63 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Full of Real Christmas Enchantment, November 23, 2005
This review is from: Disney Princess - A Christmas of Enchantment (DVD)
Disney Princess- A Christmas Enchantment was just that- an enchantment. My daughter who is 5 and a Disney Princess guru was not disappointed unlike many of the reviewers here. I don't know quite what they expected, but this dvd is wonderful for young Princesses in training. We are not D.P amateurs, this review is coming from a mother and daughter who have been to Disney Princesses on Ice, own all the Disney Princess movies, books and whatever else you can get. Many people are claiming how awful it was, but few are actually explaining why. I will explain why it's not bad as many have come to think.
The dvd opens with a beautiful grand entrance which the viewer is a part of. You take your seat in the grand theater and begin the journey with the Disney Princess' version of 12 Days of Christmas. You are then taken through several stories and songs in which the Princesses narrate, sprinkled with Old classic Disney Christmas cartoons. I did not find any of these cartoons inappropriate for my 5 year old. In fact, she watched them over and over again. It's sad to hear that the old cartoons are being labelled as filler or recycled material. Please remember that many of these Princesses are "old"! Disney tried to make it enjoyable for both the child and the parent, and the nostalgic cartoons were a great bonus.
One of my daughter's favorite parts of the dvd was the intermission. During the intermission, you are taken to a menu screen where you can choose a Princess to decorate a tree for. They give you choices for ornaments, tinsel and a tree topper based on the movie they appeared in. So not only are you decorating, but you are testing your Princess trivia skills. In the end, the trees glow and change color and the Princess whose tree was decorated sings a Christmas song for you.
The Princesses were very clearly a part of this dvd unlike what one reviewer says. They are the narrators and all of the games and activities are about them, and they do appear on the screen. Just watch the beginning of the dvd and you will see them in the grand theater as well as throughout the dvd itself. I am very disappointed that so many reviewers are being so hard on this dvd. My daughter and I both love it and have watched it over and over again. It will definitely be something that she will have a memory of watching each Christmas.
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35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disney cheaps out to cash in, November 7, 2005
This review is from: Disney Princess - A Christmas of Enchantment (DVD)
Although it shouldn't really be a huge surprise that Disney will spare no expense, unless they can help it. Previous Disney releases are all based on recycled Material, all the Princess Stories are either episodes from the "Little Mermaid" TV series, or Jasmine themed episodes of the "Aladdin" Television series, while all the new stories are usually just scenes, either still or short moving scenes, from a movie starring that princess. Although this DVD does contain some new content, two new songs and new "Animation" it's basically all stuff that's been available previously.
The "New Animation" is hard to explain, it's stiff, repetitive, and lifeless, although some of the cahracters original voices are here, others sound horrible, the voice of Snow White sounds like Fran Drescher with her nose welded shut and singing in a room full of helium. Meanwhile, the "New Songs" are played with scenes from each princesses movie.
Stories Include "the Steadfast Tin Soldier" - taken from Fantasia 2000
"Aurora's Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy"- which just uses Aurora's dancing from "Sleeping Beauty"- over and over and over-
"Belle's Enchanted Christmas" is justa condensed version of "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" but leaves out the villian, and most of the storyline.
"A Merry Mermaid Christmas" just has Ariel narrating "Ariel's Undersea Christmas"- which is a story that was available in a "Storybook with Tape" set in the early nineties-
The rest of the stories are either classic Diney cartoons, or music played out with scenes from Disney films.
It's sad that Disney would trade their integrity for a quick buck out of the pockets of little girls, Dinsey and Dinsey princess fans.
I would advise that if you HAVE to see this movie, borrow it from a friend, it;s not even worht the rental money. It's sad to see so many classic Dinsey characters cheapened by such a shotty release from a company that exudes creaticity and achievement. Unless you're a die hard Princess fan, or have to have every Disney DVD out there, don't even think about wasting the money, you'll only be hugely dissapointed.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My 4 year old loved it!, November 2, 2005
This review is from: Disney Princess - A Christmas of Enchantment (DVD)
I know this got some bad reviews but the real question is - will it appeal to a little girl? This one definitely did. Adults (myself included) may complain about the lack of new animation and the use of "recycled" material but children don't seem to mind it (they love what is familiar). This is a very pretty movie featuring all the princesses watching a stage show with different holiday themed acts or songs. My 4 year old daughter liked how each princess introduced the next act (yes there is bad animation here - kids don't notice) and she enjoyed the Christmas songs and the stories. There are some older (from the 30's and 40's) cartoons in here but they are new to her and she loved them - particularly the one about the cookie parade. I sat and watched this with her and actually enjoyed it. Yes - it is basically a rehash but done in a different way. My 4 year old loved it and that's all that really counts. I would much rather have my daughter watch this while I'm making dinner than the junk on TV. This is very pretty and very sweet - you just need to watch it from a child's point of view.
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