You might think I’ve been watching nothing but Disney cartoons lately and, on some level, you might be right. But a lot have come out recently and they’re ALWAYS worth a rewatch.

I wasn’t looking forward to rewatching Cinderella as much as the others. It’s really never been my favorite of the Disney Princess movies…which I suppose is weird for a 32 year old man to say. Why should I have a favorite princess film?

I’m not sure I do, but Cinderella wouldn’t be it if I did.

Watching it again, though, I’m betrayed by my childhood feelings. This is a beautifully animated classic with an incredible aesthetic and design. It’s got all of the animation techniques hinted at in Snow White and delivered perfectly.

For my taste, though, it would have had more dragons and stuff, which is why I love Sleeping Beauty so much…. which, now that I think about it, is probably my favorite of the Princess movies.

Despite my personal lukewarm feelings about this movie, it holds up remarkably well. The Blu-ray transfer is very clean and the music is iconic. And the mice, Jaq and Gus, have some good Chip and Dale like bits. Cinderella has all the hallmarks of a current YA novel, though. You’ve got a girl in a horrible situation, living with a surrogate parent, mistreated to all hell but with a heart of gold. Then, when she overcomes, there’s reason to cheer. And I love the themes of rebellion against oppressive and revolution.

Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to get this disc is the inclusion of the Tangled short that premiered earlier in the year featuring the horse and chameleon from that film. Tangled was great and the short was just as good.

Though I enjoyed the documentary about “The Real Fairy Godmother,” I would have loved to see an making-of documentary, though. Perhaps next time.

There’s also an intro to Cinderella by Diane Disney Miller filmed at the Walt Disney Family museum. It puts the film in context, but it also reminds me to recommend you go to the Walt Disney Family museum. It’s at the Presidio and has one of the most impressive museum installations I’ve ever borne witness to. It was a bit pricey, but worth every penny.

Cinderella is out today and, like all the Disney Blu-rays, is worth picking up. You can snag it from Amazon. If you’re a fan of animation, a fan of Disney, a fan of classics, or a fan of Tangled, there’s compelling reasons to grab it ASAP.

I had the chance to enjoy The AristoCats and both of The Rescuers films on Blu-ray recently, and I was struck by how good they are. I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone to point to any of these three movies as their favorite Disney films. They’re too overshadowed by bonafide classics like Lady and the Tramp, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, and a dozen other films people seem to like more.

But these films are very unique on their own, beautiful for their own reasons, and quite capably carve out their own place in Disney movie history.

The AristoCats came out in 1970, preceded by The Jungle Book and followed immediately by Robin Hood, it seems to have come out at just the wrong time. Made and conceived in the swingin’ sixties it has all the imagery of a classic acid trip, flashing colors, and seemingly drugged up, jazz playing cats, all set against a proper British backdrop. It is a classic Disney story in every sense, right down to the practically mustache twirling villain, a butler named Edgar, a protagonist voiced by Disney favorite Phil Harris (Baloo in Jungle Book and Little John in Robin Hood), and a bunch of cute anthropmorphized animals. But it was released in the 70s, when perhaps the appetite for such a story and visual story wasn’t as great.

It really isn’t the finest of Disney films, but holds up remarkably well. The sketchy animation is reminiscent of 101 Dalmations, which came out just nine years prior, making one wonder if this was just the film they made for cat lovers.

The music is memorable, the images are catchy, and it looks stunning on Blu-ray. If you’ve overlooked this Disney film because of the reputation of others, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. You can pick it up on Amazon for a limited time.

The Rescuers films fall very much into that same middle ground. It was released in the summer of 1977, competing against Star Wars and another Disney film: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

For me, this is actually one of my favorite Disney films. Bob Newhart kills me in every role he’s in and his Bernard character is one of the most charming of Disney’s heroes. Add to it the creepy Louisiana bayou backdrop and a pair of mice trying to defeat a crazy Cruella DeVille sort of character and save an adorable orphan named Penny and you have all the makings of a solid Disney film but overshadowed by everything else going on.

This was also the last Disney cartoon to come out until The Fox and the Hound, which kicked off Disney’s dry spell for a long time.

A sequel was conceived and, for many, holds up better than the original. The Rescuers Down Under was wedged in release right between The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and you wonder why no one seems to remember it. This brings the Rescue Aid Society to Australia and gives us quite a fun adventure. The technical achievements of the film are stunning in Blu-ray as well. They did a lot of perspective work and landscapes digitally and seeing them play out on a massive TV in high definition is a thing of beauty. Never has the animated outback looked so good.

And since they’re selling both Rescuers films for the price of one, these are two films worth revisiting ASAP.

I’ve got two upcoming Blu-ray announcements for you, and I think most geeks will be tuned into these films.

First is Babes in Toyland. It’s an old Disney film starring Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk (who I always confused as a kid with Wil Wheaton because I didn’t understand release dates as well as I do know.) It’s one of the few Christmas films I can stomach and had all of those classic late 50s early 60s hallmarks of fantasy films. The technicolor was vibrant, the effects hokey but imaginative… And it had that mark of Walt Disney.

I’m actually really excited to get my hands on it and see if it lives up to my childhood memories. Always a risky proposition, I know, but I think I want to risk it this time.

Babes in Toyland comes out just in time for Christmas on December 11. It’s not yet available to pre-order on Amazon.

The other might be my favorite film of 1990.

Warren Beatty’s underrated comic book film Dick Tracy is coming out on Blu-ray. This is a movie I already revisit quite often, it’s one of my favorite comic book movies, hands down. And I can’t wait to see how vibrant the four-color brilliance of this film is in a nice, sharp Blu-ray transfer. Anyone who didn’t like this movie doesn’t know what they’re missing. And who could forget the best movie Charlie Korsmo was ever in?

Dick Tracy also hits Blu-ray on December 11. This is your best bet for a stocking stuffer to any lady or gentleman on your x-mas list with discerning taste. You can preorder it on Amazon now.

Peter Pan is one of my favorite of the Disney movies. Everything about it brings a smile to my face. And every time I hit a Disney park I HAVE to go on the Peter Pan ride. (It’s amazing how much better the ride is at DisneyLand as compared to Disney World.)

You can sign up through Amazon to pre-order the Blu-ray.

This is one I’m definitely picking up.

I’m VERY glad that the Toy Story characters are finding a life outside the films. And I’m glad that Pixar has brought back the cartoon shorts before the feature tradition.

The last Toy Story short (with Happy Meal toy Buzz?) had me howling with laughter. I don’t expect this one to be any different:

“Partysaurus Rex” features Rex (voiced by Wallace Shawn), the insecure toy T-Rex in the ‘Toy Story’ gang. Rex goes from shrinking violet to sudsy stud when Bonnie brings him into the bath! What follows can only be described as an EPIC bathtub party.

FINDING NEMO 3D & “Partysaurus Rex” Hit Theaters September 14th!

Today the Disney Parks Blog shared two new images by Annie Leibovitz as part of the Disney Dream Portrait series.

You can see some of the earlier images here.

The series shows celebrities posing as iconic Disney characters in dream-like images, and past participants have included Queen Latifah, Jessica Biel, Beyonce, Penelope Cruz, David Beckham, Olivia Wilde, Jeff Bridges, and Scarlett Johansson.

But in a departure from previous portraits, one of the newest additions showcases characters from the Disney parks instead of the films. Jack Black, Will Ferrell and Jason Segel appear as Phineas, Ezra, and Gus, or, the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion.  The caption on the picture is, “Where you can go on the ride of your afterlife.”  That’s a trio of grim grinning ghosts!

Next, Russell Brand poses as a precariously perched Captain Hook, looking none too thrilled to be once again in the jaws of the dreaded crocodile.  The caption says, “Where every moment leaves you hungry for more.”  Guess he learned the hard way never to smile at a crocodile.  No, you can’t get friendly with a crocodile.

These images plus more will be in a special insert in the fall issues of the following publications: Essence, GQ, InStyle, O – The Oprah Magazine, People, People En Español, Real Simple, and Vanity Fair.

I’ll be honest, I was getting a little tired of watching the trailer to Brave on every other movie I saw. Sure, it looked good, it was funny (the first few times), and looked as though it would make a pretty good Pixar movie. But the repetition with which I was forced to endure it made me feel like Brave could probably be in the very narrow category of Pixar movies that elicited a shrug and a “It was okay,” instead of the love I have for the rest of their films.

After seeing Brave, I can safely say that it fits into the category of non-Cars Pixar movies.

Brave is a beautifully told tale of a Scottish princess and her desire to live her own life instead of marrying a son of one of three rival clan leaders. She’s more adept at the manly arts of combat than any of them and greatly enjoys her freedom.

Her mother is loving, but very old-fashioned and proper, and so it is her mind that needs to be changed so that her daughter can live life on her own terms.

The young princess, Merida, played by Kelly Macdonald, seeks out a way to change her mother’s mind and finds a witch that will do it with a spell. Thus the stage is set for a thrilling race to set things right, filled with action, adventure, suspense, and comedy.

It does an excellent job of exploring the different perspectives of a mother and a daughter on the same issue in a way I think will be insightful to young and old alike.

There really wasn’t anything about this movie I didn’t like. I found the script to be extremely tight, the voice acting to be top notch, the animation was stunning, and the movie was just fun. I had lots of fun watching it.

The scene-stealers, though, are easily Merida’s little brothers. Their presence brightens every scene they’re in, adding an extra element of hilarity.

I saw the film with my kids, and it’s important to note that they were howling with laughter through the entire picture, then appropriately wound up and ready to cry at the right moments as well. My son is 10 and on the edge of perhaps being too jaded to enjoy a movie like this, but he was invested the whole way through.

Comparisons could be made to other Disney films, sure, it certainly has lots of DNA from other Disney films in it, but the setting and the characters set it apart as its own.

If you’ve written it off because of the ubiquity of the trailer, you should give it a shot. I really liked it, and am certainly planning on going again.

ALSO: The opening short is very charming and well photographed, but don’t expected the breathless whimsy and comedy of some of the other shorts attached to Disney or Pixar films.

I don’t need to tell you how good the picture quality is, or how great the sound design is, this is a Disney film on Blu-ray. You know all that. It’s a given going in.

What you need to know is that you were a fool if you missed John Carter on the big screen and this release proves it. Revisiting the film at home proves what I’ve been saying all along, it was a victim of a massive marketing failure, since there was no single element of the film that was lacking. It had an engaging story, incredible visuals, excellent directing, and beautiful storytelling.

Blu-ray is where, I think, this movie is going to truly flourish in fandom and in the minds of a generation who are going to turn it into a cult hit, much the same way The Princess Bride found its audience long after its failure at the box office.

John Carter is a rousing adventure that doesn’t fail to capture the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books.

I can’t oversell how fun a movie this is, and I can’t oversell how disappointed I am that they didn’t even make toys. I wanted a plush Woola and a Tars Tarkas action figure.

Rewatching the film, everything gels even better. From Brian Cranston and Willem Dafoe’s performances to the stunning animation of the denizens of Barsoom and Woola, this movie is simply stunning. The story reaches greater depths and gave me the chills more often than not. There’s that moment when John Carter realizes he’s on Mars and I was almost brought to tears with how good it was.

It was pitch perfect emotionally, visually, and in the storytelling.

The entire movie is like that.

I really can’t find a flaw in this film other than the abysmal marketing and promotion campaign.

Andrew Stanton did an amazing job with this film and the only way you can help us get a sequel to this movie is to buy it on Blu-ray. He shouldn’t be disappointed at all in the movie he turned in. He should be very, very proud of it. One day, everyone will come around to it, just like they did with The Princess Bride.

Please join me in spreading the gospel of John Carter to make it so.

You can start by getting it on Amazon now.

This movie looks much better than I would have expected. And the fact that they got licensed characters from Pac-Man, Street Fighter II, and Nintendo make me very happy…

Seriously… That stuff with Zangief almost tore me to pieces with laughter.

And it stars John C. Reilly, making it almost impossible to go wrong.

This movie hits theatres in November.

This movie is one of my favorite of the year. I would be surprised if it doesn’t make my top five of 2012. It’s fun, it’s well-made, and it’s just great.

I’ve seen it again a couple of times in the past couple of weeks and it just keeps getting better with repeated viewings.

Well, we’ve been given the go-ahead to give away 2 copies of the film on Blu-ray and we’re doing just that. The film comes out June 5th (you should get a copy now anyway) and this contest will run through Friday the 8th.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment below telling me what your favorite scene in the movie is. If you haven’t seen the movie, tell me why you didn’t see it and why you’re excited to see it now. If you happen to mention this on your facebook or twitter, let us know that, too.

Winners will be drawn randomly on Friday.

Good Luck!