In Winter Still/Almond Blossoms

Boasting vivid, colorful computer animation reminiscent of the styles of the two Impressionist painters—Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh—at the center of these tales, In Winter Still/Almond Blossoms serves up beautiful-looking loose adaptations of famous short stories. “In Winter Still,” based on Oscar Wilde's “The Selfish Giant,” tells the tale of a selfish gardener working in Monet's legendary garden in Giverny who puts up a sign warning children to “stay out”—a mean-spirited act that plunges the garden into a state of perpetual winter until a child appears to usher in the rebirth of spring (the Christian symbolism is muted here), bringing back the colors that Monet so dearly loves. “Almond Blossoms,” based on O. Henry's “The Last Leaf,” is told through the eyes of a young girl—presumably Marguerite, the daughter of Dr. Paul Gachet, Van Gogh's physician in Saint-Remy, France in 1890—whose diary entries from May 26-July 20, 1890 chart the course of her mother's battle with pneumonia and her friendship with Van Gogh, who ultimately gives the family an extraordinary gift. DVD extras include text bios of the artists. Often visually stunning, this initial volume in the Painted Tales series—also available as two separate discs priced at $7.99 each—is highly recommended. Aud: E, P. (R. Pitman)