This latest iteration, which follows 25th and 30th anniversary reissues, is dubbed the “Enchanted Musical Edition,” and packs some new bonus content onto the expanded 25th-anniversary print, which added 20 minutes to the film itself. New buyers will now get a featurette entitled “The Wizards of Special Effects,” hosted by Jennifer Stone, an actress who just so happens to be one of the stars of the Disney Channel’s very popular Wizards of Waverly Place series. (Synergy!) You’ll also get a number of small features that look at the music of the film, footage from a recording session, and a deleted song, as well as theatrical trailers. The whole kit and caboodle retails for $30, but you can get it at Amazon for $17.99, which is a decent price for the package.

The movie itself, as you might recall, is a sort of silly, Disneyfied hybrid of The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins, in which three British children are placed in the reluctant care of an apprentice witch (Lansbury) during World War II. Even if you’ve never seen it, you know there will be songs, hammy acting, and squads of bumbling soldiers, and Broomsticks doesn’t disappoint on any front. But aside from the usual (and, it must be said, impeccable) musical routines, the movie also includes some state-of-the-art special effects, including some animation/live-action sequences, that were good enough to win an Oscar in their day (and still look pretty sharp now). I wasn’t exactly foaming at the mouth to watch this, and I doubt there are many people who consider it one of Disney’s finest, but all things considered, it’s really a pretty entertaining movie. I don’t think it benefits from the extra 20 minutes — it’s actually sort of slow in spots — but if you have a fondness for Silver Age live-action Disney, this will definitely hit the sweet spot.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks has been given yet another remastering for this edition, and it looks better than ever — which sort of says something unkind about Disney’s engineers, because it really wasn’t all that long ago that the last reissue came out, but there you go. The extra content is all well worth watching, too. If you already own a copy, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going out and getting the “Enchanted Musical Edition,” but if you’re considering adding Broomsticks to your library, then this is certainly the version to own.

Phineas and Ferb

This DVD collection, The Daze of Summer, contains ten 11-minute episodes, including the two-part story “Unfair Science/Unfair Science Redux,” about a science fair in which the boys build a portal to Mars and Candice get transported to the red planet and becomes queen for a day.  This episode in particular is very clever in that part one tells a complete story, then part two tells the same story from a different point of view.  My kids especially like “It’s A Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World.”  In it, Phineas and Ferb build a monster truck speedway to help Candice to learn of to drive.  Phineas and Ferb is the kind of hit show that deserves its success and as a parent; you’ll probably find yourself laughing at things your kids don’t understand, which is a good thing.

Wizards of Waverly Place, on the other hand, is another groan-inducing sitcom: formulaic, unfunny and a waste of your time. So of course, it’s a hit.  This is due largely to the fact that Selena Gomez, the heir apparent to Miley Cyrus’ tween throne, is the star.  In Wizards of Waverly Street a family of wizards live above the dad’s sub shop in New York.  Dad, by the way, is played by David DeLuise; his type of overacting works perfectly on this show.  The three children, Alex, Justin and Max all attend the same high school, while at the same time secretly learning to use their magical powers.  Alex (Gomez) is a sarcastic slacker rebel, Justin (David Henrie) is the oldest, intelligent but kind of dorky, and Max (Jake T. Austin), the youngest, is unpredictable and seemingly always getting in trouble.

Episodes in this DVD collection, entitled Supernatural Stylin’, include “Beware Wolf,” in which Justin falls for a girl who is actually a werewolf, “Graphic Novel”, in which Alex’s nemesis, Gigi, gets trapped in her hand-drawn journal after the brothers steal it, and “Smarty Pants,” in which Alex joins her best friend in an academic decathlon and wears “smart pants” in order to answer the questions.  While the ideas behind this show may be creative, I’m afraid that the execution is tired and stilted.  And like any bad sitcom (particularly the ones on Disney), there are long pauses while the canned laughter dies down.  In other words, the show doesn’t flow.  That a DVD collection (actually its second) for Wizards of Waverly Place is even available is a credit to the marketing geniuses at Disney dictating what your kids should be watching.  But you have a choice.  And given that choice, I would definitely go with the Phineas and Ferb collection and avoid the Wizards of Waverly Place altogether.

Purchase Phineas and Ferb: The Daze of Summer through Amazon.

Purchase Wizards of Waverly Place: Supernatural Stylin’ through Amazon.