Pony that soars

“Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”

Matt Damon (narration); Bryan Adams (songs)

DreamWorks/Universal $27 DVD; $25 VHS

The digital edition of DreamWorks’ beautifully rendered animated tale of a magnificent mustang includes a course on how to draw a horse; a decent documentary on how “Spirit” integrated hand-drawn and computer-generated animation; storyboards; and decent commentary with the directors, Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook, and producer Mirelle Soira.

The DVD-ROM is the highlight of the disc, “Spirit’s Make-a-Movie Studio,” in which you can choose your own backgrounds, sounds, characters, music and clips from the film to create your own production. The DVD-ROM also enables you to create your own poster based on your movie and invitations to the “premiere” of your film.

*

“Sunshine State”

Edie Falco, Bill Cobbs

Columbia TriStar, $25

John Sayles’ films are always interesting and though this lengthy ensemble production isn’t one of his best, there are some inspired set pieces and nice performances from Falco, Cobbs, Mary Steenburgen, Angela Bassett, Timothy Hutton and Alan King. The low-key DVD includes a wide-screen edition of the film, the trailer and erudite commentary from the soft-spoken Sayles, one of our premiere independent filmmakers.

*

“Notorious C.H.O”

Margaret Cho

Wellspring, $20

Korean American comedian Margaret Cho’s appeal is a matter of taste. There are those who find her frank talk of sexuality a ribald hoot; others will find it more tasteless than funny. And the same can be said of this concert film taped last year in Seattle. The DVD includes deleted scenes with the Korean-born parents she’s always imitating; a politically incorrect but funny animated film, “Grocery Store”; an interview with Cho; and a brief “making of” featurette.

-- Susan King