Four more episodes of the Selena Gomez starring “Harry Potter” lite show magically appear on DVD. Too bad that Unca’ Walt didn’t wave his magic wand and release them in season sets, but I’m sure that day is coming.
The Russo family is one with a secret. It’s not that they spit in the soup at their sandwich shop. Their father, Jerry Russo (David DeLuise), once had magical powers but gave them up to marry their mother, Theresa Russo (Maria Canals Barrera). The three children, Alex (Selena Gomez), Justin (David Henrie), and Max (Jake T. Austin), also have magical powers as well, but only one of them will get to keep them as an adult.
The three children are in training by their father on how to use their powers but only one of them will get to keep them after winning a magical competition. Jerry won his powers but gave them up to marry Theresa since wizards aren’t allowed to marry mugg… urm mortals. The kids aren’t supposed to use their powers without adult supervision, but that would make for a very boring show as the trio get into all sorts of mischief.
Credit Check: Alex's keen fashion sense leads her to begin an internship with a fashion magazine, but her employer takes credit for all of her ideas. She then plans a fashion show with best friend Harper's (Jennifer Stone) distasteful clothing style to take revenge on him. Meanwhile, Justin tries to impress the new girl working at the Sub Station.
Smarty Pants: Alex joins Harper for the Tribeca Quiz Bowl, an academic decathlon. To help give her an edge in the competition Alex wears magical "smarty pants," which give her superior knowledge on everything there is to know.
The team is winning, but Alex's cheating could cost Harper the opportunity to academically lose. After she takes off her pants, she realizes that she has skeleton legs because she had the pants on too long. Meanwhile, Max and his friend Alfred think they can sell bottled water from the school's water fountain that everybody says tastes the best.
Beware Wolf: Justin falls for a new girl who he met on WizFace, however what he doesn't know is that she is a werewolf, and it is revealed that he took a Centaur to WizProm. When he kisses her, he becomes a werewolf as well. Meanwhile, Max and Alfred start a dog-walking business to earn money for cups on a chain.
Graphic Novel: Justin and Max steal Alex’s diary only to have it stolen again by Gigi (Skyler Samuels), Alex’s arch nemesis. In an attempt to recover the diary, the brothers accidentally place Gigi inside the book and into Alex’s secret fairy-tale princess world.
The Wizards of Waverly Place is the staring vehicle for Selena Gomez. She got her start on some other Disney shows, Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana, and this show is her chance to rocket to Disney Channel stardom.
It appears to have worked as the show is popular. I know my kids loved it. I, on the other hand, bristle at the over-the-top acting that’s rife on the channel. Since I’m just usually held hostage in the living room while the kids are watching and not the target audience I’m positive that Disney isn’t going to worry about me.
This release is the second volume of the show and features one show from season one (Credit Check) and the rest are from season two. In their usual style, Disney is releasing “best of” collections and will eventually release the full season at a later date.
See the “Hannah Montana” model, the show also follows the same model but adds in some magic ala Harry Potter. I’m not sure that I’m mesmerized by the spell that the young cast tries to cast, but the kids were hooked.
Wizards of Waverly Place is presented in fullscreen. The only special features is a “Backstage Disney” featurette on the fashions used on the show and trailers for other Disney DVDs.
It wasn’t magical for me, but your kids will be enchanted. The show will eventually come in season sets, but until then you can get this collection and plop them in front of the television till then (though by then they might’ve grown out of the show – Disney might need to rethink their releasing model).
The Wizards of Waverly, Vol. 2: Supernaturally Stylin' is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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