There was such a magic on the screen in 1995 when the people at Pixar came up with the first fully computer-animated film, Toy Story. Their second feature film, A Bug's Life, may miss the bull's-eye but Pixar's target is so lofty, it's hard to find the film anything less than irresistible. Brighter and more colorful than the other animated insect movie of 1998 (Antz), A Bug's Life is the s…
If you ever played a video game back in the late '80s or early '90s you'll get a sense of what Computer Animation Festival has to offer. In this day and age of virtual reality and a more accomplished Nintendo and Playstation mentality, this DVD is strictly shareware and historical archive. Though it contains 19 of the "best" of computer animation shorts, almost everything in the volume feels da…
The two-disc Collector's Edition speaks directly to the film's core audience: kids and animation enthusiasts. Along with a widescreen version of the film, the first disc is very kid-friendly with two games ("Aladar's Adventure" is quite fun) and an informative short naming the dinosaurs seen in the movie. Using the "Fossil Dig" mode to watch the film, a viewer can see behind-the-scenes footage …
Roald Dahl's modern classic for children becomes a delightful combination of live action and stop-motion animation by the team that made The Nightmare Before Christmas: director Henry Selick and producers Tim Burton (Batman) and Denise Di Novi. The story concerns young James (played for real and through voice-overs by Paul Terry), who is orphaned and left in the charge of two cruel aunts (Miria…
Monsters ~ Monsters
ReBoot was the first computer animated network series, and these episodes from its third season (1994) reveal how quickly computer visual effects has advanced. The designs look decidedly passé, and the motion-capture animation is limited and uneven. Enzo, the hero of ReBoot, is an adolescent guardian-in-training, fighting to protect the cyberworld from the evil virus Megabyte. Enzo's older…
Shrek (Two-Disc Special Edition