This mostly animated feature is a fairly good and entertaining introduction to the story of Peter and the Wolf. However, the music takes a back seat to the whole story when it really should be front and center.

The entire made-for-TV feature – which won an Emmy in 1996 – is 49 minutes in length and begins with a live action story with a grandfather (Lloyd Bridges) who is visited by his daughter (Kristi Alley) and grandson (Ross Malinger). After a somewhat mediocre beginning Grandfather begins to tell the story of Peter and the Wolf, which we see unfolding before our eyes with characters created by the legendary animator Chuck Jones.

The story – for those unfamiliar – is about a boy who saves the animals on his farm by outsmarting a devious wolf who has wandered onto the property. But one of the great things about the Peter and the Wolf album (and symphony) is that the music and the voice-over (which can presently be found as narrated by David Bowie) is how great it is as an introduction to classical music. Particularly the ingenuity with which Prokofiev assigning instruments to the characters; the flute is the bird, the oboe is the duck, the clarinet is the cat and three French horns make the wolf, etc.

The animation is not quite of the standard that Chuck Jones produced in his prime with Bugs Bunny and the story is geared more toward young children than his Merry Melodies work. But it is fun to watch.

This DVD doesn't really exploit Prokofiev's music as it should. It certainly would have been better had the filmmakers had considered making the film a bit more musical rather than mainstream. Or, at the very least, if the makers of the DVD had offered a music only track.

Video:
The DVD is presented in a regular television aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The colors are sharp and vivid in the animated section. In the live acting section the images are warmer and the location they shoot in utilizes a soft focus, which works well for family hour features.

Audio:
The audio is presented in English Dolby Digital. Unfortunately the music is in the background and instead we get a voice-over narration and character dialogue. There is some attempt to combine the music with the animation but it is very subtle. There are also French, Spanish and Portuguese language tracks with subtitles available in these languages too.

Extras:
There are some good extras on the DVD including The Musical World of Peter and the Wolf, which is a good 10 minute educational introduction to the orchestra and the various instruments played in the symphony. There is also a 12 minute making-of short titled Beyond the Meadow which includes interviews with some of the animators (including Chuck Jones) and filmmakers. The animated section offers something of note but the background live action section isn't much. The only other worthy extra is a musical game in which you can combine sounds of a musical instrument with live footage of animals such as a deer, an elephant, a snake etc. It's a clever little game that gives the viewer an idea of what music can do to enhance an image.

Overall:
This version of Peter and the Wolf is good even though it doesn't use the music of Prokofiev enough. The DVD is geared toward kids and most likely will only be enjoyed by kids although there is some humor in the animation that can be appreciated by anyone. The DVD has some good extras but it definitely would have been better served with a music only track that played the symphony. Or maybe somebody needs to make an animated feature that will be exclusive to the music. Until then this will have to do.