Bookworm Broadcast » For Wendy

101 Dalmations – Platinum Edition

Mrs.Lisa — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:35:28 +0000

Sammie and I were so excited to watch the newest release from Disney of one of our favorite movies – 101 Dalmatians (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)! We both just really love this movie! And with this edition, we get to not only enjoy one of our favorite movies, but, we get to learn all kinds of background and history of the movie in all its renditions! I love learning all that goes into movies and learning all that stuff from the 60’s gives me such nostalgic feelings! I wasn’t born until 1970, but, so many of the shows and movies we watched in the 70’s were made in the 50’s and 60’s. So it takes me right back to my childhood. It is so fascinating to me, though, to see what all goes into making a movie. And it is all that much more fascinating with animated films, because, of the unbelievable amount of work that goes into it, as well as the creative work-arounds that are come up with, such as how they animated the cars in the film, giving even them distinct personalities!

I just love the ‘classic’ feel of this movie. So many kids’ movies really get close to and even go over the line of what we, normally, as parents, would not approve of our children seeing. There are scantily clad characters, acting in risque ways, speaking in risque ways and we – or I should really speak for myself here, not anyone else! I find myself accepting these movies for my children, because, they are so popular. They are talked up everywhere – on the TV, on the radio, on the side of buses, wherever – and so many of their friends are watching them. And so we just accept that they are great for our kids. Not the best way to go about it, for sure, but, in the busyness of life, sometimes that happens. It’s really not so much an issue now with my children being older, but, I remember sitting down and watching one movie with them that just blew me away with the level of innuendo that was in it! I can’t remember which movie it was, but, I really didn’t like it! 101 Dalmatians, however, does not give one reason for a parent to worry about their child seeing it. Well, I suppose you could have some sensitive children, who could be frightened by Cruella De Vil – but, heck – I was frightened by Cruella De Vil! Haha! She’s a scary character!

It’s a wonderful story, then, for the whole family to enjoy! Pongo, the lead dog, or ‘Daddy dog’, works his matchmaking magic for his ‘pet’, Roger. (His human!) He manages to hook Roger up with Anita, who happens to be the ‘pet’ of a beautiful female dalmatian named Perdy. Roger and Anita are soon married and the two couples start their happy life together in a modest home. They are in love, and happy as can be – and Perdy is due to give birth to some precious dalmatian puppies quite soon! The big problem arises when Anita’s boss, Cruella, decides that she would love to make fur coats out of the puppies. Ack! Roger and Anita refuse to sell the puppies to her, so she has them kidnapped! And then the adventure really gets going! I won’t spoil the ending for you, but, it really is a wonderful story!

This new Platinum Edition has so many extras, that it is just awesome! It’s funny, but, in this DVD age, I’ve really gotten addicted to all the bonus features! And this film is seriously packed with them! After the film ends, an adorable, up-and-coming singer, Selena Gomez, sings her own version of “Cruella De Vil”, with quite the impressive set to go along with it! I really enjoy listening to all of the teen/young twenties singers that are getting so popular these days – they really make the music fun! There are also two Pop-Up Trivia games on that first disc.

The second disc is so jam-packed with bonus features, I can’t believe it! I think this is the first movie I’ve seen with so many bonus features. And as I jjust love bonus features, I’m thrilled with it! You know when a movie ends, and you loved it so much, that you’re disappointed it’s over? Bonus features seem to appease that feeling just perfectly. They don’t change the story at all, which would be disappointing, even though you feel like that’s what you want. They just let you ‘live a little bit more’ of the story. They’re just perfect. We just had no idea what we were missing with those silly ‘ol VCR tapes, did we? Yes, yes, back on track! On the second disc, you will find four more fun games, one of which must be played on the computer, but, will be so much fun for your child. They can ‘adopt’ a dalmatian, and take care of it, much in the style of several toys and websites out on the market already. I know my kids love that stuff! Also on the second disc, there are deleted songs, that weren’t used in the movie. And my favorite parts of all, is the Backstage Disney section – where we find out all about how the movie was made, where the inspiration for Cruella comes from, the different trailers, radio, and TV spots, and art galleries, too! And a very special section in there is called “Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney”, which is a reenactment of the actual letters between Walt Disney and Dodie Smith, the author of the original book! How cool is that?

This is definitely a set of DVD’s that my family and I will cherish for a long time to come!

The Jewish Americans – PBS Documentary

Mrs.Lisa — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:35:57 +0000

I recently watched this DVD, The Jewish Americans, and I absolutely loved every minute of it! And it was six hours long! It is a 3-part series, that is why it is so long. And I have to say, that I am rather embarassed, about how much I actually learned from the documentary. I’m thrilled to have learned so much about the history of Jewish people in America, but, I am quite disappointed that I knew so little about their experiences here in the ‘new country’.

I do not remember having learned about Jewish people inhabiting the early-American colonies, but, Sephardic Jews began coming to America in the mid 1600’s. The Jewish people coming over here wanted to assimilate themselves into the culture here, and yet, they also wanted to hang onto and still practice their Jewish faith and way of life. Many of them found this process very difficult – they felt as though they were being pulled in two directions, but, they adapted to their new lives here, even wearing American clothing.

They began to build synagogues, and that I found very cool. (I actually have a synagogue near me that is over 100 years old – it’s very beautiful.) One of the synagogues, though, I think in Rhode Island, was built to match the style of the buildings in the town. And then on the inside, Judaism was ‘loudly’ celebrated in the design and the layout. I was a little saddened by this, as they were working so hard to blend in, they felt they could only be themselves on the inside. I thought that was kind of a bummer.

Another interesting thing that I learned about was the participation by the Jews in every war that America has been through. During the civil war, the men who joined the military in the North, didn’t really know too much about slavery and they didn’t join to fight slavery. As they traveled farther north, during the war, though, they began to experience the horrors of slavery first hand. They realized how awful it was, and wanted desperately to free the slaves. And during the first world war, they didn’t know anything about the concentration camps. Someone told one soldier, along with his fellow soldiers, there is a ‘Jewish camp’ over there, the way they were directly headed. They wondered what the heck that person meant when he said, ‘Jewish camp’. When they came upon the first camp, they were absolutely horrified. I can’t imagine having found out like that. I had never thought about how Allied soldiers first found out about the concentration camps. Of course, finding out in any way had to be just terrible, but, I think being there, out in the field…oh, it’s just awful.

After the war, though, the most WONDERFUL thing happened. It was just four short months after the war, and a lovely young lady from New York, who just happened to be JEWISH – won the title of Miss America. I absolutely had chills watching this part of the films. This was, of course, the first time that a Jewish girl had won. What a wonderful affirmation of American Jews being fully integrated into our society – and welcomed, loved, and supported. Yes, it’s not of earth-shattering importance – the Miss America pageant, but, it was a symbol. And it meant a lot – to a lot of people.

That last paragraph reminded me of another thing I learned, too. A lot of Jews in America prefer to be called American Jews, and not Jewish Americans. One lady explained that, even though she loves the USA, she could picture herself living in England, or in Australia, for instance, but, she could never picture herself not being Jewish. They said – “It’s the noun!”

I really, really loved this documentary and I know that I will watch it again and again and learn something new every time. And I will have my children watch it with me, because, I’m sure that American history taught in schools just does not teach much of the Jewish American experience, if at all. I will let them watch it in separate sittings, though. I am sure they would protest six hours. I just loved it so much, though, that I did not want it to end. I was soaking it up like a sponge! And I could go on and on here and tell you about a hundred and fifty more things that I learned, but, you might get sleepy. So I’ll just let you just go watch it yourself. You will love it – there are many interesting people interviewed, and I think that is part of what kept it so interesting. There are regular people, and Hollywood stars, and all kinds of people. Just go watch it – you will see, you’ll love it!