Vintage Horror Film Advertisements and Movie Trailers

 Hello my friends. It is October and as all of us film fans know, this is a month that exists simply to watch old monster movies, especially those from Universal Studios. To celebrate the month here are some advertisements for classic horror films. 

Variety, 1935

The Exhibitor, 1938

Universal Weekly, 1933

Showman's Trade Review, 1943

Universal Weekly, 1933

Exhibitor's Trade Review, 1924

Variety, 1931

Now for some movie trailers for classic horror films. 

Buck Privates Come Home (1947)

 

Buck Privates Come Home is the only true sequel in the Abbott and Costello filmography. It is also a film that stands among the comedy duo's best work. 

Before this movie Abbott and Costello had made two films that were major departures for the team. These were Little Giant (1946) and The Time of Their Lives (1946). In both of these pictures Bud and Lou didn't work as a team but rather simply as two actors in the same film. Producer Robert Arthur felt that after this the team should return to their roots. The best way to do this was to make a sequel to the duo's first starring movie, Buck Privates (1941). 

As the duo was entering the army in the first film, the sequel centers around them coming home after their stay in the army. The movie opens with clips from the first Buck Privates (including the famous drilling scene). After these clips we get right into the story. Our two heroes befriended a six year old orphan girl (Beverly Simmons) while in France. Herbie (Lou Costello) has tried to sneak her away in his bag on his way home. After this attempt fails, the boys decide to adopt the girl. However to do this one of them must be married and have a good income. This proves not to be easy for these two bachelor tie peddlers. The basic plot of a comedy team returning from war and taking care of an orphan while hiding her from the authorities is similar to the earlier Laurel and Hardy feature film, Pack Up Your Troubles (1932). However that is where the similarities end. The movies go in quite different directions with this plot and Abbott and Costello's comedy is very different from that of Laurel and Hardy. 

Buck Privates Come Home is everything you could want from an Abbott and Costello film. The whole movie is jam packed with jokes that come at an incredibly fast pace. There are even jokes in the background (look for a sign advertising "Abbott and Costello in Romeo Jr."). What is amazing is the sheer amount of these jokes that hit the mark perfectly. This movie has quite a few excellent comic set pieces including Lou's attempt to sleep on a clothesline, the bank sequence and the climatic car chase. All of these scenes got hearty laughs from me and I am sure they will for many of you too. Bud and Lou are in excellent form here, and in many ways the energy and delivery of many of the comedic moments remind one of the duo's earlier films. Unlike the original Buck Privates Bud and Lou are front and center in this film's story and play a part in the dramatic moments as well as the comedic. While this is by no means a hard-hitting drama, the boys are more than up for the task of handling the non-comedic scenes as well as the comedic. Beverly Simmons is excellent as the little girl Bud and Lou want to adopt. She is cute and sweet without ever making that feel in the least way forced. Because of her naturally sweetness, she is able to give the film an emotional center without making it feel sentimental or distract from the zany comedy. 

This film was directed by Charles Barton. Barton was one of the finest directors the comedy duo ever had. During his time directing the team he directed what many consider Bud and Lou's two best films,  The Time of Their Lives and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). Disney fans will know him for directing The Shaggy Dog (1959). This movie also featured the last film role for Nat Pendleton. Besides Bud and Lou, he was the only returning cast member (other than Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, of course) from the original Buck Privates. Comedy fans will find him  a very familiar face as he also worked with the Marx Brothers in Horse Feathers (1932) and At the Circus (1939). Most film buffs probably recognize him for his role in both The Thin Man (1934) and Another Thin Man (1937). Here he reprises his Buck Privates role, Sgt. Collins. His character's relationship to Bud and Lou's characters has not improved between the two movies. This is a delight for us as the scenes between the three of them are really darn funny.  
 

Motion Picture Herald, 1947

A review in The Motion Picture Herald states, "For the many Abbott and Costello fans who have followed the escapades of the two comedians through their wacky radio program and numerous motion pictures, 'Buck Privates Come Home' is all they desire in the way of slapstick comedy, rapid fire gags and all around comedy. For the other theatre-goers who are only slightly acquainted with the comedy pair this will be a delightful surprise, as it is an above average Abbott and Costello picture." A review in The Showman's Trade Review states, "'Buck Privates Come Home' is a welcome addition to the Abbott and Costello series and may very well re-establish the comics in the top rung of box-office stars." A review in The Motion Picture Daily states, "Theatre patrons who like their Abbott and Costello served in healthy chunks will definitely go for this one." A review in the Independent Exhibitor's Film Bulletins calls this, "by far the most hilarious comedy ever made by Abbott and Costello..." The review went on to state, "... funnier even than 'Buck Privates.'" 

The following is a 1947 article from Boxoffice Magazine.

"Rounding out a thorough advertising campaign on 'Buck Privates Come Home,' Stanley A. Gere, manager of the Rialto Theatre, Racine, Wis., tied up with the U.S. Army recruiting service to pay tribute to all ex-buck privates and buck privates in Racine.  

"A meeting with the city mayor, Francis H. Went, resulted in a proclamation setting aside 'Buck Privates' day. Included on the agenda of activities was the army's participation of reveille in front of the theatre, a motorcycle rodeo at the lake front park in the rear of the theatre, a parade and full retreat. 

"Universal Pictures offered a grand prize of a second honeymoon trip to Chicago for Mr. and Mrs. Buck Private who were selected on the basis of neatness, appearance and personality.

"Contestants were registered by army recruiting in the local American legion post. All but six entrants were screened out out and the final selection was held on the theatre stage. 

"The Racine Journal Times broke front page stories covering the promotion from all angles. Stories on the Racine promotion broke in Milwaukee, Kenosha and all county newspapers. 

"The picture was also plugged strongly at the baseball park, via the army's radio spots and through a mobile sound truck. Radio promotions included spot announcements, free plugs on the 'Buck Privates' day and interviews for the contest winners over the station.

"Local newspaper columnists maintained a steady flow of copy on the promotion, retail stores plugged the film production in cooperative ads and the army paid for a 4-column by 15-inch display ad plugging the picture."        

Movie Review: Bad Boys For Life

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A lot of fun with all the action and humor you would except plus a surprising amount of well done sentimentality.

This is a Bad Boys movie and as such the main appeal is the chemistry between Will Smith and Martian Lawrence. This is luckily as great as ever. These two work off each other perfectly not only in the comedic scenes, but in the more serious scenes as well. These two are a joy to see together on screen and it is easy to truly believe that these two are brothers in all but blood when watching this film. This is what makes the more sentimental moments of this movie work. Yes that is right I said sentimental in a review of a Bad Boys movie. There is a surprising amount of that here as this film examines the relationship between these characters in a way that the previous two never would (perhaps because Michael Bay is no longer the director). What is surprising about this is that it works. The relationship between these two characters is very relatable and real. When the two fight in this movie it doesn't feel like a comedic scene, but one that is heartbreakingly bitter. We want to see these two together and the idea that they may not be Bad Boys For Life is not a happy one. Don't worry though none of this means that the humor and action is in anyway lacking. There are tons of jokes and while not all of them hit, the ones that do are quite funny. The audience I saw this movie with laughed out loud quite a bit and so did I. The action is as good as one could hope for. It is as over the top and fun as one would except from a Bad Boys film. You may not be able to take all of these action scenes seriously but once again this is a Bad Boys movie. The story is definitely one we have seen a million times before, but it is still quite well done and the more depth that is added to our main characters certainly helps quite a bit. This movie also has the best villain of the series.

If I were to complain about this movie the first thing, I would complain about is the new group of young cops the boys work with. These characters are simply not very interesting and feel like stereotypes of movie characters we have seen many times. Certainly more could have done to make them interesting considering this movie gave other characters more depth than the previous films.

I didn't except much from this movie, and came away having quite a good time.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Another Thin Man (1939)

The third entry in The Thin Man series is an excellent comedy-mystery. While it may not live up to the first movie (not that that is an insult in the slightest), but it is very entertaining in its own right. I was lucky enough to see this movie at The Old Town Music Hall last night and seeing this with an audience proved to me how delightful this film truly is, as everybody was enjoying it just as much as I was.

This film's production was plagued by health problems for star William Powell. Filming was meant to start in early 1938, but before any filming could be done, Powell was too obviously having health problems. These health problems were later revealed to be cancer. This was a tough time for Powell in general. As if having cancer weren't bad enough he had also recently lost his wife, actress Jean Harlow a year earlier and hadn't quite emotionally recovered yet. Powell would have operations in March 1938 and January 1939, and with the success of these he would be able to return to work in fall of 1939. Meanwhile he had to turn down some great movie roles including that of Maxim De Winter in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940). When Powell arrived for the first day of filming he received a standing ovation from the cast and crew, which embarrassed him quite a bit. Director Woody Van Dyke (who had also directed the previous two Thin Man movies) broke up this scene by stating "what are we wasting time for? Let's get to work." Van Dyke was known for making movies extremely quickly but he did make allowances for Powell's health with this film. Filming would only last six hours a day and crews would be doubled to compensate. Still in typical W.S. Van Dyke fashion the film was finished rather quickly and was released in November of 1939.

Another Thin Man marked the last Thin Man movie to be written by husband and wife team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (this is a rare Thin Man sequel to be based off an actual story by Dashiell Hammett (who wrote the original novel) (this was a short story entitled The Farewell Murder). Myrna Loy would later give the reason for this in her autobiography Being and Becoming stating "Do you know I never saw them at Metro? It's terrible, really, but unless they sent for the writers to get us out of a hole, we seldom saw them on the set....I didn't meet the Hacketts until I moved to New York in the fifties. We became friends, I'm happy to say, and Albert facetiously explained one day why they didn't write the last three Thin Man pictures: 'Finally I just threw up on my typewriter. I couldn't do it again; I couldn't write another one.' Perhaps we all should have concurred; those last three never really touched the pervious ones." Truth be told when you compare these first three movies to the last three, there is no doubt the ones written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett are well above the later entries. While I enjoy the later films, they lack the clever and laugh out loud funny banter between Nick and Nora that these first three have. While maybe not as memorable or quotable as the first movie, the dialogue in Another Thin Man is still full of the charm and wit that one could want from a Thin Man movie. This film is just as funny today as it was in 1939. Adding to the delightful of this banter is that William Powell and Myrna Loy have lost none of their amazing chemistry. They still play off each other perfectly and a scene in a club is a sheer delight to behold.

As did many of these sequels this movie features more slapstick involving the dog Asta (who gets the largest billing in the opening credits) than the first entry. This is hardly a problem when the slapstick is as funny as it is here. There are plenty of times when Asta steals the show, which considering the cast of this movie is no easy feat. This movie also introduced a new character, Nick and Nora's son Nick Jr. (William A. Paulson). Nick Jr. has somewhat of a baring on this movie's story but rarely provides any comedy himself, letting his adult and canine costars run the whole show. This is probably for the best. One watches The Thin Man movies for the banter between Nick and Nora Charles, not for antics from a baby, and such antics could have hurt a thing that was already working./

When released this film became one of the highest grossing movies of its year and it should come as no surprise that more sequels would be in the future.

While none of these sequels quite reach the level of the first movie, Another Thin Man stands as my second favorite in the series and never fails to delight me.

Also Stooges fans should look for Shemp in a brief uncredited role.

A hit movie never failed to send MGM to tooting their own horn as can be seen by the advertisement from The Film Daily below or the advertisement from The Motion Picture Herald below that.

  



I love the way movie theatres advertised films back in the day and some excellent examples of that (including one for After The Thin Man) can be seen in the below two pages from The Motion Picture Herald. If you having trouble reading just click on the picture and use your touch screen to zoom in.





-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1747/Another-Thin-Man/articles.html

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031047/?ref_=hm_rvi_tt

Movie Review: Frozen 2

Michael's Movie Grade: B

While this may not be the instant classic the first Frozen was, it is definitely a good movie in its own right.

The main reason many of us went to see this movie is to see more of these great characters and luckily they are just as great here as they were in the first film. Elsa is just as much of a mysterious but extremely likable character. Anna is still my favorite having an extremely good heart and a selfless love for her sister. Olaf is just as charmingly naïve and eternally good hearted. Kristoff gets a bigger chance to shine in this movie and he really does. His awkwardness is both charming and relatable.

The songs are the one place where this movie surpasses its predecessor. Sorry Do You Want to Build a Snowman or Let It Go but All is Found is easily my new favorite Frozen song. The melody and lyrics are haunting beautiful and whenever the song was sung I felt my emotions being moved. Lost in the Woods and Into the Unknown are also just as good if not better than any of the songs in the first film.

The story is definitely a good one and fits the characters and the world of Frozen well. However it is definitely conventional and there was not one second where I could not predict what would happen next, nor did I ever feel this story offered me anything previous animated movies haven't.

The humor is hit and miss. When it hits it is very funny. I love Olaf's way of play charades and Kristoff practicing proposing to Anna made me laugh out loud. Still there where moments were it felt like the filmmakers were trying to force humor and what felt so naturally in the first film did not work as well here.

This may not be as good as the first film, but taken on its own merits it is easily a good movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Movie Review: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

Well below a Disney classic, but a fun movie nonetheless.

What makes this movie work is that it has a great sense of atmosphere. This is a fantastic fantasy land, that feels very real. This movie does what fantasy movies are supposed to do, make you feel like you were transported somewhere else. The amount of imagination and work that went into this world is very impressive and effective. This kind of fantasy is especially highlighted in a creative and very well done action packed climax. Not only does this climax feature lots of great action, but it is perfectly blended into this fantasy world, making it much more effective. Not hurting at all is that Maleficent and Aroura are likable characters. There is little depth or complexity to them, but they are likable enough for us to enjoy watching them and care about their safety.

The plot of this movie isn't really a bad one, but it is one we have seen a million times before. It is hard for any seasoned movie goer not to know what is going to happen next at each moment. While most of the time this works reasonably well, there are times when it feels to be going through the motions and only doing what we except it to do. The villain is rather bland and cliché. However I will say I like that the movie doesn't try to make it a secret she is the villain. She is too obviously the villain for that to have worked. Since trying to keep the villain a surprise seems to be popular at Disney these days I was glad they overlooked that cliché. While the CGI is mostly quite good, the designs of the fairies is really ugly and unpleasant to look at.

While this is far from top notch Disney, it is still an enjoyable film and sometimes that is enough.

-Michael J. Ruhland    

Movie Review: Rambo: Last Blood

Michael's Movie Grade: B

Rambo kills a bunch of people in the most over the top bloody way possible. What more did you except and what more did you want?

This movie is never going to win any awards and I won't argue that it should. Regardless of this though, it is pure fun. This movie follows a simple formula that we are familiar with but does it very well. Some people do horrible evil things and Rambo plots revenge against them. What makes this work is that the bad guys are completely horrible people. They have no redemptive qualities whatsoever, and it is really easy to hate them. After what they do there is no way you are not going to root for our buddy, John Rambo. We not only root for him, but we take immense satisfaction in each one that he kills. Of course Sylvester Stallone's performance doesn't hurt at all. Though he has been parodied more times than you can count, there is no doubt that he is a one of a kind and very talented actor. Like in all the previous Rambo movies he brings a real humanity to the character, and therefore gives some heart behind the over the top gore. When I say gore, I mean gore. This is by far the bloodiest Rambo movie.  The climax itself is a nonstop gore fest. However the movie does not rush into this gore from the beginning, it instead takes its time setting up the characters and story, so that the gory finale can fully satisfying and it is. The story itself is nothing original but it is well told enough for us to care.

This has very little of the social commentary of First Blood, instead this is a pure action movie and quite a satisfying one at that.

-Michael J. Ruhland  

Movie Review: Toy Story 4

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

Review: After Toy Story 3 provided such a great ending for the series, many of us (including me) were skeptical when Toy Story 4 was announced. I am happy to say our skepticism was misplaced. This film provides a truly great finish to a series that has been dear to many of our hearts.

This is some ways is the most low key of the Toy Story movies. Most of the conflict is internal (though this can be argued to be true for Toy Story 2 as well) and there is no big physical suspense scene like the incinerator scene from Toy Story 3 or the escape from Sid's room in the first Toy Story. The closest scenes we get are either played more for laughs or more for emotion than the previous examples. This movie shows perfectly that the internal conflict can be just as effective as the external. What Woody goes through here is something that all of us have felt and can relate to. We know we shouldn't react to it as obsessively as Woody does, but if we are all honest with ourselves, it is the way many of us do react. The possibility that we are no longer useful is truly terrifying and a thought that I have struggled with many times. This made this movie possibly the most emotionally relatable Toy Story movie. I understand that this is because of who I am as a person, and scenes from previous movies might be more relatable to you. One thing that made me write off this movie in my head when I saw the trailers was the character of Forky. The idea of a living spork in a Toy Story movie, seemed like a terrible one to me. What shocked me watching this movie is that I actually ended up really liking the character. He made me laugh out loud many times, especially with his obsession with trash, and the way he described it to Woody. A mid-credits sequence featuring him was an especially huge laugh for me. Forky like Woody has more internal conflict than external here. It works perfectly. We have all had those moments when we wondered why we exist and felt like we don't belong. Forky personifies those moments for us, but in a way that has enough warmth and humor that it never becomes depressing. Gabby Gabby is an equally fascinating character, but I refuse to go into more detail to avoid spoilers.

As stated when talking about Forky despite all the internal conflict this movie's emotional moments are balanced out with a lot of great humor. Buttercup's plans, Buzz's inner voice, most scenes involving Ducky and Bunny, and much of Bonnie's interactions with her parents are really funny.

Naturally with this being a new Toy Story movie we get a new Randy Newman song. This song is fantastic and connects to what we are seeing on screen in both a humorous and emotional way.

This movie really is as good of an ending as a series like this can get and I can't recommend it enough.

P.S. I am extremely disappointed by the lack of an animated short before the feature.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Shaft

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

Review: Pure impolitically correct R-rated fun.

It is true that the story of this film is one we have seen a bunch of times in recent years. However the story is not the reason to watch this movie, as the film is more concerned with humor, characters and action. It delivers quite well on each of these fronts. This is an extremely funny movie and I found myself laughing out loud through most of it. True, this humor is not for everybody. There are many impolitically correct jokes. The Samuel Jackson, Shaft is not PC at all, often spouting offensive stuff, that it is shocking to hear in a movie from 2019. Beyond just that the offensive talk is played for laughs and the movie never truly condemns them for it either. This is sure to turn many people off from this film, but despite this it was often really funny. It is hard to describe why the jokes here are just as funny as they are not PC. However I think much of this comes from the fact that the humor seems to derive from the characters rather than the filmmakers. There is never a moment when it feels like the filmmakers are trying to make a point with this, but rather that they want to do something that makes them laugh. That is one of the best things in a comedy, when you get the feeling the filmmakers cracked themselves up with these jokes. Of course this is an action comedy, so action is just as important as comedy. The action here is excellent. The action is over the top and is to be taken as seriously as the comedy. Again one gets a sense that the filmmakers had such fun with these scenes. Both the humor and the action are greatly helped by the characters being fantastic. Hearing Samuel Jackson's Shaft spout something very offensive or vulgar would not be as funny if we didn't have Jessie T. Usher's Shaft complete unbelief at what he is hearing. Similarly the action scenes (especially the climatic one) manage to fit in many character moments.

This movie sets out to be nothing but pure fun, and it successeds very well. This may not be a movie for everybody, but it is an excellent movie regardless.

-Michael J. Ruhland    

Movie Review: No Manches Frida 2

Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Astonishingly bad comedy not only is extremely clichéd, but is also completely laugh free.

This movie is about as juvenile as a comedy can get. In fact one of the film's main plot points is put into play by a long vomit joke. To some this would be an immediate turn off. However the comedy being immature is the least of its problems. The main problem is just how phoned in it is. Not a single joke is actually funny. Each one instead feels like a joke we have heard a million times, being told by someone who doesn't understand why it was funny in the first place. Not only does this movie go for the cheapest and easiest jokes possibly, but doing so it doesn't even get any cheap and easy laughs from the audience. Instead this movie is just going through the motions and even the biggest fans of immature comedies will find themselves having laughed very little by the time the movie is done.

This is a Mexican film, but the influence of Hollywood cinema can more than easily be felt. However rather than feeling like an homage to Hollywood movies, it simply takes all of their clichés. This movie takes clichés from underdog movies, romantic comedies and raunchy comedies. Anyone who has seen more than a couple Hollywood movies can tell you how each plot point will end up as soon as that plot point is announced. Rather than telling a fun story that happens to be clichéd, this movie dutifully and obviously follows each rule of these clichés adding nothing along the way. There seems to be no desire to actually have fun with these clichés instead they feel as cheap and easy as the comedy.

I don't except every comedy to be high art or thought provoking (after all I'm a Three Stooges fan), what I do except however is for one to be enjoyable. I want to laugh and have fun at a movie like this, but this movie is completely lacking in both laughs and fun.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Frozen 2 Trailer

Yes you read that title correctly, my friends. After all this time of complete secrecy, Disney has finally released a trailer for Frozen 2. Honestly we still don't know much more about the movie from this trailer. We can make some guesses but those would be pure speculation. The film looks like it might be a bit darker and more epic. However keep in mind that this could simply be the trailer. The first trailers for the first Frozen hinted at a silly comedy, which was only a smaller part of the actual film. It could be possible that maybe Frozen 2 won't be as dark or epic as its first preview makes it look. It certainly looks like they are leaving Arendelle, with Elsa trying to cross the water at the beginning. However where they could be going or why is a complete mystery. Heck even if they are leaving Arendelle remains speculation. It could be possible that she is trying to cross the water for a different reason after all. What is clear is that the trailer is filled with great animation and lots of atmosphere. By great animation I mean it is pretty darn breathtaking. This is especially true of the beginning of the trailer. The effects animation of the waves is incredible and the character animation of Elsa is fantastic. As mentioned before this trailer has a darker and more epic feel. At least in the trailer this works perfectly. I also will admit I love how Anna's new outfit even contributes to this atmosphere. This is what a movie trailer should be, it doesn't give much away but still gets you excited and curious about the film. Let's hope the actual movie is as good as this trailer.




The film is set to be released on November 22. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee will be returning to direct this sequel.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

Michael's Movie Grade: A-


Review: In my mind Mary Poppins is possibly the Disney Studio's finest feature film. With this said I admit to being a little weary when I first heard of Mary Poppins Returns. I needn't have been though. While the first film is still in class of its own and this movie doesn't reach the heights of that masterpiece, it is an incredibly good film in its own right. To say that the original outshines this movie is not even an insult and with how great this new movie is that just shows how incredible the first was.

This is a movie filled with pure Disney magic in a way that has not been seen in many current live action Disney movies. There are moments here that fully remind Disney lovers why we fell in love with Disney to begin with. Though reminiscent of Step in Time from the first movie, the Trip a Little Light Fantastic scene is simply irresistibly magical. The Place Where Lost Things Go has to be one of the finest song numbers in a musical movie in a long time. The lyrics are beautiful. Having lost loved ones recently these lyrics were especially touching and relatable. The melody was also perfect and lovely this was the highlight of the film for me. The very first fantasy sequence is also practically perfect in every way. It reintroduces one to the magic of Mary Poppins in a way that blows us away making us believe in the magic as well as the kids. I also love the Turning Turtle sequence which is delightfully imaginative in every possible way. Emily Blunt is also practically perfect in the role coming as close to Julie Andrews as any actress can. Her performance captured both the magic and the nonchalance perfectly. Her performance was just extremely charming here. The movie also did a great job with grown up Michael (Ben Whishaw). He has lost the innocence, trust and happiness from his childhood years in way that is completely believable. He is never purposely neglectful to his kids instead he is in an understandable and real predicament that we can all relate to and that would effect us the same way. This makes this fantasy filled movie always feel real.

This movie isn't quite perfect in every way though. The struggles of the Banks family was enough to sustain the movie, and therefore the inclusion of a villain (especially one as boring as we get here) seems pointless. I don't want to compare this to the first movie much, but I have to point out that there was a reason that movie didn't have a villain. This movie also has one surprisingly weak song number A Cover is Not The Book. This movie is also missing the slower and quieter scenes that helped make the first film so amazing.

Still this movie comes much closer to capturing the magic of the first film than I ever suspected. The songs (all written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) are fantastic (with one exception mentioned earlier), the performances are incredible, the creativity is amazing and most of all that old Disney magic is still there. For us lovers of the original there is also cameos by Dick Van Dyke and Karen Dotrice, instrumental versions of the songs from the first movie, and a great tribute to Peter Ellenshaw (the matte painter and one of the special effects artists for the first movie and many more great live action Disney films of the 1950's, 60's and 70's). Don't miss this.


-Michael J. Ruhland