The MousePlanet Mailbag is a regular compilation of some of our reader feedback and writer responses that may be of interest to our readers. We encourage you to drop your questions, opinions, or comments to us in care of our mailbag.
Staff writer Lisa Perkis starts off this week’s mailbag answering mail from her recent reviews of two DVDs, Becoming Jane and The Game Plan.
Gina writes:
I saw Becoming Jane in the theater. I am also a Jane Fan. (I hope you are catching some of the new adaptations on Masterpiece Theater!) Your review of the casting and the film in general were dead on! Ann Hathaway is lovely, but I’m not convinced she’s Jane.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I have been enjoying the new Masterpiece versions–especially Northanger Abby. My Tivo recorded Miss Austen Regrets but deleted it before I had a chance to watch it, so I hope they air it again. I had wanted to compare it to Becoming Jane.
Cindy writes:
I was disappointed to see your low scores on this movie. I thought it was great when I saw it last fall and loved it again when we bought the DVD. I am way past your age group of those you said would probably enjoy it but I do enjoy the Disney Channel every now and then. Just curious, what did you think of Enchanted? I had a hard time with that one. Too corny! And I was really looking forward to it.
I didn’t totally pan The Game Plan–I did give it three stars out of five. And I sit and watch the Disney Channel with my kids quite a bit. But I had to laugh when I read your email, because I was a huge fan of Enchanted and saw it in the theatre three times. I loved Amy Adams–I felt she was overlooked for an Oscar nomination, to tell you the truth. I never felt her performance was too sickly sweet–I believed everything she did, right down to breaking out in song in Central Park.
Just goes to show–movie reviews are totally subjective.
Cindy replies:
Thanks for your response! I’m going to have to give Enchanted another chance. Several of my friends (40+ age range!) enjoyed it also; maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind that day! Do we know when it is coming out on DVD yet? By the way I love all the info your gang puts out on this website, I look forward to reading every morning!
Enchanted is coming out March 18th. Give it another try and see if you can find all the references to past Disney princesses and villains–that made the movie even more special for me. Take care and thank you for the great feedback.
Dan F. writes:
I greatly appreciate the DVD reviews on MousePlanet. On the surface, it is an excellent formula that clearly describes each facet of a movie. Even more so, the reviewers are sensible, and after every review I am in total agreement with Lisa. Lisa truly gets the family oriented viewpoint – not too much, not too little and expertly weaves in a true understanding of the total entertainment experience. I would rank her & fellow Mouse Planet reviewers (mainly that doctor) light years above the current set of bloggers and place her within the ranks of a Leonard Maltin or a Gene Siskel. Keep up the good work!
Wow! Leonard Maltin? I’m blushing. Seriously though, thank you so much for your feedback. We DVD and screen reviewers are a lonely bunch, wondering if anyone actually reads our opinion or cares whether the audio commentary is a tad too self-congratulatory. It’s nice to know that someone out there is interested.
Staff writer Lani Teshima answers the next letter this week, which is from a reader interested in registering his group for the 2009 Walt Disney World marathon.
Bill K. writes:
I am a coach and marathon runner for the children with diabetes organization (www.childrenwithdiabetes.com) and am working with a team of type 1 diabetic marathon runners to coach a group of children (over 18) who also have diabetes. We have eight of our twelve coaches signed up for the marathon and we have two coaches signed up for the half with more coming this weekend. What we need is a reserve of ten entries for the half marathon and ten for the whole. I’m not sure how quickly the full marathon will fill up and close but I am more concerned about the half. Can you help?
Registration is already open for the 2009 endurance events for January 2009, so you are in luck.
If what you need is to hold some slots and you can guarantee payment on them but you do not know the names of the participants yet, my suggestion is that you contact Disney, since MousePlanet is not officially affiliated with Disney or the organizers of the Disney marathons. I do know that a number of different non-profit fundraising organizations have participants in the marathon events.
Since the half-marathon is already 75% full, it is rather important that you try to contact them as soon as possible. The event Web site has a contact page where you can send them an email; my suggestion is that you do so today, even if you don’t have the exact final count or the names of your participants.
The full marathon tends to take longer to fill, and historically is usually open until the summer. However if you wish to grab some spots for both events, I suggest you discuss this with them at the same time.
It’s quite possible that you might be able to make special arrangements so that you can have some sort of official presence there (In addition to the official Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, there are a number of other organizations that go there as official representatives to the event).
Good luck!
On another Walt Disney World-related topic, Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix answers a reader’s question regarding using WDW tickets for admission into Disneyland.
James D. writes:
We have three park hopper passes for Walt Disney World that have three days left on them. They were purchased in November 2006. We are visiting Disneyland in June of this year and were wondering if the park hopper passes purchased in Disneyworld are also good for admission at Disneyland. I’ve done some research and I’m getting conflicting answers.
The answer depends on what type of ticket you purchased at Walt Disney World. If you have the Magic Your Way base ticket with the no-expiration option, then you can use any unused days at the Disneyland Resort. I was told that you should proceed directly to the Main Entrance of the park you are visiting first and present them at the turnstile. The Cast Member there will call for assistance and you will receive a Disneyland ticket in exchange for one admission on your WDW ticket. Since you said that you had purchased the park-hopper option at WDW, then you will receive a Disneyland Resort park-hopper ticket.
Again, this assumes that your WDW tickets did not expire, and still have valid admissions remaining on them. Walt Disney World annual passes are not accepted for admission at the Disneyland Resort. Have a great trip!
Finally, one reader wrote in with her review of The Little Mermaid musical, currently playing on Broadway in New York City.
Lisa C. writes:
On Tuesday night I saw “The Little Mermaid” at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. What a spectacular show! Sierra Boggess is the perfect Ariel (and believe me, I was skeptical about someone taking on this iconic character). She has a really beautiful voice and she really captures Ariel’s spirit. The show differs some from the movie, in many case, to showcase new songs. One of them, “She’s In Love”, was actually one of my favorite parts of the show. What l liked about several of the new songs is that they made use of some of the instrumental music featured in the film.
We had front row center seats (bought them last June!) so we were able to see everything up close and personal. Not seeing the floor of the stage helped the illusion of being “under water” work even more.
I would definitely recommend going to see it if you get the opportunity.
There has also been some discussion of this musical on the MousePad discussion board in this thread.
Member slydini called it a “huge disappointment” that “felt overblown and amateurish.” However, mom22gls disagreed with him, stating, “I think it was a great show for kids. Both my daughters, age 6 and 9, enjoyed it very much, as did my own mother (70 something) and myself (40 something).”
Join in on the discussion on our board, or write in with your own review of this show or comments on any other topic to mailbag@mouseplanet.com. We’d love to hear from you!
