I'm a long-time Disney VHS collector who is fascinated by the little details that differentiate tapes, from all the different eras of Disney's home media division. In a way, it's kind of odd... Walt Disney Home Video had a logo before Walt Disney Productions proper. Walt Disney's films, up until the mid-1950s, had been distributed … Continue reading The Many Logos of Disney Home Ent.
1990s
Breaking Down the Later Disney Renaissance, Part 5
This is it folks... We're at the end of the Disney Renaissance. Or, more appropriately, the time where most people mark the end of Disney's esteemed Renaissance era of animated features. We're at the last film in a streak of box office successes, the end of an apparently idyllic time that soured a bit in … Continue reading Breaking Down the Later Disney Renaissance, Part 5
Breaking Down the Latter Disney Renaissance, Part 4
Two prestige pictures, one zany comedy, what would it take to turn that fading candle into something akin to forest fire? Perhaps the answer was... Something that was more of an action picture and less an adventure-comedy love story. An adaptation of the legend of Hua Mulan was perhaps yet another thing that would make … Continue reading Breaking Down the Latter Disney Renaissance, Part 4
Breaking Down The Later Disney Renaissance, Part 2
Before I go on about the latter half of the Disney Renaissance, I'd like to talk about an element that characterized the earlier Renaissance that you don't see very often these days in the land of theatrical animation. This element, I feel, faded away with the very feature I'll be reviewing today... Start with Beauty … Continue reading Breaking Down The Later Disney Renaissance, Part 2
Breaking Down The Later Disney Renaissance, Part 1
Much like the so-called "Dark Age" of Disney Animation that occurred from the late 1960s up until the mid-1980s, the second half of Disney's beloved Renaissance tends to get quite the write off. Like the transitional times of the 70s and 80s, the latter half of the Renaissance and its flaws are due to many … Continue reading Breaking Down The Later Disney Renaissance, Part 1
Retrospective: ‘Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!’
Insomniac Games scored a big success with their PlayStation platformer Spyro the Dragon during the holiday season of 1998. Naturally, a sequel was immediately put into development, following buddy studio Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot trajectory. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (or Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer in the UK) was speedily readied for fall 1999, and ended … Continue reading Retrospective: ‘Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!’
Retrospective: ‘Spyro the Dragon’, Part 1
Released in the autumn of 1998 for the PlayStation, Insomniac Games' Spyro the Dragon was one of many games that was a staple of my young'un years. Like any good game from any era, it is one that has held up over the years, and one that I continue to enjoy to this very day. … Continue reading Retrospective: ‘Spyro the Dragon’, Part 1
