CD Giveaway - 33Miles, "One Life"
Ends Aug 4, 2010
The country-pop sound established in their eponymous debut is a mainstay for this album as well, and even adds a little more southern flavor.
CD Giveaway - Phil Wickham, "Cannons"
Ends Aug 3, 2010
With an opening shot that hits the sonic pinnacle, this collection of spiritual Brit pop/rock is heavily influenced by Keane, Travis, Coldplay, and U2.
Rating: Country: USA Release Date: February 28, 2006 Distributor: Walt Disney Video Director: · Clyde Geronimi · Wilfred Jackson Cast: · Peggy Lee · Barbara Luddy · Larry Roberts · Verna Felton · Thurl Ravenscroft Related Sites: ·IMDb: Lady and the Tramp
Grade: A+
You know the story: Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy does something incredibly heroic to win girl's heart. Boy and girl stay together and raise a litter of puppies.
It's a dog's life in this animated Disney masterpiece, "Lady and the Tramp". Pampered Cocker Spaniel Lady has always had the run of the house, even after the baby came. But when Aunt Sara and her two smug Siamese cats come to visit, she finds herself out of the house and on the leash! Escaping her bonds, she's befriended by a stray mutt who shows her how enjoyable life can be for a dog without an owner.
I tried this once and got spaghetti sauce up my nose.
But it's still one of the most iconic moments of romance
in the history of cinema.
But that kind of life has its downside, and Lady is soon captured by the dogcatcher and placed in the pound! There, she finds out that Tramp has had quite the colorful past -- and a string of romantic conquests of which she is merely the most recent. On her return home (still to the leash and doghouse), Tramp tries to make things up to her, but nothing he can do will soothe her broken heart -- nothing, that is, until a horrible rat makes its way into the baby's room and Lady is helpless to go after it. It's Tramp to the rescue, even though his only reward is more injustice from Aunt Sara. But ultimately, it's a happy ending for these star-crossed canines.
Featuring the ubiquitously popular songs "La La Lu", "The Siamese Cat Song", "He's a Tramp" and the ever-romantic "Bella Notte", this digitally cleaned up classic is just as captivating today as it was when it originally released fifty years ago. It's animation, but never settles for just being a cartoon. It has its humorous moments, but is also charged with emotional scenes: the frustrating injustice of Aunt Sara; the suspenseful appearance of the rat; the climactic sacrifice of Trusty as he and Jock race to rescue Tramp.
When it comes to bonus features, no one packs them in to a major release the way Disney does. The second disc is jam-packed with extras. There's a "making of" featurette that's nearly as long as the movie itself. But that's not the only look-back bits. Kevin Costner puts in a cameo in a special about the usage of storyboards -- they're not just for animated cartoons, you know. You'll see Peggy Lee sing "The Siamese Cat Song" again (and while I realized she voiced Peg and sang "He's a Tramp", I had no idea she also voiced Si and Am, thinking for years that this had been the Gabor sisters!) But the version of this song on the bonus disc is different from what's in the movie, in a number of regards. It includes an introduction as to how the song was made and includes the original composer's track with two men singing the parts. Fred Willard hosts a special on the history of the dog in a Disneypedia special, "Going to the Dogs".
Players take turns answering questions and
collecting ribbons until a winner is declared by collecting
eight ribbons.
I found the trivia board game to be a challenging bit of fun, particularly when played in multiplayer mode. This tours the players through a virtual game board while answering questions about "Lady and the Tramp" as well as many other Disney dogs and their movies (although I did detect what I believe to be one trick question: "At the end of 'Lady and the Tramp,' what does Jock use to track Tramp and the dogcatcher's truck?" Any fan worth his salt knows it was Trusty that did the tracking -- and he used his nose.) A personality profile quizzes you on your traits and then pairs you up to the dog you're most like -- I'm apparently a Jock.
The DVD-ROM allows you to adopt a virtual puppy. I selected an English Bulldog and named him Pugsley, and then printed out his adoption certificate. Once that was done, I went into the virtual backyard with him. We played with some toys, fed him, pet him, and let him rest. This would make four different meters go up or down until he was at a level where he had learned a new trick he could perform. Once he had learned all his tricks, I got another certificate I could print out, with his picture and my name -- I was a certified master (virtual) dog trainer! You can also select Wallpapers and Screensavers for your computer.
Previews on this disc include "The Little Mermaid" Special Edition, "The Shaggy Dog", "Chicken Little", "Brother Bear 2" (which opens with the two Canadian moose singing "Bella Notte"), and "Air Buddies". Additionally selectable previews include "Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure" Special Edition, "Dumbo" Special Edition, and an advertisement for Walt Disney World.
Audio options can be set to English 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 5.1, or the "Restored Original Theatrical Soundtrack", with optional English captioning. Viewers can select to watch the feature film in either a widescreen aspect of 2.55:1 or a full screen pan-and-scan version.
Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary Edition Disc Guide
Disc One
Main Feature: Fullscreen
Main Feature: Widescreen
Disc 2 Preview (1:01) Disc Two
Deleted Scenes (12:55 with introductions, 9:40 without)
Music & More
The Siamese Cat Song (4:20)
Bella Notte by Steve Tyrell (2:55)
Games & Activities
Adopt a Virtual Puppy (see DVD-ROM options)
Disney Dog Trivia Board Game (Family mode or single player mode)
Going to the Dogs Disneypedia (9:20)
Your Inner Bark - Personality Profile ()
Backstage Disney
Lady's Pedigree: The Making of "Lady and the Tramp" (52:55)
Finding Lady: The Art of the Storyboard (13:01)
Original 1943 Storyboards (11:51)
Excerpts from "Disneyland" TV Shows
Introduction (4:00)
"The Story of Dogs" (Excerpt) (17:30)
Promo trailer for "The Story of Dogs" (3:05)
"Cavalcade of Song" (Excerpt) (21:40)
Theatrical Trailers (3 total)
"Lady and the Tramp" Galleries (still frame and slideshow)
