The Top 10 DVD Releases for Kids This Year!

What to Barbie, Alexandre Dumas, Neil Gaiman, The Rock, Queen Latifah, and Scooby Doo have in common? This year's top kid's DVD releases!

Barbie and the Three Musketeers

Enter a young d'Artagnon, ready to make his fortune. Wait, no, scratch that. Enter Corinne, a young, country bumpkin who saves the day, saves the Prince, and saves her hairdo all with one fell stroke of her rapier. I am kind of torn about this movie to be honest, I like seeing women take 'strong' roles, but I wish she would have saved the day with her wits, instead of turning into this vaguely masculine musketeer to save the day.

Coraline

Now Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, and this movie actually did justice to the story. It is, at its facade, a 'kid's' movie, but it explores themes like Utopia/Dystopia that parents (and English Majors) can appreciate. The grass may initially seem greener on the other side, but when you need to be blinded by buttons to see it, maybe it isn't worth it!

Race to Witch Mountain

Do you smeeellllll what the Rock is cooking? Well, it is a great kid's movie for the fall. Frankly he has really started to impress me as an actor. Unfortunately, as 'the big name', he steals the show where it should be kids saving the day to make this a truly spectacular movie.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Now whoever said that kid's movies need to be historically accurate was lying! Chipmunks, Saber-toothed lions, woolly mamoths, and more 'really' co existed in a deep, temperate, zone hidden by layers of ice. Leave it to a chipmunk to find out that all we know about the paleolithic age was wrong! Oh yeah, Queen Latifah makes it a really great movie to watch, though I kept expecting "When you're good to mamma" to start playing!

Monsters Vs. Aliens

Monsters aren't under the bed and scary, they are helping Americans kill the aliens. It is cute, and very much in the theme of Monster's inc. I think movies like this really help kids not to be afraid of the boogeyman or the monster under the bed or in the closet, it just makes them afraid of alien invasions! Either way, a lot of fun for kids and adults.

Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins

So, if you're like me and you want to bring your kids a taste of your childhood, and GI Joe was too violent and too... strange to show them, then this may be an alternative. A 'feel good' movie with some decent role models (well, except for the stoner and his stoner dog), Scooby Doo may be on the list of 'older kids', though it is really for us.

Up

Pixar, you're my hero! Sure, this movie makes my physics hurt, but it is a great movie with a great script. It is the movie a grandpa should take his grandson to.

Hannah Montana: The Movie

Pop meets country. A good movie about how fame is not as important as family, a simple life, and a good time. The music that makes Hannah Montana a star, and the morals that make it a pretty good kid's movie.

The Wizard of Oz, 70th Anniversary

In the same theme as Scooby Doo, this is a great way for your children to relive your past. The music, the technicolor, and the story of how friendship overcomes evil. 4 extra hours of extra content and the singalong features make this totally worth it. Just don't read Wicked, or you'll feel sorry for Elpheba, I mean the Wicked Witch.

Inkheart

I wish my dad made stuff from books come true, but this is the kid's fantasy must-see for this fall. Brendan Frasier makes this movie memorable. It is dark, but with darkness comes great movies for older kids. Wishes do come true! And it makes me want to tell my boy some neat stories when he is older.