Dreamworks animation has created enough Christmas themed specials and shorts that it felt a compilation was worthy of being released. The result is Dreamworks Animation Holiday Classics. While the title may be stretching things a bit with the use of the word “classic” this is a solid offering of holiday shorts – but it doesn’t quite match up to the earlier Halloween offering just a little while ago from the studio.
Included on the Blu-ray are:
Shrek The Halls
Merry Madagascar
The Penguins Of Madagascar: A Christmas Caper
Dragons: Gift Of The Night Fury
Shrek The Halls and Merry Madagascar were broadcast on television and previously available on DVD. Dragons: Gift Of The Night Fury looks like it is an episode of the television series based on the film.
The Shrek special is good, capturing the spirit of the season. Madagascar’s offering is less “Spirit of Christmas” oriented and more like a Christmas themed skit. The penguins bit, from the television series, is exactly what it is meant to be – a skit, an entry in the sitcom style of the series. Dragons is less Christmas oriented and more “Viking Winter Holiday” oriented, but that doesn’t diminish the impact. Actually, it’s a pretty good offering, and while it doesn’t really have a lesson, there are gifts, friendship, and a few talking points to go over with your kids if so inclined.
If you’ve been collecting the various DreamWorks properties on DVD and Blu-ray, you may wonder if this collection is worth it. Despite much of this being previously available on disc, as well as having just over an hour of run time, I do recommend DreamWorks Holiday Classics. Having all of the themed shorts collected together makes for a nice package and provides a nice alternative to rewatching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the 5th time in a week.