Walt Disney's It's a Small World of Fun, Vol. 2 (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

"Crazy With the Heat":
After that, there is "Crazy With the Heat," a 1947, six-minute release directed by Bob Carlson. Donald and Goofy are on a road trip across the Egyptian desert when they run out of gas, and then run afoul of mirages and genies, with the usual results. It's a pretty ordinary affair. 4/10

"Susie, the Little Blue Coupe":
Lastly, we have "Susie, the Little Blue Coupe" from 1952, set in the good ol' U.S. of A., the newest film on the disc, directed by Clyde Geronimi. As with "Peter and the Wolf," Sterling Holloway narrates the story, which revolves around a little blue automobile as it travels the roads of life from spanking new to old and dilapidated. As the mileage accumulates, poor Susie eventually winds up on the scrap heap. But this is Disney, so expect a happy ending. It's a sweet tale and should keep an adult's attention as well as a child's. 7/10

Video:
As we might guess, the video quality on these cartoons varies somewhat with age. The best looking is the newest, "Susie, the Little Blue Coupe," the print being the cleanest and clearest of the lot. The other cartoons show a tad more wear, although nothing serious because the Disney folks take very good care of their valued property. No, it's more like a thin layer of fine grain that veils some of the other features. Still, the Technicolor almost always looks vibrant and alive. I noticed, however, that during the opening titles for "Peter and the Wolf" the reduction of the film from 1.37:1 to 1.33:1 cut out a fraction of the text to the far left and right of the screen. Nothing of concern, though.

Audio:
The keep case announces the sound as Dolby Digital Stereo Surround, but everything I heard appeared to be in two-channel mono. Be that as it may, the audio is fine, with virtually no background noise even in the earliest works on the disc.

Extras:
There aren't many extra items available. Disney equip the disc with their "Fast Play" option, meaning the disc can force unsuspecting youngsters into watching a selection of trailers before the primary features begin. Or the viewer can go directly to the main menu and make selections from there. The Sneak Peeks include trailers for "Leroy and Stitch," "Little Einsteins," "The Fox and the Hound," "The Little Mermaid," "Dumbo," "Cars," and "Brother Bear 2." In addition, there are six feature selections; English and French spoken language choices; and English captions for the hearing impaired.

Parting Thoughts:
I know that fifty-six minutes seems like short measure for a DVD, but remember that this collection is meant primarily for kids. For adult fans of Disney cartoons, there are always the big Disney double-disc tins, which include many of these cartoons and more. My rating below for the disc's Film Value is a composite score for all six short features (5.83/10 to be more exact).

In addition to "Walt Disney's It's a Small World of Fun, Vol. 2," there is obviously a Volume 1. It contains seven Disney shorts: "Mickey Down Under" (Australia); "A Cowboy Needs a Horse" (U.S.A.); "The Flying Gauchito" (South America); "Goliath II" (India); "In Dutch" (Holland); "African Diary" (Africa); and "Grievance of a Starmaker" (Japan).