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This might be the gutsiest release of the summer. Theatrical films geared toward the preschool and slightly above set are rarely made today. They usually dwell in the land of direct-to-video. Pooh is Disney's biggest merchandising producer. Every preschooler has something Pooh related in their room. But once the kid hits school, is Pooh cool? That's why this is a difficult sell. But those who buy a ticket will be transported into a simple timeless production filled with wit and whimsy.

John Cleese provides the narration for this tale of Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter), the imaginative boy who brings his toys to life in the Hundred Acre Woods. While looking for the lost tail of Eeyore (Bud Luckey, BOUNDIN’), Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings) discovers a note at Christopher Robin’s tree house. He takes it to Owl (Craig Ferguson, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON), who misinterprets it as a kidnap note. The veracious beast the Backson (which sounds a lot like Back Soon) has taken the young boy, so it is up to Pooh and friends to set a trap for the monster.

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Jeff Kinney, the author of the books that make up these films, prides himself in making the books lesson free. That doesn’t work very well in feature films. At least not emotionally satisfying ones. The first film found a way to take Kinney’s comic vignettes and made a pretty compelling coming of age story that dealt with the pressures of going to middle school and being loyal to a friend. This film also finds a compelling premise to build its story around. The unique relationship of brothers.

Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon, THE BROTHERS BLOOM) starts out the film wishing he could sell his brothers, especially his older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick, SAW VI), who tries to humiliate him at every turn. Their mother Susan (Rachael Harris, THE HANGOVER) devises ways to force the two to spend time together. She says that she will give them one mom buck (board game money) for every hour they spend together without fighting. She starts them off with five mom bucks. Rodrick cashes in right away. Their father Frank (Steve Zahn, HAPPY, TEXAS) just stands back and smiles.

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Read my review of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES

This family comedy comes to Blu-ray in a MPEG-4 AVC 1080p transfer. The true to source transfer retains the film grain, which does dampen some of the crispness and detail of the picture. The color is pretty natural and consistent throughout. Black levels are solid. I only noticed in one scene in Greg’s bedroom where the skin tones seems a tad too yellow. Digital anomalies like banding, aliasing or artifacting are not a problem.

The DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack seems like overkill. The film has a front speaker soundscape, but this seems to be due to the nature of the film and not poor sound mixing. The dialogue is clear. Directionality isn’t utilized to be noticeably off or on. For scenes with crowds, the soundscape develops a suitable ambiance. When music plays a role, the mix between dialogue and tunes is handled where one never overpowers the other.

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The latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios is like a Disney film circa OLIVER AND COMPANY. It's safe entertainment that skews for the younger crowd. And there isn't anything wrong with making a film for a specific audience. I certainly don't miss the crass pandering to the older viewers. It's replaced with the joy of love and song.

The story follows a blue macaw who ends up in Minnesota. He is adopted by Linda (Leslie Mann, KNOCKED UP), who names him Blu (Jesse Eisenberg, THE SOCIAL NETWORK). They live a comfortable, conservative life running a small bookstore. But they are challenged one day to step out of their comfort zone when Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro, 300) shows up and informs them that Blu is the last male of his species. The Brazilian scientist wants to try and mate Blu with the last female blue macaw named Jewel (Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED).

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The real conflict in this film isn't between the humans and Martians, but between the cliché and the generally humorous and touching. Weak pop culture jokes are pitted against heartwarming scenes between mothers and sons. Action out of the action device handbook pulls down some good character development. It's a battle till the very end.

Our players are as follows. Milo (Seth Green, AUSTIN POWERS) is the broccoli-hating hero who wishes that his Mom (Joan Cusack, WORKING GIRL) wasn't his mom after she bars him from watching his favorite zombie movie on TV as punishment for feeding the cat the aforementioned vegetable. As a result, the Martian Supervisor (Mindy Sterling, AUSTIN POWERS) rules her a perfect candidate to use as a brain donor for their Nanny Bots, the robots that raise all Martian female babies. The male Martians are too touchy feely so they are thrown into the garbage.

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In the most overtly allegorical of C.S. Lewis' NARNIA series, the heroes battle the demons inside rather than white witches or evil kings. While director Michael Apted never mentions any one religion, the Christian undertones of this installment are more apparent than any of the other films. Vanity, jealousy, greed and pride are the villains here.

Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) dream of returning to Narnia where they were a queen and king. In England, they are stuck as simple teens living with their aunt and uncle during World War II. Instead of battling mythical creatures, they're stuck fighting with their stuffy cousin Eustace (Will Poulter, SON OF RAMBOW). Then one day a painting in their room comes to life and transports them back to Narnia and onto the sailing vessel of King Caspian (Ben Barnes). At first they are unsure why they have been called back, but soon learn of the evil pull of Dark Island, which has been trapping people in its seductive green mist.

During the course of their adventure, the heroes will encounter slave traders, dufflepuds, dragons, magic ponds and a giant sea serpent that makes CLASH OF THE TITANS' Kraken look like a sea slug. Along the way, the evil mist will play on the characters' weaknesses. Lucy wishes she were as beautiful as her older sister Susan (Anna Popplewell). Edmund continues to struggle with feeling like a second wheel, only this time it's not to his older brother Peter (William Moseley), but to the new king Caspian. Eustace is susceptible to… well… just name the sin. The obnoxiously practical young man is mentored by the brave warrior mouse Reepicheep (Simon Pegg, SHAUN OF THE DEAD).

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Many critics put this as one of the lowest, if not the lowest point, in Disney Feature Animation history. While it's not as big a failure as a film as so many say, its financial disaster has put an extra pall over its history. Getting crushed by THE CARE BEAR MOVIE at the box office will do that. The straightforward fantasy adventure is undercut by weak characters mainly.

Based on Lloyd Alexander's CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN book series, the LORD OF THE RINGS-like adventure with a coming of age twist seemed like a perfect story for the Disney animators to tackle. Taran (Grant Bardsley) is an assistant pig farmer who dreams of becoming a great warrior. His mentor Dallben (Freddie Jones, DUNE) is really an enchanter who is protecting the mystical pig Hen Wen from falling into the clutches of The Horned King (John Hurt, THE ELEPHANT MAN), who wants to use the swine to locate the Black Cauldron, which could allow him to raise an army of the undead and take over the world.

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Based on the Roald Dahl’s book, director Henry Selick made this project his follow-up to the successful NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Bookended by a live-action opening and closing, this stop-motion feature is generally an episodic adventure following a classic tale of a young boy dreaming beyond his circumstances.

After the death of his parents, James Trotter (Paul Terry) becomes a virtual slave to his ghoulish aunts Spiker (Joanna Lumley, TV’s ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) and Sponge (Miriam Margolyes, BABE). One day he meets a wandering old man (Pete Postlewaite, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER), who gives him magic worms that he claims will help him attain his dream of getting from England to New York City. Spilling the worms on the ground, James sets off a series of events that grows a giant peach on a barren tree where human-sized bugs come to live.

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In this animated world, villainy is a corporate venture. Master criminals live among the average citizens, clearly out in the open. The gothic mansion of baddie Gru sticks out in the same row of suburban family homes. To fund criminal ventures, the villains apply for loans from the Bank of Evil (formerly known as Lehman Brothers).

Gru (Steve Carell, GET SMART) wants to be the top criminal mastermind, but he has competition in the newcomer Vector (Jason Segal, I LOVE YOU, MAN), who just stole the Great Pyramid, which he has stowed in his backyard, painting it blue so that it blends in with the skyline. Gru; along with his mad scientist cohort Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand, GET HIM TO THE GREEK) and hundreds of his minions, yellow pill-shaped sidekicks who get giddy over troublemaking; go to the Bank of Evil to get the funding for his biggest caper yet — steal the Moon. But before he can get to the Moon, he has to build a rocketship and steal a newly created Chinese shrink ray. The key to getting the ray — three orphans named Margo (Miranda Cosgrove, TV's ICARLY), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).

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Director Lee Unkrich and the entire Pixar team have found a fitting conclusion to the TOY STORY trilogy. It is worthy to stand by the masterpieces that came before it. The story deals with many of the same issues the previous films did, but extends them organically. The first film was Woody dealing with the possibility of being replaced as owner Andy's favorite. The second film was about what it means to be a toy. Now the third film deals with the existential question of what does it mean to be the toy of a child who has outgrown toys.

After a rousing fantasy sequence that brings the tangent filled imagination of a child to life, Woody (Tom Hanks, FORREST GUMP) leads the other toys in one last ditch attempt to get Andy (John Morris) to play with them. It doesn't go so well and the endless optimist Woody prepares the toys for their new life in the attic. Naysayers fear they'll end up in the trash or on eBay. Through a series of misunderstandings, Woody ends up in Andy's box to college and the others in a trashbag at the curb. After a narrow escape, Buzz (Tim Allen, TV's HOME IMPROVEMENT), Jessie (Joan Cusack, WORKING GIRL) and the others make their way to the donation box, hoping daycare will allow them to be played with again.