TVSquad

The same classic Disney cartoons that made up a television classic, The Wonderful World of Disney, are heading to DVD in six separate editions.

Even before the days of cable, Wonderful World ran on all three major networks at one time or another, racking up records as one of the longest running shows in TV history. While also featuring live action material, most episodes included short form animations that were once tacked onto Disney animated features in previous decades.

If not for that weekly television exposure, these older cartoons could have disappeared into vaults. Apart from Pixar, studios don't offer you animated short subjects before the opening credits roll.

Now, Disney made the smart move in using a comprehensive DVD line to keep these classic nursery rhymes and fables fresh in kids' minds.

The Walt Disney Animation Collection features the best of the studio's classic shorts arranged in roughly-themed sets. They include:

• Volume 1: "Mickey And The Beanstalk"
• Volume 2: "Three Little Pigs"
• Volume 3: "The Prince And The Pauper"
• Volume 4: "The Tortoise And The Hare"
• Volume 5: "Wind In The Willows"
• Volume 6: "The Reluctant Dragon"

Each volume includes additional titles, including "Lambert The Sheepish Lion," "Paul Bunyan," "The Ugly Duckling," and "Ferdinand The Bull."

While today's parents caught many of these on network TV, these DVDs could provide kids their first chance to see many of the brilliant, hand-drawn titles from Disney's past. And, to the studio's credit, even though many of these shorts originated in the 1930s, they still hold up and capture the imagination.

The only complaint is there are couple obvious titles left out of the collections that beg the question of whether they were canned for political correctness. For example, where's "Pecos Bill"? Did it not make the cut because it featured some dated takes on Native Americans? And where's "John Henry"? Hopefully, those American tall tales will make the next set.