Recently in For all ages Category

Cute kids + cuter dogs = one doggone cute movie.

Emma Roberts (niece of Julia) stars in the movie based on the popular book by Lois Duncan about an orphaned brother and sister who rescue stray dogs.

Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have bounced around from foster home to foster home since their parents died. No one wants them because they insist on staying together. They are currently living with nasty would-be rock stars (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon), who padlock the kitchen cupboards, as their sympathetic social worker Bernie (a terrific Don Cheadle) tries to find them a better situation. They do their best to take care of their beloved dog Friday, even if it means lying, cheating, and stealing.

When Friday runs into an abandoned hotel and meets up with some stray dogs, the kids decide to turn it into doggie heaven. Bruce, a mechanical whiz, rigs up machines to handle the dogs' needs (eating, exercise, and going to the bathroom) and their fondest desires (racing to see who's at the door, riding in cars, howling at the moon). With the help of some new friends from the pet store and the neighborhood, they round up all of the local strays, creating their own family of humans and canines. And that is when things start to get out of hand.

It goes on a little too long, but the kids are appealing, the contraptions are very funny, the dogs are adorable, and the affection, loyalty, and resilience of the characters is touching and inspiring. It's a family treat.

Bolt (voice of John Travolta) thinks he is a super-dog. He and his "person," Penny (voice of Miley Cyrus) spend their days battling the evil, green-eyed Dr. Calico (voice of Malcolm McDowell), who has captured Penny's scientist father and has a lair defended by dozens of black-clad henchmen. Thank goodness for Bolt's loyalty and courage and for his thunderous super-bark and heat vision, too!

But what Bolt doesn't know is that none of this is real. He's an actor on a television show and his "superpowers" are special effects. The director insists that Bolt must believe that it is all really happening in order to make his performance, well, believable. "If the dog believes it," he explains condescendingly to "Mindy from the network," "the audience believes it."

Bolt accidentally gets shipped to New York, and for the first time finds out what the real world is like -- and what he is really like, too. Even without the super-bark and the steel-melting stare, he has to find his way back to Penny.

This feels like a transitional film, as Pixar takes over Disney animation, and the seams show. Bolt is a likable character, but bland next to those around him, especially the pigeons, who deserve much more screen time, and those who accompany him on his road trip, a scraggly cat (voice of Susie Essman of "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and an excitable hamster (animator Mark Walton). Bolt's dilemma may be confusing to younger children who are still unclear with their own notions of what is real and what is pretend and may not be interested in the problems of a child star with a pushy agent. But in its best moments, it gently shows us how Bolt's discoveries parallel those of a child in learning self-reliance.

Children have an ever-evolving sense of what is real and what is pretend. Developmental psychologists believe that it is not until age nine or even older that they are sure about whether what they see in movies and television is really true and still engage in "magical thinking" that parents can approve of (that Santa lives in the North Pole) and that is more troubling (that they caused parental discord or separation). Being able to repeat "it's only pretend" does not mean that they understand what it means. "Bolt" is a movie that reflects this aspect of childhood.

The most famous episode of Jonathan Swift's classic satire is the visit of shipwrecked sailor Lemuel Gulliver to Lilliput, where no one is more than six inches tall. In this Fleischer Studios animated feature from 1939, released this week on DVD, Gulliver is washed ashore, discovered by Gabby, the town crier, and captured by the Lilliputians. Their king had just been celebrating the engagement of his daughter to a neighboring prince, when a dispute over which nation's song would be played at the wedding results in a broken engagement and a declaration of war. Gulliver persuades the Lilliputians he wants to be their friend. The king knows having a giant on his side will keep them safe. Three silly spies for the other king try to get rid of Gulliver, but Gulliver, realizing the prince and princess love each other, stops the fighting on both sides and brings them together, singing both songs in a duet.

Brothers Max and David Fleischer were Disney's major competition in the early days of animation. Although they did not come close to Disney's standards for visual artistry, they made some cartoons that stand up very well (including the Betty Boop, Popeye, and Koko the Clown series). This is the better of their two full-length features, released just after Disney's Snow White. The use of the rotoscope (to draw over footage of real actors) for Gulliver and the prince and princess makes them seem a little out of keeping with the more "cartoony" characters like Gabby, the spies, and the king, but the story is strong, and there is some very funny slapstick as the Lilliputians use block and tackle to tie Gulliver up and transport him to the castle.

As in the book, the movie makes fun of trivial political disputes (in the book, the controversies were over heel heights on shoes and how to break an egg). Children can discuss why the Lilliputians were afraid of Gulliver, what the kings should have done about the dispute over the songs, and how Gulliver made his decision about how to resolve it.

Parents should know that this movie includes a storm at sea, fistfights, and a war (stopped by Gulliver). A theme of the story is tolerance, which in this version is represented by a war over which song will be played at the wedding of the prince and princess.

Family discussion: Would you like to visit Lilliput? What would you do? Why did the two kings fight about the songs? What would you tell them to do? How did Gulliiver decide what he should do? This movie is only about one chapter in the real book about Gulliver. In the next part of the book, he visits a place where he is as small as the Lilliputians are to him. Which one would you like better?

If you like this try: Read about Gulliver's other travels. A live-action 1960 version, "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver," is very watchable and far superior to the 1977 version. Teenagers may appreciate the satire in the book by Swift.

This week Disney is releasing a glorious new edition of its most most gorgeous, splendid, and fully realized of all of its animation classics, the high point of painstakingly hand-painted animation, before the use of photocopiers and computers. Every detail is brilliantly executed, from the intricate clocks in Gepetto's workshop to the foam on the waves as Monstro thrashes the water. It also has one of Disney's finest scores, featuring "When You Wish Upon a Star," which has become the Disney theme song. "I've Got No Strings," "Give a Little Whistle," and "An Actor's Life for Me" are also memorable.

"Pinocchio" is a natural for the first discussions with kids about telling the truth (especially admitting a mistake) and not talking to strangers. Talk to them, too, about how to find their own conscience and listen to it as if it were Jiminy Cricket. The trip to Pleasure Island may also lead to a discussion of why things that feel like fun may be harmful, and the difference between fun and happiness.

In honor of this week's release of "Monsters vs. Aliens," this week's DVD pick is another great animated film, "Monsters, Inc."

According to this movie by the "Toy Story" folks at Pixar, that monsters are more afraid of children than children are of monsters. But monsters need to collect the screams of children to fuel their world, and children are getting so hard to scare that the monsters are suffering from rolling blackouts. What can they do? Top scarer John "Sully" Sullivan (voice of John Goodman) and rival Randall Boggs (voice of Steve Buscemi) work as hard as they can to break the scream-collection record. But when Randall inadvertantly lets a human child into the monster world, the monsters find out what being scared is really like.

This movie is utterly delightful. It should be put in the dictionary to illustrate the word, "adorable." It has the same delicious mixture of heart, humor, and technical wizardry that made "A Bug's Life" and the two "Toy Story" movies into instant classics. Like Jim Henson, who decided to make his "Sesame Street" characters monsters so that children would never be afraid of monsters again, the people behind this movie have created monsters that even the shyest child will find completely unscary. In fact, kids may decide that multiple heads, removable eyes and hair made from snakes are kind of cute.

Sully and his sidekick, Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) are just a couple of nice guys proud of their work trying to do their jobs (except for filing the paperwork, which Mike never seems to get to). When Boo (voice of Mary Gibbs) sees Sully, she runs after him, shouting "Kitty!" At first, Sully is scared of her, but then he gets to know her and they become good friends.

Parents should know that there is some mild peril. A scene in which biohazard workers in yellow jumpsuits and hoods disinfect a monster who came in contact with a child's sock is scarier now than it would have been before the terrorist attacks and the nightly news about anthrax. Parents should be prepared for questions. There is a little bit of potty humor. All of the "scarers" are male. But overall, this is just what a G movie should be and wonderful fun for the whole family.

There are lots of terrific DVD extras, including background info, a music video, ideas that never made it onto the screen, and a game. You'll also get a sneak peek at next summer's animated feature. Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland and the Toy Story movies.

This engaging kid-eye view of "the real winter miracle" is good family fun. It has something for both littler and bigger kids and is very endurable for parents. The theme of the movie is that "anything can happen on a...

Sometimes "nice" can be very high praise, and that is the way I mean it when I say that the utterly snark-free "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" is as nice as it gets. With a gossamer-weight plot line that...

The rare sequel that improves on the original, "Madagascar 2" keeps the silliness and steps up the heart. In the first film, four zoo animals run away and after a series of adventures are sent to live in an African...

Adorable Golden Retriever puppies Rosebud, Buddha, Budderball, B-Dawg, and Mudbud return in Space Buddies, an epic adventure that takes them to the moon, to be released on DVD . Moving at warp speed, dodging asteroids and more, the Buddies and...

Happy birthday, Elvis! In honor of The King's birthday this week, we present one of his best movies, the delirious Viva Las Vegas, co-starring the combustible Ann-Margret. Elvis plays a race-car driver named Lucky who meets a spirited girl named...

They finally got Dr. Seuss right in this warm-hearted and heart-warming story of the elephant who is "faithful 100 percent" and the world on a little speck of dust that he rescues. Jim Carrey provides the voice of Horton, an...

700 years after the last humans left the planet they had made uninhabitable through environmental degradation, one small robot is still continuing to crunch the mountains of trash. He is a Waste Allocation Load-Lifter Earth-Class, or Wall∙E. His eyes are...

Po (voice of Jack Black) is a soft, sweet-natured cuddly panda. He works as a waiter in his father's noodle shop but dreams of being a kung fu champion. He studies kung fu history and cherishes his action figures of...

"Kit Kittredge" is remarkable for what it is and just as remarkable for what it is not. It is wholesome but it is not sugary. It is family-friendly but it does not gloss over economic realities and family stress....

Speaking of Disney's HSM juggernaut, Faith Fims' new DVD release "Sunday School Musical" is out this week. I have not seen it yet, but the trailer is very appealing. I love church choirs!...

This week, as the powerhouse franchise that is known as "HSM" moves from television to CD (top-seller of the year), DVD, stage show, video game, ice show, birthday party decoration theme, and now feature film theatrical release, it's time to...

A pair of heroines on opposite sides of the world team up in an eye-filling and heart-warming story from Walden Media, the latest in its series of fine films based on popular children's literature. Eleven year old Nim (Abigail Breslin...

Based on the book by T.H. White, this is the story of the early years of King Arthur. Nicknamed "Wart," the future King Arthur is squire to a knight when he meets Merlin the magician, who promises to take on...

Dedicated to "Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy," this movie is both a spoof of and a loving tribute to the silent classics, with good guys, bad guys, romance, adventure, slapstick, music, wonderful antique cars, and the biggest pie fight in...

In honor of this week's release of "Horton Hears a Who," the best movie for the family in a long time, Entertainment Weekly has put together a list of the 20 all-time best movies for kids. These are not movies...

"One Hundred and One Dalmatians" is one of the best-loved Disney classics (and the first of its animated films to take place in a contemporary setting). There is nothing more irresistible than 99 frisky spotted puppies and there has never...

February 29 (Leap Day) comes only once every four years, a calendrical adjustment that is of the utmost importance in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. It seems that Frederic, mistakenly apprenticed to pirates (his hard-of-hearing nurse misunderstood when...