Alice Drops Out of Netflix on January 4th

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone! I wish I had better Netflix news than this to start the year with, but if you subscribe to the service, you've only got a couple of days left to stream one of the most unusual Disney classics (and a particular favorite here at Mouse Troop).

After months and months of steadily building up an impressive library of Disney films, the service is dropping one confused little girl, a grinning cat, a stressed-out rabbit and a pack of armed playing cards; Alice In Wonderland will disappear from the Netflix streaming service on January 4th.

I'm sure I'm not the only Disney fan surprised that Alice is the first major drop; Of all the Disney animated classics, Alice in Wonderland has been more or less in steady video release ever since the dawn of VHS. Along with Dumbo, Alice has been one of the "always there" Disney classics, never locked away for hiatus in the infamous "Disney Vault." I'm sorry to see it leaving the streaming lineup.

So, if you subscribe to Netflix and don't already own Alice In Wonderland in some format, the White Rabbit's watch is ticking. Boil some tea, make some bread-and-butterfly sandwiches and take one last drop down the rabbit hole before this wildly imaginative film, one of the strangest productions ever to emerge from Walt Disney Studios, vanishes from Netflix like a grinning Cheshire Cat.

Characters Invade Real World in Disney's Free Infinity App

He turns the photo around to reveal a surprise mini-snapshot of the player's face.

In advance of the much-hyped Disney Infinity video game, the company has released Infinity Action, a free promotional app for iPhone (the Android version is coming soon). An impressive little bag of magic tricks, it's definitely worth checking out.

A Sparrow Defends a Cat

The App features two main modes. In the first, you tap and swipe the screen to interact with an impressively animated trio of Disney characters: Sulley, Jack Sparrow and Mr. Incredible. Of the three, Jack Sparrow is, by far, the funniest. Be sure to try the toy props, which include a voice recorder and--even better--a cartoon camera which uses the actual phone lens to allow the character to take a shot of your face. The "goal" of this section is to earn coins for purchasing animated clips for the "Action" section.

He got a cookie for being a good sport (the dog, not Sparrow)

In this second mode, you bring the characters into your home through augmented reality as you stage brief videos combining animation with live footage. It's easy to do, and the results are amazingly smooth. Easily saved to the phone or posted to YouTube or Facebook, each clip is boldly tagged at the end as a Disney Infinity promotion...which, of course, is Disney's reason for creating this free App in the first place.

One warning: Extra coins can be purchased with real money, so make sure that feature's disabled on your phone before handing it over to children. Even without paying a cent, however, there's enough free fun here to make Action a clever little diversion for all Disney fans.

Netflix adds Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame

In a very solid, welcome little update to their increasingly-awesome library of streaming Disney films, Netflix has just added Mulan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, both excellent productions well worth seeing.

And...oh, yeah...they also added the direct-to-video sequel Mulan II. We all remember Mulan II, right? Anyone?

Bit by bit, the Netflix digital Disney catalog is becoming very impressive. Check out our updated Disney on Netflix page for the full list of available classic animated films.

Netflix Adds Brother Bear 2

Disney's direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2 has arrived on Netflix.

After the recent flood of great classic Disney animation onto the digital streaming service, today's addition certainly seems anticlimactic all by its lonesome, but it's better than nothing. At least I hope it is...I haven't seen it yet. But--hey--It's gotta be better than Cinderella 2.

Game Review: Meet Disney's Mittens

Yesterday, Disney released Mittens for iPhone and Android, and I think they've got a monster hit on their hands. This game is fantastic. It's also hilarious, beautifully animated...and just a little bit twisted.

Mittens the Cat (no connection to Mittens from the Disney film Bolt) will go to any lengths to obtain gifts for his girlfriend, and that includes getting shot from cannons, smashed by hammers, crushed by boulders, electrocuted, fried or attacked by ghosts. You don't control Mittens directly; the object is to get him safely to his goal by cutting cords, pushing buttons, inflating monkeys (yes, really) and otherwise manipulating pieces of the environment at the right moment.

Do it right, and Mittens celebrates another victory. Do it wrong, and Mittens gets subjected to cartoon violence worthy of Wile E. Coyote. And, believe me, you will see the latter happen hundreds of times before you reach the end of the story; This game thrives on making trial and error as funny as possible.

The Reluctant Dragon Hits Netflix

I have to admit I didn't see this one coming: Netflix just added The Reluctant Dragon to its growing Disney lineup. This isn't merely the short film that's appeared on home video; this is the entire, unedited (and extremely unusual) 1941 feature film starring comedian Robert Benchley with appearances by Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, Norm Ferguson, Fred Moore and Clarence Nash as themselves.

A combination of live action and animation, the film is a wild hodgepodge of fact and fantasy as it presents a very Willy Wonka-like tour of various departments of the Walt Disney Studios, climaxing with the debut of the offbeat and very funny title story. Along the road to Walt's screening room, you'll laugh, groan, and say "What the --" a lot. And --a warning here -- you'll wince at a couple of unfortunate culturally insensitive moments. Speaking for myself, there are two specific seconds of film I wouldn't mind seeing removed.

Most of the movie, however, is a fascinating trip back through time to see how Walt Disney publicly presented his studio to the American public in June of 1941. It's not one of Disney's greatest films, but it contains many terrific moments, and the Dragon short is a mini-classic.

DIsney On Netflix: A List of the Available Films

As you probably know by now, Disney has signed a deal with Netflix to stream classic Disney films directly into homes. The first wave of titles has arrived on the service.

Update: More titles have appeared on the service, and we've added them to the list below, as well as to our Disney-on-Netflix page.

UPDATE NOTE: 02/23/14 - Added Brother Bear.

As of this writing, Netflix has no "Disney" category set up, nor any way to easily see a complete list of Disney films they've made available for streaming. Hopefully, this will be remedied in the near future.

In the meantime, I've dug around through the company's search engine and various categories to bring you this list of Disney titles that have recently made Netflix their home:

ANIMATED CLASSICS:

The Aristocats
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Brother Bear
Dumbo
The Emperor's New Groove
The Fox and the Hound
The Great Mouse Detective
Hercules
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
James and the Giant Peach
Lilo and Stitch
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Mater's Tall Tales
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
Mulan
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Pocahontas
The Reluctant Dragon
The Rescuers
The Rescuers Down Under
Robin Hood
The Sword in the Stone
Treasure PlanetWho Framed Roger Rabbit

More animated classics, such as Mr. Toad, Mickey and the Beanstalk and Paul Bunyan have recently been added as part of the Disney Animation series:

THE DISNEY ANIMATION SERIES

Vol 1: Mickey and the Beanstalk

     Mickey and the Beanstalk
     Brave Little Tailor
     Gulliver Mickey
     Thru the Mirror
     Mr. Mouse takes a trip

 Vol 2: The Three Little Pigs

     Three Little Pigs
     The Big Bad Wolf
     Three Little Wolves
     Lambert the Sheepish Lion
     Chicken little
     Three Blind Mouseketeers
     Elmer Elephant

Vol. 3:  The Prince and the Pauper

     The Prince and the Pauper
     The Pied Piper
     Old King Cole
     Knight for a Day (Goofy)
     Ye Olden Days (Mickey)

Vol. 4: The Tortoise and the Hare

     The Tortoise and the Hare
     Babes in the Woods
     The Saga of Windwagon Smith (A fantastic, rarely seen gem!)
     The Goddess of spring
     Toby Tortoise Returns
     Paul Bunyan (One of Disney's all-time best short films!)

Vol. 5: The Wind in the Willows

     The Wind in the Willows (also known as The Adventures of Mr. Toad)
     The Ugly Duckling
     The Robber Kitten
     The Grasshopper and the Ants
     The Wise Little Hen (Donald Duck's first appearance)
     The Golden Touch
      
DisneyToon and Direct-toVideo Animated Films

An Extremely Goofy MovieSnowed in at the House of Mouse
Mickey's House of Villains
Pocahontas II
Brother Bear 2
The Fox and the Hound 2
The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2
Kronk's New Groove
Leroy and Stitch
Lilo and Stitch 2
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally
Mulan II
Stitch the Movie
Tarzan and Jane
The Three Musketeers
The Tigger Movie
Tinkerbell
Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure
Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue
Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings
Phineas and Ferb: The Movie


Non-Disney Animation Released by Disney

The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue
The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

Major Live Action Films

The Avengers
Holes
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Escape to Witch Mountain
101 Dalmatians (live-action)
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
The Big Green
The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story (live action sequel)
I'll Be Home For Christmas
One Magic Christmas
Disney Nature: The Crimson Wing
Disney Nature: Wings of Life


Television Series

Phineas and Ferb
Dinosaurs
Tron Uprising
Schoolhouse Rock: Earth
Jake and the Never Land Pirates
Handy Manny
Jo Jo's Circus
Special Agent Oso

Non-Disney Films of Particular Interest to Disney Fans:

The Croods
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dr. Dolittle (Rex Harrison version)
 
I haven't included some recent Disney Channel Films and "Buddy" talking puppy adventures. Please check out our dedicated and continually-updated Disney-On-Netflix page, which includes some Disney titles which were on the service (and remain there) before this recent deal.

Netflix has just made the best move in the company's history. Let's see where they take it from here.