REVIEW: 'Disney Short Films Collection' Makes Good Use Of 'Frozen' Trojan Horse

By Kyle Buis

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The cover of the "Walt Disney Short Films Collection" is a necessary evil.

While the dozen shorts that make up the collection are solid enough on their own, it's not easy selling them one-by-one or even in a package. Some have been included as special features on other, larger movies, while others ("John Henry") are making their second round on a Disney short film collection.

The success of "Frozen" clearly caught Disney off-guard, at least when it comes to the scale. It was hard to anticipate a movie that would have parents paying $1,000 for a replica dress online months after the its release. Disney needed to strike while the iron was hot—a full sequel would need a year or two in the pipeline before it was ready.

Thus "Frozen Fever" was born. Delightful as it was when it premiered before another Disney princess property—2015's "Cinderella"—packaging the 7-minute short wouldn't be easy. Seven minutes doesn't merit its own DVD, regardless of how popular it is.

I applaud Disney for what they decided to do next. Instead of tossing it in as another special feature for the "Cinderella" DVD release next month, the company opted to give it its own release, alongside 11 other short films from this century. The resulting package is a cavalcade of creativity in storytelling and animation. Clocking in at a still-brisk 79 minutes, the collection exposes audiences to more than the usual Disney fare.

Each of the shorts features a brief introduction from people who had a hand in creating them. They're mostly great insights, but part of me wishes they included more of this on the disc. Granted, the way it flows now with the introductions between shorts, children might get frustrated if they were any longer than 45 seconds to a minute. But that kind of behind-the-scenes look at storytelling could help inspire the next great movie writer.

This collection makes good use of the Trojan horse of "Frozen" to expose audiences to some of its shorter and more unique fare, and provide just over an hour of escape for audiences.