We recently received the new Blu-ray of Mary Poppins. (Disclosure: it was a complimentary copy for review.) This is the first time it’s been on Blu-ray, and it was amazing to see how beautiful the remastered film looks. Here are our thoughts on this new release. (Aaron is the entertainment critic in our family, so he wrote this review, but it was based on thoughts we both had after watching.)

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We all know the classic Disney film of Mary Poppins. Even if we haven’t seen the film in its entirety, it’s pretty much impossible to live in 21st Century America without having seen clips from the film, or at a bare minimum, being familiar with the songs “Supercalifragilisticexpalidocious,” “A Spoonful of Sugar” or “Chim Chim Cheree.” But most of us have seen the film, and have been enchanted by P.L. Travers’ enchanted nanny who comes to save the Banks family, and we are lucky to have done so.

Now, just in time for the release of Saving Mr. Banks the film based (loosely) on how Walt Disney acquired the rights to make Mary Poppins, Disney has released Mary Poppins for the first time on Blu-Ray. We were lucky enough to be given a review copy of the Blu-Ray, and we were all-too excited to rip the shrink-wrapping off the case and throw it into our player.

And how is it? Read on.

Official Synopsis (from Disney)
Released from the Disney Vault in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, this much-loved classic shines on Blu-ray with an all-new digital restoration. Winner of five Academy Awards (1964), including Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”) and Best Special Visual Effects, Mary Poppins is a movie experience your family will enjoy over and over again.

“Practically Perfect in Every Way” Mary Poppins flies out of the windy London skies and into the home of two mischievous children. With the help of a carefree chimney sweep named Bert (Dick Van Dyke), the spirited nanny turns every chore into a game and every day into a “Jolly Holiday.” Share the music, the magic, and the joy of Mary Poppins with a whole new generation for the first time on Disney Blu-ray.

The Feature
You likely already know the story of Mary Poppins. Either you’re familiar with the tale of Mary Poppins, Bert, and the Bankses, or you’ve been living under a rock. I will, however, say that if you haven’t seen the film yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. We shared the movie with Cordy and Mira for the first time on our way down to Walt Disney World last year, and they were so in love with it that they insisted that they had to make sure to visit Mary “along with all of the other Princesses” when we went to the parks. Sadly, due to a freak rainstorm, they didn’t manage to see Mary Poppins when we were in the England section of Epcot, but we’ll be correcting that next time we visit.

All that said, you may have seen Mary Poppins before, but you haven’t seen it like this – unless you’ve been fortunate enough to see one of the restored 35mm prints. The digital restoration of the movie is absolutely breathtaking, and it almost feels like you’re watching a brand new movie when you watch this Blu-ray.

Bonus Features
Disney has never been one to skimp out on the Bonus Features, and thanks to the depth of the Disney Vault, each new release manages to have something new attached. In this particular case, we get a “Making of” documentary titled “Supercalifragilisticexpalidocious: The Making of Mary Poppins,” which is fun, but is fairly standard fare. We also get “A Magical Musical Reunion With Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and Richard Sherman” which is astonishingly fun. It may have been fifty years since the making of the film, but these three show how they really managed to capture magic in a bottle when this movie was made. In addition, we are treated to the deleted song “Chimpanzoo.” It’s a fun song, but there’s no reason why it needed to be included. Still, Disney fans will enjoy it.

These features have been presented in previous releases, but they’re still pretty great.

In terms of new features, we get “Becoming Mr. Sherman” which contains a conversation between Richard Sherman and Jason Schwartzman, who plays Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks as Sherman discusses the process of writing the songs of Mary Poppins, along with an all new “Mary-Oke Sing-Along.”

The one thing I miss is the Second Screen experience which seemed like it was becoming the new standard for Disney’s releases/re-releases. On the other hand, the Second Screen might have just distracted me from the joy of seeing Mary Poppins, Bert and the Banks children all over again, so perhaps they made the right call.

The Look
Mary Poppins won the Oscar for visual effects when it was released, and the beauty of the film and the seamless blending of animation and live-action actors has been apparent in all of the previous releases of the movie. But the digital restoration of this Blu-Ray brings the film to visual life in an all new way. If you are especially eagle-eyed, you can find some legacies of the transfer and restoration, but for the rest of us, what we end up with is a beautiful re-release of a film that most of us have seen, but have never been able to see in its full glory.

The Sound
The music of Mary Poppins is well-known and full of classics, but just as most of us have never seen Mary Poppins in the same vivid splendor that the original theatrical experience presented, we also haven’t experienced the music in the same way. Until now. The soundtrack has received the same tender restoration as the print, and the music is crisp and clear and beautiful in Dolby 7.1 sound.

Final Thoughts
Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition is a masterful release, and if you don’t already own a copy of the film, it’s a splendid addition to any Disney fans’ library. If you already own the previous DVD release, you don’t need to rush out to replace it with this version, but you certainly won’t be disappointed if you do. Cordy and Mira couldn’t explain why the film seemed so much more alive this time than the last time they saw it, but they could tell that it was “better.” We could describe the improvements once we stopped to think about them, but this is honestly a hard movie to be a critic of when it simply demands that you throw yourself into the experience.

We’re overjoyed to be able to add Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition to our library, and I think you’ll feel the same way.

You may remember a little while ago, I expressed some concerns over Disney’s new movie, Frozen. When we were at Walt Disney World back in February, we got our first glimpse of some of the art from Frozen and immediately were intrigued. The promotions that followed, however, left me feeling disappointed. Too much focus was placed on Olaf, the snowman, and I felt like the entire story was being lost in marketing cheap laughs between Olaf and the reindeer, Sven.

As we got closer to the movie’s release, I continued to be nervous. I’d heard bits of the music, and I knew it was breathtaking. I also recognized the names of several character voice actors and knew their voices would be equally beautiful with the music.

But I wasn’t seeing much of this in the movie trailers, and little of the story was being revealed, too. Would it live up to my hopes? Would it overcome the marketing I’d been so unimpressed with and prove to be a stellar story?

In a word? YES.

Synopsis

There are two Princesses of Arendelle: Elsa (Idina Menzel), the soon-to-be Queen, and Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa has the ability to create snow and ice, yet has been suppressing these powers after a traumatic childhood incident involving her sister. After letting her cryokinetic powers get out of hand during her official July coronation, she goes into hiding, only for her emotions to trigger a magical, eternal winter that freezes the entire kingdom.

Anna, a fearless and daring optimist, must journey with extreme mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and reindeer sidekick Sven in an epic journey, encountering mystical trolls, a comical snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad), Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn in a race to find Elsa (now known as the Snow Queen), save their kingdom from eternal winter, and make things right before it’s too late.

Weaknesses

Let’s start with the things I didn’t like as much about the film, but please read on because the strengths still far outweigh the weaknesses.

So, the first thing to get out of the way is that Frozen bears about as much resemblance to the original Hans Christian Anderson tale of The Snow Queen as The Little Mermaid does to its source tale. So, if you’re a big fan of the classic fairy tale, please put it out of your mind in advance, because otherwise you will be sorely disappointed.

The other thing that absolutely must be touched upon is Olaf. Olaf, the enchanted magical snowman who wants to experience all things warm. Olaf, who has been featured almost exclusively in the previews for the film to the point that you might be surprised to discover that there are two Princesses in the movie. I quickly deemed Olaf to be the Jar Jar Binks of Frozen.

As I had feared, there is entirely too much of Olaf in this movie, which is entirely unnecessary. The film already had “cute creatures” a-plenty in the form of Sven, the reindeer, and the trolls who provide exposition and an additional source of magic and fun to the movie.

Fortunately, even though there is too much Olaf, there is also a lot less of him than I had feared there would be, and he even manages to add some to the plot. Not a lot, but some. I’ll admit that I even laughed at a few of his antics, but overall I wish he wouldn’t have been included.

Frozen also suffers from the lack of a strong villain, a la Urusula, Jafar, the Shadowman or Mother Gothelle. The story is more about struggles within yourself, and the sisters being able to connect to one another, and the external threats aren’t all that terribly significant.

Frozen has a fairly weak romance, too, but to be honest, I was totally OK with this. Disney has a very hit-and-miss record with making the romances of their leads believable and/or necessary, with Tangled and Princess and the Frog nailing it, and Brave showing us that you don’t really need it. The romance in this film is a bit contrived, and ultimately not all that important. What it does do, however, is gives us an excuse to include a couple of male characters in the film that were probably essential to convince young boys to come see it, and it allowed directors Chris Buck (Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (screenplay, Wreck It-Ralph) to really play with the standard Disney tropes of in True Love’s Kiss in a way that we found really surprising and gratifying.

Now, with the negatives out of the way, let’s discuss some of the things that make Frozen worth watching – and there are plenty.

Strengths

First of all, the visuals of the film are absolutely breathtaking. Although I have heard some complaints that the new CGI-style of Disney animation means that Anna and Elsa bear a little too strong of a resemblance to Rapunzel from Tangled, I was able to look past any initial similarity to the point that the sisters quickly became distinct. Elsa has a cold reserve to her that you can see on her face, and the way she never quite smiles but often smirks captures the facial tics of her voice actress, Idina Menzel quite wonderfully.

Similarly, Anna’s slightly crossed eyes and freckles give her a wonderful humanity that we haven’t always seen in the Disney Princesses. Even the tomboys and outsiders and misfits are beautiful – and there’s no doubt that both Anna and Elsa are – but seeing some imperfections makes them a little bit more real.

Of course, visually, the real star of Frozen are the ice and snow effects, and those are simply amazing. There were real gasps in the audience when Elsa creates her Ice Palace, and the way that the snow swirls, and the ice grows and cracks is just amazing.

As characters, it’s hard not to love both sisters. Anna is outgoing, energetic, clumsy and forthright, while Elsa is cold, reserved and restrained – but still clearly empathetic and compassionate.

Anna’s quest to save her sister, and in turn, the kingdom, resonates strongly because at its core, it is more about Elsa than it is about Arendelle – which makes it a quest that is easier to relate to. Saving a kingdom is more than most kids can understand, but wanting to be with your sister is something that any younger sibling can understand.

Both are strong female characters in their own way, and I have a feeling this movie will result in two new Disney Princesses for the parks and toy stores. (Technically Elsa is a queen, but she belongs in the Princess lineup just as much as Anna.)

The Music

When it comes to Disney features, the music can make or break the movie. Many fans turned away entirely from Hercules because of the unexpected musical choices with the Gospel-style songs (although I am personally a fan), and to this day, I think that if Disney had made the music integrated into Tarzan the way they did the Broadway version, it would have ended up being a much bigger hit.

Well, Frozen is an absolute win in the musical category, and if you’re a fan of Broadway, then you will be very, very pleased.

The orchestral score from Christophe Beck is quite, quite lovely, and pulls you strongly in to the film right from the beginning. But as solid as the score is, the actual songs are where Frozen soars.

“Frozen Heart” starts the film off strong with a solid, sea-chanty-esque rhthym, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” establishes the relationship between the sisters and is heart-breakingly sweet and sad at the same time. “Reindeers Are Better Than People” is a cute little ditty featuring Jonathan Groff, and “Fixer Upper” is fun and energetic and will make great background music when walking through the Disney parks.

But there are three songs that everyone will be talking about.

“For the First Time in Forever” (and its reprise) is the adult counter-point to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” and is absolutely essential to understanding who both Anna and Elsa are. It has a great build throughout, catchy lyrics, and really fun visuals. Think of it in the same vein as other Disney “I Want” Songs, and you won’t be far off at all.

“Love is an Open Door” is a really lovely love-song duet, and in a different film, could easily be the one that everyone will remember at the movie’s end. The opening and closing of doors is a recurring theme in Frozen, and when the song plays, it is easy to see how Anna can be swept away by her handsome prince.

Incidentally, although we’re past the point where this should be surprising, Kristin Bell has quite a lovely singing voice, and she’s really fun to listen to throughout.

But the breakout hit song of Frozen is, without question, “Let it Go.”

Anyone familiar with Idina Menzel’s career knows this, but that woman has an amazing voice, with a tone very unlike many others. She isn’t always technically perfect, but she is incredibly talented, and the imperfections in her voice are what allow it to bring so much emotion to what she sings. If you only know her from watching Glee, than this may surprise you. If you’re familiar with her from Rent, then you know she has the pipes, but you may not be prepared for her ability to reach in to your heart and twist. If you know Menzel from listening to Wicked, then you know what I’m talking about.

“Let It Go” may be her strongest song yet, even beating out “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. It’s a song that anyone who has ever felt different or felt the need to hide their true self in an attempt to fit in will strongly identify with and feel as if the song was written just for her.

The song is already listed on Disney’s “For Your Consideration” website for Best Original Song, and if there is any justice, it will be nominated, and Idina Menzel will sing it at the Oscars. But just as fortunate, that means that Disney has put the song up on the site for you to listen to. I implore you to do so. Here’s a link.

Summary

Frozen is a must-see film, and I believe it’s worth a trip to the theater to see it on the big screen. I don’t necessarily think the 3D version is needed over the standard version, but the beautiful animation should be seen on a large screen to fully appreciate it.

Our entire family loved this film. Even Cordy, who usually takes a couple of viewings to warm up to a new movie, left with a big grin on her face, exclaiming that it was a great movie. All four of us couldn’t help but notice some of the parallels between Elsa and Anna and Cordy and Mira.

Anna is the darker haired younger sister who is bubbly in personality, enjoys being social, and always wants to play with her older sister. Mira is so much like this, including her constant attempts to reach out to Cordy and her desire to help her older sister. Mira is already asking when she can have an Anna costume.

Elsa is the blonde older sister, who was born different, feels the need to hide her differences from the world, and generally wants to be alone. Sounds a lot like Cordy, who also was born different, wants to be alone a lot of the time, and struggles with trying to fit in and not let her autism rule her. It was an interesting talk on the drive home, as Cordy internalized the lesson Elsa had learned about accepting herself, differences and all, and not seeing her differences as a curse, but as a gift.

There’s a lot more to the story than I can possibly tell you without giving away the big moments. However, I can tell you it’s possibly one of the better sibling stories ever told, and like Brave, it’s refreshing to see a princess story that isn’t resolved by a male hero saving the day and ending with a wedding. These two sisters are smart, capable women who are stronger together than apart. The music is fantastic, the visuals are beautiful, and I think Frozen really did live up to my hopes for it, even if the marketing was lackluster. I’d encourage everyone to see this film – and trust me, it isn’t all about the goofy snowman.

Disclosure: We had advance screening tickets to this film. All opinions expressed here are my own, as well as a few from Aaron.

Thanks to Best Buy for sponsoring this review.

It’s well established that I love gadgets. And gadgets that help me improve my health? Why, of course I’m interested.

I’ve already reviewed two activity trackers, both of which have their advantages and disadvantages. I like both of them, but they each have things I don’t like about them. One is bulky and has to be clipped somewhere. The other is a chunky bracelet that doesn’t have the ability to wirelessly transmit data.

So when I heard about the Misfit Shine, I knew I wanted to try it out. The Shine is described as a more elegant activity tracker, designed to be worn via different accessories to fit any occasion. It is much slimmer than any other tracker, and weighs very little.

Features

Some of the features of the Shine include:

• Activity Tracking, including: Steps, Swimming, Biking, Tennis, etc.,
• Sleep
• Calories
• Clock
• Waterproof
• Extra Accessories (includes Magnet clip): Leather Bands, Sport band, Necklace

How it works

The Misfit Shine is easy to set up. The Shine is powered by a coin cell battery which lasts about four months. (You can purchase additional batteries at many stores.) After inserting the battery, just download the Misfit Shine app for your smartphone or tablet, create an account and set your goals, sync for the first time, and you’re ready to go!

The Shine comes with two accessory pieces for two options to wear it. One is a magnetic clip to let you clip it to your shirt, your pocket, your shoe – anywhere that works best for you. The clip is a strong magnet, so there’s no worry about it falling off, but also don’t let it get too close to anything that could be erased by a magnet. The second accessory is a rubber bracelet to let you wear the Shine watch-style.

This device isn’t just a step counter, it can also track other activities you participate in as well. It’s water resistant, so you can even wear it while swimming. (I haven’t tried that out yet.) There’s also a built-in sleep tracker, so you can see just how well you’re sleeping at night.

App functionality is fairly straight-forward. The Shine syncs by being in close proximity to your mobile device. From the app, you can also see steps taken, calories burned, your sleep data, and set daily goals for yourself.

The Shine itself looks very unassuming. There’s no LED screen or plug-in port to give away that it’s an activity tracker. But if you double-tap the device, tiny white lights appear, letting you know how close you are to completing your daily goal. If you get the full circle of lights, you’ve met your daily goal.

 

Performance

I tried wearing the Misfit Shine both as a clip-on and bracelet style. Wearing it as a bracelet is easier to do when wearing it 24 hours a day, since I don’t have to remember to un-clip it and re-clip it to clothing.

Checking in during the day to see how many lights were lit up on the device is motivating. Somehow, I like seeing those little bright lights cheering me on more than any other device’s way to update me on my goal status.

I do think the Shine does better when clipped to the body than when worn on the wrist. The extra movement of limbs sometimes registers as extra steps. For example, these two snapshots of the device show an increase in the number of steps over about an hour and a half. Only problem? I was sitting on the couch the entire time.

I tried the same thing with having the Shine clipped to a front pocket of my jeans, and it didn’t have the same issue. So, for now I’d recommend that it needs to stay close to the body center for the best accuracy.

Final thoughts

The Misfit Shine is a gorgeous activity monitor, and those who want to be more proactive about their health but don’t want to wear an obvious device will find this to be the perfect fit. The thin round disc is very elegant, and the accessories really make it versatile. I didn’t have the necklace accessory, but I’m considering getting it.

The app to go with the Shine is simple, effective, and easy to use. The ability to track activities other than running/walking is useful, and the sleep tracker can tell you how much deep sleep you’re getting each night. I also like that the battery has a four month life instead of requiring frequent recharging.

If you want an easy way to monitor your activity and empower yourself to set goals to improve your health, take a peek at the Misfit Shine.

Shine is exclusively available in additional colors at Best Buy including Silver, Black, Champagne and Topaz. It’s retail price is $99.99.

Disclosure: The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.