DreamWorks Ultimate Holiday Collection [Blu-ray]

Nice to have something different than the old stop animation for Christmas kids movies.

I wanted to get a different kind of Christmas movie for my daughter. We have all the original Christmas movies a d we lived this it's really funny 😁

I just bought it for the KungFu Panda special, and it was worth it!

Good condition

Great Christmas movies

Sorry to write a review before the Blu-Ray set itself comes out, but someone posted a 1-star review and I figured I should balance things out. Despite the lack of Digital Copies (which admittedly is kind'a annoying), I'm happy to see all these specials are going to be collected on one set. Previously DreamWorks released them all separate, so it makes sense for them to finally be collected on one set. As if the TV specials weren't enough, they're also including the full-length, underrated feature film Rise of the Guardians. If that doesn't give you the most bang for your buck, then you're just not very jolly.It is now November as I update this review, and I now know why these movies have no Digital Copies; DreamWorks seems to have removed these specials from iTunes entirely. If you already purchased them there you can still watch them digitally, but it seems DreamWorks has played Grinch and stole these Christmas specials from the store. The only way you can watch'm now is either buying this bundle, or buying the individual DVDs that are like $5 a pop. The question it, is it worth the price? Let's take a look at these specials!Troll Holiday - Not only is this special the worst of the collection, it is one of the worst Holiday specials EVER! It's a half-hour long auditory assault with no substance to all the flashy, in-your-face style! The Trolls notice the Bergens have no Holiday of their own, so Poppy (Anna Kendrick), Branch (Justin Timberlake) and their friends take bus through a worm's butt to sing them a collection of annoying songs describing their own obnoxious Holidays. This is the entire special in a nut shell. I didn't think I could hate Justin Timberlake, but this special found a way, so thanks for that special! Do yourself a favor, and skip this one at all costs! There's nothing to 'Celebrate' with this one!Shrek the Halls - People have always proclaimed this as one of the worst Holiday specials of all time. Me personally, I think it's just okay. Granted, I did watch it after sitting through the painful experience that was Trolls Holiday, but this doesn't seem too bad. Shrek (Mike Meyers) has to put on Christmas for his family and has never done so before. It doesn't help that Donkey (Eddie Murphy at his Murphiest) invites himself and the rest of their Fantasy Tail friends over for festive fun. The real problem with this narrative is how cliche it is. The Shrek franchise has always taken cliches and given them a creative coat of paint to make them feel new, but that pain was not applied to anything here. Honestly the Halloween special was better, but this is far from being the swamp gas of Holiday specials.Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular - Remember that 'Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party' from the original Shrek movie? Think of this like that, only slightly more ear-grading. Eddie Murphy shouts songs of Christmas past in your face, the ogres fart, Gingie has an unfunny subplot about protecting a plate of lifeless gingerbread people, it's nothing special. The best part about all of this is that it's only seven minutes long. If you're already tired of Christmas carols, put this mule on mute.Merry Madagascar - This is actually my third favorite Holiday produced by DreamWorks. On the Eve before Christmas, our misfit band of mammals try once again to leave Madgascar only to be stopped by King Julian (Danny Jacobs) and the lemurs. When Alex (Ben Stiller) asks why, they explain that every year a Red Night Goblin comes and pelts them with mysterious black rocks. Said goblin shows up and Alex takes him down with a catapult, only for his friends to realize the rocks are coal and the Goblin is really jolly ol' Saint Nick. Having hit his head on the way down, Santa's struck with amnesia, leaving the task of delivering toys to our four furry heroes. This is a fun special that doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't really add anything to the Madagascar franchise as a whole. Still, the jokes are funny and Jim Cummings as a Russian reindeer is always a win. So make like Julian and move it, move it somewhere comfy to watch this!Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury - Onto my second favorite seasonal story of the collection, and for good reason. The Berkians are busy preparing for this own winter Holiday (which, of course, is suspiciously similar to Christmas) when all of the dragons just leave, save for Toothless. It's up to Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) must find out why while Astrid (America Ferrera) helps others to fill the festive void. Overall this is a nice addition to the Dragons franchise and fleshes out the world and helps to build up character moments in future movies. My only problem with this one is that it feels too short, like something else should've happened but didn't. Regardless, it's a charming story about two unlikely friends and their Holiday together. Do the same with your best buddy this year by watching this.Kung Fu Panda Holiday - Po (Jack Black) is put in charge of hosting the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace, only to be told that means he won't be spending it with his dad Mr. Ping (Jame Hong). Despite his best efforts, the Dragon Warrior fails in bringing his father to the festivities, and planning the Feast turns out to be a bigger undertaking than defeating Tai Lung. This special is the exact opposite of Trolls Holiday in every way. Not only is it my favorite special on this collection, it's one of my favorite Holiday specials ever! It's funny, the plot has a purpose that isn't just being loud and in your face, and is a nice segue between the first two Kung Fu Panda movies. Seeing Po go out of his way to please his dad gives even more emotion to their moments in Kung Fu Panda 2. The only problem this special has is one EVERY Kung Fu Panda production has: a lack of the Furious Five. Seriously DreamWorks, at this point you should just give these five their own freak'n film! While I wait for that to happen, I'll continue watching this AWESOME special!Home for the Holidays - Imagine you've never watched the Netflix show; you'd be surprised that no one from the movie's cast returned to reprise their roles, the continuity seems screwed up a bit, and it's animated in a way that's subpar for DreamWork's usual quality TV entertainment. Compared to She-Ra and Voltron, this special looks like fruitcake. Compared to Trolls Holiday though, this is far from the worst Holiday special. It's still loud, annoying, in your face, and the songs are superfluous, but at least the plot has a purpose outside of all that. Oh (not Jim Parsons) and Tip (not Rhianna) spend the season together and try to teach the Boove about Christmas, only to have the aliens almost destroy the planet cuz logic! This special is like a candy cane sugar rush; you'll be tripping out on bright flashes of red and green before swearing to never do that again. Stranger still, this is the longest special on the disc, clocking in at a little over 45 minutes. If this is what waits for me at Home, maybe I'll spend the Holidays elsewhere...

Whelp! I guess I should have read the fine print. I thought I was getting a 2 disk set of mini holiday movies. I already had the full length DVD of the movie so I didn’t get the value I was looking for.

There are several episodes of various holiday specials. The How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek, and Madagascar specials are the better ones. Some of the newer ones are not as good. The volume in some episodes can be an issue; the Trolls cartoon, in particular, can be very loud. The inclusion of the full length Rise of the Guardians film is a nice addition.