Boom! Here are a few quick Blu-ray reviews; this time around, they're all animated films. (Check back tomorrow for reviews of the Black Swan and Tron Legacy Blu-rays.) I'm gonna keep these short, since (A) these discs have been out for a little while now, and (B) there's not much to say about any of 'em. (Super-short versions, even: Nausicaä = good; Incredibles = great; Tangled = kinda lame.)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984, dir. Hayao Miyazaki)—Miyazaki's second film is still one of his weirdest and/or coolest: set in a sometimes idyllic, sometimes nightmarish post-apocalyptic world full of giant bugs, fungus forests, and flying machines, it's still fresh, engrossing, and visually stunning. The only times it falls short, actually, are when it's compared to some of Miyazaki's more refined stuff, like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, but to be fair, pretty much everything falls short next to the best of Miyazaki.

For being 30 years old, Nausicaä looks solid, if not spectacular, on Blu-ray—but since it looked good on DVD too, your mileage with this release might vary. Special features-wise, there are a few featurettes about Nausicaä and Studio Ghibli; more interestingly, though, there's the ability to watch the entire film via a storyboard slideshow rather than the finished animation. I'm guessing that's for the pretty hardcore among us, though. This is a good release, sure, but if you've already got the DVD, you might have to put some effort into convincing yourself to upgrade.

The Incredibles (2004, dir. Brad Bird)—It's arguably the greatest superhero movie ever made, it's one of Pixar's best, and director Brad Bird is pretty much a total badass. (After animated films like this and The Iron Giant, he's making the jump to live-action with the next Mission: Impossible flick, which should prove... interesting.) If you're breathing, you've probably already seen The Incredibles, which probably means you already love it.

The best special feature here is The Incredibles Revisited: Filmmaker Roundtable, an insightful, too-brief, 20-minute-long conversation with Bird and several of the film's key players. They shoot the shit about the making of the film in a way that's honest and proud; looking back, it's clear they succeeded at their lofty goals, but it's made clear that at the time they were making the film, there was a really, really good chance that they'd fail spectacularly. The Incredibles looks phenomenal on Blu-ray—solid CG animation seems to be the one thing that can be counted on to always look good in HD, and this movie was already gorgeous to look at. It's a solid buy; like most Pixar stuff, you'll be glad to have it around.

Tangled (2010, dirs. Nathan Greno, Byron Howard)—Disney's 50th animated feature bore not only hefty expectations, but a hefty price tag—it cost $260 million, of which it only made back 200. Like 2000's The Emperor's New Groove, Tangled lifts liberally from classic Warner Bros. cartoons in an attempt to inject some much-needed adrenalin into the predictable Disney formula, but here, those attempts at irreverence sit awkwardly next to the standard Disney-princess-learning-Life-Lessons clichés. Tangled wants to be a hip reboot of the Rapunzel story, but it just ends up feeling like... well, Disney's Rapunzel. Also, a five-year-old did a better job reviewing it than I ever could.

Considering what I'm guessing was a pretty tumultuous making-of process, the Tangled Blu-ray is underwhelming, if predictably so—rather than targeting this release at grown-ups who might be interested in the story behind Tangled, this set is aimed directly at six-year-old girls who like to sing songs about being princesses*. The overlong film looks beautiful, at least—props to directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard for a fantastic color palette, as well as for nailing a successful blend of CG tech and Disney's trademark animation style—but aside from the eye candy and a few deleted scenes, there's not much here other than Untangled: The Making of a Fairy Tale, a chirpy look at the film hosted by the film's chirpy voice talent, Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi. I had to turn it off after three minutes, lest all the smilin' and joshin' inspire me to track down Rapunzel's tower just so I could throw myself off of it.

*I should be clear that I'm not this grumpy about all things Disney princess-y; for whatever it's worth, I once forced my girlfriend to watch Enchanted with me, because I really, really like Enchanted. So, y'know. There's that.