This direct-to-video feature, which serves as a lead-in to the Disney animated TV series, continues the adventures of Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films--and introduces the new supporting cast. Buzz battles the evil Emperor Zurg, who steals the"Unimind", a device that enables three-eyed aliens to function as a single intellect. The aliens, referred to as"LGMs" (little green men), form the support crew that keep Star Command running, but as individual thinkers, they're inept. During the course of this tongue-in-cheek adventure, Buzz acquires the sidekicks who form Team Lightyear: Booster, an oversized, overeager alien; XR (short for"Experimental Ranger"), one of the aliens' less successful robot inventions; and the inevitable spunky girl, Princess Mira Nova of the planet Tangeah. The two-dimensional, hand-drawn figure of the three-dimensional, computer-generated Buzz recalls the animated versions of live performers who populated Saturday morning TV during the 1980s. This adventure is typical of current kidvid: it has more special effects and sight gags than the cartoons of 20 years ago did, but the violence-free battles feel very tame. Buzz Lightyear may engage kids who play with the toys, but it won't appeal to the adults who flocked to the brilliant Toy Story features. -- Charles Solomon, Amazon.com

Disney's take on this historical confrontation between European settlers and Native Americans follows the paths of two future lovers. One is British adventurer John Smith, who travels the Atlantic with the Virginia Company to establish Jamestown. On the shore is Pocahontas, a typical Disney heroine: bright, beautiful, mischievous and motherless. The two meet in the untamed wilds of America (the first meeting is quite divine), fall in love, and try to ward off the warring factions. It's Disney's version of a Native American West Side Story . Two Disney trademarks do not quite muster up: the villain isn't hissable and the score's only high point is the Oscar-winning"Colors of the Wind". Calling it"historical" is a stretch, but Disney created a very natural look at the two cultures. The Native American characters are handled especially well, and kids should be intrigued by their world; the movie is a far different lesson from the one their parents and grandparents learned. Disney has discovered a few things, though: you don't have to kill to solve your problems, and you can end the film without a happily-ever-after, illustrated by a touching final visual. (Ages 5 and older) -- Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

Developing positive self-esteem and persevering in the face of difficulties are fundamental parts of growing up, but when 12-year old orphan Lewis (Daniel Hansen and Jordan Fry) can't seem to get adopted or make his inventions work despite repeated efforts, he begins to seriously doubt himself and his abilities as an inventor. A CGI picture by Disney with great animation and a fresh vision of what the future might look like, Meet The Robinsons follows Lewis from his lonesome days at the orphanage to his crushing failure at the school science fair when his newly invented memory scanner won't work. Then, an odd boy named Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) shows up to warn Lewis about the mysterious"Bowler Hat Guy" (Stephen J Anderson) lurking around the science fair, an evil man Wilbur claims is from the future. The next thing Lewis knows, he and Wilbur are on route to the future via time machine. Once there, Lewis meets the very quirky, extended Robinson family with whom he feels oddly at home. As the search for the Bowler Hat Man and his constant companion Doris (Ethan Sandler) becomes more and more dangerous, the Robinson family becomes crucial in keeping Lewis safe.

In the end, Lewis returns to the present with a whole new inner strength, a sense of his place in the world, the knowledge that his actions directly affect others, and an optimistic determination to"keep moving forward." While comparisons with the Back to the Future films are inevitable, Meet the Robinsons stands apart from its predecessors as its own, thoroughly entertaining family film. --Tami Horiuchi

Treasure Planet , a pet project of Little Mermaid , Aladdin and Hercules codirectors Ron Clements and John Musker, is an ambitious animation hybrid (traditional animation combined with elaborate CGI backgrounds). It was the subject of numerous in-studio battles, but Disney office politics and a poor public reception shouldn't distract one from its many admirable qualities, not the least being its overall fidelity to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island . Curiously revamped as a sci-fi adventure with space-faring galleons, flintlock ray guns and extreme-sports attitude, it caters to a young audience for whom Stevenson's adventure is an undiscovered treasure, revving up the material with arcade-game excitements. It's entertaining, for what it is, and kids will surely enjoy it. Maybe next time, however, Disney will follow its own legacy and properly adapt Stevenson (as they did with their 1950 live-action classic) for a new, and hopefully receptive, generation. -- Jeff Shannon

Charlize Theron is the latest stunning blonde to be hanging around some big ape in a Hollywood movie, this one a remake of the 1949 semi-classic with echoes of the superior King Kong . Theron plays the daughter of an American researcher killed by poachers in Africa. The baby gorilla left in her care grows up to become a hugely tall and broad specimen named Joe, living in the mountains as a mostly unseen legend among people who live there. Along comes an eco-minded emissary (Bill Paxton) from a California sanctuary, who talks the jungle girl into providing safe haven for Joe at the LA facility. The transition is not without discomfort but everything is aggravated via a conspiracy of poachers to get Joe into their own greedy hands. Director Ron Underwood ( City Slickers ) uses a combination of special-effects techniques to give Joe life and personality, and he succeeds quite effectively. The requisite giant-ape-goes-amok scenes are all in place-a couple of them pretty intense--as is a conclusion that finds the simian hero performing a stunning feat of escalation. Underwood attempts to give a little modern spin to some classic Hollywood conventions regarding wild hearts lost in civilization and the results are pretty agreeable family fare. --Tom Keogh

What can two little mice possibly do to save an orphan girl who's fallen into evil hands? With The Rescuers anything is possible! As members of the mouse-run International Rescue Aid Society, Bernard and Miss Bianca respond to orphan Penny's call for help. The two mice search for clues and with the help of an old cat named Rufus they track Penny to the clutches of the evil Madame Medusa in a dilapidated ship in Devil's Bayou. It turns out that Medusa is using Penny to locate and retrieve the Devil's Eye Diamond--a stone she'll stop at nothing to possess. With a cunning plan, courageous acts, cooperation from local animal life and lots of faith, Bernard and Miss Bianca try to help Penny find the diamond and escape from Medusa. This somewhat dark, classic 1977 animated Disney film is based on Margery Sharp's book, The Rescuers and Miss Bianca , and features the Academy Award-nominated song"Someone's Waiting for You". Voice talents include Eva Gabor as Miss Bianca, Bob Newhart as Bernard, Geraldine Page as Madame Medusa and Jim Jordan as Orville Albatross. The sequel is The Rescuers Down Under . (Ages 5 to 11) -- Tami Horiuchi, Amazon.com

Less engrossing than its 2004 predecessor National Treasure , Jon Turteltaub's busy sequel National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets is nevertheless a colourful and witty adventure, another race against overwhelming odds for the answer to a historical riddle. Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage), the treasure hunter who feverishly sought, in the first film, the whereabouts of a war chest hidden by America's forefathers, is now charged with protecting family honour. When a rival (Ed Harris) offers alleged proof that Gates' ancestor, Thomas Gates, was not a Civil War-era hero but a participant in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Ben and his father (Jon Voight) and crew (Justin Bartha, Diane Kruger) hopscotch through Paris, London, Washington DC, and South Dakota to gather evidence refuting the claim.

The film is most fun when the hunt, as in National Treasure , squeezes Ben into such impossible situations as examining twin desks in the queen's chambers in Buckingham Palace and the White House's Oval Office, or kidnapping an American president (Bruce Greenwood) for a few minutes of frank talk. Helen Mirren, the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Actress, wisely joins the cast of a likely hit film as Ben's archaeologist mother, long-estranged from Voight's character but as feisty as the rest of the family. Returning director Turteltaub takes excellent advantage of his colorful backdrops in European capitals and the always-eerie Mount Rushmore, and oversees some wildly imaginative sets for this dramedy's feverish third act in an audacious and completely unexpected, legendary setting. If National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets doesn't feel quite as crisp and unique as its predecessor, it is still ingenious and wry enough to laugh a bit at itself. --Tom Keogh