Like every sane person who enjoys a movie or two from time to time, I am a huge fan of Disney’s animation department. For 100 years the Mickey Mouse company has been making animated films of various stripes. Not all of them have been masterpieces, but some of them are, and most are very good. In celebration of its centennial, Disney is exclusively releasing through Wal-Mart, this collection of 100 animated films from its storied existence.
The films range from their earliest feature-length movie, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937), to Pixar’s most recent one Elemental (2023), plus a few surprises like Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005).
Now, that’s the good news. The bad is that while it is packaged in a nice-looking cardboard box, the disks are apparently plain Jane Blu-rays without any real extras. And it retails at $1,500.
That’s a huge amount of money. Way more than I’ll spend. I’m very curious as to who this set is for as it seems like people who are big enough fans that they would be willing to lay down that much for these movies probably already own most of them on Blu-ray. But whatever, it is still a cool set and it is now my Pick of the Week.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
The Sonny Chiba Collection, Vol. 2: Sonny Chiba was one of the great martial arts movie actors. This set includes seven films and lots of extras.
Terms of Endearment: James L. Brooks’ wonderful comedy/drama follows the lives of a mother and daughter team (Shirley Maclaine and Debra Winger) who live very different lives.
Blue Steele: Jamie Lee Curtis stars in this Kathryn Bigelow-directed film as a rookie cop who is chased by a psychopath.
Justified: City Primeval: I love Elmore Leonard and I really enjoyed the FX series, Justified, based on his Raylan Givens stories. Strangely, I’ve never actually seen every episode of the series. I’ve tried a couple of times and I always get hung up somewhere in season three. And it isn’t even a bad season, but for whatever reason I always get distracted around there.
This new limited series takes place several years after the original one ended and finds Raylan in Detroit. Maybe someday I’ll finish Justified so I can get to this one.
Spirited Away: Live on Stage: Spirited Away is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films. I have no idea how that animated film will translate to a live-action stage performance, but I’m interested in giving it a try.
The Last Picture Show: Peter Bogdanovich’s brilliant look at the lives of several high schoolers in 1950s Texas is getting the 4K Criterion treatment.
themidnightcafe.org 
I know it’s not considered “animation” if “live action” is included, but Disney should have included SONG OF THE SOUTH. Glad I have a couple of grey market DVD and Blu-ray from very clean 35mm transfers. Why? Because Disney is too “woke” to release it again.
That complaint has popped up a lot with this set. I get why they have not released it officially in many years, but it is an important part of cinematic history and it wold be nice to get a real release of it. Seems like they could put it out and include some nice extras explaining the history of the movie and how it was released in different times, etc.
As a fan of classic films I regularly come across various things that are offensive – racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. – and while that is unpleasant I think we should be able to recognize that the art can be important while still being very much a product of its times.
The ending of Justified was one of the most perfect wrap ups that any series ever got. Which is why I’ve been a little wary of getting into the new show. But I’ll get over it at some point.
I really need to watch the entire series. There really is no reason that I keep stopping in the middle of it other than I get distracted by other things.