DVD: Shrek the Halls
Shrek the Halls
Scrooge Shrek Decks the Halls for Christmas - 3 Stars ***
By Gabrielle Pantera
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/27/2008 – “I play the voice of the Ogre, called Shrek,” says Shrek the Halls star Mike Myers. “I think the animators are great actors, because I didn’t get to act those things.”
If you have kids ages four to ten, they’ll love the animation and the continuing story of Shrek and Fiona with their little ogres, Donkey with his little dragon-donkey kids, tormented Puss In Boots, and other characters of Far Far Away make the season bright for Shrek.
In Shrek the Halls, a humbug Shrek realizes that as a family man he needs to learn how to celebrate Christmas. He’s never celebrated Christmas before. Shrek looks for a book to help him understand the traditions of Christmas. He’s unprepared for his friends’ help and acts, well, like an ogre. Donkey and Puss ‘n Boots tell their unlikely holiday stories of how Christmas should be. How will Shrek find the spirit of Christmas and make it a merry one?
The character of Shrek is only based on the William Steig fairytale Shrek!, first published in 1990. The author would have turned 100 this month.
Shrek has appeared in a series of films from DreamWorks Animation SKG. The first Shrek film was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a category introduced in 2001. It was released on DVD on November 7 2001.
DreamWorks has Madagascar 2 is in theaters and recently released Kung Fu Panda on DVD.
Shrek the Halls aired on ABC television on November of 2007 and is now available on DVD. Shrek the halls features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas, This is Shrek the Halls lets fans join in on the fun as Shrek celebrates his first Christmas with his new family and learns the meaning of Christmas.
There are a few special featurs on this DVD. There’s interactive holiday-related material to keep the kids amused. From a sing-a-long that has characters from Madagascar to games young children will have fun with. If the kids don’t know the words they’re there at the bottom of the screen.
The games are Gingy’s Dunking Game that tests how good a master baker you are. There’s the Shrek Carnival Craze video game demo. There’s an animated Video Jukebox.
If you’re looking for a babysitter for the kids, Shrek the Halls is too short at 22 minutes. A great Christmas gift for children, Shrek the Halls is sure to become a tradition for children around the holidays.
Shrek the Halls
Distributor: DreamWorks Animation
Release Date: November 4, 2008
Runtime: 22 minutes
U.S. Rating: Not Rated
DVD Aspect Ratios: Widescreen version enhanced for 16×9 televisions (1.78:1)
Full Screen version (Pan/Scan)
DVD Sound: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
DVD Subtitles: English, French and Spanish subtitles