Aladdin: Platinum Edition DVD Buena Vista Home Video Mulan: Special Edition DVD Buena Vista Home Video   Reviewed by Tony Buchsbaum	Disney, with its rich history of setting the standard for high quality family entertainment, has taken their commitment to the next level. While the company has embraced DVD from the format's earliest days, now it has raised the bar with considerable gusto, committing serious resources to preserving their films and presenting them on DVD with loads of extras meant to supplement the overall experience with behind-the-scenes material, games, and wherever it's relevant, a bit of history. Two of the studio's new DVDs, Aladdin and Mulan, are stellar examples of this commitment. While these DVDs have been available for some time now, my delay in reviewing them is a testament to the sheer volume of material that's been supplied. Below, I'll point out some of the highlights. The Aladdin DVD marks the first time this landmark film has been available. Originally released to theaters in 1992, the film seems to have aged not at all; its jokes and cultural references are as funny now as they were then. Like the best of the Looney Tunes, the film works on both a child's and an adult's level. The humor, the drama, the arc of the story -- everything is thrilling. The story concerns young Aladdin, street urchin and dreamer. Two things happen to Aladdin that change his life. First he meets the lovely Princess Jasmine, whom he finds captivating. And then he finds the magic lamp, which is inhabited by the Genie. Scott Weinger voices Aladdin, Linda Larkin plays Jasmine, Jonathan Freeman plays the evil Jafar, Gilbert Gottfried plays Jafar's wisecracking parrot sidekick and the brilliant Robin Williams plays the Genie. Brad Kane and Lea Salonga sing the parts of Aladdin and Jasmine, respectively. Williams delivered a historic performance for this film, bringing a strange kind of life to the Genie that transformed him from ink on paper to fully-dimensional cultural icon. He's irreverent, damaged, inspired, generous -- a true friend to the young boy trying to find his way. The film itself has been totally restored and remastered for this presentation, and each of the numerous extras brings new dimension to a different facet of the film. There is a great focus on the music here, starting with a look at a deleted song, "Proud of Your Boy." Original storyboards of the song's sequence are shown, and there's a beautiful new performance of the song by Clay Aiken, who offers a plaintive, big ballad feel to the material. The song can be viewed in original demo form, or with Aiken singing against the storyboards, or as a more standard video. The Oscar-winning song "A Whole New World" also gets a new performance by Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. There's a lengthy making-of documentary that illuminates everything you'd ever want to know about the film, including the inspiration for the genie's design, how it all came together (and almost fell apart), the design of the Aladdin character and the casting and on and on. If it weren't so entertaining, it'd be exhausting. You also get deleted scenes; audio commentaries; trivia; Aladdin artwork; a look at composer Alan Menken; the publicity materials created for the film; a CGI magic carpet ride adventure that takes you on a journey around the pyramids, through the Cave of Wonders and over the mountains; a guided tour of the Genie's lamp; a Genie world tour (where he went after Aladdin set him free); and a 3 Wishes game. All in all, it's (ahem) everything you could ever wish for. Mulan, which was released on DVD previously, has been revisited by the folks at Disney. This special edition release gives the film the Aladdin treatment, if you will. Based on an old Chinese legend about a girl who disguised herself as a man to help fight the Huns, Mulan is inspiring for boys and girls alike. Its animation style is both more subdued and more detailed, in its way, than Aladdin is. Every frame has been stylized with Asian touches, from the color palette to the way the clouds roll across the sky. Mulan is played by Ming-Na, her dragon sidekick Mushu is played by Eddie Murphy (a foreshadow of his work as Donkey in Shrek), and Shang, the young soldier Mulan loves, is played by B.D. Wong. Mulan is sung by Lea Salonga, and Shang is sung by Donny Osmond. Again, this beautifully-designed DVD is packed with extras that bring the film and the legend to glorious life. There are music videos starring Jackie Chan, Raven, Christina Aguilera and Stevie Wonder. There's a fascinating feature called DisneyPedia, in which you can explore Mulan's world. And there are the standard audio commentaries by the film's three directors. There's also a behind-the-scenes documentary, a narration of the Mulan legend accompanied by production artwork, a look at some of the early presentation reels used to sell the film to Disney execs, character designs, storyboard-to-film comparisons, detailed mini-docs about the film's design and color, production demos and a look at Mulan's international journey. These days, when the whole notion of an animated film calls to mind The Incredibles, Shrek and other computer-based films, it's sometimes tough to remember that animation was once all about color-on-paper work, about men and women drawing -- by hand -- every frame of the film. Aladdin and Mulan, for all their entertainment value and their DVD extras, should be remembered as the works of high art they are, examples of the "old style" that should live forever. | March 2005   Tony Buchsbaum is the author of Total Eclipse. He and his family live in Lawrenceville, NJ, and he is Creative Director/Copy for a pharmaceutical ad agency in Philadelphia.	These days, when the whole notion of an animated film calls to mind The Incredibles, Shrek and other computer-based films, it's sometimes tough to remember that animation was once all about color-on-paper work, about men and women drawing -- by hand -- every frame of the film.