Roy Edward Disney Movies

Famed cartoonist Ub Iwerks's granddaughter Leslie turns the camera lens on the artists and storytellers behind some of the most widely hailed animated films of the modern era in the in-depth documentary The Pixar Story. Featuring such key members as John Lasseter, Steve Jobs, and George Lucas, the doc tells the story of the company's humble roots all the way to being one of the biggest power players in Hollywood. Featuring unseen footage of early output from the studio, as well as a full overview of its many box-office successes and technological breakthroughs, Iwerks's film celebrates the artistic spirit that has pushed the boundaries of what animation can deliver, while staying true to the ideals that its parent company Disney once held so dear. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Initially released to IMAX theaters at the crescendo of millennial fever and 60 years after the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 was meant to revitalize Walt Disney's goal of a constantly evolving film, with new segments replacing old ones with each re-release. Only The Sorcerer's Apprentice remains, with seven new shorts. Angular, abstracted butterfly-like shapes fly through the air in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; computer-animated whales take flight in Respighi's Pines of Rome; Al Hirschfeld's caricatures of New York life come alive in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue; Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier is retold with computer animation against Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102; frantic flamingos try to stop their yo-yoing comrade in Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, Finale; Donald and Daisy Duck play Noah and his wife trying to manage the ark to Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance; and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth are celebrated in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide

In Disney's Cheetah, Keith Coogan and Lucy Deakins play two LA teenagers who aren't really looking forward to their upcoming trip to Kenya. Once in Africa, the kids change their minds when, together with local youth Collin Mohtupi, they befriend a cheetah cub. When the cub grows to maturity, it is necessary for Coogan and Deakins to reacclimate their domesticated pet to life in the wilds. The plot's menace is personified by a covetous store owner who hopes to exploit the cheetah at the local dog races. Cheetah is based on The Cheetahs, a novel by actor Alan Caillou. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), a pigkeeper in the mythical land of Prydain. Taran longs to be a knight, and he's given his chance to live out his dream when he is sent out in search of a magical black cauldron which can either be a powerful instrument of good or a bottomless fount of evil, depending entirely upon who should find it. However, Taran is not the only one in search of this talisman -- the Horned King (voice of John Hurt) wants the cauldron to shore up his sinister powers and raise an army of the dead, and with the help of the all-seeing pig Hen-Wren, the wicked one may make his hideous plans a reality. The Black Cauldron had the distinction of being the first animated feature from Disney to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, due to some frightening scenes of black magic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This documentary covers the action of the 1979 sailboat race from Newport to Ensenada. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This one-hour spin-off of Walt Disney's popular Zorro series was reportedly concocted as a birthday present for Disney contractee Annette Funicello, who had long idolized handsome Zorro leading man Guy Williams. After several years away from Los Angeles, 17-year-old Constancia de la Torre (Annette Funicello) returns to the pueblo, bearing a suitcase full of valuable jewels. It turns out that the gems are a dowry to be paid to Constancia's handsome fiancé, Miguel Serrano (Mark Damon). But an old family friend of the de la Torres, Don Diego (Guy Williams), suspects that Miguel is just another fortune hunter -- and, donning his customary disguise as the masked do-gooder Zorro, Diego intends to save Constancia from making a huge mistake. "The Postponed Wedding" originally aired as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode of Walt Disney Presents illustrates the importance of water in the lives of humans, animals, fish, fowl and plant life. Much of the footage is gleaned from underwater photography originally intended for Disney's "True-Life Adventure" short-subject series, notably the scenes of bears hunting salmon and fish swimming upstream to spawn. Other sequences were lensed in the crystal-clear waters of Florida's Marineland. Though originally telecast in black-and-white, "Wonders of the Water Worlds" was providentially filmed in color, making it a natural for rerun play when Disney's weekly anthology went to full color in the early '60s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide