Jack Frost
Watership Down
You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: October 7, 2008
Features - Jack Frost: "Totally Cool Crafty Creations" and "Snip's Snowy Singalong"
Features - Watership Down: "Watership Down: A Conversation with the Filmmakers", "Defining a Style", Storyboard-to-Screen Multiangle Comparisons of 4 Segments
Features - You're Not Elected: "He's a Bully, Charlie Brown", "The Polls Don't Lie: The Making of You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown

There are a few television specials that always transport me back to my childhood. This week, it's as if Warner Brothers has reached into my brain and picked three of my favorites and put them on DVD in deluxe editions at the same time. I grew up with Rankin & Bass claymation, Charlie Brown, and Watership Down. Every year, there are a few cool classic animation releases but very few seasons have made this critic as nostalgic for his childhood as this one. All three deluxe editions are ones that I will hold on to dearly for years to come and show my children, who will show their children, assuming anyone is watching DVDs that far in the future. Until then, I'm gonna enjoy these on my own. They make me a kid all over again, something we could all certainly use with the current state of the world.

Jack Frost: Deluxe Edition is a 49-minute special from the masters of animation known as Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass. Using stunning claymation and the voice talents of Buddy Hackett, Robert Morse, and Larry Storch, Jack Frost tells the story of a crafty, cold-weather elf. One winter, Jack Frost is in the village of January Junction and he falls for the lovely maiden Elisa. Jack turns from an elf into a real boy to woo the fair Elisa but he loses her to Kubla Kraus the Cossack. Jack has to use all of his magical powers and his friends to win her heart from Kubla's army of men. Hackett plays the narrator and Morse the lead in this instant classic from 1979. I was born not long before that and Jack Frost has been a childhood favorite of mine for years. I'm sure I'm not alone in my generation's affection for this title and it's great to be able to include an edition this pristine in our collection.

Much, much darker memories surround Martin Rosen's Watership Down. In fact, I actually remember being a kid and thinking that the bunny movie would be cute and funny. Yeah, not so much. Watership Down is more for adults than little ones, proving very dark for kids used to Disney fare. I remember it gave me nightmares. Now, as an adult, I find Watership Down a magical and moving film. The 1978 classic, based on the hit book by Richard Adams, tells the story of a community of rabbits who live on a meadow in England. After their home is threatened, the bunnies are forced to head out into the great unknown of the countryside where they face huge, terrifying-to-little-children challenges. In all seriousness, Watership Down is a very good film and has never looked better than it does on this Deluxe Edition. The widescreen transfer is a beauty and should help bring a somewhat lost classic to a new generation. As long as they're old enough to handle it.

I've made my adoration for all things Peanuts very clear already in this review of the recently released holiday collection. That's a must-own. The Charlie Brown title not in that set because, well, Election Day isn't a national holiday (at least not yet) is You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown and it has now been released individually. I have to admit, even though I'm sure I saw everything related to Snoopy, Linus, and Peppermint Patty that aired on television in my childhood, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown didn't stand out specifically in the memory banks like It's the Great Pumpkin or A Charlie Brown Christmas. You're Not Elected aired for the first time in 1972. Charlie runs for student president but learns that he's unlikely to win and so he backs Linus. But his buddy starts rambling about the Great Pumpkin and it soon looks like neither of our heroes will win. The improved video and audio on this remastered edition, just like the other recent holiday releases, are flawless. This new Deluxe Edition hits just in time for Election Day. Obama, McCain, or Charlie Brown? You decide.