Storyboard:

Frosty returns in the animated sequel to Frosty the Snowman with his wife Crystal, while Jack Frost grows jealous.

The Sweatbox Review:

When it comes to favorite Holiday characters, Frosty the Snowman ranks amongst one of the most beloved by children. The 1969 Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Frosty the Snowman, has become a perennial holiday favorite ever since its original television debut. Based on the hit Gene Autry and The Cass County Boys song of the same name, Frosty the Snowman tells the story of a snowman that comes to life after a magic hat is placed upon his head. Frosty then goes on to play with the local children and they have a great time before he has to go away. The television special was so successful that it spawned a sequel in 1976 called Frosty’s Winter Wonderland which has just been re-released by Warner Bros. on DVD in time for the Holidays.

In this sequel, Frosty keeps his promise from the end of the original special and returns to visit the children who originally created him. Frosty has been living in the North Pole during the warm spring and summer and decides it is time to return when he hears the first snow of the season is about to fall. Upon his arrival, the children are very excited and they have a great time playing in the snow. However, after overhearing the children having so much fun playing with Frosty, Jack Frost becomes jealous of all the attention he is getting. Jack sees winter as his time of the year, and vows to reclaim his rightful place in winter celebrations. In the meantime, the children realize that Frosty is getting lonely and together they create a snow wife for him called Crystal. At first she does not magically come back to life, but after Frosty gives her a bouquet of flowers, his gift stirs her to life. Jack Frost then decides that he will spoil all the celebrations by stealing Frosty’s magical hat and ruining his plans with Crystal. Without giving everything away, I think it is safe to say that the story ends well with all sides happy in the end.

As sequels go, what sets Winter Wonderland apart is the participation of some of the same people who worked on the original special. Both specials were written by Romeo Muller. While the new special was narrated by Andy Griffith instead of Jimmy Durant, two of the main voice actors from the original returned for the special. Jackie Vernon returned as the voice of Frosty, and veteran voice actor Paul Frees returned as the Policeman and as the voice for Jack Frost. Rounding out the cast was actress Shelley Winters who provided the voice for Crystal. The creators also included a classic tune to the show to make it memorable with the cast singing “Winter Wonderland”. The song is played at Frosty and Crystal’s wedding which is fitting given the lyrics to the tune.

Is This Thing Loaded?

The disc opens up with a trailer for a collection of Peanuts Holiday Specials and for How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 50th Birthday Deluxe Edition. In the Special Features section of the DVD are also trailers for Dolphin Tale and Santa’s Magical Stories.

The only real feature on this DVD is a featurette called “Frosty and the Story of the Snowman” (9:22). The featurette mostly consists of author Bob Eckstein (“The History of the Snowman”) talking about the origin of the snowman and how it evolved over time. He also goes into how Frosty became the iconic image of the classic snowman. Apparently, Frosty was quite the trendsetter and popularized the building of snowmen by children around the world (at least where there was snow). Sprinkled throughout the featurette are some great historical photos and footage of snowmen in history and film along with some trivia. While short, the featurette is entertaining and provides some interesting commentary on the history of snowmen.

Case Study:

The movie comes housed in a standard black DVD keepcase. The cover features Frosty’s face prominently with the rest of the cast featured on the back. Across the top of the cover is a red band that reads “Remastered” and “Deluxe Edition.”

Ink And Paint:

According to the cover, this is a “remastered” edition of the special. It is included here in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The quality of the print is okay given the age of the show, but I am not sure what “remastered” has anything to do with it.. The animation on the show is vibrant and features character designs that are very reminiscent of the original special. The movie has a total running time of 25 minutes.

Scratch Tracks:

The movie is being released here with English and Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 tracks. The sound quality is just okay, especially when you consider they are calling this a “Deluxe Edition.” English, French, and Spanish subtitles are also available.

Final Cut:

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland does not rank high on my list of favorite Christmas specials. In fact, I did not even remember it at first when I heard the name of the special. However, while watching it, I realized I had already seen it before. It is not as charming as the original special, although it does try to recreate the magic. The story is cute, but ultimately not very memorable. I liked the idea of having the song “Winter Wonderland” as the backdrop to Frosty’s wedding as it fits completely with the story being told. My least favorite part of the story is the Jack Frost portion. While he initially is labeled as the villain for the story, he is really ineffective and the story resolves his jealousness towards Frosty much too quickly. After the conflict is resolved halfway through the show, the plot keeps evolving into a completely different movie which almost made it seem like another sequel. While this kind of works on television where you have commercials breaking up the plot, it is a bit jarring to watch as one continuous show. It is not a bad special by any means, but just does not rank as one of the best.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

A new superhero group is born when Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Wasp, and Ant-Man join forces to become The Avengers.

The Sweatbox Review:

Superheroes are everywhere this year. With the glut of films and animated series surrounding them, I am surprised people have not yet gotten tired of them. In the past year alone, we have had almost half a dozen new superhero shows premiering on television. This is from both DC and Marvel, propelled by their parent companies WB and Disney. Marvel in particular has seen a great surge in animated properties in the past few years with <Wolverine and the X-Men, Iron Man: Armored Adventures, and The Super Hero Squad Show in 2009. That doesn’t even include the animated DTV releases for Hulk and Thor that have come out or been announced recently. In theaters, we have seen Iron Man come out twice, the Hulk being reinvented, Wolverine coming out with his own movie and have seen more X-Men, Thor and Captain America films just this summer. Those that have followed the news know that Marvel has been planning an Avengers film for years and it was recently announced that it would finally come out in 2012 (the first Marvel Studios production to be distributed theatrically by Disney). It is no coincidence then that Marvel and Disney have partnered up to increase awareness of the property through not just one but two animated series featuring characters from the upcoming Avengers movie.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes premiered last fall on Disney XD with a series of mini-episodes that aired throughout the channel’s programming lineup. Together, they gave fans an introduction to the world of the Avengers and the heroes and villains that inhabit it. In this new series, The Avengers are made up of a core group of superheroes that include Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Wasp, and Ant-Man. While the first three are familiar faces to many fans, the last two are less-known to non-comic book devotees. However, both were introduced in the comics in 1963 and have made regular appearances in Avenger-themed comics and animated series ever since. These mini episodes alternated between the different characters, but when placed in order gave us the important highlights of each character’s life, struggles, and challenges. This all led up to the official two-part series premiere called Breakout when the heroes gather together to fight against the villains that have escaped from four S.H.I.E.L.D. high-security prisons. The micro-episodes have been gathered here in order for each character instead of alternating between characters like in the original broadcast and they are featured as follows:

Iron Man Is Born! – made up of Iron Man is Born! , HYDRA Lives! , Behold, the Mandroids! , and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Thor The Mighty – made up of Thor the Mighty, The Siege of Asgard, My Brother, My Enemy, and The Isle of Silence.
Hulk Versus The World – made up of The Coming of the Hulk, Hulk Versus the World, This Monster, This Hero, and Beware the Widow’s Bite.
Meet Captain America – made up of Meet Captain America, The Red Skull Strikes! , If This Be Doomsday! , and Lo, There Shall Come a Conqueror.
The Man in the Ant Hill – made up of Wasp and Ant-Man episodes The Man in the Ant Hill, Enter the Whirlwind, The Big House, and Welcome to Wakanda.

As mentioned, the series actually begins with the two part episode entitled Breakout. In this episode, our heroes (minus Captain America who is still frozen in ice at this point) who have been battling villains around the world finally come together to defeat the supervillain named Gravitron who has escaped from a maximum security prison run by S.H.I.E.L.D. However, the only way to defeat him is to unite their powers so that they can be a match against Gravitron’s superpowers. After becoming a team, the show develops in the second volume as the team moves into Tony Stark’s mansion in New York (Some Assembly Required) and continues to expand with the addition of member Captain America (who is discovered frozen in the Arctic in Living Legend) and allies Black Panther (Panther’s Quest) and Hawkeye (Gamma World). The characters also get a chance to develop and my favorite episode for this is Some Assembly Required when we get inside the Hulk’s mind as we get to see Hulk and Bruce Banner’s internal dialogue. Another great episode is the two-part Gamma World episode where we go deeper into Black Widow’s deceit and Hawkeye’s attempt to understand what happened.

Volume One

Iron Man Is Born!
Thor The Mighty
Hulk Versus The World
Meet Captain America
The Man in the Ant Hill
Breakout: Part 1
Breakout: Part 2

Volume Two

Some Assembly Required
Living Legend
Everything Is Wonderful
Panther’s Quest
Gamma World: Part 1
Gamma World: Part 2

Is This Thing Loaded?

Aside from trailers for Thor, Cars 2, Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension, Thor: God of Thunder (Video Game), Captain America: Super Soldier (Video game), and the new The Lion King release, each volume also features a short featurette about the show. Volume one features “New Looks, New Heroes” (7:33) which features supervising producer Joshua Fine and story editor Christopher Yost talking about how the characters evolve for the second season of the show. Volume two features “New Stories, New Threats” (5:59) which basically hints at what is in store for season two of the show. While I appreciate the inclusion of some special features for the show, the two featurettes basically serve as extended commercials for season two of the show. Unfortunately, it doesn’t actually address what you may have just watched or are about to watch in volumes one and two. Instead, it actually gives spoilers that aren’t even in episodes from these two volumes. They should have had a spoiler alert, but I guess you’re warned if you’re watching a special about season two of the show.

Case Study:

These two volumes are being releases as single one-disc volume sets. This is unlike the previous X-Men: TAS that was being released in two-disc sets. They are both official “Marvel DVD Super Hero Collection” releases and have a large banner at the top of each disc highlighting the name. Volume one features the four well-known superheroes – Thor, Captain America, Hulk, and Iron Man while volume two (which is named after Captain America) adds Hawkeye and Black Panther to the mix. While Wasp is included on the back cover of volume one, full-fledged Avenger Ant-Man is nowhere to be seen. The DVDs are housed in standard black Amaray cases.

Ink And Paint:

The video transfer looks great for these two releases. The series is being released here in its original widescreen aspect ratio (approximately 1.79:1). The animation for the show is really great and is a modern and clean take on the comics. It stays away from being too stylized as Super Hero Squad Show or even the latest Iron Man show.

Scratch Tracks:

The audio tracks for this release are being featured with an excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The show features some great sound effects (explosions, fights, etc…) and some good rock music too. Only an English track is available, although both English and Spanish subtitles are offered.

Final Cut:

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has been a great show to follow on Disney XD. The show is trying to be in the same serious vein as the popular Justice League series which ran on rival Cartoon Network. Unlike The Super Hero Squad Show, the show is aimed at an older and more sophisticated audience while still being accessible to older kids. I can imagine that with the release of Captain America and Thor, the popularity of the show will increase as it goes into its second season. It is a good show and it has done a great job at keeping the story moving while developing characters at the same time.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Chuck Norris and his Karate Kommandos fight The Klaw and his henchman Super Ninja who are bent on dominating the world.

The Sweatbox Review:

Chuck Norris has his share of fans around the world. He has become known as the ultimate tough guy and has reached an iconic status few action stars ever establish. Of course, his reputation is nothing new and has been around for over two decades. Still, long before Walker, Texas Ranger, he starred in a string of successful action-adventure movies like Good Guys Wear Black, and Lone Wolf McQuade. While never reaching the heights of Stallone or Schwarzenegger, he had already achieved a great level of fame by the time he approached Ruby-Spears with an idea for a cartoon series called Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos. The show starred Chuck Norris as the leader of a team of martial arts fighters who battle against VULTURE.

The Karate Kommandos featured a diverse team that included Pepper, a technology expert, Reed, Chuck’s apprentice, Kimo, a samurai warrior, Tabe, a sumo champion, and Too Much, a kid in Chuck’s care. VULTURE, on the other hand, seems to be mostly made up of their leader The Klaw and his henchman Super Ninja, although we do see a female counterpart named Angelfish in the first episode. In most of the episodes, VULTURE wants to steal some super-secret and advanced piece of military technology and the Karate Kommandos are tasked with either protecting it or recovering it. Similar to Mister T’s show in style – another 80s Ruby-Spears star vehicle – each episode begins with a quick live-action shot of Chuck Norris at his gym explaining the episode and later at the end emphasizing the moral of the story.

Like many other shows coming out at the time, Kommandos started as a five-part miniseries (without a real connecting thread). However, the show was never picked up beyond the original five episodes. While no official explanation was ever given to the show’s demise, it is fair to say that the show probably did not get much traction from audience or critics. The show itself was a little misleading and probably could have been built differently. I was always a bit confused by the Karate notion of this show. Nothing can dispute Chuck Norris’ prowess in Karate, but most members of the team do not even use Karate. They’re also fairly stereotypical characters with flat personalities. They are standard archetypes – the tomboy, the fighter, the fat guy, the kid that gets into trouble, and the young apprentice. These can work fine in children’s cartoons, but in this case they just seemed too generic to make audiences care for them. Ultimately, other shows just did it first and better.

The episodes on this disc are as follows:

Deadly Dolphin (September 15, 1986): Chuck and the Kommandos fight The Klaw to prevent them from breaking into Sealab and kidnapping a well-known scientist.

Target: Chuck Norris (September 16, 1986): The Klaw steals a computer chip that gives them access to NATO’s defenses. It’s up to Chuck and the Kommandos to recover the chip and save the world.

Terror Train (September 17, 1986): Chuck has to disarm a bomb strapped to a train that is transporting a top-secret government robot of interest to The Klaw.

Menace From Space (September 18, 1986): Chuck follows The Klaw into space to prevent the villain from controlling a fusion cannon.

Island of the Walking Dead (September 19, 1986): Chuck visits Voodoo Island to recover a missing military satellite and finds the island filled with zombies.

Is This Thing Loaded?

Like other Warner Archives releases, this one comes without any special features.

Case Study:

The DVD comes housed in a standard black Amaray Case. The cover features Chuck Norris prominently with a red background. This is being billed as part of the “Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection”, even though it is really a Ruby-Spears production.

Ink And Paint:

The video print isn’t great, but it’s perfectly adequate for a release like this. Given that the show is nearly 25 years old, I can’t say I was expecting a great transfer. This is basically on par with previous Warner Archive collection DVDs from the 80s. If you’ve seen the recent Hanna-Barbera 1980’s collection, you might have caught the first episode of this already and seen the quality. The print is the same with some scratches and grain found on the print. The show is being released in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Scratch Tracks:

Featuring a very basic track, Karate Kommandos won’t impress you with the sound, but I doubt it will bother you either. It comes with a standard Dolby Digital 2.0. The show has been released in English with no subtitles or alternate audio tracks available.

Final Cut:

If you have vague memories of the show when it first aired on television back in 1986, you might be interested in the show. More recently, the show was also show on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block (although with only five episodes, it was a very short run). I reckon that the people most interested in this release are 1980’s action cartoon enthusiasts and Chuck Norris uber-fans. Otherwise, I really do not have much to recommend here. It was a generic show when it first aired and it has not dated very well. The era of infallible action heroes is over, even for a kid’s cartoon. Having said all that, there is something very nostalgic about the show and how it handles villains like The Klaw. There just were other shows from the era that did it much better.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Scooby-Doo and the rest of the Mystery, Inc. gang are back on television solving new paranormal mysteries and unmasking monsters in the aptly-titled new series Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated. The first four episodes of the show have now been packaged together in a volume 1 set for the new show.

The Sweatbox Review:

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is a fun, modern-yet-retro adaptation of the beloved Scooby-Doo series. This time, instead of roaming the countryside looking for mysteries to solve, the gang mostly stays put in their hometown of Crystal Cove. The town is a hot spot of alleged supernatural activity and happens to be where the four members of the gang go to High School. This leads to a lot of fun as the monsters come to town, and we get to know more about the gang’s family lives, loves, and pains. The series is slightly darker and less campy than previous versions, with a more modern sensitivity to suspense and mystery. After the light and gadget-friendliness of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue, the gang returns to basics of mystery-solving – research, searching for clues, and, of course, traps.

The gang is basically intact from the original show and does not include (as-of-yet) any of the annoying sidekicks that have popped up over the years of the franchise (that means you Scrappy!). It does, however, feature regular appearances from the main characters’ parents and siblings. At the heart of the team is Scooby-Doo (voiced by Frank Welker), the Great Dane that still has a knack for finding clues about monsters and their secret human identities. Scooby lives with Shaggy (voiced by Matthew Lillard), the son of one of the town’s wealthiest families, who loves watching horror movies and solving mysteries with his friends. Also on the Mystery Incorporated team is Velma Dinkley (voiced by Mindy Cohn) whose parents run the town’s paranormal museum and who does not believe in ghosts. The other boy on the team is Fred Jones (also voiced by Welker) whose two ambitions in life are solving mysteries and creating traps for them. His father happens to be the mayor and is disappointed by his son’s lack of political ambition. Finally, there is Daphne Blake (voiced by Grey DeLisle) who also comes from a wealthy family of overachievers and whose parents want to marry her off to an equality worthy young man. These many relationships build up the base for the show over the course of the season.

Beware the Beast from Below is a great pilot episode and quickly establishes the new tone for the show as well as the multiple family and relationship dynamics mentioned above. Since Crystal Cove relies on paranormal tourism, none of the town’s authorities are actually interested in solving the mysteries and provide little support to the young sleuths. Velma’s parents would rather keep the town’s paranormal reputation intact in order to cater to more tourists. Fred’s father would like to keep the town’s tourism sector thriving and does not want his son to waste time chasing after ghosts. To add to the drama, we quickly learn that Velma and Shaggy are secretly dating and trying to keep it a secret from their friends, especially Scooby who might get jealous. Daphne is also expressing romantic interests in Fred, but she finds his cluelessness about her feelings frustrating. Perhaps the most intriguing set-up from this episode is the introduction of a new character that we never see called Mister E. After finding a mysterious magnifying-glass locket during their hunt for the Slime Mutant that has shown up in Crystal Cove, the gang gets a call from the mysterious character telling them of a greater mystery they are about to uncover.

In the next three episodes, we see the gang develop their ability to solve mysteries, delve further into their relationships and get closer to finding the truth about Mister E. In The Creeping Creatures, Mister E delivers a package to the gang that comes from the town of Gatorsburg where the gang sets off to search for the mystery of the Alligator people that live there. While there, the gang stays in a creepy hotel, and frequently tries to sneak time alone with one another. Somehow the mystery they solve has something to do with the greater mystery at hand suggested by Mister E (but we don’t find out why). In Secret of the Ghost Rig, a truck is terrorizing the citizens of Crystal Cove and keeping people off the highway. All of this happens as Fred has to help his father’s reelection campaign and Daphne’s parents attempt to set her up with a wealthy heir. Finally, in Revenge of the Man Crab, the gang attempts to resolve the mystery of the Man Crab that is terrorizing Crystal Cove’s latest volleyball tournament and kidnapping players. In this episode, the gang receives an old newspaper clipping also leading them closer to solving what is behind Mister E. In these three episodes Daphne continues to grapple with her feelings for Fred while Shaggy and Velma try to keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the gang, especially Scooby-Doo who might feel betrayed by Shaggy if he were to find out.

Is This Thing Loaded?

The DVD opens up with trailers for Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster – Extended Edition and Happiness is a Warm Blanket Charlie Brown. Inside the “Trailers” section of the DVD are also trailers for Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare, Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, and Scooby-Doo! And the Spooky Swamp.

Case Study:

The single disc comes housed in a standard DVD case. A flier for Scooby-related merchandise is included in the DVD.

Ink And Paint:

Mystery Incorporated looks great as is being released in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The characters have had some minor character modifications from previous versions and look a little younger (but nothing dramatic). The animators and art designers have done a great job with this series and many of the episodes depict excellently gloomy atmospheres. While some of the episodes are a bit dark, I found it interesting how the animators have introduced bright colors to the villains (just look at the Alligator people). Characters are frequently partially in shadows and lit by artificial lights. Overall, the print looks great.

Scratch Tracks:

The show is being released in a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The show sounds great with some eerie sound effects and score which would’ve been great in 5.1, but 2.0 works fine. The DVD comes loaded with English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai language tracks along with subtitles in the same languages minus French.

Final Cut:

When it made its television debut last summer, I was one of the millions of Scooby fans eagerly anticipating a return to form for the franchise. Ever since What’s New, Scooby-Doo? ended the series hasn’t had the full gang out in regular weekly mysteries (although direct-to-DVD series have been extremely popular). The popular, and long-running “What’s New” continued in the same vein as the successful Scooby direct-to-video movies that have come out since 1998’s Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. By taking the show back to Crystal Cove, we get more personal story-arcs for the gang and a season-long mystery that takes place in their hometown. The show is also focusing more on personal relationships with romantic relationships explicitly stated and pursued between Shaggy & Velma and Fred & Daphne. While some may find it sacrilege, I found it to be refreshing after years of fan speculation and fan-fiction related to these characters (especially between Shaggy and Velma). The fun in this is that it allows us to care about the characters while they’re going out and solving mysteries. It keeps the viewers engaged in the full season beyond who is behind the latest monster of the week. By doing this, Warner has brought the show clearly into the 21st Century landscape of modern television procedural mysteries.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

He-Man and She-Ra commemorate Christmas for the first time when two children from Earth accidentally end up on Eternia. Hordak and Skeletor are then sent out to capture the children and prevent the Spirit of Christmas from spreading.

The Sweatbox Review:

He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special begins rather innocuously with both Adora and Adam back on Eternia planning their first big birthday party together. Their parents, the king and queen, are excited to see their twin children together again and want to celebrate in a big way. Meanwhile, Man-At-Arms and Adam are working on a giant space shuttle called the Sky Spy which will be used to spy on Skeletor. However, as soon as they leave it unattended, Orko breaks into the ship and ends up launching it accidentally. Skeletor, seeing the ship launch into the sky, quickly begins pursuit, but is stopped by the combined forces of He-Man and She-Ra. Unfortunately, the ship is lost in space when Orko, trying to use magic to land it, ends up transporting the ship to Earth. It is on Earth that Orko meets up with two young children named Miguel and Alisha who he saves from an avalanche using his magic powers. Excited about meeting an alien and completely lost from their parents, the kids go back to the shuttle with Orko and end up telling him all about Christmas.

Meanwhile, back on Eternia, it doesn’t take long before Adam and the others notice and realize that Orko is missing and that he was on the Sky Spy. Man-At-Arms discovers the coordinates of the ship which Queen Marlena recognizes to be located on Earth. However, before they can retrieve him, they must find a powerful crystal that will generate enough power to transport the ship and Orko back to Eternia. She-Ra then sets off to Etheria to find the magical crystal. After a brief adventure to obtain the crystal where She-Ra encounters giant robot monsters called Monstroids, Orko and the children are transported back to Eternia. While the kids are excited about being on a magical planet, they soon realize that they are stranded for a few days while Man-at-Arms recharges the crystal to send them back home. This means they will miss Christmas. In order to cheer up the children, the Queen then suggests celebrating Christmas on Eternia together with the twins’ birthday.

The children’s presence does not go unnoticed and Horde Prime, the mastermind behind Hordak and Skeletor, comes to the conclusion that the Christmas Spirit the children are spreading will hinder his plans to take over the world. He quickly summons Hordak and Skeletor and tells them to capture the children and bring them back to him in exchange for a handsome reward. The two villains then set off to capture the children, but they must first battle each other and the Monstroids who also decide to capture the children. Ultimately, it is Skeletor that is confronted with the true meaning of Christmas when he spends time with the children. He then faces the ultimate test when he must turn the children over to Horde Prime.

I’ve always found sci-fi fantasy and Christmas to be a strange mix. The whole point of the genre is to somehow transport you into another reality. Christmas, on the other hand, is rooted into some of our most basic traditions and beliefs. By mixing the two, Christmas always ends up bringing the more fantastic elements of a story into the familiar setting of the holidays, which is oddly disturbing for me. The two genres tend to clash and one makes the other look very silly. It’s ultimately strange to think that this fantasy land that you’ve been watching and suspended disbelief for is now somehow rooted in your own reality. Don’t get me wrong. I love animated Christmas specials. But I can’t say I was ever excited about the strange mash-up of this He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special.

Is This Thing Loaded?

There are no special features included in this release.

Case Study:

The movie comes in a standard white DVD keep case that features both He-Man and She-Ra prominently on the cover over a green background. The back of the case features two still shots from the movie. The same image from the cover is also used as the disc art. No inserts are included inside the case.

Ink And Paint:

The Christmas special is featured in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio of its original television broadcast. The image looks relatively clean for a 25 year old special with few scratches and dust fragments found on the final print. Overall, the image quality is good and very similar to the print used in the previous 2006 BCI release.

Scratch Tracks:

The release comes with one standard Dolby Digital 2.0 English track. There are no subtitles or alternate language tracks included with the release. Overall, this is a very basic track, but it does the job.

Final Cut:

This is not my favorite 80s Christmas Special. As previously mentioned, I have always found fantasy and Christmas to be strange bedfellows. The two genres rarely mix effectively and this is not exception. I find it hard to believe that Horde Prime would really feel threatened by the “spirit of Christmas”. How is it any different from any other message of hope found in either shows? It’s a stretch and never really works, which is probably why this special was only re-broadcast a handful of times since its original debut. Sure, there is some campy nostalgia related to the fact that He-Man gets dressed up like Santa, but it goes away once you have to follow a story. Overall, with a bare-bones release, this DVD really is for true fans of the show that must have their He-Man and She-Ra fix.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Adora, formerly a Force Captain for the evil Horde, fights for freedom and liberty in the mystical land of Etheria. With the magical Sword of Protection, she invokes the grace of Castle Greyskull and becomes She-Ra, Princess of Power! Together with her band of rebels and her flying unicorn Swift Wind, she battles against the Horde led by the evil Hordak and his minions.

The Sweatbox Review:

There’s something fascinating about She-Ra as an animated heroine. After 25 years of entertaining children and adults, she has endured as one of the most iconic female symbols of the 1980s. Because of that, it’s surprising that the character has never been revived in a modern form. There’s something incredibly modern about how she was portrayed back in the 80s that I believe would still resonate with girls today who are frankly lacking powerful action heroines. When the character was introduced in 1985, she was a direct, female response to the testosterone-filled He-Man: Masters of the Universe show. In Princess of Power Filmation and Mattel, who up to that point had focused on more cute and cuddly characters aimed at young girls, teamed up to create a character that would have broad appeal. She was a princess, but she was also a warrior with a flying unicorn. She was able to stand up to even the most powerful villains and that made her appealing not only to girls, but to many boys who would never have admitted to watching the show back in the day.

The first five episodes of the series were initially released as part of a theatrical animated feature called She-Ra: Princess of Power . The movie was only moderately successful at the boxoffice, but when the animated series made its debut that same year, it became one of the more popular cartoons on the air. In the first five episodes, He-Man’s alter-ego Adam is on a mission for the Sorceress on another world called Etheria. He is charged in finding the person who is meant to hold the Sword of Protection and liberate the planet. While searching for the chosen person, he finds Etheria overrun by an oppressive regime called the Horde, made up of alien invaders who settled on the planet. In one small corner of the planet, the Whispering Woods, a small rebellion is taking shape and that’s where Adam first meets Adora, the Force Captain of the Horde who has been sent to squash the rebellion. It doesn’t take long before Adam realizes that Adora is actually the one he has been looking for but he must first convince her that she is working for the wrong side. Eventually, Adora sees the truth behind the Horde and joins the rebellion alongside Adam and the rest of the rebellion. When she lifts the Sword of Protection into the air and invokes the grace of Greyskull, she is transformed into She-Ra, the Princess of Power.

In most She-Ra episodes, the Horde is the central antagonist and stories typically begin with a group of individuals in a village, town or kingdom being repressed by the Horde. This is when the rebellion shows up to save the day with She-Ra in their lead. Many episodes on the show involve crossovers with characters from He-Man: Masters of the Universe. Adam and Skeletor are regular visitors. Adam frequently makes a visit to Etheria to visit his sister or because Skeletor has made an appearance. It’s interesting to note that Skeletor was actually a member of the Horde who was left behind on Eternia when they unsuccessfully tried to invade it. The episodes with He-Man are some of the best episodes on the set because it is always interesting to see He-Man interacting with She-Ra. Their powers are truly matched whenever they fight together and they actually seem to fight better as a team. Some of my favorite episodes with both of them fighting together include “King Miro’s Journey” and “He Ain’t Heavy”. Of course, stories do not always revolve around Eternia characters and other great episodes on the set include “Return of the Sea Hawk” (a great action-adventure story), and “A Loss for Words” (one of the more interesting episodes that deals with freedom – in this case freedom of speech).

Aside from Adam/He-Man who frequently makes appearances on the show, She-Ra can also count on a large group of warriors and allies to fight by her side. These include Bow (an archer), Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon (who can manipulate light), Madame Razz (an absent-minded magician), Broom (Razz’s talking broom), Kowl (a wise owl-like bird), Castaspella (a sorceress), and Adora’s horse Spirit (who turns into Swift Wind, a flying unicorn). In some episodes, She-Ra and her friends are captured by the Horde and she actually has to rely on some of her other allies to help her. One of my favorite characters in the series is Sea Hawk, a pirate who first meets Adora when she tries to convince him to use his skills for good and help the rebellion. Sea Hawk is one of those Hans Solo-like characters heroines usually grow fond of and it is no different in this case. While the two characters never fully develop a relationship together, his appearances on the show at least bring a different chemistry to the episodes.

On the other side of the cast of characters are the vilains led by Hordak, the leader of the Horde, and She-Ra’s nemesis on Etheria. Hordak is a mechanical creature who looks more like a vampire robot and who can turn parts of his body into weapons and rockets. He is terrible as a villain and typically loves to tell his victims what he plans to do with them before actually doing it, giving them ample time to get away. Other villains on the show include Shadow Weaver (an evil sorceress), Catra (a woman who can turn into a cat), Mantenna (a four-legged monster), Grizzlor (a hairy beast), Leech (an amphibian-like creature that sucks the energy from his victims), and Scorpia (a half human/half scorpion mix). What is interesting about the villains on this show, and what differentiates them from He-Man, is the fact that Adora was once a part of the Horde and this is actually brought up in several episodes. All of the villains know who she is and are angry at her for leaving them and joining the rebellion. It is interesting to note that while both She-Ra and He-Man have swords, they never actually use it to fight against a villain. Most of the battles usually end up with the villains being flung far away or being captured by a rope or chain.

The twenty episodes on this set are broken down as follows:

Disc One

1. Into Etheria
2. Beast Island
3. She-Ra Unchained
4. Reunions
5. Battle for Bright Moon
6. Duel at Devlan
7. The Sea Hawk
8. The Red Knight
9. The Missing Ax
10. The Prisoners of Beast Island

Disc Two

11. The Perils of Whispering Woods
12. The Laughing Dragon
13. King Miro’s Journey
14. Friendship
15. He Ain’t Heavy
16. Return of the Sea Hawk
17. A Loss for Words
18. Horde Prime Takes a Holiday
19. Enchanted Castle
20. Three Courageous Hearts

Is This Thing Loaded?

Unlike with the previous 2006 BCI release, there are no special features included in this set.

Case Study:

The case for this DVD release is like a storybook. A thick cardboard case with digipak interior opens up like a storybook with the two discs inside, one on each side. The cover features a prominent shot of She-Ra yielding her Sword of Protection while the back features three screenshots from the show. Everything is very pink and purple, clearly evoking the girl power on this set. The inside of the case is designed to look like a teenager’s notebook with poems and doodles all over the place. It’s a neat design if a little bit more girly than I expected. There is also an insert inside the case with a list of the episodes found on the set.

Ink And Paint:

The episodes are being released here in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The quality of the print is pretty good with the cell art looking very clean. Here and there we can see a cell shadow, but overall it is a good transfer. There is very little grain and dust found on the print which seems to have gone through some cleaning. The episodes are vibrantly colored and vividly animated with lots of red hues. The world of Etheria is very bright and colorful and it looks good on this set. The episodes on the set can be played either individually or by selecting the “Play All” function. Chapter stops are included within episodes and between each episode.

Scratch Tracks:

Only a basic English Dolby Digital 2.0 track is being included in this release. No alternate languages or subtitles are available.

Final Cut:

She-Ra: Princess of Power was and continues to be a good show. While it was not the best show to come out of the 80s, it was probably one of the best Filmation series. With He-Man, Filmation created a fun action-adventure story, but most of the plots were relatively simple when compared to some of the more complex storylines and issues dealt with in She-Ra. I’m not saying that we should take She-Ra too seriously, but stepping back I found much more to the show than I initially thought I would find. While in He-Man, the plot usually centered on the battle of good versus evil, She-Ra dealt with other issues such as oppression, freedom of speech, liberty, and justice. She-Ra as a character is also much more proactive and she always finds ways to be of service in the rebellion against Hordak and his Horde instead of waiting for a villain to attach. As a character, Adora is also much more complex as she is also fighting to redeem herself for the time she spent with the Horde. All of this makes for a much more interesting show and I’m glad to see it have continued life on DVD. This is a bare-bones release for She-Ra, especially when compared to the lavish BCI release from a few years ago. However, with a new more affordable retail price, this might be a great option for those that missed out on the previous release or for the more casual fan of the show looking to see it again.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Scooby-Doo and the rest of the Mystery, Inc. gang go to Camp Little Moose to relive Freddy’s old camp stories and end up in the middle of a mystery involving the legendary Woodsman.

The Sweatbox Review:

Summer camp has been an American rite of passage for generations. When a kid is old enough to go to camp, it signifies the beginning of their slow journey to independence. For many kids, myself included, camp was about something new, exciting, and really a kind of vacation from the doldrums of Summer vacation. It was a time to play with other kids, learn new crafts, sit around a campfire, and tell ghost stories. Ghost stories, of course, were the one thing that was never missing. If you were not telling or listening to ghost stories around a campfire, there was always bedtime when everything was dark and one of your friends would begin telling a “true story” of something incredible that happened one time at camp. Someone must have seen a ghost, or heard about someone who had seen one. It didn’t matter. Camp was always shrouded in a sort of mystery where anything, even the supernatural, seemed possible.

Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare is all about that nostalgia of summer camp. In it, Freddy convinces the rest of the Mystery, Inc. gang to come out to his old stomping grounds of Camp Little Moose. However, before he even arrives, the ghost of The Woodsman is already stalking the grounds, and scaring away the children. When they finally arrive, they find the camp deserted and are notified that the camp is closing for the remainder of the summer. Fred, in disbelief, refuses to go home and when a group of unsuspecting kids show up to camp not knowing that it has been canceled, he seizes the opportunity to become a camp counselor for one last time. He wants to pass down the traditions of Camp Little Moose to the new kids, even as the threat of monsters grows imminent. It soon becomes clear that someone, or something, does not want the camp to stay open and all the campers may be in danger.

The campers are terrified of The Woodsmen when he shows up in the middle of the night to drive them out of Camp Little Moose. The mystery further develops when during an outing to Big Moose Lake, the gang is attacked by another local legend – the Fish-man. During the attack, Scooby-Doo discovers a submerged town below the surface of the lake. After a second attack by The Woodsman on Camp Little Moose, the campers decide it is too dangerous and begin to say at snazzy rival Camp Big Moose. There, they discover that an RV has been stolen. This is when the gang splits up with one group investigating the missing RV while another decides to investigate the submerged town at the bottom of the lake. As their search leads them closer to uncovering the mystery, they gang is attacked once again, this time also by another local ghost – the Specter of Shadow Canyon.

Camp Scare is a fun Scooby-Doo adventure. The mystery is simple and easy to follow as one clue leads to another. As with most Scooby-Doo mysteries, part of the fun is deciphering who is behind the mask and what they are after. In this mystery, I was not disappointed and while I had a hunch of who was the culprit, I was never sure until the end. I have to say that one thing that I found disappointing in the story was how it was nearly impossible to know for certain who was behind the monsters with the clues that were given. The mystery of the submerged town and the missing RV only led you to what the monster was trying to hide, but not to the actual identity of the person behind the mask. Also, I felt that little was done with Shaggy’s character who seemed to be more interested in eating than helping his friends most of the time. Despite this, the story was fun, moved at an appropriate pace, and the characters were fun to follow.

Is This Thing Loaded?

The DVD opens with trailers for Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes movie and for Scooby-Doo! And The Spooky Swamp game. There is also a commercial for Zoinks Points. Inside the special features section of the DVD are also trailers for Lego Universe, Scooby-Doo: Abracadabra Doo, and Batman: Brave and the Bold.

Aside from trailers, there are two main special features included in this DVD set. The first is Scooby-Doo! Spooky Camp Stories (9:10), which is a collection of scary stories told by a host. First up is “The Viking’s Ghost”, followed by “The Beastly Bunny”, and concluding with “The Shark From Outer Space”. Each tale is about two minutes long but runs as one continuous segment. The stories are not told through animated sequences, but instead use pictures, old archival-looking footage, live action reenactments, and sound effects to enhance the mood. Between tales, we get funny clips of Scooby and Shaggy to lighten the mood.

The second main bonus feature is the pilot episode for Scooby-Doo! Mystery, Inc called “Beware the Beast From Below”. In this episode, we are introduced once again to the gang in their hometown of Crystal Cove, the home of creepy, haunted ghosts and monsters. Here, they are modern teenagers with an obsession with solving mysteries and unmasking monsters. I have been enjoying Mystery, Inc. very much since it premiered this Fall. The show has done a great job at bringing the kids even further into the modern age than What’s New Scooby-Doo? and they’re actually exploring the relationships between the main characters more which is very interesting to watch unfold. A season-long mystery has also added to the allure. Of course, as always the main focus is on the mysteries involving monsters and ghosts which do not disappoint in these stories.

Case Study:

This DVD is being released in a standard black DVD keep case. The cover features Scooby-Doo telling a scary story around a camp fire surrounded by Velma, Shaggy, Freddy, and Daphne who are scared of the Woodsman who is creeping up behind Scooby. The back cover features Scooby, Freddy, and Shaggy on a canoe while the Fish-Man lurks beneath the water. Inside the case is a flier for Zoinks Points and for Scooby-Doo Edible Arrangements. The disc art features Scooby-Doo dressed up like a chef. The whole case is covered by a cardboard slipcase.

Ink And Paint:

The character designs used in this film are similar to the ones found in most recent Scooby-Doo films – Abracadabra Doo and Samurai Sword. While the Mystery, Inc. cartoony designs are great, it was nice of the animators to keep the consistency with past releases. The animation overall for the movie is beautiful and looks great with colorful backgrounds and a perfect eerie lighting on some of the scary night scenes. I have to give props to the animation department as the movie looks like it could even be on the big screen. After all, is there a reason we don’t see Scooby-Doo animated films on the big screen? Must it be live-action? The movie is presented in a matted widescreen presentation at approximately 1.79:1 aspect ratio.

Scratch Tracks:

This DVD has been released with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The tracks are great with the music and eerie sound effects really enhancing the mood in the more scary episodes. Overall, the sound is very good and completely suited to this release. English, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles are also available. Additional Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are also available for the Spooky Camp Stories bonus feature.

Final Cut:

With Camp Scare, Warner Brothers continues to make 2010 a landmark year for the Scooby-Doo franchise. This is the second movie released this year (along with Abracadabra-Doo) and Scooby-Doo’s latest animated series, Mystery, Inc. has been exploring new layers in the relationships between these beloved characters. This is another entertaining addition to the now large Scooby-Doo movie library. Fans of the franchise will enjoy seeing these characters in a new setting. With Scooby-Doo it has always been about setting-appropriate monsters and the three featured in this story are all great and fit right in the story. They are reminiscent of all the scary ghosts and monsters we heard about many-a-time around a campfire. By keeping the story in a more familiar territory (as opposed to exotic locations), this mystery hits much closer to home than other more recent adventures.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Tom and Jerry meet up with the legendary Sherlock Homes to solve a mystery involving a series of jewelry heists in London.

The Sweatbox Review:

Warner Brothers has been very careful about its Tom and Jerry franchise. Up until 2007 when they released Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale, they were able to count on the involvement of either William Hanna or Joe Barbera. After Barbera passed away in 2006, the studio went back to the drawing board to reassess the property and its future without one of its original creators. Ultimately, plans were set in motion for more movies and series to keep the brand alive for a new generation. In previous direct-to-video releases, Tom and Jerry have gone to space, traveled around the world on a race, and battled pirates. In what is now the sixth Tom and Jerry direct-to-video cartoon to be released by Warner Brothers, the cat and mouse duo join forces with another classic character – Sherlock Holmes.

The story begins with a jewelry heist performed by a gang of cat burglars on the prowl for a rare diamond. The cats take part in an elaborate escape from the police and take the stolen diamond to a mysterious masked horseman in the country. Back in London, Dr. Watson returns home looking for Sherlock Holmes to discuss the latest diamond robbery. This is where we find Jerry who seems to be Holmes’ assistant and secretary. While being sent out on an errand to fetch the latest copy of the newspaper, he bumps into Tom who is on an errand to deliver a message to Holmes. The letter is from Red, a singer (the character is recognizable from the Droopy cartoons) who is being blackmailed into dropping off a payment every night after the show to keep her singing career a secret from her society fiance. Holmes soon deduces that the blackmail is a ruse to keep Red away from her house while thieves work on a way to steal a rare jewel from the embassy next to her house.

At the embassy, we find Spike and Junior working as security guards taking care of the famed diamond while the cat burglars steal it from under their noses. This is when the detectives and Red return to her house only to find a tunnel that leads directly from under her house to the embassy. Dr. Watson and Holmes find a few clues that lead them to a tailor in the countryside. Meanwhile, back at the embassy, the police are called and immediately began to investigate the tunnel and Red’s involvement in the theft. While Holmes is chasing his lead in the countryside, Tom and Jerry are tasked with keeping Red safe and away from the police until they get back. The rest of the story unfolds as Tom and Jerry try to keep Red away from the police while also finding a couple of clues related to the robbery along the way. It all leads up to the resolution of the mystery, which is really not that much of a mystery since it is nearly impossible to decipher.

Most of the movie is one giant chase scene, which is where a lot of humor is supposed to come from. At the very beginning when Tom meets Jerry in the streets when he goes out to fetch a newspaper for Holmes, physical humor and chase gags are prevalent. There is the ubiquitous construction site, various falls, trips, and slips along the way that mostly take a toll on Tom. Later when Tom and Jerry are running away from the police, there are more gags as they both get on each other’s nerves and make a fool of the two cops played by Droopy and Butch. While filled with physical humor, it is not all very clever or particularly funny. Part of the fun with the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons was the setup and suspense when you knew that Tom’s plan was going to go wrong or that Jerry’s plan was going to hurt. Here, there’s little suspense and most of the gags feel forced. When Tom gets hurt out on the streets because of Jerry, Tom just gets hurt accidentally and repeatedly. Later, when Tom turns on Jerry and begins chasing him, it becomes a matter of survival for Jerry which is funnier, but not really that much better in these scenes.

Is This Thing Loaded?

There are very few special features on this DVD. The DVD itself opens up with a couple of trailers for The Lord of the Rings (the animated film) and Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare. In the Trailers section of the main menu one can also find trailers for Peanuts: 1970s Collection and LEGO Universe game.

There is one non-trailer featurette on this set called How to Draw Tom and Jerry (7:20) where a professional animator walks through the different steps of drawing Tom and Jerry. This is a short and informative how-to session that is targeted more towards children. It takes you through basic step by step instructions on how to draw their heads.

Case Study:

The DVD is being released in a standard black keepcase with a cardboard slipcase. The cover features Tom and Jerry in their best 1800s garb along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, the cat burglars, and Professor Moriarty. The back features Tom, Jerry, Tuffy, and Droopy. There are no inserts on the DVD.

Ink And Paint:

The film is presented in a “matted” widescreen format and features a 1.77:1 aspect ratio. While this means some may have been cut off from the top and bottom of the picture, it does show what was intended to be shown on DVD. Despite its shortcomings in terms of storytelling, the movie is exquisitely animated and features some beautiful and modern character designs and backgrounds. I would say that Warner has done a great job at keeping the characters modern while still retaining some of their classic charm.

Scratch Tracks:

While only English, French and Spanish tracks are advertised on the cover, the movie is actually also available with Japanese and Portuguese tracks. All of these are included as Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. English, Japanese, and Portuguese subtitles are also available. The special feature is only available in English, but contains Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish subtitles.

Final Cut:

When compared to some previous Tom and Jerry movies that have been released in the past few years, this one does not rank amongst the highest in terms of humor. While the story is somewhat enjoyable and moves along at a brisk pace (the movie is less than 50 minutes long in total), the humor that made these characters entertaining for generations is missing. I do not know if it is because this is the first film made without input from either William Hanna or Joe Barbera, but it certainly gives one something to think about. Despite many humorless gags, the characters are still charming which is a testament to their origins, and the story is entertaining. I think combining them with Sherlock Holmes at the turn of the century was a great idea, but could have been done in a more humorous way. Overall, fans of Tom and Jerry probably already came out for these, but I hope Warner Brothers find their footing in future releases as they deal with the absence of the pair’s creators.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

Storyboard:

Ren and a team of adventurers battle against pirates, dark water, and monsters in order to find the thirteen treasures of Rule necessary to rid the world of Mer from the threat of Dark Water.

The Sweatbox Review:

When the subject of cult animated series from the early 1990s comes up, one of the most mentioned series is the exotically fantasy adventure series The Pirates of Dark Water. The show made its official debut as a five part miniseries in February of 1991 called Dark Water. The show quickly became a hit and was picked up by ABC as a full-fledged animated series later that year. The Pirates of Dark Water was a successful blend of swashbuckling action and fantasy adventure more reminiscent of fantasy shows from the 1980s but with a more modern script keeping it appealing to a new generation of kids used to more sophisticated stories. The show would last for a total of two seasons until it was canceled unceremoniously in 1993 after only 21 episodes. Since then, fans have been clamoring Warner Bros. for a DVD release which many hoped would contain an official explanation to its cancellation and information on how the show would have eventually ended. After 19 years since its debut, the complete series has finally made its way to DVD as part of the Warner Archive program sold exclusively through WBShop.com.

In the first five episodes that make up the miniseries, we are introduced to Ren at his home in Octopon when he finds out that he is the heir to the kingdom and that his late father died on his quest to keep the thirteen treasures of Rule away from an evil pirate named Lord Bloth. Taking up his father’s cause, Ren goes on a quest to collect the thirteen treasures from their hiding places and combine them to rid the world of Dark Water, a mysterious and evil substance that has taken over the seas and destroyed civilizations throughout the world of Mer. He is able to do this with the aid of a magical compass passed down from his father that points into the direction of the treasures. Along the way, he picks up a few allies – a talking monkey-bird named Niddler, a rogue pirate named Ioz, and an adventurous barmaid named Tula. In the miniseries, their main antagonist is Lord Bloth who for years kept Ren’s father in prison in order to find out the location of the treasures which he wants for the power and wealth it would grant him. By the end of the five episodes, and two collected treasures, Ren gets a deeper understanding of his quest, the difficulties he is going to face, and the people he will be traveling with.

In the Fall of 1991, the first official season of the show picked up where the miniseries left off as Ren goes out in search for the third treasure. In this first season of the show (made up eight episodes), we get to know more about the thirteen treasures, who hid them, and we also get to explore more about the main characters. In a crucial first episode,Andorus, we get to learn more about Tula and her past, as well as her new-found powers as an ecomancer (someone who can control and manipulate other living beings). As each episode progresses, we also get to know more about Dark Water, how it first spread and the origin of the thirteen treasures. It seems that each episode introduces a new character who had something to do with Ren’s father and/or one of the treasures. In these short eight episodes, Ren actually finds five more treasures of Rule (totaling 7 with the 2 found in the first five episodes), leading to the season finale showdown in The Dark Dweller where we learn even more about the lord of Dark Water as Ren is forced to go deep into his lair and recover Tula.

With more than half the treasures found by the end of the first season, season two proved to be a challenge for the producers as they tried to figure out a new direction of the show and how they could stretch the storyline, making it last through syndication. The season begins in the episode The Dark Disciples with the return of Ren to Octopon where we get additional insight into the state of his homeland and how Dark Water took over. Throughout the second season, Ren and his crew face a variety of new villains and obstacles including a ghost ship, storms, a plague, and magic potions. We also get further insight into Ioz and his past life in the episode Sister of the Sword. Unlike the first season where the quest for treasures moved along nicely, after another short eight-episode season only one treasure is found, setting up what would have been the third season with the addition of a living treasure in the aptly titled The Living Treasure. Unfortunately, rumored expensive production costs and delays led to the show’s cancellation. In the end, only eight of the thirteen treasures were ever found.

One of the most remembered features of Pirates, and perhaps one of the reasons it is so fondly remembered today, was the serialized nature of the show’s first season. Since the first five episodes were part of a short-run miniseries, the first episodes easily blend into one another with plenty of cliff hangers and character development. As the story continued in its first season, a mythology was created as character’s motivations, personalities and personal quests became clearer. Each episode actually took Ren one step closer to the next treasure. Meanwhile, we also got to meet new characters and find out how they were connected to the legend of the thirteen treasures, and inevitably to Ren’s past. As mentioned, this changed in the second season of the show where stories could have taken place at any particular time during the show’s first season as there was very little progress on finding another eighth treasure. This was a bit unsatisfying to watch in contrast with the first season, although it was inevitable given the fast pace the show was going. As many fans of the show will remember, after the show was cancelled, it continued in reruns and syndication leading many to keep watching to see if they had in fact missed an episode. Alas, no final episode was ever created and the show fell into syndication reruns.

The episodes are spread out across four DVDs as follows:

Disc One
1. The Quest
2. Dishonor
3. Break Up
4. Betrayal
5. Victory

Disc Two
6. Andorus
7. A Drop of Darkness
8. The Beast and the Bell
9. Panacea
10. King Niddler

Disc Three
11. The Collection
12. The Little Leviathan
13. The Darkdweller
14. The Dark Disciples
15. The Ghost Pirates
16. The Dragon Master

Disc Four
17. The Game Players of Undaar
18. The Pandawa Plague
19. Sister of the Sword
20. The Soul Stealer
21. The Living Treasure

Is This Thing Loaded?

Much like other Warner Archive discs, there are no special features on this set. As a fan, I wish it had some sort of short featurettes or interviews with the creators, like in the recent Saturday Morning sets. Maybe when Warner comes out with a 90’s version of the set, they can include one of these episodes and give us a nice little featurette explaining what would have eventually happened on the show.

Case Study:

Warner Bros. has actually attempted to do a decent job with the cover. It is more or less in line with other “Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection” DVDs with the same cover header across the top of the cover. Unfortunately, the quality of the cover art is another story. The colors are super-saturated and Niddler has what looks like an extra fist coming out of his head. A quick glance at the cover by the artists should have caught this error which is glaringly obvious once you notice it. The back cover features some nice conceptual drawings from the show (or is it from the comic book series?). The show is housed in a standard-size, transparent keepcase with two disc flaps holding the four discs in the series. Each disc comes with pressed disc art listing the episodes on the disc.

Ink And Paint:

The Pirates of Dark Water was filled with colorful and vibrant animation. The show leans towards the bright pinks, oranges, and red colors. The whole design of Mer and the world of our heroes is shot to look somewhat otherworldly and perhaps in contrast to the darkness of Dark Water. Some of the character designs are a bit strange since many characters (particularly villains) are not quite human. As for the quality of the print in this release, it is just about what I expected. The prints included on the DVD are direct video transfers with no cleanup. This leads to some bad video transfers in a couple of episodes where even static lines are present across the screen. However, this is not all bad and aside from a handful of problems throughout the set, the rest of it looks relatively comparable to other Warner Bros. releases. In the end, the quality is closer to a standard cleanup than that found on bootleg copies.

Scratch Tracks:

The audio featured on this set is a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 English track. The show had a superb voice cast and they all sounds good here. They include George Newbern (most known for voicing Superman on Justice League, Frank Welker (the renowned voice actor best known for his work on multiple Scooby-Doo series), Jodi Benson (of Little Mermaid fame), Hector Elizondo (famous television and film actor) and Jim Cummings (of Winnie the Pooh fame along with other Disney shows). The audio track also does an adequate if not astounding job at bringing out the music and sound effects featured on the show. There are no subtitles or alternate audio tracks featured on the DVD.

Final Cut:

The Pirates of Dark Water is probably a prime example of what the Warner Archive series can do for cult animated series. With even some mainstream series not meeting their desired sales target, I can see this as a viable alternative for future animated sets. Sure, the quality is not as good as it could be, but is not all that different when compared to some other recent standard DVD releases from the same period. Make no mistake. This is a bare-bones set, but it is a complete bare-bones set that we probably would never have gotten outside of the Made-to-Order DVD system. This was a show that had a great initial run on television and like most serialized television shows ended before its time. The characters were fun, the quest was intriguing, and it was a shame that we never got to see a real series finale.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?

This title is only available through the Warner Archive Collection program, and may be ordered through their website.

Storyboard:

Cobra and G.I. Joe meet up in the ultimate showdown when Cobra and their new allies from Cobra-La join forces to steal the Broadcast Energy Transmitter and conquer the Earth.

The Sweatbox Review:

G.I. Joe has become somewhat of a reference for 80s action animation series. Along with a handful of other shows, the series managed to become a pop culture icon with its action-packed episodes and memorable characters. Hasbro, which launched G.I. Joe, had already experienced success with The Transformers and My Little Pony television specials and miniseries when they came out in 1984. The shows were a success both in ratings and in terms of toy sales, which was somewhat of a surprise since the brands were completely new to American audiences at the time. When G.I. Joe came out the following year as a miniseries, it was Hasbro’s first attempt at re-launching an established all-American brand complete with a modern cartoon show. For G.I. Joe, the first miniseries was a relative success, which led to another miniseries and later a full-fledged series in 1985.

Success for G.I. Joe also led to a full-fledge theatrical film. At the time, Hasbro was teaming up with producers to release some of their successful cartoon properties in theaters. First came The Transformers: The Movie and My Little Pony: The Movie both in 1986. While G.I. Joe: The Movie had originally been scheduled for release that same year, production delays caused it to be delayed for a 1987 release. However, the mild performance of its two predecessors at the box office caused the producers to rethink the idea and instead release the show on home video. The movie would be later cut up into segments and released on television as a five-part miniseries. The critical reaction to The Transformers movie also led to some quick script changes relating to the show’s original ending. Today, while the show was never released in theaters, it still is remembered nostalgically by some as one of the more memorable television-to-film releases that came out of the 80s. While not as fondly remembered as The Transformers movie (which it will always, and perhaps unfortunately be compared to), the movie did have some of its own dedicated fans.

The main conflict of the show begins when Cobra Commander and Serpentor begin to argue about the direction of the Cobra organization. Serpentor accuses Cobra Commander of being a coward and of leading the organization to its numerous failures against G.I. Joe (accusations that are actually more than justifiable). Meanwhile, a mysterious woman breaks into their headquarters and tells a story that radically changes the G.I. Joe universe by introducing Cobra-La and a new back story for Cobra Commander. The woman, Pythona, tells the story of how Cobra-La was responsible for the creation of Serpentor (via Doctor Mindbender) and that he is now ready to take over the Earth. Together, they will team up to capture G.I. Joe’s latest super device, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter (BET). Meanwhile, high in the Himalayan Mountains, the Joes are testing the latest device designed to solve the Earth’s energy crisis when they are unsuccessfully attacked by Cobra. Retreating further into the mountains, the Joes follow Cobra to the ancient fortress of Cobra-La. Fighting the Cobra-La army, the Joes realize that they are going to need new recruits in order to defeat Cobra and their new allies.

Back at G.I. Joe training camp, we are introduced to some of the six new recruits including a Green Beret named Lt. Falcon, a female martial arts expert named Jinx, a military policeman named Law, an infiltration expert named Tunnel Rat, an undercover specialist named Chuckles, and an athlete named Big Lob. We quickly learn that Lt. Falcon is Duke’s rebellious half brother who has a hard time taking the training seriously. When Cobra infiltrates G.I. Joe headquarters because of Lt. Falcon’s recklessness, he is sent to train with Sgt. Slaughter (voiced by the actual professional wrestler of the same name) and his Renegades. The Renegades are made up of an ex-Cobra viper named Mercer, an ex-football player named Red Dog, and a circus acrobat named Taurus. Falcon then becomes one of the focal characters in the movie as he tries to redeem himself to the rest of the team.

Meanwhile, back in Cobra-La we are introduced to the Cobra-La leader named Golobulus, a half snake/human hybrid, who tells the story of Cobra-La and how they want to rid the world of all humans. As he tells the story, Cobra-La is an ancient civilization who used to rule the Earth until the last Ice Age when they retreated high into the Himalayas. They are masters of bio-organic technology and are furious at the humans who have polluted the world with modern technology and complete disregard to the environment. Golobulus also reveals the true origin of Cobra Commander as a Cobra-La nobleman who was working for Cobra-La to advance their agenda and remove any obstacles in their quest to reclaim the Earth (including getting rid of G.I. Joe). This is important as Golobulus is furious with Cobra Commander and accuses him of incompetence and for failing to do his job. Much like Falcon, Cobra quickly tries to figure out a way to redeem himself and perhaps get back at Golobulus for this humiliating turn of events.

With all of the moving parts firmly in place, we are treated to a final showdown when Cobra-La mounts their second offensive to obtain the BET. They want to use the BET device to shower the Earth with spores that will mutate mankind into creatures that can be manipulated by Cobra-La. Meanwhile G.I. Joe struggles to figure out how to infiltrate Cobra-La and defeat their bio-organic army of soldiers and technology. It ultimately comes down to the castoffs of both groups (Lt. Falcon and Cobra Commander) to find a way to redeem their reputation as the epic battle finally takes place. Much like in The Transformers movie, the fate of one of the show’s main characters also hangs in the balance (although the outcome is reportedly different from one found in the original script).

Is This Thing Loaded?

Shout! has actually done a good job at including some good special features on this DVD. The bulk of the special features are made up of eight original Public Service Announcements from the original television series that were endorsed by the National Child Safety Council. I was unable to determine whether some of these announcements were from when the movie aired as a miniseries on television (unlikely for all of these since there are eight of them). The eight PSAs are “It’s Better to Tell the Truth” (with Flint), “Have Your Eyes Tested” (Ripcord), “Running Away Leads Nowhere” (Shipwreck), “Eat Smart” (Lifeline), “Remember to Wear Helmets for Projection” (Cross Country & Beachhead), “False Alarms are no Joke” (Barbeque), “Don’t Judge People Until You Give Them a Chance” (Gung-Ho), and “List to Yourself” (Flint again). These can be played individually or together (4:03 total).

In addition to the eight PSAs, there is an art gallery, full audio commentary with story consultant Buzz Dixon, and the original movie script available as a PDF on the DVD. The art gallery is made up of twelve images featuring character designs, movie posters, and background shots from the movie.

There are also multiple trailers available when the disc first plays including trailers for the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero television show on DVD, The Transformers TV show, Oban: Star Racers, and The Middle Man.

Case Study:

G.I. Joe: The Movie is being released in a standard transparent keep case with a cardboard slipcase. Inside the DVD case is one insert with advertisements for other Shout! Factory products including G.I. Joe – A Real American Hero TV show, The Transformers TV show, and their respective Ultimate Collector’s Sets (G.I. Joe – A Real American Hero: Footlocker Set and The Transformers: The Matrix of Leadership).

Ink And Paint:

According to the packaging, this latest DVD release has been re-mastered from a new high-definition transfer. While this review is for the standard DVD version of the film, the show does look great for a twenty-three year old print. The print is relatively free of excessive grain or dust fragments and looks sharp for its age. The movie is also being released on Blu-Ray in conjunction with this DVD release. There are two aspect ratios presented here for the movie – 1.33:1 and 1.78:1. While this was going to be a theatrical release in widescreen, the film was actually animated in full screen for syndicated release on television. After the initial trailers open the DVD, one can select to play the film in widescreen (which crops the top and bottom of each frame) or full screen (the original aspect ratio). The cropping is clear from the two screenshots provided when you select your preferred ratio. One can also change the aspect ratio in the special features section of the DVD under “Set-Up”.

Scratch Tracks:

Like with other Shout! releases, this DVD is being released with one standard English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. There are no subtitles or additional language options available. The sound is adequate for this release, and effectively shows off the multiple explosions and sound effects featured in the movie. Overall, while a newer 5.1 track could have been created, the show still sounds fine without it.

Final Cut:

G.I. Joe has always had a devoted following for animation fans. While the show was never as smart as some other 80s shows, the action-packed episodes kept children coming back for more. The movie is also not one of the best, although it has an original story that does fit well into the G.I. Joe universe. There are some cool twists and turns that establish new character relationships for the following season of the show. When I first watched the movie I was not aware of some of the major script changes regarding the ending of the movie, but in hindsight the animation in the movie makes much more sense with the original rumored story. Either way, it is not as emotional as they probably intended it to be so to me it does not really affect the overall sense of the movie. Overall, the movie moves along at a good pace with plenty of action and character drama to keep viewers interested.

Animated Classic or Back To The Drawing Board?