CD Giveaway - Sam Shrieve, "Bittersweet Lullabies"
Ends Nov 29, 2009
The current student at Berklee College of Music has a rock 'n' roll pedigree, but delivers a pleasing and diverse collection of soft pop on his debut record. Enter our contest for your chance to win!
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Prize Pack
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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: November 3, 2009 Distributor: Walt Disney Director: · Tony Craig · Roberts Gannaway · Rick Schneider Related Sites: ·IMDb: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
Grade: B
It's the holiday season, and once again time for Disney to raid their vaults to ensure there are enough yuletide offerings on the market with the least amount of effort. Which is why 2001's "Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse" still includes previews for "Return to Neverland," "Atlantis: The Lost Empire," "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True", and "Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street," treating each as though it's something new ("Return to Neverland" is even promoted as "Coming soon to theaters.")
Of course, if you haven't seen it, or even if you have but you've added some new children to the family in the past eight years, then you can't go far wrong by adding this one to your Christmas collection. Featuring a talent roster that reads like a who's who of voice actors like Jodi Benson, Corey Burton, Peter Cullen -- and the holy trinity itself, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, and Rob Paulsen -- "Mickey's Magical Christmas" brings together several of your favorite characters under one roof -- literally.
Mickey has just finished entertaining the night's audience at the House of Mouse, and it's time for everyone to head home. But the snow has fallen heavily and there's no chance of getting out. So Belle, Ariel, Jasmine and Cinderella must share the same room as Timon and Pumbaa, Winnie the Pooh, the Mad Hatter, and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as countless others (even the villains) while Mickey and Minnie try to save the day by putting on a Christmas party for everyone. But Donald Duck refuses to have his Christmas spirit elevated -- "Bah, humbug!" is his raspy retort to having his Christmas plans ruined.
To help pass the evening, Minnie brings out some old home movies -- animated shorts to the likes of you and me -- to brighten everyone's evening. These include "Donald on Ice," "Pluto and the Christmas Tree," "The Nutcracker" (starring Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, and narrated by John Cleese), and "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (recently released along with "Pluto and the Christmas Tree" as part of the "Disney Animation Collection" series).
In between showings, we get stage performances by Professor Ludwig von Drake as well as Huey, Louie, and Dewey. Mickey conducts a man-on-the-street interview with several Disney characters asking them what they want for Christmas, and others later answer the the question, "What are you thankful for?"
The Best Christmas of All. Everyone joins in to sing at the House of Mouse.
When Mickey laments that nothing seems to raise Donald's spirits, he goes up to the roof and, upon advice from a timely Jiminy Cricket, wishes upon a star, which magically comes down from the heavens to become the star on their Christmas tree, making everything bright and magical, so that everyone can come together as a single group to sing "The Best Christmas of All."
Bonus features on this disc include the premiere episode of the House of Mouse series, and a short featurette on sound effects with Wayne Allwine, who shows a group of kids how sound effects were made for different Disney films and then lets the kids provide those sound effects for his own rendition of "The Night Before Christmas." There are also two Sing-Along Christmas songs, "Deck the Halls" and "Sleigh Ride," to provide some interactive entertainment.
