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Mary Poppins: DVD (VHS also available)
Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Director: Robert Stevenson
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Two banker's children lose their nanny due to her frustration with them. A change in the wind blows in an assertive nanny who matches the qualifications of the children and not the father. As she helps them magically explore the world around them the father grows increasingly disapproving of her methods, and must eventually deal with his own distance from his children.

Oliver Twist: (DVD)
Starring: Barney Clark, Jeremy Swift. Director: Roman Polanski
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In the Nineteenth Century, the orphan Oliver Twist is sent to a workhouse, where the children are barely fed and mistreated. He moves to the house of an undertaker, but after an unfair severe spank, he starts a seven day runaway to London. He arrives exhausted and starving, and is welcomed by a gang of pickpockets leaded by the old crook Fagin. When he is mistakenly taken as a thief, the wealthy victim Mr. Brownlow brings Oliver to his home and shelters him. But Fagin and the dangerous Bill Sykes decide to kidnap Oliver to burglarize Mr. Brownlow´s fancy house. Oliver is wounded, while Mr. Brownlow tries to save Oliver.

Glass Slipper: (VHS)
Starring: Leslie Caron, Michael Wilding. Director: Charles Walters
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In a small pleasant European village, there is one unhappy person: Ella. She is despised by everyone, and mistreated by her step-mother and step-sisters. Out feeling miserable one day, Ella meets a handsome young man, who falls for her. He is really Prince Charles, the son of the Duke, but he tells her he is the son of the cook, and invites her to a great ball at the Duke's castle. A strange woman who lives in the mountains by herself befriends Ella, and dresses her up so she can attend the ball. She goes, and is a great success, but must run out at midnight. In her haste, she drops a single glass slipper. The Prince uses the slipper to find her.

Hans Christian Andersen : (1952) DVD (Available in VHS also)
Starring: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger. Director: Charles Vidor
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Of all the Danny Kaye movies, this musical biography of the legendary vagabond storyteller is definitely the most poignant, extending the performer's range far beyond his usual comic shtick. It may not be as funny as Wonder Man, but it has so much more going for it. In fact, the film is really more about Kaye than Andersen, providing rare insight into his humanitarian ideals and rapport with children. The Frank Loesser score is beautiful, as is the Technicolor cinematography. Among the songs performed, "Inchworm," "Thumbelina," and "Ugly Duckling" are the standout favorites.

The Adventures of Robin Hood: Two-Disc DVD Special Edition (VHS also available) (1938)
Starring: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland. Director: Michael Curtiz, William Keighley
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Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne.

Charlotte's Web Full Screen Edition DVD (VHS also available) (1973):
Starring: Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde. Director: Iwao Takamoto
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Sir Robin of Locksley, defender of downtrodden Saxons, runs afoul of Norman authority and is forced to turn outlaw. With his band of Merry Men, he robs from the rich, gives to the poor and still has time to woo the lovely Maid Marian, and foil the cruel Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and keep the nefarious Prince John off the throne.

The Prince and the Pauper: DVD (VHS also available) (1937)
Starring: Errol Flynn, Claude Rains. Director: William Dieterle
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Two lookalike boys, one a poor street kid and the other a prince, exchange places to see what the other's life is like. Based on the classic tale by Mark Twain.

The Court Jester (1956) DVD (VHS also available) (1937)
Starring: Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns. Director: Norman Panama
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Portraying the clownish but good-hearted entertainer Hawkins, Danny Kaye infiltrates the court of the corrupt Basil Rathbone (up to his usual brand of cruel villainy) disguised as the legendary king of jesters, Giacomo. After a court sorceress hypnotizes Hawkins into believing he is also a legendary assassin, Hawkins has more identities than he can keep straight, and Kaye zips back and forth between them at, literally, a snap of the fingers. Comic highlights include a wonderful sword fight with Rathbone in which he constantly switches identities, and the classic "chalice from the palace/vessel with pestle" wordplay as Hawkins plays "hide the poison" and forgets where it is. This is Danny Kaye at his comic best.

E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial: Full Screen DVD Collector's Edition (1982) (VHS also available)
Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace (II). Director: Steven Spielberg
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Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit about a stranded alien and his loving relationship with a fatherless boy (Henry Thomas) struck a chord with audiences everywhere, and it furthered Spielberg's reputation as a director of equally strong commercial sensibilities and classical leanings. Henry Thomas gives a strong, emotional performance as E.T.'s young friend, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore make a solid impression as his siblings, and Dee Wallace is lively as the kids' mother. The special effects also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today.

The Wizard of Oz: Two-Disc Special Edition (1939) (VHS also available)
Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan. Director: Victor Fleming
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Dorothy lives on a farm in Kansas until a cyclone arrives, and picks her, her house, and her dog up and deposits them in the land of Oz. Things in Oz are strange and beatiful, but Dorothy just wants to get back home. She's helped by the Good Witch of the North, but she's also in trouble with the Wicked Witch of the West, who seeks revenge for the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, for which she blames Dorothy.

Peaceful Warrior DVD (2005)
Starring: Scott Mechlowicz, Amy Smart, Nick Nolte, Ray Wise, Karen Landry. Director: Victor Salva
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Peaceful Warrior, a DVD inspired by the story of Dan Millman, is a movie every teenage boy, in fact anyone interested in enlightnened education, should see. Dan Millman is a gymnast who is a popular jock and seems to have it all. Dan has a great body, good looks, and has a charm that allows him to get almost any girl. All this seems to be great for Dan's ego, but deep down inside he is far from happy. He starts to have these violent dreams that keep him up late at night. One night when Dan can not sleep he wanders in to a service station and meets a mysterious man. This man who Dan calls "Socrates" will help take him on one of the most amazing journeys of his life. This journey will become one of the most important things when Dan has a motorcycle accident and shatters one of his legs along with his dreams of being in the Olympics. Peaceful Warrior is based on a book, and the movie is one of the most inspiring movies to come out in a very long time.

The Odyssey: DVD (1997) (VHS also available)
Starring: Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi. Director: Andrei Konchalovsky
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Homer's classic epic poem about the travels of Ulisses after his conquest of Troy is brought to the small screen. However, the gods seize the opportunity to make Odysseus and his crew a domino in their games forcing him to take detours that add years to his trip and throw him into conflict with Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, and ultimately to Hades itself. Meanwhile, Odysseus' wife, Penelope, is forced to hold off suitors trying to claim his property in the thought that Odysseus has died. Nonetheless, Odysseus keeps trying to find his way back with the aid of Athena.

The Parent Trap: Special Edition DVD (1998) (VHS also available)
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid. Director: Nancy Meyers
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What makes the Special Edition of "The Parent Trap" so cool isn't just that you get to enjoy Lindsay Lohan's amazing theatrical debut, but that's it's filled with bonus materials you've never seen before. Hallie Parker, a hip Californian, and Annie James, a proper London miss (both played by Lohan) are identical twins who don't even know each other exists -- until they accidentally meet at summer camp. Now they're up to their freckles in schemes and dreams to switch places, get their parents (Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson) back together, and have the family they've always wished for!

White Christmas: DVD (1954) (VHS also available)
Starring: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye. Director: Michael Curtiz
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After leaving the Army after W.W.II, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis team up to become a top song-and-dance act. Davis plays matchmaker and introduces Wallace to a pair of beautiful sisters (Betty and Judy, played Vera Allen and Rosemarie Clooney) who also have a song-and-dance act. When Betty and Judy travel to a Vermont lodge to perform a Christmas show, Wallace and Davis follow, only to find their former commander, General Waverly, is the lodge owner. A series of romantic mix-ups ensue as the performers try to help the General.

It's a Wonderful Life: DVD (1947) (VHS also available)
Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed. Director: Frank Capra
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George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all - and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget about suicide?

Miracle on 34th Street: : DVD (1947) (VHS also available)
Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne. Director: George Seaton
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At the Macy's Department Store, the old man playing Santa proves to be a sensation and is quickly recruited to be the store Santa at the main Macy's outlet. While he is successful, Ms. Doris Walker, the special events director, learns that he calls himself Kris Kringle and he claims to be the actual Santa Claus. Doris has misgivings, especially since she has cynically trained herself, and especially her daughter, Susan, to reject all notions of belief and fantasy. And yet, people, especially Susan, begin to notice there is something special about Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him and succeeding in improbable ways. When a raucous conflict with the store's cruelly incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris finds himself held at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberately fails a mental examination to ensure his commitment. All seems lost until Doris' friend, Fred Gaily, reassures Kris of his worth and agrees to represent him in the fight to secure his release. To achieve that, Fred arranges a formal hearing in which he argues that Kris is sane because he is in fact Santa Claus.

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