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The Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School - family and children's DVD / television DVD review
THE WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE:
WIZARD SCHOOL
Rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America curledupdvd.com rating: 3 1/2 stars
Actors: Selena Gomez, David Henrie, Jake T. Austin, Maria Canals-Barrera, David DeLuise
Director: Todd J. Greenwald   Studio: Walt Disney Home Video
DVD release: 29 July 2008   Runtime: 83 min. (1 disc)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
DVD features: Audio tracks (English - Dolby Digital Sound), "Work It Like a Wizard"


Joining the Disney Channel ranks of Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, etc., comes a new show featuring a family of wizards. This capitalizes on the Harry Potter phenomenon as well as adding another show to the Disney Channel that appeals to the "tween" crowd.

The idea of the series is that the three siblings, who all have magical powers at this point in their lives, must train for a competition that will eventually grant only one of them magical abilities as an adult. The oldest is Justin (David Henrie), who is serious and studious. Alex (Selena Gomez) is the middle child and only daughter, and she uses magic in every situation, often with results she doesn't count on. The youngest is Max (Jake T. Austin), and he is a troublemaker with a big mouth. Their dad, Jerry (David DeLuise), was once a wizard but now has no powers. Their mom, Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera), is a "mortal" with no powers, either.

This DVD contains four episodes that give the viewer a taste of the show. Since there have been 22 episodes produced, it feels a bit chintzy that there are only four on this disc, but that seems to be the Disney Channel norm. The episodes include:

  • "Wizard School, Part 1": Alex and Justin go to Wiz Tech for summer school. Justin does incredibly well, but what tricks does Dr. Evilini (Octavia Spencer) have up her sleeve?
  • "Wizard School, Part 2": Alex discovers that Dr. Evilini is definitely up to no good and wants to trick Justin out of his powers.
  • "Curb Your Dragon": Alex buys a dog that is actually a dragon, which causes some pretty interesting results.
  • "Disenchanted Evening": At school, Alex meets another student named T.J. (Daryl Sabara) who is allowed to use magic any time he wants. The kids want this same privilege, but it doesn't turn out like they imagine it would.

Only one bonus feature is included, "Work it Like A Wizard-Take a Spellbinding Trip Behind the Scenes With the Cast!" This is almost 10 minutes long, a look at the cast members both on set and off.

As I mentioned, this disc is a bit light on content. But if you have a Wizards fan in your house (as I do), it's a worthwhile addition to your DVD collection. My daughter has watched all of these episodes multiple times yet never seems to get tired of them. The jokes are cute and the storylines have some valuable life lessons, and overall The Wizards of Waverly Place is a decently entertaining series.
 

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reviewed by Melissa Parcel
   
         
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