Mickey Mouse is back! New cartoon shorts are coming…

 

If you’re a fan of Mickey Mouse – and, let’s face it, who isn’t? – you’ll be pleased to hear that everyone’s favourite cuddly rodent is back in a series of comedy cartoon shorts.

 

The Disney Channel will be broadcasting the episodes throughout July, beginning on Friday 12th July, and each one finds Mickey in a different setting from Santa Monica to New York to Paris and Venice. And he’s joined by his pals, too – Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie Mouse. Aimed at kids aged 6 to 14 (and grown-ups, too, of course), the episodes capture the original 1930s design of Mickey and pals while some of the graphic design is similar to cartoons of the fifties and sixties.

 

Here’s a taster:

 

 

 

Superman On Screen

Man Of Steel opens in UK cinemas tomorrow, and if you hop over to The National newspaper’s website here you’ll find my feature on some of the other big and small screen Supermen who have gone before…

And don’t forget to visit the main site, www.movies4kids.co.uk, tomorrow for my Man Of Steel review!

 

 

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug – watch the teaser trailer!

It’s six months until the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy – The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug – is released in UK cinemas on December 13th. But we have a trailer now!

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) continues on his adventures with wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the thirteen Dwarves, and you can catch a hint of what’s to come in this first teaser trailer :

 

 

 

We love the Minions! And they came to Manchester!

 

My son Danny is counting the days until he gets to see Despicable Me 2, and on a recent trip to Toys R Us in New York, I accidentally knocked over a display with my shoulder bag as I rushed across the store to cuddle a toy version of one of the minions from the movie – his eyes light up! he talks! but I couldn’t buy him as he wouldn’t fit in my suitcase! (Danny was more impressed by the fart gun that makes a hilarious noise and a banana smell – but I told him that wouldn’t fit in my suitcase either).

And over the bank holiday weekend last month, the cute minions even took part in the BUPA Great Manchester Run as you can see from the photos below:

 

 

Despicable Me 2 opens in cinemas at the end of this month (June 28) and here’s a trailer to get you in the mood:

 

 

 

RIP Bryan Forbes

 

Sadly we have lost another talented filmmaker this week – writer, director and actor Bryan Forbes. While he will be remembered in many obituaries for a movie for grown-ups, The Stepford Wives, he also made three movies that are reviewed at Movies4Kids: Whistle Down The Wind, The Slipper And The Rose and International Velvet.

Click on the titles for reviews, and here’s a clip from the Cinderella musical The Slipper And The Rose, starring Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven – this clip features two more greatly missed British talents, Kenneth More and Michael Hordern.

 

 

Movies4Kids’ tribute to Ray Harryhausen

I am so sorry to hear of the death of Ray Harryhausen today. The visual effects pioneer influenced generations of filmmakers with his stop-motion animation work, and his skills can be seen in a host of movies including Jason And The Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and the original Clash Of The Titans.

Some of the films he worked on are reviewed at Movies4Kids (click on the links above) and are still a joy for kids of all ages (and their parents). In honour of the great man, here are some clips of his amazing work.

 

 

 

 

 

May the Fourth be with you!

It’s Star Wars day today (May the Fourth be with you… geddit?) and to celebrate here’s one of my favourite clips from my favourite Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. I first saw this when I was 11 years old and I fell in love with Harrison Ford/Han Solo on the spot (alas, the crush ended after I sat through Regarding Henry)…