This DVD contains seven classic short films. Each film is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. English, Spanish, and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. There are no subtitles, but the English soundtrack is closed-captioned. Although there are no supplemental materials of any consequence, Disney enthusiasts will surly enjoy this release. Aside from the material itself, however, there is little reason for DVD collectors to be interested in this title.
Watching A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a holiday tradition for millions of families. Thanks to DVD, these families can now watch the feature any day of the year. The audio and video on this DVD transfer both shine. All of the classic voices of the Peanuts come across perfectly. Vince Guaraldi's light, jazzy music is allowed to be elegantly graceful in ways more fully imagined than on TV broadcasts. Colors do seem a bit muted, but that was always the case with the Peanuts cartoons. The chief supplemental element of the DVD is the bonus inclusion of It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, which runs just under 25 minutes. Peanuts fans unfamiliar with It's Christmastime Again probably won't find a whole lot to like about it. It's basically a recycled time-waster that doesn't capture any true Christmas spirit or the charm of the original. The main menu of the DVD allows viewers to select the classic or the bonus feature, then to either play it or pick a chapter from the "Scene Selection" menu. In spite of the bonus feature, or because of it, the special features here are lackluster at best.
A purposely outlandish cartoon created in 1953, Harvey Comics hero Richie Rich finally came to the big screen in 1994, when a boy billionaire was not quite as fanciful an idea. Richie Rich (Macaulay Culkin) is the wealthiest boy in the world, but even though he loves his doting parents, Richard (Edward Herrmann) and Regina (Christine Ebersole), he's not happy. Richie wants to play baseball with some neighborhood kids, but his parents instead hire Reggie Jackson to coach him. He wants to go out and play, but instead he gets aerobics training from Claudia Schiffer. When his parents disappear in the Bermuda Triangle, Richie suspects that Laurence Van Dogh (John Larroquette), an employee of Rich Industries, of plotting to take over the company by killing his mom and dad. With trusty butler Cadbury (Jonathan Hyde), eccentric inventor Prof. Keenbean (Michael McShane) and some new friends his own age, Richie puts a plan together to foil Van Dogh's wicked scheme and rescue his parents. Having grown to the point where he was no longer believable in the little kid parts that once made him America's top child star, Culkin took an extended break from acting after the filming of Richie Rich.
John Murlowski directed this straight-to-video sequel to 1994's Richie Rich. Featuring all new actors filling the roles originally created for the Richie Rich comic book, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish finds the richest boy in the world in an It's a Wonderful Life-style holiday adventure after he wishes that he'd never been born and is overheard by Professor Keanbean's Wishing Machine. Suddenly Richie is in a world where even his family doesn't know him. Can he find Professor Keanbean and the Wishing Machine so he can wish himself back to reality? With David Gallagher filling the shoes formerly occupied by Macauley Culkin, the film also features Eugene Levy as Professor Keanbean, Keene Curtis as Herbert Cadbury, and Martin Mull and Leslie Ann Warren as Richie's parents.