A Disney Treasure Trove of DVDs on Walt’s 100th

Wednesday marked what would have been the 100th birthday of Walt Disney. And in honor of his centennial, Disney Home Video has released the “Walt Disney Treasures” on DVD. Baby boomers who grew up watching “Disneyland” and “The Wonderful World of Color” on TV will be thrilled with these four two-disc sets ($33 each).

Film historian Leonard Maltin, author of “The Disney Films,” is the breezy and congenial host of the series, which features episodes from the Disney TV shows, Mickey Mouse color cartoons from the ‘30s, the “Silly Symphonies” cartoons and all five episodes of “Davy Crockett.”

One of the sets, called “Disneyland, U.S.A.,” features four episodes from Disney’s two prime-time TV series, all of which deal with Disneyland. The episodes:

* “The Disneyland Story” from 1954, the premiere of ABC’s “Disneyland,” offers an overview of the television series and a sneak preview of Disneyland, which was still under construction.

* “Dateline Disneyland” was a 90-minute live presentation of the opening of Disneyland on July 17, 1955. Hosted by Art Linkletter, Robert Cummings and Ronald Reagan, it features Disney (who gets a little miffed at one point when he is given the wrong cue), a star-studded parade down Main Street, a performance by Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and tons of guest stars, among them Irene Dunne, who christens the Mark Twain. Technically, the show is a mess, but it’s a wonderful trip down memory lane.

* “Disneyland After Dark,” a 1962 installment of NBC’s “The Wonderful World of Color,” finds Disney leading a tour of the park at night. Guest stars include Annette Funicello (who sings “Dance Annette”), Bobby Rydell, Louis Armstrong and, in their first TV appearance, the Osmond Brothers.

* “The Disneyland Tenth Anniversary Show,” from early 1965, features Disney previewing new attractions, including the rides It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The second set of “Treasures” is “Mickey Mouse in Living Color,” featuring 26 beautifully restored Mickey Mouse Technicolor cartoons, from 1935 to ‘38, including his first color short, “The Band Concert.”

“Silly Symphonies,” the third volume of the anthology, features 36 of Disney’s early animal musical films, in both black-and-white and lush color, including “The Wise Little Hen,” which features Donald Duck’s first appearance; 1932’s “Flower and Trees,” Disney’s first short in color and an Oscar winner for best cartoon; “The Three Little Pigs” and the Oscar-winner “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

The final “Treasures” set, “Davy Crockett,” features all five episodes of the 1954-55 “Disneyland” miniseries, which became a cultural phenomenon. Not only did it make Parker a star as the man who killed his first bear when he was only 3, it caused nearly every kid in America to want a coonskin cap. Even the song, “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” was on the hit parade for six months. Though the program isn’t exactly politically correct by today’s standards, Parker and Buddy Ebsen, who plays his buddy, George Russell, are wonderfully engaging. As part of the birthday celebration, Disney Home Video is releasing the documentary “Walt: The Man Behind the Myth” ($20, VHS only), which premiered in September on ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney.”

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Disney’s birthday isn’t the only anniversary this week. Friday marks the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the “date which will live in infamy.” Accordingly, Touchstone Home Video has released two editions--on both VHS and DVD--of its summer hit, “Pearl Harbor,” which grossed $450 million worldwide despite generally negative reviews. Michael Bay directed this lavish Jerry Bruckheimer production that stars Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale and features a riveting re-creation of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The “60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition of ‘Pearl Harbor’” ($25 VHS; $30 for DVD), however, is a disappointment. There is no commentary from director Bay or Bruckheimer or even the stars. You’ll have to wait until May 14 for those features in a four-disc edition.

The current two-disc DVD set features a pristine wide-screen transfer of the film; a comprehensive documentary about the making of the movie; a historical documentary; a Faith Hill music video; production notes; trailers and talent files. The two-volume VHS set includes the historical documentary and the Hill video.

Also available on video ($40) and DVD ($50) is a gift set that includes “National Geographic Beyond the Movie: Pearl Harbor” and a commemorative map.

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With the sequels to the 1999 hit “The Matrix” due next year, Warner Home Video has released “The Matrix Revisited” (VHS, $15; $20 for DVD), a preview of the two sequels and a fairly entertaining documentary on the making of the first film. The DVD includes three hours of extra footage and hidden features.

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Universal Home Video has two new made-for-video films for the youngsters: “Beethoven’s 4th” and “The Land Before Time: The Big Freeze” ($20 for VHS; $25 for DVD).

“Beethoven’s 4th,” based on the 1992 feature film “Beethoven,” is the second made-for-video sequel. Judge Reinhold and Julia Sweeney return from “Beethoven’s 3rd” as the married couple with two kids who are baby-sitting the slobbering but adorable St. Bernard while Beethoven’s owners are in Europe. This slapstick-laden farce has Beethoven changing places with a very rich, snooty, well-behaved, identical-looking pooch, Michelangelo. The real star of the movie is Stanley, the St. Bernard, who is a deft comic and seems to be able to drool on cue.

“The Land Before Time--The Big Freeze” is the eighth installment in the popular animated series about those adorable young dinosaurs, including Spike, Ducky and Petrie. In this entertaining entry, snow engulfs the Great Valley and, while the youngsters enjoy playing in the white stuff, the adults soon realize it is a threat to their food supply and existence. The DVD includes a lot of extras for the kids, including sing-a-long songs, read-alongs and a seek-and-find game.