Among the feature films debuting on home video today are the 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition of the 1967 Disney animated classic Jungle Book and the superhero sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Both come with a host of special features that go behind the scenes and offer insight into the filmmaking process.
Loosely based on Rudyard Kipling’s book of the same name, Jungle Book tells the story of Mowgli, a young boy raised by animals in the jungle. When devious tiger Shere Khan returns to their part of the jungle, the animals fear for Mowgli’s safety and decide that he must return to the man village. Panther Bagheera bear Baloo guide him on the perilous and musical journey animated by the likes of Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and other master animators.
The all-new bonus features include a look at a long-lost character created for the original film, a near-sighted and short-tempered Rhinoceros named Rocky. The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book featurette takes a look at Walt Disney’s contributions to his animated swan song and also examines how director Woolie Reitherman filled the legend’s shoes when putting the final touches on the production, and Disney’s Kipling examines Walt’s interpretation of the Mowgli stories. Commentary from original animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and director Woolie Reitherman is presented alongside comments from current top animated filmmakers including Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles), Glen Keane (Treasure Planet, The Little Mermaid) and Andreas Deja (Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King). In Mowgli’s Return to the Jungle, Bruce Reitherman, the voice of Mowgli and the son of the director, shares his memories of making the film and how the experiences influenced his current job as a wildlife filmmaker. Other extras include a new suite of interactive games titled Baloo’s Virtual Swingin’ Jungle Cruise. Available only for a limited time before going back into the Disney vault, the disc carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Based on characters from the Marvel Comics catalog, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon Laurence Fishburne in a tale that picks up where the first movie left off and weaves in Marvel fan favorite character Silver Surfer. Overseen by Oscar-winning vfx supervisor Scott Squires, the visual effects were created by Weta Digital, The Orphanage, Gentle Giant Studios, The Hatch, Hydraulx, Image Engine Design, Lola VFX and Soho VFX. The movie was released to theaters on Jun 15 and has grossed approximately $273 million worldwide.
The film is available in both single-disc and two-disc editions. Extras on the single disc include commentary by director Tim Story, producer Avi Arad, writer Don Payne and editors Peter S. Elliot and William Hoy. The double discer adds extended/deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, an examination of the film’s visual effects and featurettes on te film’s character design and scoring. There;s alos a look at the state-of-the-art FantasticCar and still galleries. In addition to the standard DVD release, the film is available on Blue-ray Disc with the exclusive high-definition BD-Java bonus features Who Dares Defy Galactus?, Fox’s first multi-player strategy game, and a Saving the World One Question At a Time trivia game. The standard definition two-disc edition lists for $34.98 and the Blu-ray disc can be had for $39.98 or less.
