Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor. The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. [+]

As a brief promo by a Sea World Animal Ambassador tells us before the movie begins, male penguins really do present pebbles to the females during a courtship that will result in a lifetime match. This post-Thumbelina Don Bluth/Barry Manilow effort gives us Hubie, a nerdy penguin whose love for the beautiful Marina, remarkably, is returned. Alas, before he can present her with a fine stone, his evil-and strangely buff-rival throws him into the swirling sea. Epic adventures and a comical sidekick result. Leopard seals and killer whales threaten, but kids will be entertained rather than frightened by this harmless, if less-than-brilliant movie. -Kimberly Heinrichs.

Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor. The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. [+]

A good wizard finds his magical powers diminishing as this Rankin/Bass production based on the Peter Dickinson novel opens. His nemesis, the evil Ommadon (voiced by James Earl Jones at his deepest and scariest), swiftly takes advantage of the situation. Who will save the world? Why, none other than a young scientist-novelist-game inventor, named Peter Dickenson (mildly voiced by John Ritter), who is zapped from the future back into the time of dragons. Populating this Japanese-animation fantasy film are the titular fire-breathing dragons, the wizards, a knight, a maiden, some elves, and-in a feminist departure from tradition-a heroic bowwoman. The battles are fairly mild and most of the virtuous characters recover, making this a good choice for family viewing, as well as a staple for the fantasy fanatic's video library. -Kimberly Heinrichs.

This half-hour Christmas show is one of the truly lovable animated specials in TV history, a status proved by its annual network telecast since 1965. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first, and best, of a series of programs based on the Charles M. Schulz cartoon strip "Peanuts. " Hapless hero Charlie Brown finds himself depressed at Christmastime, searching for the true meaning of the holiday amidst the glitz and commercialism of the modern age. Appointed director of the school holiday pageant, Charlie Brown ventures out with Linus to buy "a great, big, shiny aluminum Christmas tree. " Instead they bring back a miserable tree-a real one. A Charlie Brown Christmas shows off the "Peanuts" gang doing what they do best: Lucy is bossy, Snoopy is crazy, Linus is sweet, and Pig Pen is, well, filthy. Instead of using adult actors trying to sound like kids, the production features real children providing the voices, an endearing effect. The jazz music score, composed by Vince Guaraldi, has become a classic in its own right; like so much about this program, it's an unexpected but perfectly right choice. -Robert Horton.

All of your favorite Hanna Barbera characters are here in this animation classic. Like the Olympics, only better, it's comedy heroes versus action heroes versus villans in events that span the globe.

Cheerful Mimiko has a very strange family for a little girl - a Panda for her Papa, and his son, Panny, calls her Mom! Join this happy family and their many adventures! When Panny follows Mimiko to school, he must pretend to be a teddy bear so Mimiko won't get into trouble, but everyone wants a cute Panda! Despite his efforts to behave, Panny causes trouble in the school kitchen, and now the whole school is after Panny! Then, Panny makes a new friend, Tiny, a baby tiger who's wandered off from the circus. Getting Tiny back to his mom becomes the first adventure, but after a hard rain, the whole town is flooded and Mimiko, Papa Panda and Panny must rescue Tiny and other animals from the trapped circus train! Youngsters will relish the antics of Mimiko, a Japanese girl with as much spunk as another animated favorite, the little French mademoiselle, Madeline. Lighthearted and cross-cultural, this Japanese cartoon, made popular for American audiences through English dubbing, is based on Panda koPanda ("Panda, Little Panda"), the 1972-73 two-parter written by anime master Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro). Isao Takahata, another anime king (Grave of the Fireflies), directs the production, showcasing some characteristic elements of anime that surpass usual Saturday morning fare: crisp animation, depth of characters, and sophisticated musical tracks. Cinematography aside, viewers will be captivated by the optimistic orphan who lives with her grandmother and has no fear of "burglars, ghosts, or any old thing. " In the first story, "Panda Family," Grandmother must travel to Nagasaki and, reluctantly, leaves Mimiko at home alone. To Mimiko's delight, she is not alone after all when a father and son set of panda bears moves in. Unaware they are zoo escapees, Mimiko adopts Papa Panda and little Panny and writes to grandmother, "I've got myself a daddy and a baby. " Rapid-fire adventures begin for the trio, yet Mimiko keeps her cool whether dealing with Panny's mischief, zookeepers' threats, or a close call with a raging waterfall. High-flying fun continues in the second tale, "The Circus in the Rain," as a baby tiger escapes the Big Top to join Mimiko's menagerie, a monsoon floods her home, and a runaway train spells disaster. [+]