A reconfiguration of the 1933 Silly Symphony 'The Night Before Christmas', this segment uses new narration while reordering and removing substantial chunks of the original animation. The treatment of the next cartoon is the low point of the disc.

It is also the lone portion of the feature which appears to have been created entirely for this DVD. (How endearing.) This part is presented as a read-along, perfect for those just learning how to read. We are then told it is intermission and Ariel decides to tell us about her first Christmas, or 'Chrissymas', as she calls it. (I know, tipsy baked goods offend me too.) Although they have disappeared in certain other airings, the rum cookies remain intact. All that seems edited out here are the opening and closing credits. Christmas is nowhere to be found in this 1935 cartoon and while there is a royal, she is of the confectionary variety. As it is, this part runs roughly 15 minutes and one can't help but feel the time spent condensing this direct-to-video 'midquel' would have been better spent doing something else.Īs Snow White is the eldest of the group, it seems fitting (at least in the mind of the Disney employees behind this endeavor) that she introduce the Silly Symphony short 'The Cookie Carnival', which plays like it sounds. All that might have been necessary (or appropriate, for that matter) would have been a sing-along of the song 'As Long As There's Christmas', which is featured here in its entirety, though lacking animated lyrics the sing-along format entails. Next we are 'treated' to recycled film clips of Princess Aurora getting jiggy wit' it to Tchaikovsky's 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.' With its cropped round frame and psychedelic kaleidoscope effects, this makes one yearn for even the most chopped-up version of Fantasia's rendition of the piece, at least it is short and easier to enjoy than the overlong summary of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas that follows. One can't help but feel cheated in the way Disney has apparently undermined their own work, in addition to the fact that they thought that such a treatment would go unnoticed (granted, it probably will be by the majority of those at whom this DVD is aimed). You get a severely cropped fullscreen version of the Fantasia 2000 segment which has been set not to the Shostakovich composition it was originally timed to, but an uncredited score of a less exciting sort. 'The Steadfast Tin Soldier' is the first story sequence and from here, the disappointment begins. Looking more like tranquilized animals than handsome heroes, their actions are limited to an occasional eye blink, illustrating the point that to a good princess, a prince is nothing more than an accessory. If the princesses seem a little lifeless, one only has to look at the princes sitting next to them to revise their opinion. A slight step up from the Princess Stories DVDs - where intros consist of recycled heroines footage unsuccessfully and jarringly matched up to newly-recorded dialogue - the princesses here are newly-animated, although in a very stiff and computer-y way. Each segment is introduced by a Disney princess.

Basically, it is a compilation of shorts which are holiday-related or else merely pertain to toys, winter or sugary treats. The feature itself consists of a number of previously-created animated shorts, few of which actually represent a Disney princess in any way, shape, or form. This song is set to film clips of the respective princesses, with minor 'enhancements' such as an emerald ring repeatedly appearing in the sky where Jasmine and Aladdin fly on their magic carpet. You may be wondering what you are doing in this fancy place when the curtain draws and you hear the Disney princesses (limited to Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine) sing their own rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' featuring eight crowns-a-shining, five emerald rings, and two glass slippers. As you ascend the grand staircase, you enter an auditorium filled with black people (that is silhouettes representing shrouded audience members). This building is a theatre, and inside, a theatrical presentation is taking place. A computer-generated domed structure magically appears. With their 8th DVD presentation, Disney Princess: A Christmas of Enchantment, the royal ladies are doing something entirely new - celebrating the holidays. Running Time: 55 Minutes / Rating: Not Rated (Suitable for All Ages)ġ.33:1 Fullscreen (Mix of Original Aspect Ratio and Reformatted)ĭolby Digital 5.1 (English), Dolby Surround (French)īy now, one cannot so much look at an item bearing the Disney Princess logo without the word 'unnecessary' coming to mind.

Disney Princess: A Christmas of Enchantment

Princess sing along songs