Galaxy Express 999: Eternal Fantasy [DVD] [1998]

Star Wars Skywalker saga movie-inspired design; plastic material; sound-activated light FX; battery-powered; suitable for children ages 5 and up

Hansel and Gretel (1954), a stop-motion animated film credited to director John Paul (which, one suspects, was a pseudonym for a much more Teutonic monikered filmmaker) and producer/director Michael Myerberg was one of the more enchanting children's films for many a youth;V.I.E.W. Video has done right by it in this DVD edition. The 72- minute film (originally released theatrically in a longer version) featuring the voices of Anna Russell, Mildred Dunnock, Constance Brigham et al, looks reasonably good despite a slight general fading of the materials and a softness to the image -- it's at least comparable to what one remembers from television, and the sound is better than this reviewer remembers it. The film has been mastered in full-screen (1.33:1) about as well as it is ever likely to look, absent a major restoration effort, and has been given a generous 33 chapters, covering the plot elements and each of the songs. V.I.E.W. has sort of insinuated themselves on the end credits, but if one switches the image off quickly enough, it's easy to avoid their obnoxious effort at getting subscribers to some sort of newsletter. As a bonus, they've included a black-and-white film clip (evidently transferred off of a damaged VHS source) depicting the shooting of the movie in progress, which is very interesting to watch, though its quality gives this release a little of the feel of a bootleg.