25 it’ll cost you through Amazon. (If you don’t own a Blu-ray player, and don’t think you’ll be buying one in the next 5-10 years, Pinocchio is also being released as a two-DVD set, with the same bonus features.)

As with last year’s Platinum Edition reissue of Sleeping Beauty, the freshly scrubbed Pinocchio is truly a sight to behold. Disney sent its crew all the way back to the original negatives and removed every speck of dust, every scratch, every speck; the lines are darker and cleaner, and the colors are brighter. You’ll probably come away disappointed if you expect a visual upgrade on the order of Sleeping Beauty, but then again, if you expect that, you’re being unreasonable; the film in question is nearly seven decades old. They’ve also gone back to the original soundtrack and given it a cleanup — it’s offered here in two versions, both in 7.1 “lossless” stereo and Dolby mono. (They both sound great, but Pinocchio is obviously not the first film you want to pull out to put your home theater system through its paces.)

Seeing as how you it isn’t unlikely that you already own Pinocchio in some form, this reissue’s chief appeal may lie in its extras, and they are legion. There are a number of BD-Live features, none of which will really sell the package, but they’re just a tiny fraction of what you can do with the film; the new bonus material includes things like the “Disney View,” which allows you to insert paintings by artist Toby Bluth into the widescreen bars above and below the film, and “Cine-Explore,” which lets you watch the movie with Picture-in-Picture commentary from Leonard Kaufman, J.B. Kaufman, and Eric Goldberg, along with glimpses at behind-the-scenes stuff like sketches, character designs, and interviews with the original film’s crew.

And that’s just the first disc. The second includes games, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, multiple documentaries, more behind-the-scenes footage, more production art, and theatrical trailers. And then there’s the DVD disc, which strips out most of the extras (leaving only a video for Meaghan Jette Martin’s version of “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which is every bit as inessential as you’d imagine) but provides a smart bit of cheap, easy incentive for DVD customers who are on the fence about making the leap to Blu-ray. Disney’s certainly guilty of raiding the vaults at the slightest provocation, but the Platinum Edition line presents the ideal marriage of great content and new technology. If you’re a fan of the studio’s classic films, you won’t want to let them pass you by.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2009, Disney)
purchase this movie from Amazon: DVD | Blu-ray

You’ve heard the annoyingly catchy song and seen enough commercials to make you throw a water bowl at the television, but the real question is: How good is Beverly Hills Chihuahua? If you’re a kid, it’s “awesome!” I mean, how can a movie with talking dogs not be? The film is directed by Raja Gosnell, a man who has a knack for producing family films. Mind you, his films are not necessarily art (he previously directed both Scooby Doo live action films, plus the remake of Yours, Mine and Ours and Big Momma’s House), but anyone who can make even illegal dog fighting fun (as he does in this film) must have a talent for safe, commercial filmmaking.

I must first tell you that this film is not about the cute brown Chihuahua you see in the ads and posters. In fact, the film is really about a spoiled, white Chihuahua (voiced by Drew Barrymore) who gets lost in Mexico and tries to find her way home with the help of a German Shepherd who is an ex-police dog (voiced by Andy Garcia).

The lost Chihuahua’s name is Chloe, and she is owned by a millionaire, Vivien, played by Jamie Lee Curtis (always fun). She leaves the dog in the care of her irresponsible niece, Rachel (Piper Pierbo of the Cheaper by the Dozen remakes). When Rachel takes a trip to Tijuana with her friends, Chloe is dog napped. She escapes from the aforementioned dog fights with the help of Delgado, a German Sheppard/former police dog who has exiled himself to the underworld out of shame. With the help of Delgado, Chloe begins a journey through Mexico while being pursued by a nefarious gangster and his vicious Doberman Pincher (menacingly Edward Lames Olmos). With the help of a couple of stray dogs (including Luis Guzman), a mouse (Cheech Marin) and an iguana (Paul Rodriguez), Chloe learns to become independent and rely on herself. At the same time, Rachel sets off to find Chloe before Vivien returns from Europe. She enlists Vivien’s hunky gardener (Manolo Cardona) and his spirited little Chihuahua, Papi (voiced by George Lopez). Papi is the dog featured in Disney’s marketing campaign.

Technically, the film is pretty flawless. Besides a couple of shots in which animals are clearly digital and look just plain awful, most of the cuts between the cg and real creatures are seamless. The overall look of the movie has the same polished clean look of any family film. Everything feels safe. The entire cast seems to be having a good time. It’s a pity that with such a large minority cast in Beverly Hills Chihuahua, none of their famous faces are onscreen, and they’re all playing animals.

This being a Disney film, you know everything is going to turn out fine in the end. In fact, even at its scariest, Beverly Hills Chihuahua is about as intimidating as the Scooby Doo movies. The film never lags; Gosnell (a former film editor) knows exactly when to ratchet up the action and tweak your emotions when you’re supposed to feel sad or happy. If you’re thinking of sitting down with your kids and expecting a laugh riot I have to warn you that the jokes will probably only give you a smile or a chuckle, not a full bellied laugh. If you’re an adult your reaction will likely be ‘eh.” But as far as Disney is concerned, the only reaction they care about is that “awesome!” coming from the kids.

The DVD includes bloopers and deleted scenes with introductions by Gosnell. The director also provides commentary and there is a brand new animated short, Legend of the Chihuahua, which is cute.