Big Hero 6 on Blu-ray TOMORROW!

Image courtesy Big Hero 6 facebook page.

Are you ready to own not one, but TWO Academy Award-winning films? Tomorrow, Tuesday February 24th, Disney's Big Hero 6 comes out on Blu-ray combo pack and DVD! And it includes the theatrical animated short, Feast! Both Big Hero 6 and Feast won Oscars last night!

Images courtesy Walt Disney Animation Studios.

It's no secret that I am a huge, ginormous fan of Big Hero 6 and it was one of my favorite movies last year! Check out my full film review HERE.  The cats of the TV Household have been remiss since I saw it as I've taken to calling them "Hairy Baby" every time I pick one of them up! There are just so many great things about the movie. Thankfully, the Academy agreed! Congrats to the teams that worked on Big Hero 6 and Feast! Both awards were well deserved!

The Blu-ray combo pack features:

• Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD copy
• Feast theatrical short
• The Origin Story of Big Hero 6: Hiro's Journey
• Big Hero Secrets (check out a sneak peek on the Big Hero 6 Facebook page!)
• Big Animator 6: The Characters Behind The Characters
• Deleted Scenes

And don't forget to pick up Big Hero 6 on Blu-ray combo pack or DVD tomorrow!

Disclosure: A copy of Big Hero 6 on Blu-ray was provided for this post. Please see my Disclosures tab for more information.

Official #StarWars Episode VII Teaser Trailer!

Have you seen it yet? No? Well, look no further! The official Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer is HERE!




That red lightsaber... with the HILT! And the Milennium Falcon! And X-Wings! And TIE Fighters! And and and.... GEEKSPLOSION. (Click any image to enlarge!)

©Lucasfilm/Disney.

©Lucasfilm/Disney.

©Lucasfilm/Disney.

©Lucasfilm/Disney.

And I'm dead of geek. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving for my American readers. TV Boy has been sick all week, so our holiday was a little more low-key than we'd hoped. Sigh. And sorry I've been quiet... I participated in NaNoWriMo! I'm writing a BOOK, guys! And it's actually going really well. I got a late start, but I'll end the month with nearly 14,000 words and more than 30 pages. It's a realistic-sci-fi conspiracy thriller. That's all I'm going to say. But I'm happy with how it's turning out.

ICYMI: #Marvel Age of Ultron SPECIAL LOOK!

Last night's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gave us a sneak peek at Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here it is in case you missed it!

The Day #Marvel Broke the Internet

HUGE Marvel news today as they unveil the next series of amazing Marvel films for which we will now all wait anxiously!

All images courtesy Marvel©.

This morning, during a special event at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed the films that will make up Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring a mix of fan-favorite characters and several heroes who will be making their big-screen debuts. Robert Downey Jr. (“Iron Man”), Chris Evans (“Captain America”) and Chadwick Boseman (newly announced “Black Panther”) all made special appearances.

Feige also unveiled the next two release dates for the Avengers Infinity War series and the release date for the highly anticipated sequel to their summer 2014 blockbuster hit (that is still breaking records worldwide!), Guardians of the Galaxy.

Here's the complete list of films from today's announcements: 

·       5/1/15 –  AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

·       7/17/15 – ANT-MAN 

·       5/6/16 – CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

·       11/4/16 – DOCTOR STRANGE 

·       5/5/17 – GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 (previously dated 7/28/17)

·       7/28/17 – THOR: RAGNAROK

·       11/3/17 – BLACK PANTHER

·       5/4/18 – AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART I

·       7/6/18 – CAPTAIN MARVEL

·       11/2/18 – INHUMANS

·       5/3/19 – AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR PART II

Which film(s) are you most excited about? Sound off on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments section! I personally can't wait to see the female version of Captain Marvel. Check out Marvel.com for more info on all your favorites! 

Pee-wee's Playhouse comes to DVD and Blu-ray!

I was a kid of the 80's - early 90's. Every Saturday morning, I'd get up, grab my bowl of technicolor cereal and plop down in front of our living room TV (which still had knobs, actually!) and watch Pee-wee's Playhouse.




I loved screaming the Secret Word... all day. Much to my parents' chagrin. I thought Miss Yvonne was the prettiest woman on TV (sorry, Murphy Brown). I wanted my very own big blue talking chair. Life was good.

Thanks to my friends at Shout! Factory, Pee-wee showed up in my mailbox for review as they celebrate the first time the series is on DVD (Seasons 1 and 2, available at Wal-Mart) and Blu-ray (Complete Series), which both hit the shelves on October 21st, 2014. I got the DVD version. It took some convincing at first, but TV Boy agreed to let me watch it... and he is hooked. Neither of the Pee-wee movies appealed to him (Big Top Pee-wee is on Netflix right now!), but he is in love with Pee-wee's Playhouse. My 80's mom heart swells with pride!

In fact, he is so hooked on Pee-wee, TV Boy built Pee-wee's Playhouse in Minecraft. No lie. With about a thousand villager "Pee-wee's". Yeah, this is serious.

There were a few things I remembered well from the show:

©Shout! Factory.

• Pterri being afraid of the thunder and hiding under the bed
• Pee-wee's awesome scooter
• Shouting the Secret Word
• Jambi's "Mecha lecha hi, mecha hiney ho!"
• The Penny cartoons
• That the King of Cartoons had an announcer for the first season, Dixie
• That Pee-wee had a pretty obvious crush on Miss Yvonne
• Captain Carl was played by Phil Hartman
• Pee-wee had the coolest phone EVER
• Randy was a jerk
• Pee-wee married a fruit salad, like, for real. Because he loved it so much.

However, there were definitely a few things that slipped my mind, or that my young, naive self had no idea about:

This is a literal screen-shot... took a pic of the TV with my phone.

Aw, Reba! We love you! ©Shout! Factory.

• Randy smoked in an episode! The message was fantastic, but holy cow can you imagine trying to get that past parents today?
• Cowboy Curtis was actually Laurence Fishburne (billed as Larry, even)! And he was only in his mid-20's! How did I forget that?! Fishburne has some fantastic things to say about the cast and crew in the DVD special features (also available on the Blu-ray set).
• Reba the Mail Lady (S. Epatha Merkerson) went on to be on Law & Order for pretty much ever.
• The theme song is sung by Cyndi Lauper! I didn't know this until watching the special features, but wow! It doesn't even sound like her. 
• The music for the show was done by Mark Mothersbaugh from DEVO, like all other great kids' shows of that era. Of course. The man is a legend. 
• 
  

Aw look, little Laurence Fishburne! ©Shout! Factory.

I'm happy to have such an influential piece of my childhood in my home that I can pop on whenever I want to. Especially since TV Boy looks at me sideways when I tell him about the plight that was having to wake up at a specific time to watch my favorite shows and how you could only record them if you had set up your VCR and had room on the tape-over tape that lived in it. I'm older than DVR, and that blows the boy's mind. We had it rough, you guys. ROUGH.

You can pre-order the Blu-ray set on Amazon!

*Disclosure: I received a copy of the Seasons 1 and 2 DVD for review purposes. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

Teaser Trailer: Disney Pixar's Inside Out!

Disney released the new teaser trailer for the upcoming animated feature Inside Out today. Inside Out arrives in theatres June 19th, 2015!

Images © Disney Pixar.

COMING SOON: The Boxtrolls... EXCLUSIVE Official Trailer!

Check out the new trailer for the upcoming stop-motion animated film, The Boxtrolls, which premieres in theatres across the country on September 26th!

Image © Focus Features.

Littlest Pet Shop Season Premiere and GIVEAWAY! #LPS

This coming Saturday, the newest season of Littlest Pet Shop kicks off on Hub Network. Thanks to my friends at Hub Network, I was given the opportunity to see the premiere before it airs! A new pet comes to the day camp and Sunil and Vinnie are charged with entertaining him. Meanwhile, Biggest Ever Pet Shop is trying to figure out a better marketing strategy to beat LPS. There is also a new rockin' song from composer Daniel Ingram! I can't say much else about it--you want to be surprised, don't you?--but I can say that parents watching might find a little familiarity with a certain Weekend at a certain person's house whose name starts with B and rhymes with Ernie... kids will love the slapstick comedy that ensues!

Image © Hub Network.

To celebrate the new season, Hub Network sent a fun play set featuring Zoe! We already have the same playset (thanks to my trip in October for the Hub Halloween Bash!), so I was given permission to give it away to one lucky reader! Just fill out the Rafflecopter widget below to be entered to win!

You want to win it?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gear up for How To Train Your Dragon 2 with new graphic novel! #DreamworksDragons

With the upcoming release of Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon 2 (due out June 13th!), kids are going to be clamoring for anything Dragon related. Titan Comics comes to the rescue with their new kid-friendly graphic novel series based on the Cartoon Network hit Dreamworks Dragons Riders of Berk!

The full-color comic is easy to read and appropriate for even the youngest Toothless fans. It is written with the humor of the television series, and the characters are all our familiar favorites: Hiccup and Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly, Snotlout and Hookfang, Fishlegs and Meatlug, Tuffnutt and Ruffnutt with their two-headed dragon Belch and Barf, and more viking village folks.

The art is fantastic, and the characters--while not drawn in the CGI fans might be used to--are true to the ones we've come to know and love on both the big and small screens. It's the perfect way to get your Dragon fanatics excited for the movie, or even just introducing your child to the world of comics. Because you totally should. Comic books are a fun way to get kids interested in reading!

The story: Snotlout's dragon Hookfang has an issue that puts the village of Berk in danger, and he must be quarantined. However, Hookfang goes missing! The friends must find Hookfang before he ends up in even more danger!

The comic releases on Tuesday, May 27th, which gives Dragons fans a few weeks to gear up for the new animated feature. More issues are planned to release later in the summer and periodically throughout 2015. It retails for $6.99, but pre-order price seems to be running at $6.29. For more information or to pre-order, check out the Titan Comics website or you can buy it now using this Amazon widget!



*Disclosure: I received a free copy of this comic for review purposes. For more information, please see my Disclosure tab above.

TRAILER: Disney Planes: Fire and Rescue!

Check out the new trailer for the upcoming Disney flick, Planes: Fire and Rescue, coming to theatres this summer!

MOVIE REVIEW: Muppets Most Wanted

Wow, wow, wow.

That is my impression of this movie.

Image © Disney.

My first review screener here locally, and even though it was 10am and we were sitting in front of the world's most obnoxious moviegoers ever (more on them in a second), this movie is just as amazing as the 2011 "The Muppets". Just as hilarious, just as many guest stars, and just as incredible a storyline.

"Let's Do A Sequel!" Image © Disney.

The story begins just as the director calls cut on the final dance number in the previous movie, and our beloved Muppets are left standing around, bored. They decide to do a sequel, and after a fabulous musical number in an ode to sequels, they choose the plot (suggested by Ricky Gervais' character... or just Ricky Gervais, I honestly couldn't tell which he was at that point) of a world tour.

"Badguy" or "Gervais"? Image © Disney.

Gervais plays Dominic Badguy--pronounced "Badge-y"--who infiltrates the Muppets posing as a talent agent. Meanwhile, his boss, the infamous "Most Dangerous Frog in the world" Constantine, breaks out of a Russian gulag. Constantine bears a striking resemblance to Kermit, save for one key feature: a mole on his cheek. He is the most wanted criminal in the world, and needs someone to take the fall for his escape in Russia, so he manages to glue a fake mole to Kermit's face and sends him off in his place. Meanwhile, Constantine steps in as Kermit-surrogate, which the other Muppets don't seem to notice (except one!) and uses the show as his alibi while he performs his evil deeds.

Major LOL at "Evilen Froggen"! Image © Disney.

While the Muppets tour the world, their stops happen to fall in line with massive criminal heists... coincidence? Ty Burrell (of Modern Family fame) as Jean Pierre Napoleon of Interpol and Sam the Eagle of the CIA don't think so. They put their differences (and giant badges) aside to crack the case of the supposed "Lemur" burglaries that are seemingly following the Muppets' tour.

"Mine is bigger." Image © Disney.

Meanwhile, Kermit rots in the Russian gulag with warden Nadia (played by the illustrious Tina Fey). Nadia might have a teeny, tiny secret about why she knows that Kermit is not Constantine but still won't let him leave...

Does Tina Fey look good in EVERYTHING? Image © Disney.

Will Kermit's friends notice his absence in time to rescue him and thwart Constantine's evil plot, which includes Kermit's worst nightmare: marrying Miss Piggy! (Okay, side note here: I totally thought they had been married forEVER. I mean, that scene in the end of Muppets Take Manhattan, where Piggy has the real priest? Yeah. Alas, I guess I was wrong about that. Sigh.)

Piggy's best wedding dress of all, I think. Image © Disney.

All in all, the movie has plenty of call-backs to classic Muppet antics... Gonzo pulling stupid stunts on stage, Statler and Waldorf providing peanut gallery commentary, guest stars out the yin-yang, over-the-top musical numbers... you name it. The writing is still snappy, yet it still manages to provide the necessary tugs at the heartstrings in the right places. Fans of the franchise won't be disappointed for sure. Gervais, Fey, and Burrell all manage to steal the show from our favorite puppet pals. Definitely a win for family movie night!

Image © Disney.

Be sure you arrive early as well to see the new Monsters University short, Party Central, in which Mike and Sully "steal" the best party of the year for their Oozema Kappa brothers. Pure comedy gold!

Who doesn't have a plastic cooler like that? Image © Disney.

Now, for my story about the people behind us! While the showing we went to was provided for review purposes exclusively, these people must not have ever set foot in a movie theatre in their entire lives. I swear it. And no, sadly it wasn't the small children in tow who were the problem, save for one Sprite shower I received via a straw and the kid blowing in it through the seat cracks. Nope, it was the parents who had no sense of proper movie-going decorum. Kicking seats, bringing something wrapped in a giant sheet of cellophane (not just a small plastic bag... oh no! This was, like, the sheets of cellophane you wrap giant fruit baskets in!) and constantly feeling the need to adjust said cellophane during the movie, talking at volume levels acceptable only in one's living room, using the back of my seat as a handle to stand up and lower themselves into their seat (at one point, said handle included my braided hair!)... every awful thing you can possibly imagine from a movie attendee, save for taking a cell call in the middle. If it wasn't a free showing, I would have attracted the attention of an usher and had them removed. Plain and simple. So, moral of this long digression: Don't be a jerk when you go see a movie! 

Image © Disney.

Muppets Most Wanted  is rated PG and opens in theatres everywhere TOMORROW, March 21st.

Disclosure: I was provided a free screening of this film for review purposes. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

Original TMNT Cast Reunion on Nick March 14th!!!

HOLY COW!!! If you're an '80s kid like me, this is HUGE NEWS. The original voice cast from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series are reuniting this weekend for an hour long special on Nick! Friday, March 14th at 7pm Eastern/Pacific, tune in to see "Wormquake!", where Leo must decide whether or not to ask for Splinter's help when facing Shredder's newest assassin and Donny and Casey have to set aside their differences to battle Kraang.

Original TMNT - Image courtesy Nickelodeon.

From the press release: Viewers can prove their Turtle fandom online in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Wormquake Play Along,” a play along experience where fans will get a random set of 12 tiles – each one being a cut-out from a scene in the series. Some tiles will be from the episode “Wormquake!,” while others are not. As players watch the episode to see if there is something that is in their grid, they can tap it to toss a ninja star on it. At the end of the episode “Wormquake!,” players will get a Turtle fan rating of 1-5 shells based on how many tiles they spotted correctly. Kids who get a 5-shell rating get shown a printable Turtle fan certificate.

Check out an exclusive SNEAK PEEK of the Turtles episode below!

TMNT “Wormquake!” Clip from Jessica Wilson on Vimeo.
Ahhh! Who is as excited as I am??? (Side note: the original turtles SO were not dorks! Low blow, new turtles!) The weekend lineup continues on Saturday, March 15th at 10:30am E/P with brand new episodes of breakout hits Sanjay and Craig and Breadwinners.

The Pirate Fairy - EXCLUSIVE EXTENDED SNEAK PEEK!

Up until my trip to LA last month, I had never seen a Disney Fairy movie before. However, when I saw The Pirate Fairy, I fell *in love* with it! And no, not just because Zarina, the main character standing center below, looks strikingly similar to one particular mom blogger... Haha! I seriously wish I looked that good in a short skirt and that my hair was that voluminous! Still, how rad is she?

Image courtesy Disney.

The Pirate Fairy releases on Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack and Digital HD on April 1st, but you can get an *exclusive* extended sneak peek right here, right NOW! Check it out!

I'm so excited for all my readers and their families to see this movie! I can't hide it, really, but I was definitely impressed with the characters and story. Be sure to pick it up on launch day, even if you're like me and you only have a son. You won't regret it!



Disclosure: This post is part of a series of sponsored posts to promote Disney's The Pirate Fairy. Please see my disclosure tab for more information.

EXCLUSIVE - Teaser Trailer for The Boxtrolls!

If you've been to a kids' movie recently (and you all SHOULD because by now you've seen The LEGO Movie, right?.... RIGHT?) you may have an inkling about the new movie from the creators of Coraline and ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls.

Image courtesy Click Communications.

From the press release: "The Boxtrolls [are] a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family."

The Boxtrolls releases in theatres everywhere on September 26th, 2014, but here's a sneak peek!