Home Media Magazine - January 27, 2008 - (Page 24) REVIEWS www.homemediamagazine.com I BARRY MANILOW: SONGS FROM THE SEVENTIES Street 1/29 Rhino, Music, $19.99 DVD, NR. T interactive games. Additionally, an 18-page scrapbook features the film’s artwork and photos of the cast, animators and marketing materials used in the 1970 premiere. The remaining extras provide a handful of cat-related ephemera from the Disney vaults — not exactly related to The Aristocats, but fun to peruse regardless. Highlights include the 1946 short “Bath Day” with Figaro, an old-school character recently resurrected on the Disney Channel. An excerpt of “The Great Cat Family,” a 1956 television special, shows the Disneyfied history of the domestic cat, from its royal Egyptian heritage to its role as mouse-catcher. (The second half about lions is presumably saved for a Lion King release.) While not overwhelming like some two-disc Disney collections, The Aristocats provides just enough meat in its extras to make its purchase worthwhile for those who already have the 2000 DVD or for parents who haven’t introduced their kids to the film. – Laura Tiffany I THE ARISTOCATS: SPECIAL EDITION Street 2/5 Disney, Animated, $29.99 DVD, ‘G.’ Voices of Eva Gabor, Phil Harris, Sterling Halloway, Maurice Chevalier. L ast released on DVD in 2000, The Aristocats — the 1970 Disney flick that’s not quite an uber-classic, but old enough to have earned its place in the mouse-house pantheon — receives an updated DVD treatment with just enough extras to please Disney fans. A bit slight on plot — upper-crust kitties get ousted by a bad-guy butler and must find their way back to Paris with the help of a smooth alley cat — the real pleasures of The Aristocats are the jazzy tunes and painterly animation, both wonderful choices for the early-20th-century French setting. The extras made specifically for this DVD focus particularly on the music. Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, the staff songwriters and sibling duo responsible for classic tunes from The Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, are given their due on two featurettes. Richard hosts an intro to a deleted song, “She Never Felt Alone,” and the audience is treated to original recordings accompanied by the film’s artwork. The second featurette offers both brothers’ memories of their inspiration for the French-inspired Aristocats songs, including how they lured Maurice Chevalier out of retirement to croon the title track. The kids in the audience can sing along with the film by turning on lyric subtitles, and can play two his DVD features an hourlong PBS special Manilow filmed as a companion to his Greatest Songs of the Seventies CD. Taking a page from “VH1 Storytellers,” Manilow’s live performance in front of a very enthusiastic crowd also involves him discussing the background for some of his songs. The miniconcert was shot in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, not far from where Manilow grew up. Manilow sings a wide range of classics from the 1970s, from his own hits, such as “Mandy,” “New York City Rhythm” and “Copacabana,” to other memorable songs such as “The Way We Were” and “It Never Rains in Southern California.” The funniest bit occurs when Manilow sings some of the jingles he has written for commercials, from Band-Aid to State Farm to McDonald’s. It’s a terrific little show that sacrifices pomp and circumstance for talent and heart, and Manilow’s legions of fans will love it. A second disc includes 20 minutes of footage cut from the original special. – John Latchem http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.khadak.com http://www.lifesizeentertainment.com
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