Our next DVD takes us to the 1960�s and The Boys: The Sherman Brothers� Story. As any Mousketeer worth their ears knows, Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman are the incredibly prolific, Academy Award-winning songwriting team that contributed many magical tunes to such classic Disney films as The Parent Trap, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and, of course, Mary Poppins.

But what you may not know is that behind that �practically perfect� fa�ade of clever wordplay, memorable melodies and �supercalifragilistic� showmanship, the two brothers had a very different relationship in private. Directed and produced by their sons Gregory V. Sherman and Jeff Sherman, The Boys is a fascinating, bittersweet look at the joint career and very separate lives of the Brothers Sherman.

Sons of famed �Tin Pan Alley� songwriter Al Sherman, Bob and Dick�s pre-Disney days included such hit songs as �You�re Sixteen� and �Tall Paul�, the later sung by Annette Funicello, which brought �the boys� to the attention of Walt Disney. They were quickly hired as the studio�s first and only staff songwriters, penning songs not just for the movies but for television shows (Walt Disney�s Wonderful World of Color), cartoons (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree) and theme park attractions (�It�s a Small World�). Their crowning achievement was Mary Poppins, which won the Shermans two Oscars and a Grammy Award and secured their place in cinematic and pop culture history.

Following the death of Walt, Bob and Dick eventually left the studio and found further success in such family-friendly films as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy Come Home, Charlotte�s Web and Tom Sawyer. Later, they would see both Poppins and Chitty adapted to the musical theater stage.

Through it all, �the boys� remained a professional team even as they grew apart, their relationship as brothers fractured by their disparate personalities and incidents in the family that remain unclear. With this knowledge though, one can see the �fraying at the edges� between the two in archival footage, and they are very noticeably not interviewed together in the new sequences. Whatever the cause of their estrangement, one can�t help but hope for a happy ending, a reconciliation that, alas, never happens inThe Boys.

DVD bonus features include a host of featurettes that are basically deleted scenes, including segments on the Disney Studios during the 60�s, how Mary Poppins was cast, a look at Bob�s paintings, and a twelve song �Sherman Brothers� Jukebox�, which includes their rare commercial for �Der Wienerschnitzel�.

We now fast forward to the 1980�s for our third and final film, Waking Sleeping Beauty. This fascinating and fearless documentary is an eye-opening, warts-and-all expos� on the triumphs, trials and tragedies that shaped Disney�s �second golden age of animation�.

The decade was not a good one for the Disney Studios, particularly for the animation department (The Black Cauldron, anyone?). Costs were escalating and profits were down, making the company ripe for a takeover bid that would have seen all its assets, from its classic film library to its theme parks, sold off to the highest bidder. Something needed to be done to save Disney and turn the studio around, so Roy E. Disney did the unexpected: he invited outsiders into the Magic Kingdom.

When Hollywood executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg arrived, changes were made, many unpopular. The ultimate blow was when the animation department was unceremoniously evicted from the Burbank lot and relocated to a group of warehouses in Glendale. Yet from this adversity sprung a drive to prove themselves, granting this misfit team of artists the ability to produce a string of hugely popular worldwide hits, beginning with The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Just like any good Disney film, Waking Sleeping Beauty has its heroes� and its villains. It will be no surprise to most as to who the later is; Jeffrey Katzenberg�s reign at Disney is infamous. But it is the sad loses of fallen heroes Frank Wells and Howard Ashman that add an emotional resonance to the film, which is dedicated to them along with Joe Ranft and Roy E. Disney.

Don Hahn, the award winning producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, makes an impressive directorial debut with Waking Sleeping Beauty, which he also narrates. Refreshingly, Hahn forgoes the usual �talking head� interviews, instead relying heavily on recorded interviews and film footage from the time (including never before seen �home videos� taken by the animators) to tell his story. Even if one is familiar with the facts of this time period (there are several books on the subject), this �retroactive cin�ma v�rit� technique brings to life the events as they unfold in a uniquely compelling way.

Hahn and his co-producer, former Disney president Peter Schneider, provide even more �insider information� in their engrossing audio commentary, one of many DVD bonus features that enhance the main feature. Other supplements include the �making of� featurette �Why Wake Sleeping Beauty?� (which gives you a taste of Hahn�s dry humor), extended sequences featuring Howard Ashman, footage from several animation research trips, and animator Randy Cartwright�s three complete �studio tour� home movies.