I remember sitting in the theater in November thinking Planet 51 would look amazing in Blu-Ray. Sure enough, it does and because of the intense detail in this film’s animation, it’s especially fun to watch at home.

The Blu-Ray isn’t exactly loaded with special features, but what they do have is done well. The deleted/extended scenes (2:50) are all brief moments cut from when Lem hides Chuck in his house. While all of it is pretty minor, it’s nice to at least see these bits in completely finished form. Most of the time, deleted scenes from animated films end up being just animated hand-drawn rough storyboards. Here, they’re finished in great detail. Because these bits are so brief, it would have been nice to have the option to watch them within the finished film. There’s also the Target 51 Game, which utilizes your player’s remote for directing your spaceship out of harm’s way. There are several gameplay modes once you start, the easiest being shooting alien ships out of your way, the hardest being a small pod needing to avoid and fire upon debri and alien ships coming at you. It’s not especially exciting, but kids might enjoy it.

The World of Planet 51 (2:54) – is merely a panning of the different backdrops and scenery from the film. It feels a bit thrown together / lifeless since there’s no narrative, but it does give fans of the film a chance to look a little closer at what’s going on behind the action: the detailed alien designs of the houses, the clever play on the 1951 stylizing, etc.

Life On Planet 51 (12:04) – This is the first real featurette. It opens with part of the trailer for the film, and then features Dwayne Johnson, the voice of Chuck, explaining the story. From there, the real meat of the featurette showcases the voice talent in the film, and gives a look at each central character and their performers. We then get a fun look into the animation process, storyboarding, and learn that this project has been seven years in the making!

Dwayne Johnson voicing astronaut Chuck Baker

Planetarium – The Voice Stars of Planet 51 (3:18) – This little featurette features a little more of Justin Long, Jessica Biel, and Dwayne talking about their individual characters, interwoven with actual footage from the movie. Oddly enough, some of the footage and interviews repeat slightly, but it’s still a fun bonus. It probably could have been made part of the “Life On…” featurette or expanded on more, but is still a nice little addition.

Planet 51 Music Video Montage (2:11) – This is kind of a pointless featurette, utilizing clips from the movie set to song clips.

Animation Progression Reels (15:53) – The final major bonus feature is a pretty cool look at the progression of animation for several scenes — from the drawn storyboards to two levels of groundwork animation, to the final film animation…. four full panels playing simultaneously on the sceen. Animation buffs will especially find this fascinating. It’s also really neat to see how the initial idea changed over time and the variations in details in the background, foreground, and characters.

All in all, Planet 51 makes a great Blu-Ray package. For Cloudy With a Chance Of Meatballs, Sony only allowed the digital download of the movie available for people with PS3 systems. Thankfully, the Planet 51 DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital Copy package fixes this by allowing it for iTunes as well as Windows Media Player. You can easily port this sucker to your iPod if you want to! And if you don’t have a blu-ray player just yet, a DVD combo like this one is a smart buy as you look to the future. Your family will be happy you have both versions if you ever make the hyperjump to HD.