The Lion King Diamond Edition with Disney Second Screen – review and giveaway

I love watching a movie and having behind-the-scenes information to read and share. With the video release of The Lion King Diamond Edition on October 4th, I got all the inside scoop I wanted to thanks to the added bonus of watching the movie with Disney Second Screen.

This interactive feature allows viewers to watch the movie while also interacting on an iPad or laptop that’s synched to the movie playing on your television. I love the features of Disney Second Screen, but what I can’t believe is that it’s absolutely free. Disney created this completely interactive, informative feature for their movies, and don’t charge you anything extra to use it. Gotta love free stuff!

(Speaking of deals, Disney Movie Rewards is offering a $5 off – $8 off for our Canadian readers – coupon here.)

Using Disney Second Screen is easy

Instead of simply watching the movie, select “Play With Disney Second Screen” when starting your movie. Then access the Disney Second Screen by going to disneysecondscreen.com from your laptop or iPad and select the movie you’re watching. I selected The Lion King (obviously) and synched the video to my laptop. As I watched the movie I also got perfectly synched screen shots of artwork, ink and drawing activities, scene scramblers (my favorite!), quotes, and interview snippets about the movie.

I used my laptop, since I don’t own an iPad and the interaction worked beautifully. I had the chance to use an iPad and Disney Second Screen when I attended The Lion King 3D event in Los Angeles last month, and it made me want an iPad even more! It works well on my computer, but I’m not able to pinch and zoom with my computer as I would with an iPad.

Getting caught up in the fun of Disney Second Screen

Being a bit of an artist myself – but nothing as talented as the folks at Disney – I love seeing the original artwork created as research and development for a film. These drawings and paintings are gorgeous works of art and now I have access to see these creations. If not for Disney Second Screen, much of this artwork would never be seen by folks outside of the Disney animation studios. This gives us all the chance to view these beautiful galleries of talent.

As I used Disney Second Screen, I got caught up in some of the activities and was able to pause the synching of the movie with my interaction, so I could keep myself current in the stream. Disney Second Screen is available with other Disney movies including: Bambi, Tron Legacy, and will be available with Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides soon. I know I’ll be using this feature with these other moves as well. Like I said before, I love getting the inside scoop!

Now, thanks to the Disney Second Screen, I can view The Lion King with all the background information and activities I could possibly want. With my technology-loving boys, however, using Disney Second Screen often turns into Disney Second and Third Screen as we have more than one device accessing the information as the movie is playing!