Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 17, 2023

It's not every day (or year, as the case may be) that one of the most iconic names in American history turns 100, but Disney has of course been celebrating its centenary throughout all of 2023 with a number of "Disney 100" branded outings, and they are closing things out with one of the most extravagantly packaged releases in recent (and maybe not so recent) memory. Assuming that anyone naughty will automatically be disqualified, the big question confronting anyone thinking of springing for this set for a presumed holiday gift might be, "just how nice has [the intended recipient] been?" Along with the rarity of a corporate entity turning 100, it's also not every day that a major studio offers a compendium like this, and it's even less frequent that it comes with a four figure price tag attached (that's four figures before the decimal point, lest that not be clear), but that's the case with this almost overwhelming collection from Disney. Interestingly, someone in Santa's workshop (and/or Disney) had some kind of snafu, because the Disney Movie Club (the only retailer other than Wal-mart where this is available) rather uncharacteristically "recalled" this set after shipping orders had been sent, mentioning some unspecified issue with either packaging or content, in a situation that I have to say was not handled with much aplomb, leaving consumers to wonder why UPS shipping announcements were suddenly withdrawn for no apparent reason (it took "official" Disney channels several days to contact people, though by that time I had already bugged my contacts at Disney for information). But the little elves (and/or Disney employees) were able to work a little holiday magic and get this out before Christmas, if not Hanukkah, and so those with admittedly deep pockets may have a very special purchase to make.

Get ready for a lot of links, since this collection offers a bounty of Disney and Pixar material. I tried to diligently point to the correct "edition" for the links (since as I've joked repeatedly, Disney loves to "recycle" their releases), but I may have made some errors, though the actual films are selected correctly:

Volume 1

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu- ray review (Disc One only)

Pinocchio Blu-ray review (Disc One only)

Fantasia Blu-ray review

Dumbo Blu-ray review

Bambi Blu-ray review

Saludos Amigos Blu-ray review

The Three Caballeros Blu-ray review

Make Mine Music (I haven't had a chance to review the standalone Disney Movie Club release, but it's in my queue and should be up soon)

Fun and Fancy Free Blu-ray review

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Blu-ray review

Melody Time (this is another standalone Disney Movie Club release that is in my queue but which I haven't gotten to yet - stay tuned)

Cinderella Blu-ray review

Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray review

Peter Pan Blu-ray review

Lady and the Tramp Blu-ray review

Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray review

101 Dalmatians Blu-ray review

The Sword in the Stone Blu-ray review

The Jungle Book Blu-ray review

The Aristocats Blu-ray review

Robin Hood Blu-ray review

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Blu-ray review

The Rescuers Blu-ray review

The Fox and the Hound Blu-ray review

The Black Cauldron Blu-ray review

The Great Mouse Detective Blu-ray review

Oliver & Company Blu-ray review

The Little Mermaid Blu-ray review

The Rescuers Down Under Blu-ray review

Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray review

Aladdin Blu-ray review

The Nightmare Before Christmas Blu-ray review

The Lion King Blu-ray review

A Goofy Movie Blu-ray review

Pocahontas Blu-ray review

Toy Story 3D Blu-ray review (the disc here offers the 2D version, also covered in Ken's review)

James and the Giant Peach Blu-ray review

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray review

Hercules Blu-ray review

Mulan Blu-ray review

A Bug's Life Blu-ray review

Volume 2

Tarzan Blu-ray review

Toy Story 2 Blu-ray review

Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray review

The Tigger Movie Blu-ray review

Dinosaur Blu-ray review

The Emperor's New Groove Blu-ray review

Atlantis: The Lost Empire Blu-ray review

Monsters, Inc. Blu-ray review (Disc One)

Peter Pan: Return to Never Land Blu-ray review

Lilo & Stitch Blu-ray review

Treasure Planet Blu-ray review

The Jungle Book 2 Blu-ray review

Piglet's Big Movie (this is another Disney Movie Club exclusive with no site review yet)

Finding Nemo Blu-ray review

Brother Bear Blu-ray review

Home on the Range Blu-ray review

The Incredibles Blu-ray review

Pooh's Heffalump Movie (we have a "placeholder" listing which may indicate no previous Blu-ray release)

Chicken Little Blu-ray review

Cars Blu-ray review

Meet the Robinsons Blu-ray review

Ratatouille Blu-ray review

WALL•E Blu-ray review

Tinker Bell Blu-ray review

Bolt Blu-ray review

Up Blu-ray review

The Princess and the Frog Blu-ray review

Toy Story 3 Blu-ray review

Tangled Blu-ray review

Cars 2 Blu-ray review

Winnie the Pooh Blu-ray review

Brave Blu-ray review

Frankenweenie Blu-ray review

Wreck-It Ralph Blu-ray review

Monsters University Blu-ray review

Planes Blu-ray review

Frozen Blu-ray review

Planes: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray review

Big Hero 6 Blu-ray review

Inside Out Blu-ray review

The Good Dinosaur Blu-ray review

Volume 3

Zootopia Blu-ray review

Finding Dory Blu-ray review

Moana Blu-ray review

Cars 3 Blu-ray review

Coco Blu-ray review

Incredibles 2 Blu-ray review

Ralph Breaks the Internet Blu-ray review

Toy Story 4 Blu-ray review

Frozen II Blu-ray review

Onward Blu-ray review

Soul Blu-ray review

Raya and the Last Dragon Blu-ray review

Luca Blu-ray review

Encanto Blu-ray review

Turning Red Blu-ray review

Lightyear Blu-ray review

Strange World Blu-ray review

Elemental Blu-ray review

In the "wait. . .you also get" category, the third volume also offers bonus content discs for Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Cars 3, Coco, The Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, Onward, Soul and Turning Red (see the seventh photo of the set that I've uploaded to this review).

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On disc supplements are detailed in the above linked reviews.

Where to even begin with the non disc content? Well, let's start with this: this friggin' thing is heavy, so it might also come in handy as part of your daily workout routine. The outer box (see photo 1) measures approximately 13 1/4" wide by 13" high by 6" deep. Inside are three volumes of discs in what might be called DigiBooks, if the books were kind of mutant sized, like the very non-Disney tome in Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tales that fell over and took out several fairies in the memorable old Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends series. You can see the rather oddly shaped volumes in the second photo I've uploaded to this review, and because I'm a bit slow on the uptake (which will probably not come as a surprise to regular readers of my reviews), it took me a while to figure out the "billowing spine" (see photo 3) is so the volumes can be propped up on the spine, so that they lie at an angle, almost like they're on a lectern. As can be seen in photo 4, each quasi-DigiBook comes with beautifully designed pages offering key art for each of the films next to the slots for the discs. There are three discs per page. The volumes themselves are beautifully designed on the outside, and all three volumes offer a "legend" at the back giving insight into the illustrations on the covers. The third volume also has an envelope enclosing a certificate of authenticity and digital codes for all of the films.

There are two fabric sheets that are placed in between Volumes 2 and 3 to protect the front panels (Volume 1's front panel rests against the interior of the box), though the fabric seemed to be almost "magnetic" in attracting little bits of grit when I set it down during unpacking, so caution should be exercised. There are also two pie shaped styrofoam wedge like pieces that fit in over the angled edges of the volumes inside the box to keep the volumes in place.

All of the discs are branded with the "Disney 100" logo and have white labels. The entire collection emphasizes white, which may make keeping things clean and scuff free a bit of a challenge.

The last little "tidbit" shipped with the set is actually a separately packaged item shown in the eighth photo I've uploaded to this review. I guess this can be a trinket of sorts, or perhaps used as a paperweight.

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hey, the Fed just announced it's cutting interest rates next year, maybe more than once, so taking out a second mortgage to be able to afford this release is not going to be that big of a deal. Joking aside, the price tag on this immense set is probably going to make it a "true" collector's item, since many diehard Disney fans will probably already have many if not most of these discs. That said, Disney has packaged this thing sumptuously, if maybe just a little weirdly, and when you do the math on the number of discs and the price, maybe it's a little easier to swallow. There are some niggling qualms that some may have here, including no 4K UHD discs, and the absence of other previously released bonus content for some of the films, and the design of the volumes themselves might have needed a little more "imagineering", or at least detailed instructions. All of this said, this is certainly a way for Disney to "go out with a bang" on their centenary year, and as a whole the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection comes Highly recommended.