LEGO Justice League: Attack Of The Legion Of Doom! (2015/DC Comics/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection (2000 - 2015/Disney Blu-ray w/DVD)

Picture: B & C+/B & C+ Sound: B & C+/B & C+ Extras: C Main Programs: C/B-

Here are two of the most high profile animated and child releases of the year from the two studios making the most animated content in Hollywood...

LEGO Justice League: Attack Of The Legion Of Doom! (2015) is the latest CGI animated DC Comics superhero movie, though this one runs 77 minutes, barely qualifying as one with the Justice League dealing with the rise of their organizational counterpart first created for later seasons of the massive TV hit Superfriends!, but this one is one of the silliest, most comical and comedy-filled ever made and will shock & disappoint fans looking for something at least semi-serious. Not for every one (it makes Superfriends! look like Heavy Metal), it is very child-friendly and so silly, you wonder why they did not create spoofy versions of the real heroes. I just wish there was more story here.

Warner regularly has made new short with their classic Looney Tunes characters, but the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection (2000 - 2015) has that rival studio only doing that on occasion. It also has Walt's House trying new ideas, concepts and taking on fresher ideas more akin to what independent animators make today, partly inspired by the spirit of Fantasia at times. Here are the shorts in this collection...

John Henry (2000) retells the tale of one of the strongest men ever and holds up well for its age, running about 11 minutes.

Lorenzo (2004) is about the title cat soon in battle with its tail. Amusing still.

The Little Matchgirl (2006) is a solid adaption of the Hans Christian Andersen tale from 1845 (!) about a poor girl suffering poverty & rejection; one of the best shorts on the list.

How To Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007) is a highly underrated return for the great character Goofy, facing the increasingly confusing task of building a home theater system in what is a very smart satire that holds true today.

Tick Tock Tale (2010) is a charming work where various antique clocks come to life when the store owner goes home and works well.

Prep & Landing - Operation: Secret Santa (2010) has the characters dealing with a thriller involving Big Nick. For the holiday only.

The Ballad of Nessie (2011) has Billy Connolly appropriately telling the tale of the title character in this amusing romp.

Tangled Ever After (2012) continues the studio's hit retake on Rapunzel and company that is not bad, if not great.

Paperman (2012) is an amusing tale set in the modern(ist) business world involving paper airplanes and a would-be couple. An Academy Award Winner worth your time.

Get a Horse! (2013) begins as a classic 1920s early sound Disney short, only to have the classic Mickey Mouse, his friends and even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit turn full color when somehow magically ripping through the movie screen at a high class movie palace. Very well done!

Feast (2014) has a dog becoming attached to his male owner and human food he likes more than he should, which leads to all kinds of things. This also won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

Frozen Fever (2015) is a brief Frozen sequel to keep fans happy including those sick of one particular played-out song. Mixed at best.

Both discs offer 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image presentation that look really good throughout on their Blu-ray editions, though the Disney disc has some various aspect ratio moments. Color quality is solid in all cases, save the times color is toned down or we get actual black and white, but that looks good too. Both come with anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image DVD editions that are convenient and passable, but no match by any means versus the Blu-rays which are among the best child-releases of the year.

Both Blu-rays also offer solid DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are all well recorded and mixed as if the persons involved made sure of the quality, though the last few Disney shorts were originally issued in Dolby Atmos 11.1, so these are mixdowns in their cases. Still, they sound just fine. Both DVD versions have passable, lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes, but they are weak and you can tell they are missing the full impact intended.

Extras in both cases include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices, while the discs add making of featurettes with interviews with LEGO focusing on the sound and Disney on the directors, who also do brief intros on each of their respective shorts. Both also have previews.

- Nicholas Sheffo