Toon Talk: The Three Musketeers - Aug 17, 2004

Toon Talk: The Three Musketeers
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(c) Disney

Bonus Features:
The biggest news about this DVD (at least according to the breathless announcements issued by the Buena Vista Home Video Publicity Department) is the debut of what is called the “Disney Fast Play�?, a feature that allows you to insert the disc into your player and it will automatically play continuously through select previews, bonus features and the film itself. Basically, what this means is that parents can plop the kids in front of the TV, pop in the disc, and voila! Instant baby-sitter, without the kiddies getting their fingers all over the remote … in other words, just like a VHS tape.

Also debuting on this disc are what are called “Easy Find Menus�?, which are basically fuzzy icons denoting each section of the menu that will reportedly be used on all further Disney DVDs; these will supposedly aide viewers in “easy identification�?, meaning you don’t have to strain yourself and actually read the words on your screen.

Padding out the actual bonus features, obviously aimed at those kids watching that “Fast Play�? feature, are a handful of deleted scenes (with or without audio commentary from some Disney Toon Studios vice president), a music video for “Three Is A Magic Number�? (a peppy pop ditty, not in the actual film, crooned by a trio of boy band rejects), a Disney’s Song Selection option (where you can sing along to the film’s songs with onscreen lyrics), an “Opera-Toon-Ity�? game (you can pick the singers and sets to hear more silly symphonies), “The Many Hats of Mickey�? (a retrospective of brief clips from Mickey’s career based on his headwear - whether or not he actually wore a hat in the film itself - from 1931’s The Castaway to 1990’s The Prince and the Pauper), “Get the Scoop�? (a cloyingly condescending ‘making of’ featurette where the filmmakers consistently refer to their stars as actual flesh and blood beings) and a embarrassingly unfunny Cast Commentary (thankfully, for only one scene) that wastes our time as well as the talents of voice actors Wayne Allwine (Mickey), Tony Anselmo (Donald), Bill Farmer (Goofy) and Jim Cummings (Pete).

Toon Talk Rating: C