Happy Easter! - The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

HBO, 1986

Voices of Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, Jim Henson, and Louise Gold

Directed by Jim Henson and David G Hiller

Music by Philip Balsam; Lyrics by Dennis Lee

This cable special is the closest Jim Henson got to doing something for Easter. He wanted to make another holiday program with realistic animals after the success of Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas on HBO in 1977. While that one was a bit gritty and bittersweet, he went with something a little more aimed at children here. This special also introduced Bean Bunny, who would later appear on the 80's version of Muppet Babies and still occasionally turns up in Muppet media to this day. How does this charming story of rabbits who learn compassion when they find out the dog who ruins their picnic isn't as bad as he seems look now? Let's begin with the bunnies singing about the beginning of spring and find out...

The Story: Bean Bunny (Whitmire) is known for his wild imagination and his goofy attempts to dream he's something else. He wants to help set up for the big spring Bunny Picnic, but his older brother Lugsy (Hunt) keeps telling him he's too little. He wanders off into the lettuce patch to daydream when he's chased out by the farmer's dog (Henson). Horrified, Bean tries to tell everyone what he saw, but they think it's just another imaginative story. 

It isn't until the dog attacks the Picnic that the bunnies finally admit Bean wasn't just imagining things. The rabbits try everything they can think of to shake him, until Bean comes up with an idea based on a puppet show put on by the Storyteller Bunny (Ron Mueck). That seems to do the trick, at least until the dog catches on. Bean escapes and saves his brother...but when they see the dog being abused by the mean farmer who owns him (Martin P. Robinson), they realize who the real villain is and decide to teach the bullying farmer a lesson.

The Song and Dance: Considering the sugary reputation this special in general and Bean Bunny in particular have, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The songs are catchy, and Bean is a lot of fun, especially some of his wilder daydreams! I also like that the bad guy isn't who you think it's going to be. The dog is set up to be the villain until mid-way through, when you realize he's as scared as the rabbits and is just following orders. The ending with how they help him actually ends up being rather sweet. 

The Numbers: We open with the bunnies enthusiastically greeting the warmer weather in "Hello Sunshine." Poor Bean laments that no one will let people do anything special "When You're Little." The dog tells the bunnies "Run, Bunny, Run," because he's coming after them. The Storyteller encourages the bunnies to "Follow Me" as he sets up his puppet show. Bean's parents sing "The Bunny's Lullaby" to put their frightened children to sleep that night. The bunnies empower each other to help the dog and attack the farmer with "Drum of Time." "Hello Sunshine" reappears during the credits after we find out who the narrator was.

Trivia: The special originally opened with a live-action segment as Jim Henson explained what inspired the story. That has been cut from most current copies available, including the ones on video and YouTube. 

What I Don't Like: While it's not quite as cutesy as it's reputation would have it, it's still a lot more child-oriented and sweet than the gritty Emmett Otter or the slightly darker and wackier Muppet fairy tales. Those adorable bunnies may be just a little too precious, with their huge black button eyes, chubby cheeks, and breathless speeches. It's notable that, though this did well enough on cable and has turned up sporadically thereafter on HBO and video, it's not one of the better-known specials. Only Bean is even mildly remembered today.

The Big Finale: Charming and adorable springtime viewing for you and your younger children; older kids and teens may find it a tad too sugary. 

Home Media: As mentioned, the only place you can find this at press time is YouTube. 

YouTube

Animation Celebration Saturday - Frosty Returns

CBS, 1992

Voices of John Goodman, Jonathan Winters, Brian Doyle Murphy, and Elizabeth Moss

Directed by Evert Brown and Bill Melendez

Music and Lyrics by Mark Mothersbaugh and others

This one has some complicated origins. Frosty's Winter Wonderland was among the specials purchased by Warner Brothers when they picked up the rights to the post-1974 Rankin-Bass catalog, which meant that by the 1980's, CBS couldn't run it anymore. They commissioned the director of the Peanuts specials Melendez and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels to create their own follow-up to Frosty the Snowman in the early 90's. Is it as much fun as the Rankin-Bass productions, or should it be canned? Let's start as our tiny narrator (Jonathan Winters) floats into Beansborough on a snowflake for their annual Winter Carnival and find out...

The Story: The kids of Beansborough are excited about the huge snow storm that just fell in town. Their parents aren't nearly as amused by all the shoveling and defrosting they have to do. Holly DiCarlo (Moss) and her best friend Charles (Michael Patrick Carter) are more interested in working on Holly's magic act for the carnival. The storm's wind blows Holly's magic hat right onto a snowman, turning him into the wisecracking Frosty. 

The kids are delighted with their new frozen friend (when Holly can convince Charles that Frosty's really moving), but Frosty's nervous. Local businessman Mr. Twitchell (Murphy) is heavily pushing his new product Summer Wheeze in a bid to become king of the Winter Carnival. Summer Wheeze instantly removes snow from any surface, including snowmen. It's up to Frosty and the two kids to remind everyone in Beansborough about how fun winter - and snow friends - can truly be.

The Animation: This definitely screams "early 90's Peanuts special." The zig-zaggy thick lines, large head, and sketchy style all look like the work of Bill Melendez. It could fit right in with the later Peanuts specials if the adults sounded like trumpets. It's a lot more like a Peanuts special than a more playful and anime-esque Rankin-Bass special. 

The Song and Dance: The cast and the catchy songs stand out in this attempt at a more "modern" Frosty story. The two kids are hilarious and get some great lines, especially in the opening. Murphy and Andrea Martin also have a few good moments as the villainous executive determined to become carnival king at all costs (including environmental costs) and the kids' fussy teacher Miss Carbunkle. (Also, as with Frosty's Winter Wonderland, I appreciate that there's no reference to any holidays besides the Winter Carnival. This is another one that can be watched at any time during the colder months.) 

The Numbers: We open with an announcer declaring that there's over two feet of snow on the ground and the kids are out of school. "We Love the Snow," say the kids who are delighted to be out of school. Their parents are more frustrated about dealing with shoveling it and complain "We Can Live Without Snow." This becomes "Let There Be Snow" for Frosty and Holly as they sing about the delights of winter weather. The duo reprise it with the townspeople at the carnival. (They're joined here by Charles, who is such a bad singer, even the animated characters wince.) The cast sings the title song over the end credits.

Trivia: This turned up on CBS occasionally during the Christmas season from 1992 through 2023. 

What I Don't Like: What is this a sequel to again? Despite the title, this is really its own stand-alone story, with nothing whatsoever to do with the two Rankin-Bass Frosty specials. Honestly, it feels like Melendez was trying too hard to be early 90's cynical and "hip." Goodman does make a warm Frosty, but his dialogue is less witty and more annoying. The story is a cross between "Rankin-Bass obnoxious and silly villain does weird mean things to kids" and a typical Peanuts special, without the charming weirdness that made both franchises stand out. 

The Big Finale: The catchy music and nice cast makes this worth seeing at least once this winter with elementary school-age kids who will enjoy Holly and Frosty's antics and ignore the so-so animation and plot holes. 

Home Media: That long run on CBS means it's not currently on streaming, but it can be found paired with Frosty the Snowman on many DVDs and Blu-Rays. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

DVD - The Original Christmas Classics 

Valentine's Short Subject Special - The Valentine's Day That Almost Wasn't

Showtime, 1982

Voices of Lisa Buckley, Richard J. Schellbach, Paul Fusco, and Bob Fappiano

Directed by Paul Fusco

Music and Lyrics by Ed Bruder and Jeff Cannata

From 1981 through 1983 Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF, made a series of six holiday specials for cable featuring his unique comic puppets. We've already seen his Easter and Thanksgiving stories over the past year. For Valentine's Day, we get a mystery and action spoof that turns cupids into Bogart-style investigators and gives us a little more action than in the more character-based early specials. In fact, we begin with our first real villain from these specials, Rubella Slime (Buckley) and her brothers, as they create a brew to spread hate in the world and end Valentine's Day as we know it.

The Story: Rubella hates Valentine's Day so much, she and her brothers Bugsy (Fusco) and Weasel (Fappiano) create a hate potion to put into the Cupids' Pot of Love. They first spray it on innocent Cosmo Cupid (Schellbach) when he's giving away puppies at the pound to create a distraction. While Sam Cupid (Fusco) and his boys are dealing with Cosmo, Bugsy and Weasell are able to sneak in and put the potion in the pot. When the cupids shoot their arrows, they turn everyone mean instead of loving. Sam has to find the antidote and stops Rubella, before she and her brothers ruin Valentine's Day for everyone.

The Song and Dance: Well, you can't say this one isn't unique. You don't often see a holiday special, especially for Valentine's Day, framed as a film noir spoof. The city and above the clouds setting gives this one a different vibe from the other specials, and it's a bit more action-packed, as per the mystery thriller vibe. Buckley pretty much steals the show as the hilariously evil Rubella, who wants everyone to hate Valentine's Day because she's never gotten a real Valentine in her life.

The Numbers: "Poison Brew" is Rubella's big song and dance with her brothers early-on. We get their explanation as to why they're doing this, how they plan on doing it, and what it will do to the people on earth.

What I Don't Like: This might be the strangest thing Fusco ever did. Humphrey Bogart-imitating Cupids? Villains who act like a cross between Maleficent and Morticia Addams? A Valentine's Day story framed as a mystery? Yeah, this is pretty weird, and more action than musical. Like Fusco's other work for Showtime, it's also incredibly cheap. Some of the sets are a little bit more interesting than the ones for Easter and Thanksgiving, especially when Cosmo and Sam are in their hot air balloon, using a laser (that is obviously a spotlight) to spread love, but it still looks like something made for cable in the early 80's.

The Big Finale: If you're looking for something different (and maybe a little less romantic) this Valentine's Day, take a trip to the big city with Sam and help him stop Rubella from destroying the holiday forever.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, including free on Tubi with commercials.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - Frosty's Winter Wonderland

Rankin-Bass/ABC, 1976

Voices of Jackie Vernon, Shelley Winters, Andy Griffith, and Dennis Day

Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass

Music and Lyrics by various

For the next three Saturdays, we'll be looking at vintage winter and Valentine's Day specials from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, starting with this lesser-known sequel from Rankin-Bass. The original Frosty the Snowman was one of their bigger hits in the late 60's, so it was likely inevitable that they would want to follow that up. They got the folksy Griffith to replace original narrator Jimmy Durante, who had a stroke a few years before and had retired, and concocted a story that gave Frosty a wife and a slightly more likely villain than an annoying and rather silly magician. How does all of this look today? Let's begin with Griffith and the kids as they try to build a snowman who'll come to life like Frosty and find out...

The Story: Frosty (Vernon) is glad to be back with the kids, but he's lonely when they're not playing with him. Since he can't go inside with them, they make him a wife to be his friend and partner. Trouble is, they can't figure out what will make her "all livin'" at first. Meanwhile, Jack Frost (Paul Frees) is jealous that the kids associate Frosty with winter more than they do him. He tries to blow Frosty's magic hat away, but gets a substitute. Frosty is the one who finally figures out what will bring Crystal (Winters) to life...and she saves him in turn after Frost returns and does get his hat. Frosty and Crystal want to be married, but they end up needing a snow priest (Day) to do the job. 

The Animation: As a later Rankin-Bass special, this absolutely shows the hand of Paul Coker Jr. It's much more rounded and anime-like than the original special (as per its Japanese origins), and definitely looks like it was designed by the man who would later do artwork for MAD Magazine. 

The Song and Dance: Vernon and Winters make an adorable couple in one of the better Rankin-Bass specials of the 70's. This is one of the few times the weirdness that marks their later efforts really works. Winters' crusty demeanor compliments Vernon's innocent cheerfulness well, and Frees makes a perfect impish Jack. I also like that this may be the only Rankin-Bass special that doesn't needlessly attempt to tie a holiday in. It doesn't mention Christmas, Valentine's Day, or even Groundhog's Day. It's just about the wonders of winter, making it perfect to watch during the colder months when other Rankin-Bass specials are sitting on the shelf. 

The Numbers: Griffith performs "Frosty the Snowman" in the opening as the kids build their new wintry friend and wish for Frosty's return. They sing it again when they're out skating and sledding with Frosty and realize that Frosty really isn't very good at counting. Day and Griffith share "Winter Wonderland" later on, during Frosty and Crystal's wedding. It really is very sweet, with the animals carrying Crystal's train and the snowman that no one has to pretend is Parson Brown.

What I Don't Like: Er, what is this a sequel to again? There's no mention of Karen, the little girl from the first special, though they do continue the running gag with the kid wrapped in that huge scarf and his weird snow people names and the cop who swallows his whistle at the sight of the snow people. While this does make more sense than such late 70's and 80's Rankin-Bass specials as The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold or Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas In July, it's still a little strange. The kids make Frosty a wife, and Jack Frost is jealous because they aren't paying attention? Sometimes I wonder what the writers at Rankin-Bass were on in the 70's and early 80's. 

The Big Finale: One of the better Rankin-Bass specials from the mid-late 70's deserves a look during the winter months for its unique story and charming performances.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

DVD - Frosty the Snowman/Frosty's Winter Wonderland

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - The Frog Prince (1971)

Robert Laurence Productions/The Jim Henson Company, 1971

Voices of Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, and Richard Hunt

Directed by Jim Henson

Music and Lyrics by Joe Raposo

We end the month as we began it, with the Muppets. This time, we jump way far back, to when Jim Henson was trying to prove that his felt characters could be more than commercial announcers or filler between variety show numbers. This is the second of three fairy tale-based specials Henson did featuring Kermit, and probably the best-received of the three. It was so popular, four of the Muppets used in this special would go on to appear on The Muppet Show three years later. Does it still cast a spell today? Let's begin with our narrator Kermit the Frog (Henson) by the well and find out...

The Story: Sir Robin the Brave (Gordon Thomson) is turned into a frog by the wicked witch Taminella (Jerry Juhl). Kermit and his friends by the well in the castle garden don't believe him, even when he tells them he can't swim. He has to befriend a princess and get her to kiss him, and the lovely Melora (Trudy Young) would seem to be the perfect candidate. Trouble is, she too is under a spell. Her words are twisted backwards by the evil woman who claims to be her father King Rupert (Henson)'s sister. Robin recognizes her as Taminella, who wants to take Melora's throne on her birthday and become queen. Robin and Kermit try to translate Melora's backwards warnings and dodge Taminella's big, dumb ogre Sweetums (Carl Banas).

The Song and Dance: This is by far my favorite, not only of the Muppet fairy tale specials, but of the specials Henson did before he developed The Muppet Show. Robin and Sweetums were so adorable and hilarious respectively, they've been used in Muppet shows and films ever since. Raposo's songs are a delight, too, especially Young singing with Robin the Frog (Nelson) and Sweetums' noisy number. Nice costumes too, on Muppet and human alike. I like that Kermit's a little more involved with this than he would be with The Muppet Musicians of Bremen and the later Christmas specials, too. 

The Numbers: We open with the "Frog Chant" from the frogs at the well and the chorus. Robin explains what happened to him to turn him from "Sir Robin the Brave" into a little frog. Kermit and his friends insist that it's great to be "Frogs." Robin interprets Melora's turned around "N'I'm Ineteen" ("I'm Nineteen") in a charming duet. After he gets into the castle, Robin is almost stomped on by Sweetums, until he manages to insist "Sleep, Sweetums." "Sweetums," for his part, isn't happy with having been manipulated and just wants his frog dinner. "Anthems of Joy" is the happy ending, as Melora and Robin embrace, the people of the country are glad to have the right queen, King Rupert is happy for his daughter, and Kermit misses his froggy friend.

Trivia: Robin and Sweetums aren't the only Muppets from this special who would turn up on The Muppet Show. Featherstone and King Rupert made occasional appearances in royalty-themed skits during the first season. 

What I Don't Like: While we do get Robin and Sweetums here along with Kermit, don't expect the rest of the Muppet gang like Piggy or Fozzie. This came out three years before that show debuted. Young's adorable as the Princess, but what little we see of Thomson is a bit stiff for a dashing prince. Frankly, Taminella is more annoying than she is threatening. How the king fell for her, I will never know. 

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of the Muppets or of fairy tales like me, this is worth swimming a well for if you can find it.

Home Media: Alas, at press time, it can only be found on out-of-print videos and a blurry copy on Dailymotion. 

Dailymotion

Animation Celebration Saturday - Dot and Keeto

Yoram Gross Films/Hoyts Distribution, 1985

Voices of Robyn Moore and Keith Scott

Directed by Yoram Gross

Music by Guy Gross, Bob Young, John Levine, and John Zulaikha; Lyrics by John Palmer

Let's return to the Australian outback this weekend for the next film in the long-running Dot series. After Dot and the Koala ended up being something of a cross between a typical Saturday morning cartoon of the 80's and Animal Farm, the next film returned to the original format of Dot encountering Aussie animals in the real outback. This time, the theme is the Australian insect world, including a few most people don't really think of as heroic or friendly. How well does Dot do in her time among the insects? Let's begin in the outback, as a live-action Dot (Ashley Ayre) tries to keep her brother Simon (Leaf Nowland) from harming ants and caterpillars and find out...

The Story: Dot (Moore) eats a magic root in order to explain to the insects that she tried to help them, but she eats the wrong root and shrinks to their size. She first befriends Keeto (Scott), a sweet male mosquito who agrees to help her find the root. Dot tries to go inside to find her mother, but she encounters cockroaches who don't take too kindly to her. Militaristic ants who think she's the one who destroyed their home like her even less. Their queen (Moore) looks down on her. She almost becomes food for a nasty wasp (Moore) and befriends a hungry caterpillar (Scott). Meanwhile, Dot's old friend the kangaroo shrinks down and goes looking for her.

The Animation: Same as most of the other movies in this series. After the weird and too-cartoonish Dot and the Koala, it's almost refreshing to see this one go back to drawing the animals more realistically. They're still not that well-integrated with the actual environments, but they look like the animals they're representing and they move well enough.

The Song and Dance: Like I said, after the preachy environmental message and odd Saturday morning vibe of the previous film, it's rather a relief to see this one return to formula. Good-natured Keeto is at least somewhat more tolerable than annoying Funny Bunny from Dot and the Bunny, and we get to see the mother kangaroo and a bit of her close relationship with Dot again this time, too. It's also fascinating to learn more about both insects that are native to Australia, and ones like mosquitoes and caterpillars that most of us have in our own backyards. 

The Numbers: Our first song goes to Dot as she explains why the "Little Things" of nature mean so much. "Cockroach" and his brethren sing to Dot about how they've managed to survive for so long, while the "Work Ant" marches its way to its home carrying a screaming, furious Dot. "Queen Ant" sings about how she's on top of the heap in her ant hill. Butterwalk the Caterpillar (Scott) tells Dot how he'll become a "Butterfly." There's also talk of the fearsome "Spider." We end with a reprise of "In the Kangaroo Pouch" from Dot and the Kangaroo as the Kangaroo takes Dot home.  

What I Don't Like: Honestly, this one shares most of the same problems as the rest of the series. The animation, though it's improved since the previous entries, still isn't great. The story meanders and wanders along with Dot. It's not for someone who is looking for a more straightforward plot. 

The Big Finale: Honestly, if you liked the other films in this series, you'll enjoy Dot's visit with the Australia's smallest residents just as much. 

Home Media: YouTube only at the moment. 

YouTube

Family Fun Saturday - Geppetto

ABC/Disney, 2000

Starring Drew Carey, Julie Louis-Dreyfus, Brett Spiner, and Seth Adkins

Directed by Tom Moore

Music and Lyrics by Steven Schwartz

We're staying with TV films this weekend, but skipping ahead a decade and a half to the turn of the new millennium. ABC had successfully relaunched its Wonderful World of Disney in 1997 with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. After it's 1999 version of Annie was also a hit, Disney stuck closer to home for its next big show. Drew Carey's self-titled sitcom was right in the middle of its almost 10-year run on ABC in 2000. Between his sitcom and his stint hosting the improv show Who's Line Is It Anyway, Carey was one of the most popular comedians on TV as the calendar changed to the 2000's. Louis-Dreyfus was almost as popular, coming off the run of the phenomenally beloved Seinfeld. Disney threw them both into their next TV musical, switching Pinocchio to focus on his woodcarver father and the Blue Fairy. Does this work, or should it be swallowed by a whale? Let's begin with the title character (Carey) as all of the children in town rush to his store to buy new toys, and find out...

The Story: Geppetto is tired of seeing children with scolding parents, thinking that he'd be the perfect father. He gets a chance to learn how hard it is to be a parent when the Blue Fairy (Louis-Dreyfus) makes his puppet Pinocchio (Adkins) come to life. Pinocchio is lively and funny, but he's also a bundle of questions when he should be sleeping, wanders off downtown, and isn't interested in woodcarving like his father. Geppetto sends his new son to school, only for him to come home admitting he got into a fight after imitating the other boys. Geppetto is furious with his son and with the Blue Fairy, who points out that no child or parent is perfect. 

By the time he's willing to listen, Pinocchio has run away with Stromboli (Spiner) and his puppet show. When Geppetto goes to see the show, Stromboli tells him his son went to see the world. What Pinocchio really did was board a carriage to Pleasure Island. Geppetto goes after him, encountering an inept magician (Wayne Brady) and a town filled with perfect, obedient children made by Professor Bunoragazzo (Rene Auberjononis). He and Stromboli arrive at Pleasure Island almost at the same time, but they're both thrown out for being adults. When Pinocchio and the other boys at the Island turn into donkeys, Geppetto follows him in a boat. He's swallowed by a whale, only to be reunited with a repentant Pinocchio. It then that they finally realize that being a parent means loving your child even when they're at their worst, and that the best any parent can do is help their child grow.

The Song and Dance: It's the song and dance, along with a relatively lavish production for a TV musical in 2000, that are the stand-outs. Some of the songs in Steven Schwartz's score aren't bad. I especially like "Satisfaction Guaranteed" for Professor Bunoragazzo and the townspeople and Geppetto and the Blue Fairy's counterpoint duet "Just Because It's Magic." Wayne Brady is hilarious in his sequence with Carey as the lousy magician, and Spiner makes for a funny and scary Stromboli. At the very least, this is better than the  live-action remake that focused on Pinocchio in 2022. 

The Numbers: We open with Carey singing "Once Upon a Time" as the traditional Disney Storybook opens. The first big chorus number is "Toys," as the kids in the town beg for Geppetto's wares, and Geppetto wishes he had a child of his own. "Empty Heart" is his lonely lament that he's never been blessed with a son. He's thrilled to be "Geppetto and Son," until Pinocchio constantly wanders off while he introduces him to the townspeople. The Blue Fairy tries to explain that "Just Because It's Magic" doesn't mean it guarantees a happy ending. We hear "I've Got No Strings" from the original film as Pinocchio dances with Stromboli's puppets. Stromboli's more likely to cheer himself in "Bravo Stromboli!" 

Lezamo the magician reprises "Toys" with Geppetto, reminding him that he's beloved by other children. Professor Bunoragazzo, his son (Christopher Marquette), and the townspeople of Idylla insist that they can deliver a perfect child "Satisfaction Guaranteed" in a huge chorus number, but Geppetto finds those so-called "perfect" children more creepy than delightful. Usher Raymond (aka Usher) is the "Pleasure Island" ringleader who encourages the boys there to break away from their parents' rules and do whatever they want. Geppetto reprises "Geppetto and Son" when Pinocchio finds him in the whale. He tells Stromboli he'll give him his business or anything he wants. He doesn't need anything "Since I Gave My Heart Away." This is also heard over the credits, performed by singer Sonya Issacs.

What I Don't Like: First and foremost, Carey and Louis-Dreyfus are too modern and goofy to work as a resident of fairy-tale Italy in the late 1800's and a magical fairy. Carey fully admitted he was miscast and that making this wasn't a happy affair. You don't buy him as a concerned father who just wants his son to listen. And...frankly, Geppetto's story isn't all that interesting. Some of the sequences, like the creepy "Satisfaction Guaranteed" town, have their moments, but it doesn't add up to much of a whole. You really wish they'd just done a live-action remake of Pinocchio 22 years early and focused on the character who actually does the growing up and makes the journey. 

The Big Finale: While it is better than the 2022 Pinocchio remake, considering how bad that was, that's not saying much. Unless you're a huge fan of Carey, Brady, or Louis-Dreyfus, you're better off just watching the original animated film on DVD or Disney Plus again.

Home Media: Disney is all too aware of the negative reception this one got. At press time, this is DVD only.

DVD

Animation Celebration Saturday - A Little Princess (1996)

GoodTimes Entertainment, 1996

Voices of Melissa Bathory, Lawrence Bayne, Desmond Ellis, and Katherine Giaquinto

Directed by Laura Shepherd

Music and Lyrics by Mark Shekter

Animated films weren't the only movies that had cheap animated knock offs made of them in the 1990's. Almost anything family-oriented that was popular in the era had six hour-long cartoon "movies" released to the direct-to-video market based on it. A Little Princess, based on the beloved children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, was a hit movie in 1995. This animated version debuted less than a year later. How does it compare to the book and film? Let's begin as a carriage takes little Sara Crewe (Bathory) and her father (Bayne) to the Minchin School for Girls and find out...

The Story: Sara's father is extremely wealthy and gives her everything she wants, but she's far from spoiled. On her first day, she helps out plump, shy Ermengarde (Marieve Herington) when she forgets an answer and is kind to the servant Becky (Giaquinto). Miss Minchin (Nonnie Griffin) is only interested in the money Sara's father is paying for her lavish lifestyle. 

On Sara's eleventh birthday, a lawyer arrives and tells Miss Minchin Sara's father has died without a penny to his name. Furious, Miss Minchin forces Sara to work as a servant with Becky to pay off her debts. Sara tries to be cheerful, including telling a story based around her predicament to Ermingarde and Becky and attempting to make friends with spoiled Lavinia (Sarena Paton) when her family can't come to Parents' Day, but it's hard in that cold attic. Even with her mother's "magic" doll Ami Lu, it's hard to believe that things can get better...until she and Becky flee the house and discover a miracle has occurred. and that maybe magic isn't as far away as it seems.

The Animation: Bright and rather sketchy, almost looking like it was made in the 60's rather than the 90. At least the characters have more than one facial expression (as is often a problem in these cheap 90's animated knock offs) and the colors are bright primaries and stark black and whites that pop off the screen. The sketchiness manages to be both charming and annoying, feeling more like a Saturday morning cartoon from this era than this classic novel.

The Song and Dance: Actually, I like some of the things they do here. My favorite change involves the doll. In the book and most movie and TV versions, Sara's doll is named Emily, and she's just a toy she and her father buy at a store before he leaves. Here, Ami Lu is an Indian doll that had belonged to Sara's mother and is believed to be magic, making it even more special and meaningful to her. Sara may even be sweeter here than in the book. She never even attempted to make friends with Lavinia or forgive Miss Minchin. The way they wind the segments from Sara's story (obviously based on what Sara herself is going through) throughout the narrative is creative, too. 

The Numbers: Miss Minchin gets a big goofy solo on how much she loves (and will chase after the symbols of) "Money." Shut up in the attic, lonely and scared, Sara looks out to the London night and performs "Somewhere Far From Home" as she wishes for a better place where someone could love her. 

What I Don't Like: This has more in common with the 1995 movie and the Shirley Temple version from 1939 than the book. Several major characters, including Miss Minchin's nicer sister Amelia and the servant Ram Dass who helps Sara, are eliminated all together. As in the other film versions, it's Sara's father who finally gets her out of Miss Minchin's clutches, not his repentant partner. He doesn't buy the school in the end in the book, and Becky is Sara's servant, not a student. Not to mention, there's the cheap animation and two dull songs. 

The Big Finale: If you have little princesses of your own who might enjoy the story and don't mind or care about the cheap animation and changes from the book, this is an enjoyable bit of fluff to warm you up on a cold winter's afternoon.

Home Media: Your best bet on this one is streaming. It can be found for free with commercials pretty much everywhere, including Tubi.

Tubi

YouTube

Happy New Year! - Sesame Street Stays Up Late

PBS, 1993

Voices of Carol Spinney, Kevin Clash, Martin P. Robinson, and Fran Brill

Directed by Chuck Vinson

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's kick off 2026 with a look at one of Sesame Street's lesser-known specials. Though Big Bird was still the focus of most stories at this point, with the death of Jim Henson and the need to recast many of his characters (like Ernie), other Muppets and puppeteers stepped up to the spotlight. Elmo was just being built up as a major character when this special debuted. Sesame Street had been evolving at this point as well, with new adult human characters, a new set, and new Muppets like the just-debuted Rosita and Zoe. How is all this reflected in this look at how countries around the world celebrate the New Year? Let's get to Sesame Street, where Big Bird is announcing that it's time to party, and find out...

The Story: As most of the adults go out for the New Year, the kids and Muppets of Sesame Street remain behind for a party of their own. Gina (Alison Bartlett) and tap-dancing wunderkind Savion (Savion Glover) keep an eye on them and help them with preparations. Oscar the Grouch (Spinney) is trying to get through to his family long-distance and isn't too happy with Ernestine the Telephone Operator's (Lily Tomlin) constant chatter. He tells a nervous Telly the Monster (Robinson) that if the year ends, so will everything else. Telly does everything he can to keep the New Year party from happening. 

Meanwhile, Elmo (Clash), Prairie Dawn (Brill), and the Muppet News Network do reports on New Year's Eve celebrations around the world. The reports from Norway, Germany, Israel, and Portugal come direct from those countries' versions of Sesame Street and their own Muppet characters. Elmo's "cousin" Pepe (Clash) helps Rosita (Carmen Osbahr) with the reports on the New Year's fiesta in Mexico, while Elmo's cousin Elmo-noske (Clash) reports from Japan. 

The Song and Dance: This is so sweet. For one thing, the only countries whose New Year's customs I knew anything about before I saw this were Mexico and Israel. It really is fascinating to learn about New Year's celebrations in other parts of the world. I liked seeing the Muppets from other versions of Sesame Street, too. From the Oscar-like Moiske Oofnik and huge, sweet Kippi in Israel to pretty kitty Tita in Portugal, I love seeing how different cultures represent puppetry and kid-friendly characters. Elmo makes for an adorable and hilarious host (and generally doesn't hog the spotlight as much as he would later in the 90's and 2000's), and Prairie Dawn's on-the-spot reporting on Sesame Street is funny, too. Telly's story, on the other hand, is handled with marvelous sensitivity for younger kids who may not understand what New Year's is really about and might be nervous about the noise and the idea of the year ending. There's also the cute side plot with Big Bird spending the special trying to wake up Snuffy before midnight.

The Numbers: We open with Big Bird's announcement to the kids on the Street that "We're Going to Stay Up Late and Party." Rosita and Pepito join the children of Mexico to perform a "Mexican Folk Song" as they make their pinata. "Oshagatu" is the song for the children of Japan as they fly kites and enjoy their day of freedom. "Bashanah Habaah" is the joyous number celebrating the Jewish New Year and its unique customs. The children and Muppets of Germany go from house to house asking for treats in the "Rummel Pot Song." Max Mekker, Alfa, and Bjarne Betjent from the Norwegian Sesame Street join the children of Lillehammer, Norway in the kid amusement park Lilleputhammer for the lovely "It's New Year's Eve." Oscar finally connects with his family in a brief "New Year's Chorale for Six Grouches." Big Bird gently reminds everyone that it's the "Faces That I Love" that make New Year's special.

Trivia: Known on VHS and some older streaming copies as Sesame Street Celebrates Around the World. 

There's a couple of references to the Olympics in the Norway segment. Lillehammer, Norway would host the Winter Olympics in 1994.

This was one of the first appearances of Ernie since Jim Henson's death in 1989. He was voiced in his brief appearance here by Steve Whitmire. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while Elmo doesn't take over this special to the degree that he would dominate the show later in the 90's, there's still a lot of him here. If you're not a fan of him, you may not be into this.  Second, this is an older Muppet special. Some younger kids may wonder where more recent characters like Julia or Abby Cadabba are. The "around the corner" set where most of this takes place was retired in 1998, along with the characters who inhabited it. Most kids watching Sesame Street nowadays may not even know they existed. 

The Big Finale: If your kids are fans of Elmo or Big Bird, or you remember this from when you were a kid, this remains a charming look at holiday customs in other parts of the world and here in the US.

Home Media: Streaming is your best bet for this one, usually under the "Celebrates Around the World" title. The DVD is currently hard to find and pricey.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Twits

Netflix, 2025

Voices of Margo Martindale, Johnny Vegas, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Natalie Portman

Directed by Phil Johnston

Music and Lyrics by David Byrne and others

Our last animated review of 2025 takes us back to streaming for something that's been a long time coming. The Twits, the 1980 Roald Dahl children's book about a nasty couple who played pranks on each other and other people, had originally been optioned by Vanguard Animation back in 2003 as a live action/animated hybrid. It moved with Vanguard to Universal from Disney in 2006. There were mentions of it until around 2012, but it seemed to stall there until Netflix bought the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2022. How does this tale of a gruesome twosome who learn a lesson about meanness from a group of orphans look now? Let's begin as a mother firefly named Pippa (Emily Clarke) tells their story to her son Jeremy (Sami Amber) and find out...

The Story: Mrs. Credenza (Martindale) and Mr. James (Vegas) Twit are the proprietors of Twitlandia, an amusement park that is the only thing they love. After it's shut down on opening day for health violations, the Twits spitefully fill the water tower of the town Tripelot with liquid hot dog meat. This causes a massive explosion that floods the town and damages its reputation as the go-to place for fun.

Orphans Beesha (Ramakrishnan) and Busby (Ryan Lopez) have their own score to settle with the Twits. Busby was about to be adopted when the flood caused the couple who were interested to back out. Beesha takes Busby to Twitlandia, where the Twits gleefully admit to everything they did. Beesha also encounters a group of colorful monkeys called the Muggle-Wumps, who are being kept as the main attractions. The kids aren't able to rescue them right away, but Beesha does record the Twits' confession. The Twits are arrested, but are released by a family who desperately wants their help in making the town a center for fun again.

After they discover that the children have freed the Muggle-Wumps, the Twits chase them to the orphanage. Beesha won't let them in, claiming the orphanage belongs to the city. The Twits run for mayor, convincing everyone that they'll make them billionaires. When they trick Beesha into thinking her parents are coming for her, Mary Muggle-Wump (Portman) reminds her that family isn't always the one that's related to us. Sometimes, it's the one we create...and that there's a lot of people out there who are willing to help fight our battles. Beesha and all of the orphans learn their own lesson in empathy when they play the ultimate joke on the Twits to get them to admit they had no intention of helping the town...but it costs them their ability to understand the Muggle-Wumps.

The Animation: Though likely computer animated, it has the look of a jerky stop-motion animated film of the 80's and 90's like The Nightmare Before Christmas. Everything is all sharp angles, bushy, kinky hair, or squashed ovals. This adds to the unsettling story and the obscene and outrageous gross-out gags. The fact that most of the colors are fairly subdued makes the things that are more colorful - the Muggle-Wumps, Mrs. Twit's green hair - stand out all the more.

The Song and Dance: I give them credit just for getting this weird. Most animated musicals intended for kids don't go in for gross-out gags and strange scatological humor, which makes this almost oddly refreshing in that respect. Roald Dahl's trademark wacky-dry weirdness comes across loud and clear in Martindale and Vegas' appropriately loud and obnoxious performances. Ramakrishnan doesn't do too badly as the kid who wants to prove how "good" she can be so her parents will come back for her.

The Numbers: We begin with the Twits singing about how "We're Not Like Everyone Else" as they fill the water tower with liquid hot dog juice after their amusement park is condemned. Mary Mugga-Wump performs a "Lullaby" for the orphans to show how wonderful their dreams can be. The Twits claim that "The Problem Is You" as they campaign for mayor. We get an almost operatic "Twitlandia" over the destruction of their amusement park, then "Trick Me." The movie ends with "Open the Door" on being willing to grow and learn.

What I Don't Like: See the "gross-out gags" mentioned up there? What audience did Netflix intend this for again? It gets too weird and scary for younger kids, while older kids may be turned off by the cute kids and fantasy sequences with the Muggle-Wumps, and their parents my be too grossed-out to care. There's also that "inspired by" credit. Apparently, the book version of The Twits were a hateful couple who did make bird pie, use a special super-sticky glue to catch them, and own a group of colorful monkeys called Muggle-Wumps, but they intended to start a circus with the Muggle-Wumps, not an amusement park. There were four boys who scared the birds away, but they don't end up saving the Muggle-Wumps. The Muggle-Wumps were the ones who came up with the idea of gluing the Twits' furniture on the ceiling, not the kids. The whole subplot with the liquid meat and tricking the townspeople was invented for this movie.

The Big Finale: Definitely not for younger kids despite the PG rating, but older kids and pre-teens who like their humor rude and their action frantic and can tolerate a little sentimentality may find a lot more in this weird gross-out tale than I did. 

Home Media: It's currently a Netflix exclusive.

Netflix

Merry Christmas! - The Christmas Toy

ABC, 1986

Voices of Dave Golez, Steve Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen, and Brian Henson

Directed by Eric Till

Music and Lyrics by Jeff Moss

This year, we celebrate Christmas and New Year's with the Muppets in two very different lesser-known Muppet and Sesame Street specials. The Christmas Toy was Jim Henson's second shot at a holiday special after the more subdued Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas on cable. Christmas Toy goes in the opposite direction, with a more traditional holiday story in bright primaries revolving around toys and holiday friendship. How does this Muppet toy story look now, after other animated tales of playthings have come and gone? Let's begin with Kermit the Frog dressed as Santa goes down the chimney and introduces us to the Jones family and the residents of the playroom and find out...

The Story: Rugby Tiger (Golez) is little Jamie's (Marsha Moreau) favorite toy that she got for Christmas last year. When he hears it's Christmas Eve, he thinks he'll be opened and found by Jamie again. Trouble is, if toys are found out of place, they're frozen permanently. Rugby and Mew the Cat Toy (Whitmire) go downstairs to climb into a box so Jamie can open him, but it's not that easy. Jamie does have a new big toy this year, Meteora the Space Queen (Camille Bonora), who thinks they're aliens. Meanwhile, Apple the Rag Doll (Mullen) convinces Cruiser the Cab Driver (Henson), Belmont the nervous ride-on horse (Richard Hunt), and Bleep the Robot (Rob Mills) to help her rescue Rugby and keep him from getting them all frozen. Rugby ends up learning a lesson in real friendship when Mew not only helps him convince Meteora to get back in the box, but sacrifices himself to save the others, too.

The Song and Dance: This charming special is faster-paced and more high-energy than Emmett Otter, but just as much fun. Golez revels in playing the hilariously egotistical Rugby, who thinks that just because he's Jessie's favorite toy means he'll stay that way forever. Whitmire is adorable as Mew, who remains a loyal friend despite Rugby insulting him about being a cat toy. The songs are really catchy too, with "Try the Impossible" and the heartbreaking "Together at Christmas" the standouts. I love the bright color palate on the toys, the deep blacks and glittering silvers and golds of Meteora and the tree in the living room, and some of the gags, especially when they try to get Meteora back in the box!

The Numbers: We open with a big chorus routine for the toys, as we're introduced to their world in the play room and how "Toys Love to Play." "I Was the Greatest Christmas Toy" is Rugby's recollection of the year before and how it made him feel like a big star. Apple reprises it briefly in the living room when she remembers it, too...but she felt left out when Jamie said Rugby was now her favorite. Apple tells Belmont and the other toys to "Try the Impossible" as she rounds up a posse to rescue Rugby and Mew. Rugby coaxes Metora back into the box by singing "The Song of Meteora," telling her how much she'll be adored the next day. Mew already adores her and occasionally adds his besotted asides. "Together at Christmas" is Rugby's sad song to Mew downstairs after he's been frozen. Kermit the Frog joins the toys to reprise it for the finale in the play room.

Trivia: This would be spun off into a series in the 90's, The Secret Life of Toys. 

The copy currently on DVD deletes the opening and closing intros with Kermit the Frog. (Fortunately, most streaming copies are uncut and retain Kermit.) 

What I Don't Like: The story itself is nothing new, and is even less original after all of the Toy Story films have come and gone. In fact, this has a lot in common with the Toy Story movies, including a space-themed protagonist who doesn't believe they're a toy, a favorite toy who is jealous of the space toy, and the general idea of toys coming to life. The special mostly focuses on Rugby, Mew, and their relationship, with a little of Apple and Belmont in the rescue sequence. I'd love to learn more about the other toys, especially wise old teddy Balthazar (Jerry Nelson), super-cool Cruiser, and the fashion doll who, in a running gag, keeps missing all the action because she's constantly changing clothes to fit the mood. 

The Big Finale: A charming special with some great songs and delightful characters that's well worth checking out with your kids this holiday weekend, especially if any of them are big Toy Story or Muppet Show fans. 

Home Media: The DVD is currently expensive, and as mentioned, is missing the opening and closing segments with Kermit anyway. You're better off looking for this one on streaming. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - Santa and the Three Bears

Tony Benedict Productions, 1970

Voices of Hal Smith, Jean Vander Pyl, Christina Ferra-Gilmore, and Bobby Riha

Directed by Tony Benedict and Barry Mahon (live-action segments)

Music by Joyce Taylor; Lyrics by Doug Goodwin

This charming short film was originally pitched as an animated TV special. Apparently, networks at the time wouldn't buy a cartoon with no villains, so this ended up as a theatrical release instead. It later became a public domain staple, seen frequently during the holidays on independent stations throughout the US, and then on family cable networks. How does the charming tale of two bears who learn about Christmas from a well-meaning park ranger look today? Let's begin with two live-action children (Beth Goldfarb and Brian Hobbs) as their retired park ranger grandfather (Hal Smith) tells them the story of how three bears discovered Christmas and find out...

The Story: Mr. Ranger (Smith) tells the story of Christmas and of Santa to baby bears Nikomi (Ferra-Gilmore) and Chinook (Riha). They're so excited about Christmas and everything they'll get from Santa, they even get a tree for their cave. Their mother Nana (Vander Pyl) wishes they'd just go to sleep for the winter. She's not happy when she confronts Mr. Ranger and discovers Santa isn't real. Mr. Ranger decides to dress as Santa to make Christmas happy for the cubs. He's waylaid by a violent snowstorm, but someone else still gets through...

The Animation: You can tell this wasn't originally made for the big screen. The animation is no different from your average Hanna-Barbara TV show from this time period. In fact, I thought it was Hanna-Barbara until I checked Wikipedia. Admittedly, the bears look fairly realistic for a kids' cartoon - no exaggerated Yogi and Boo-Boo here - and they move pretty well. There's some pretty colors, too, especially during the cubs' dream sequence.

The Song and Dance: This ended up being much better than I thought it would be for a low-budget cartoon from the early 70's. Like This Christmas, it's charmingly low-key for a holiday that doesn't usually do quiet and sweet. The cubs are adorable, Smith is lovely telling them the story of Christmas and Santa, and Vander Pyl makes a nice concerned bear mother. It has a cozy, gentle air to it that's quite lovely and very welcome. 

The Numbers: The animated segment opens with "When Winter Comes" as the animals around Mr. Ranger prepare for colder weather. "Wintertime" provides the backdrop for the cubs' antics as they play and slide in the snow. The cubs learn about "The World of Toy People" as Mr. Ranger tells them the story of Santa and his elves and reindeer. The chorus lulls the cubs to sleep next to Nana with the "Sleepytime Song," with their pastel dreamscapes and hopes to see Santa. The credits end with "The Wonder of Christmas Time" after the cubs get their gifts, but before we see the live-action children again.

Trivia: Most TV versions (and some older streaming copies) delete the opening and closing live-action sequences.

Movie parody group Rifftrax spoofed it in 2023.

What I Don't Like: This might be a little too quiet for people expecting a noisier, better-animated show. It's just two cubs and their mother learning about Christmas from an elderly ranger with a slightly sentimental twist in the end. To be honest, though the gentle ballads are pretty, they do seem a bit out of place in the calm, laid-back story. It moves a bit on the slow side for something that runs for 45 minutes, too. 

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The Big Finale: Not the greatest thing ever, but it's worth your time this holiday season if you want to show your littlest ones something relatively calm and adorable. 

Home Media: In the public domain, so it's easily found anywhere.

DVD

Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Nutcracker (1995)

Jetlag Productions/Goodtimes Entertainment, 1995

Voices of Andrea Libman, Tony Ail, Nathan Aswell, and Kathleen Barr

Directed by Toshiyuki Haruma and Takashi Masunga

Music by Nicholas "Nick" Carr, Ray Crossley, and Andrew Dimitoff; Lyrics by Joellyn Cooperman

Our last review for the year of a low-budget animated knock-off from the 90's is actually much better than you might think. Though there was an Canadian animated Nutcracker film that came out in 1992, most previous versions of The Nutcracker were short subjects or live-action recordings of the ballet. That and the fact that this sticks more to the original story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.H Hoffman than to the ballet makes this unique among Nutcracker adaptations, and gives it a stronger plot than most of the Jetlag films as well. How well does this do with the whimsical story? Let's begin as Marie (Libman) and her brother Fritz wait to see their tree and open presents and find out...

The Story: Marie and Fritz love their presents, especially his toy soldiers and the Nutcracker she found on the tree. Their Godfather Drosselmeyer brings them a special present - a castle with figures that really move in an endless loop. Fritz is quickly bored with it, but Marie thinks it's lovely. 

That night, she sees the Nutcracker and toy soldiers fight an evil seven-headed Mouse King. She throws her shoe at the Mouse King to distract him and save the Nutcracker, but hits her head while doing so. She wakes up with a bump on her head, in her bed with her parents worried. Godfather Drosselmeyer tells her how the Nutcracker had once been his handsome young nephew who cracked a nut for the Princess Pirlipat. The princess was cursed into ugliness by the Mouse Queen when her parents trapped the Mouse Queen's children. The cracked nut changed the Princess into a beautiful young woman, but with her last breath, the Mouse Queen transferred the curse to the nephew and turned him into the Nutcracker.

Late at night, the Mouse King comes to Marie and demands her candy, then her clothes and books, or he'll destroy the Nutcracker. Marie knows she can't keep doing this, but she doesn't want her Nutcracker hurt. She finally gets Fritz to give up a sword, so he can defeat the evil Mouse King once and for all and take Marie to the magnificent Christmas Wood, Candy Town, and the Marzipan Castle. She wonders if it was all a dream, until Godfather Drosselmeyer comes and introduces his very familiar nephew...

The Animation: Not the greatest thing ever, but not bad for Jetlag. Everyone has the same enormous blue eyes, but at least the humans have more than one expression. There's some wonderful details on the colorful Christmas Woods and Marzipan Castle in the second half. I do wish they hadn't made the Mouse Queen and Mouse King look so cute and cuddly! It belies their roles as terrifying villains. 

The Song and Dance:  This wound up being a rather big surprise. There couldn't be a greater contrast between this and our previous direct-to-video animated review, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Here, the whimsical comic tone is appropriate for a satirical fantasy. It even uses the entire backstory with Princess Pirlipat that most ballet-centered versions leave out. Marie is adorable, Fritz is funny, and Godfather Drosselmeyer is appropriately roguish, especially insisting that Marie's dreams are true.

The Numbers: We open with "The Season of Love" as unnamed singers tell us what's to come over scenes of people preparing for Christmas. Marie, dressed as a princess, enjoys "Dancing Through the Night" with the Nutcracker near the end of the film. It ends with "A Dream Come True" as Drosselmeyer's nephew and Marie return to the Marzipan Castle, this time to dance forever. "Season of Love" is reprised over the credits.

What I Don't Like: Though it has a better story and script than most of the Jetlag animated movies, it's still a cheap animated knock-off from the 90's. The animation is colorful but stiff, the few songs are tinny and unmemorable ballads, and the Mouse Queen and King are much too cute and cuddly-looking to be believable as villains. You wonder why Marie believed this seven-headed cutie would ever hurt anything, let alone her Nutcracker. 

The Big Finale: Actually, this isn't a bad introduction to the original Nutcracker and the Mouse King for elementary school-aged kids who will enjoy the story and action and be able to overlook the cheap animation and songs.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and on streaming, the latter currently for free with commercials at Tubi.

DVD

Tubi

Family Fun Saturday - Bye Bye Birdie (1995)

ABC, 1995

Starring Jason Alexander, Vanessa Williams, George Wendt, and Chynna Phillips

Directed by Gene Saks

Music by Charles Strouse; Lyrics by Lee Adams

Let's head back to the US for this remake of the 1963 movie. Though it did fairly well at the time and it certainly wasn't bad, it had a lot of problems, including deleting five songs and the two leading ladies being miscast. As in the Broadway show, they went with stage veterans who also knew their way around TV. How well does the story of how a rock star on his way to the army and his entourage descend on a typical small town work in a very different time period? Let's begin with those screaming fans of Conrad Birdie (Marc Kudish) and find out...

The Story: Albert Peterson (Alexander), Birdie's manager and songwriter, is trying to figure out how to deal with Birdie being drafted into the army. His long-time girlfriend Rose Alverez (Williams) would rather he gave up managing to marry her and be an English teacher, but Albert is under the thumb of his formidable mother and partner Mae (Tyne Daly). Mae sees him and Birdie as her meal ticket and threatens to kill herself every time he even remotely considers leaving show business or marrying Rose. 

Rose comes up with the idea of Birdie kissing one typical fan on The Ed Sullivan Show as a farewell publicity stunt. The girl she chooses is Kim McAffee (Phillips), a normal energetic teenage girl in Sweet Apple, Ohio. She adores Birdie, sure, but she also loves her boyfriend Hugo Peabody (Jason Gaffney). Neither Hugo nor Kim's gruff father Harry (Wendt) are thrilled with the chaos that invades their home or with Birdie's screaming fans awakening them at all hours, until Harry finds out they're going to be on television. 

Rose, however, is fed up with everything, including Mae when she turns up whining and begging her son to come back to New York. She lets Hugo hit Conrad on national television before Kim gets her kiss. Now Kim's furious with Hugo, and Conrad is bored stiff and tired of girls watching his every move. His insistence on taking Kim out for some fun and Rose's on going out on the town ends with all of the parents in Sweet Apple literally up in arms and Hugo and Albert learning how important their ladies are to them.

The Song and Dance: This time, it's the supporting cast and an impressive production for a 90's TV musical that really shines. Williams is a delight as the strong-willed Rosie, who may love Albert, but sure as heck won't let his obnoxious mother bully her. Her Shriner's Ballet, with Rose letting out her inhibitions at a local bar, is a highlight. Wendt has a few good moments as the frustrated Harry, especially early-on when he can't even read his newspaper without either Albert or Conrad's entourage interfering. Broadway star Kudisch projects so much heat as Conrad, you can totally understand why the girls are so crazy about him. The period-accurate costumes and colorful sets representing typical small-town America in 1959 are truly well-done, from Rose's dresses to Mae's fluffy furs and the pastel poodle skirts on the teenagers. I also appreciate that this comes a lot closer to the original Broadway show, without the silly subplot with Albert being a chemist that cluttered up the second half of the 1963 film. 

The Numbers: We open with the title song over footage of Conrad's many screaming fans. It's heard later at the soda shop when four of the girls lament losing their idol. At their office in New York, Rosie tries to convince Albert that he's better off being "An English Teacher." The Sweet Apple teens crowd around two telephone booths to tell each other the latest gossip about Hugo and Kim in "The Telephone Hour." "How Lovely to Be a Woman" introduces Kim, dressing for a day out with her friends in boy's clothes despite talking about dressing up in the song. Albert encourages a despondent Birdie fan to "Put On a Happy Face" in Penn Station before he leaves for New York.

Hugo is furious when he discovers his steady girl is going to kiss a rock star on national television. Kim and her friends placate him by saying there's only "One Boy" for her. Albert and Rosie give very different versions of Conrad's background as "A Healthy, Normal American Boy" when they're about to leave for Sweet Apple. They drag out his fans to sing whenever the questions get too probing. The brief "Let's Settle Down" has Rosie impressed with small-town Ohio life and hoping she and Albert can have that for themselves. Conrad claims he's "Honestly Sincere" on his arrival in Sweet Apple, which causes just about everyone in town to faint at his charms. 

Harry is finally won over by a "Hymn for a Sunday Evening" and the chance to be on national television. "One Last Kiss" is Conrad's big TV song, complete with the McAfee's in patriotic costumes and other Sweet Apple officials singing the chorus. Furious with their men, Rosie and Kim insist "What Did I Ever See In Him?" and go out for a night on the town. Conrad's pretty fed up, too, and tells Kim he has "A Lot of Livin' To Do." The McAfees wonder where they went wrong with the current generation in the ragtime lament "Kids." Rosie becomes the "Spanish Rose" Mrs. Peterson thinks she is as she sasses a bartender and dances with Shriners. The barflies become the chorus as Albert tries to get Rose to "Talk to Me" over the phone. "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore" wails Mae when Albert insists on dissolving their firm. Albert tells Rosie he's thrilled to have taken "A Giant Step" at the ice house and dances with his "Rosie" at the train station after he's gotten his mother and Conrad out of their lives for good.

Trivia: "A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore" had apparently been written for the original 1960 Broadway production, but was dropped because Kay Medford wasn't a singer. It was reinstated to give Tyne Daly, who has sung on Broadway, more to do. "Let's Settle Down" and Albert's "What Did I Ever See In Her?" were written for the TV version. "A Giant Step" was written for a 1990 US tour. The title song originally turned up in the first film version and has been used in most productions of Bye Bye Birdie since. 

"What Did I Ever See In Him," "Spanish Rose," "A Healthy, Normal American Boy," "Talk to Me," "An English Teacher," and the original music for the Shriners' Ballet were dropped from the 1963 version. Rose's fantasy ballet on what she'd do to Albert if she could, "One Hundred Ways to Kill a Man," is the only number to have been omitted from both screen and TV versions. (To be fair, it's usually cut from most stage versions nowadays as well, including the 2009 Broadway revival.) 

NBC kept announcing a live version of Bye Bye Birdie with Jennifer Lopez, but it was finally canceled in favor of Dr. Seuss's The Grinch in 2020.

What I Don't Like: First of all, while Chyanna Phillips certainly looks more like a normal small-town woman than sensual Ann-Margaret, she's still no teenager. In fact, all of the so-called "teens" are obviously way too old for their roles and for screaming over rock idols. Stage and TV vets Daly and Alexander overdo their roles; Alexander in particular is a wonderful singer, but he's not really a leading man type. Daly's Mae is obnoxious to the point of nearly being unbearable. Vanessa Williams is African-American/Native American, not Hispanic. 

In fact, we have the opposite problem from the 1963 film, which mainly focused on Kim, her father, and Albert. Here, it's Albert who is miscast. Wendt's funny when we see him, but he doesn't really have enough to do, especially in the first half. And yes, there's a reason I'm not a huge fan of this show in general. While some of it (like it's interracial main couple) may actually have been ahead of its time, other aspects of this show haven't dated well. Though The Ed Sullivan Show is slightly more visible on streaming than it would have been on TV in 1995, it and other similar variety programs of the 50's and 60's still aren't that well-remembered by families, let alone adored enough to have a whole number around it. There's also Rose's obsession with getting Albert to settle down, which may come off as annoying or too needy nowadays. 

The Big Finale: Honestly, if you took the best parts of this and the best parts of the original 1963 film, you might get one good version of Bye Bye Birdie. As it stands, I did enjoy this one slightly more than the original film for its decent cast and fidelity to the stage show. If you love big, bold 60's musicals or the cast, you might want to give this "one last kiss" a look.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the latter often for free with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Family Fun Saturday - Standing Ovation

Rocky Mountain Pictures, 2010

Starring Kayla Jackson, Alanna Palumbo, Joei DiCarlo, and Pilar Martin

Directed by Stewart Rafill

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's hit the Jersey Shore this holiday weekend with this independent backstage tale. High School Musical was pretty much the template for all teen and tween musicals made from 2006 well into the 2010's, and this one was no exception. Apparently, despite Rocky Mountain Pictures hyping it to the skies in 2010, it was a huge flop with critics and audiences. Now that it's easily available on several streaming platforms, how does this tale of big hopes and bigger dreams come off today? Let's begin at a local contest for pre-teen dance groups and find out...

The Story: The Five Ovations are a talented song and dance pre-teen girl group in Atlantic City. They keep getting sabotaged by the Wiggies, a group of spoiled rich girls who specialize in outrageous wigs supplied by the wealthy father (Sal Dupree) of Ziggy Wiggs (London Clarke). Brittany O'Brian (Kayla Jackson) lives on the boardwalk above a 99 cent store with her Irish grandfather (P. Brendan Mulvey) and her musician songwriter brother Mark (Austin Powell). She's desperate to find the father who abandoned her and her mother. Her family is broke; her grandfather keeps using their money to play the horses.

Major network CDS announces a huge music video contest for pre-teen groups. After the Wiggies take over the school gym to rehearse, the Ovations convince Eric Bateman (William McKenna) to loan them his father's recording studio. They do make the video, but Ziggy and Mark sabotage it. Unfortunately, their "sabotage" turns it into a comedy and makes it popular with the audience at CDS. 

The Wiggies do make it to the finals. So do the Ovations, once someone else drops out. They recruit local dancers to help with their big number. Alanna Wannabe (Palumbo), a young girl who desperately wants to be a star, gets in on it, too. She and her father made a video, but it didn't make it to the finals. Meanwhile, tough girl Joei Battaluci (Joei DiCarlo), the Ovations' manager, uses her tough-guy attitude and menagerie of biting animals she keeps in her purse to help Brittany find out what happened to her father and find out who stole money from Joei's father.

The Song and Dance: This was cuter than I thought it would be from the low-budget pedigree. The numbers have real energy, the dancing isn't bad, and some of the comedy lands. DiCarlo steals the show as the hilariously tough kid who can talk herself into and out of anything and has an army of venomous critters at her disposal to back her up. As someone who has lived in Southern New Jersey all her life, I appreciate the filming in and around the Atlantic City area, including the boardwalks in Atlantic City, Cape May, Ocean City, and Wildwood. 

The Numbers: We actually open with a group performing a nervy "Thing 4 U" in 40's threads...before Mr. Wiggs turns off the lights and ruins their number. The Wiggies' first number is the too-sexy-for-their-ages "Blush" in pink wigs. The Ovations attempt "Bounce," but Ziggy paid a stagehand to put pepper on Brittany's microphone and make her sneeze. The Wiggies' rehearsal number is "That Boy," a song Mark was working on (to Brittany's disgust). They film the number on the Ocean City boardwalk, but Mr. Wiggs makes it clear that Alanna is not invited to join them.

Brittany performs a stirring "God Bless America" on a rain-soaked Atlantic City boardwalk, but she and Joei end up confronting a jerk who steals the money she made. Rap group Dacav5 performs "The Runaway" and "The Music Is Dropping You" as the Wiggies shimmy in a nightclub that, once again, is way too old for kids who can't be more than 13 or 14. The Ovations demonstrate different forms of dancing across the 20th and 21st century at an old folks' home in "Crazy Feet." "All I Want To Do Is Sing" provides the backdrop for Joei telling Brittany she has a line on the thief who stole her dad's money. 

The Ovations' first attempt at a music video is the late 60's themed Beach Party spoof "River Deep, Mountain High." While they try to figure out something more modern, Mr. Wiggs and the Wiggies perform "Soup to Nuts" dressed in their idea of upper-crust outfits at a local diner. The Ovations get stuck doing a commercial for a really awful brand of soda, singing "Shake It and Make It"...but they just can't drink that nasty stuff, no matter how much the director wants them to. They finally end up filming "Scream" at the Wildwood boardwalk, including a rap battle with local boys. Alanna's music video is "Go After Your Dream," complete with dancing firemen and her dancing with a moving teddy bear. "Superstars" is the Wiggies' self-aggrandizing video in glittery dresses with scads of dancers. 

Mr. Wiggs and the Wiggies perform "Under the Boardwalk" and "Splish Splash" in rather ridiculous mid-60's-style wigs and dresses at their big show. They look so silly, it's almost a relief when the Ovations let fleas loose in their wigs. A genuinely good gospel group performs "Our Song Begins Again" at the music video finals in New York. The Wiggies' "Dancing Girl" is actually rather bland for their energetic performance of it. Alanna and her dancer cousins from Florida join the Ovations for the vastly more unique space opera-themed "Shooting Star." The movie concludes over the end credits with "Turn It Up," a reprise of "All I Want to Do Is Sing," and the title song. 

What I Don't Like: As funny as this can be, in other ways, it's the ultimate in teen cliches. Even the names on a lot of the characters are painfully obvious. Who on Earth calls a teen music group the Wiggies? There's Alanna Wannabe the wannabe singing star, too. Some of the acting is stiff as a board. The ending is not only a complete wish-fulfillment deux ex machina, but it goes on for at least 15 minutes too long. Ending with the contest and maybe briefly letting Brittany meet her father would have sufficed, instead of drawing it out and having him be the solution to everyone's problems. For all their energy, the original songs are bland and unmemorable. 

The Big Finale: Most critics were really harsh on this one when it came out, but I'll give it a pass for the high-energy numbers, some hilarious bits, and just because not many movies were filmed and set in South Jersey. If you have pre-teen girls looking for background noise at a girl's day in or slumber party this holiday weekend, they can do far worse than this bit of showstopping lunacy.

Home Media: The DVD is currently expensive, but you can find this streaming for free with commercials just about anywhere online, including Tubi and Pluto TV.

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Tubi

Pluto TV On Demand

Thanksgiving Short Subject Special - A Thanksgiving Tale

Showtime, 1983

Directed by James Field

Voices of Paul Fusco, Lisa Buckley, Richard Schellbach, and Lisa Fusco

Music and Lyrics by Richard Schellbach

In 1982 and 1983, Paul Fusco made four holiday puppet-based holiday specials for Showtime that showed off his puppeteering abilities. I covered the Easter special back in April. The Thanksgiving special debuted later in 1983 and would also turn up on Nickelodeon and elsewhere throughout the 80's. Like the rest of Fusco's early work, it vanished in the early 90's, only to reappear in the 2010's as streaming made early holiday programming more widely available. Is it as enjoyable as the Easter special? Let's begin in an alley in Newark, New Jersey with a group of very hungry cats and find out...

The Story: The cats live in a tool shed in the alley. They have a home, but have run out of food. The dogs who guard the restaurant next-door have cleared out all of the mice. They have plenty of food, thanks to their jobs, but live outside in the freezing cold. The cats think they have their Thanksgiving dinner all sewn up when Tom, a turkey with Broadway ambitions (Fusco), turns up on their doorstep. The dogs try to rescue him, which eventually results in a literal cat and dog fight. It's Queenie the female cat (Buckley) and Tom who finally realize that each group has what the other needs. Tom puts on a play that finally teaches both groups the importance of sharing what they have and working together.

The Song and Dance: For 30 years, I had vague memories of a Thanksgiving puppet special involving a group of cats and dogs who end up helping each other. I couldn't remember the title or any other details, until the Fusco shows started turning up on YouTube. I definitely enjoy this one more than the Easter special. The story is charming and unique, Fusco's Tom Turkey and his theatrical aspirations are hilarious (and he doesn't sound too much like his later creation ALF this time), and the cats and dogs all have well-delineated and very funny personalities. The puppets are slightly more interesting, too, with Tom being by far the most expressive.

The Numbers: The dogs get our first song, as they lament shivering outside and being homeless in "They Say It's a Dog's Life." The cats give their side of the story and why they think they own their turf in "We are the Cats." We finish after their Thanksgiving pageant with Tom and both groups realizing how important friendship and cooperation is in "Thanksgiving Magic." 

What I Don't Like: Though the story and puppets are a bit more interesting than the ones made for the Easter show, this is still pretty obviously a low-budget special made for cable in the early 80's. The sets are minimal, the characters can occasionally be grating, the score mainly consists of synthesizer music, and there's some mild Mexican stereotypes with the displaced chihuahua. 

The Big Finale: I'm glad to see that this mostly holds up pretty well. It remains a fun watch before Thanksgiving dinner for families with young kids or fans of ALF, the Muppets, or other similar kids' puppet shows.

Home Media: Streaming only, but it can be found for free with commercials pretty much anywhere, including Tubi and Amazon Prime.

Tubi

Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Wicked: For Good

Universal, 2025

Starring Cynthia Ervio, Ariana Grande, Johnathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Jon M. Chu

Music and Lyrics by Steven Schwartz

The idea of making Wicked into two separate movies was controversial from the outset. For one thing, the second act of the musical has always been problematic on Broadway. (And to be fair, the second half of the book the show is based on is, too.) Critics have long carped that it's long on plot and melodrama and short on music and characterization. For another, most movies separated into two parts are science fiction multi-verses or big action movies, not musicals. How well does this work with the story of how Elphaba and Glinda embrace their destinies and become the Witches of Oz? Let's begin with the creation of a familiar golden road, helped along by abused animals, and find out...

The Story: Five years after Elphaba (Ervio) left the Wizard's (Goldblum) tower, she's still fighting for animal rights from her own home in the woods. Fiyero (Bailey) is engaged to Glinda (Grande), who is the Wizard's assistant and spokes-witch. She still has no powers of her own, so Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) gives her a flying bubble to transport her around Oz. Elphaba tries to encourage the animals of Oz to join her, but they'd rather flee than go up against the Wizard once the Cowardly Lion (Colman Domingo) wails that he never wanted to be freed from his cage as a cub.

Elphaba's sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is angry and resentful because Elphaba abandoned her and didn't come to their father's funeral. She's also frustrated with Boq (Ethan Slater), who tries to leave her and return to Glinda. Nessa uses Elphaba's "Grimmerie" spell book to make him love her, but it shrinks his heart instead. Elphaba's attempt to fix the spell just turns him into a Tin Man. 

Elphaba flees to the Emerald City, where the Wizard and Glinda almost persuade her to join them...until she sees animals in cages below his throne room. She releases the animals and lets them stampede over Glinda and Fiyero's wedding. Furious when Fiyero joins Elphaba, Glinda tells Madame Morrible to use a rumor that Nessa is in trouble to bring Elphaba out of hiding. 

Morrible creates a tornado that drops the house belonging to Kansas resident Dorothy Gale (Bethany Weaver) on Nessa instead. Glinda and Elphaba initially come to blows when Glinda gives Dorothy Nessa's shoes, until Fiyero turns up. While Elphaba is determined to save him and get the shoes back, Glinda realizes how important their friendship is when she learns about the tornado and decides that when it comes to friendship, doing the right thing is far more important than any public image.

The Song and Dance: Whew! Some people may have questioned separating the two movies, but I think they did the right thing. There's enough plot for three fantasy movies just in this half! It does correct some of the problems from the first half of the film and the original Broadway show, including giving Boq and Nessa (slightly) more to do, bringing in Dorothy earlier, showing Glinda and Fiyero's wedding, and focusing more on Elphaba's attempts to help the animals. Ervio and especially Grande give powerhouse performances as the two witches, while Goldblum is suitably smarmy as the Wizard who was never able to leave his busker side in Kansas. The production remains stunning, with incredible, glittery costumes and a brilliant Technicolor mix of CGI and practical effects.

The Numbers: We open with "Every Day More Wicked," a reprise of "No One Mourns the Wicked," as the citizens of Oz worry about the havoc wrecked by the Wicked Witch of the West. "Thank Goodness" they have Glinda, who claims "I Couldn't Be Happier" to have everything she wants. Elphaba tries to rally the animals to remain in Oz by reminding them that "There's No Place Like Home," but the Cowardly Lion breaks into her big power ballad. "The Wicked Witch of the East" is the extended sequence where Nessa tries to make Boq love her and both sisters end up causing more damage in the end.

"Wonderful" is the Wizard's song, as he and Glinda remind Elphaba that truth can be bent and is what people want to hear. Glinda laments "I'm Not that Girl" after her ruined wedding and Fiyero runs off with Elphaba. The two lovers declare that "As Long as Your Mine," nothing else matters. Furious when her attempt to keep Fiyero from harm transforms him instead, Elphaba angrily declares "No Good Deed" goes unpunished. Boq, now the Tin Man, leads the charge with "March of the Witch Hunters" chorus. Glinda realizes how badly she's been manipulated in "The Girl In the Bubble," the other new song written for the film. Elphaba and Glinda make their tearful goodbyes at the abandoned castle where Elphaba is keeping Dorothy, realizing that they have changed each other "For Good." Everyone gets their just rewards in "A Wicked Good Finale," including Glinda, Elphaba, and the animals.

What I Don't Like: First of all, it's the same deal here as in the first film. If you're not a fan of fantasy, musicals, or The Wizard of Oz (or darker Oz retellings), you're not going to be into this. This is still a colorful world where people burst into song. Second, it may be too dark for people expecting something funnier and lighter like the first film or the 1939 Wizard of Oz. They tried to dial down the violence and sexuality from the book, but it's still pretty violent, and there is the "As Long as You're Mine" romantic sequence. Frankly, this half moves way too slow at times, especially in the middle of the film with the "March of the Witch Hunters," and I never thought the love triangle was all that interesting even in the original show (or the book). 

The Big Finale: While I don't think this is quite as good as the first movie, I don't think it's nearly as horrible as critics are making it out to be, either. They're either not musical fans or were expecting "more of the same." If you give this one a chance and have time on your hands, you may find a lot to love on the darker side of Oz.

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are scheduled to debut on January 26th. 

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Blu-Ray

4K

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Golden Films, 1996

Voices of Susan Silo, Charles Martinent, Jeff Bennett, and Cam Clarke

Directed by Diane Paloma Eskanazi

Music and Lyrics by various

Though Golden Films did occasionally dip into original material, like every other direct-to-video animation studio in the 90's and early 2000's, they mostly put out imitations of whatever Disney movie was out at the time. This may have been one of the most unlikely. People at the time were shocked that Disney put out an animated version of this dark, religion-soaked story...and then every direct-to-video studio in existence started doing their versions. Given that the original novel is pretty heavy-going and doesn't even have a happy ending, how does Golden Films deal with those dark themes? Well...they pretty much ignore them. Let's see how different things are in this retelling, starting with a song about spring in Paris...in a story set in the early 1800's...

The Story: Melody (Silo), her mother, and their fellow gypsies are persecuted by the handsome but greedy Jean Claude (Martinent), who has eliminated all magic and music from Paris. Melody and her singing and dancing musical instruments are forced to flee for Notre Dame. There, she falls in love with shy Quasimodo (Bennett) the bell ringer. Melody and the instruments leave when Jean Claude takes Melody's mother hostage, but Melody ends up captured herself. The instruments are the ones who must warn Quasimodo and encourage him to put aside his shyness and rescue his beloved Romani girl.

The Animation: Same as all the other Golden Films productions. The colors are gorgeous, bright and saturated, but the characters all have the same pale blue eyes and no expressions whatsoever. They don't even have the lavish costumes worn by characters in some of the other Golden productions. Everyone wears the same clothes throughout the movie.

The Song and Dance: Well...as out of place as they are, some of the songs are mildly catchy. Bennett at least sounds appropriately gentle and kind as Quasimodo, and there's those bright colors. They help bring a lot more zip to this otherwise pedestrian retelling.

The Numbers: We open with "Dance to the Music of Paris," in which the gypsies celebrate every Parisian stereotype that likely didn't exist in Paris in the early 1800's, including cafes and can-can dancers. "When I'm Looking at You" is the jaunty love song Melody and Quasimodo perform with the bats and mice who live in Notre Dame as Quasimodo rings the bells. Melody turns her prison into a beautiful room in the upbeat and completely inappropriate "When the Magic Is In Your Heart." "It's Like We're Alive" sing the people of Paris after Quasimodo rescues Melody. The movie ends with a reprise of "When I'm Looking at You" over the end credits.

What I Don't Like: What in the heck is this? Disney's version has its fair share of problems and flaws, but at least they retained the book's somber tone and dark look at religious hypocrisy. "Upbeat Broadway musical" does not suit this story or these characters. This feels more like Beauty and the Beast with a hunchback beast, up to and including the Gaston-like Jean Claude. Did Jean Claude and Quasimodo need to be brothers? They did nothing with that after Jean Claude's info dump in the opening. 

The bats, mice, and talking instruments are even more worthless as sidekicks than the annoying talking gargoyles in the Disney film. The instruments admittedly do help rescue Melody, but the bats and mice are useless beyond the "When I'm Looking at You" number. Every single song is an upbeat dance number, even ones like "When I'm Looking at You" and Melody's prison number that are performed during romantic or somber moments. In fact, they totally ruin the impact of those moments. 

How about all those anachronistic Paris stereotypes in the opening, or the dated depiction of the Romani, or the random scene where Melody's mother makes all the animals on the farm dance that's there for no reason, or Quasimodo is less frightening and more "shy, slightly hunched over good looking guy." And even Disney didn't marry him off to the Esmeralda character, something that definitely did not come from the book. 

The Big Finale: This is by far the worst and most ridiculous of the Disney imitations of the 90's and early millennium I've seen. Don't even bother with this one unless you have very, very bored younger children who want to watch something online and won't mind the lack of book-accuracy, dull characters, and out-of-place songs.

Home Media: If you absolutely must see this, it can be found on DVD paired with four other Golden Films titles and solo on streaming. 

DVD - Magical Tales

Tubi