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Danger Mouse: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2

This may be considered a classic by many, but apparently it must be an “acquired taste” kind of show.

A Conversation with Andreas Deja

Animated News & Views’ Christian Ziebarth had the pleasure of doing lunch with famed animator Andreas Deja, who gladly shared memories of his acclaimed endeavors in the field of animation.

Tarzan II

Another Disney hero gets the “mid-quel” treatment as we find out most undramatically just what Tarzan got up to between finding family with the apes and discovering Jane.

Fantastic Four: The Complete 1994-95 Animated Series

The first season was legendarily bad, the second season pretty good. Overall, this one is for fans of the Four only.

Clutch Cargo: The Complete Series – Volume One

Cartoons… with real lips. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Synchro-Vox technology in action! They don’t make ’em like this anymore.

Spider-Man: The ’67 Collection

A Generaton X childhood favorite gets a big ol’ DVD set, as Marvel’s wall-crawling superhero discovers that super powers don’t make life any easier.

Starchaser: The Legend Of Orin

Space-opera animation style, in a hugely enjoyable slice of derivative sci-fi hokum.

Father Of The Pride: The Complete Series

DreamWorks’ debut television satire is three-parts very good fun to one part filthy that leaves somewhat of a bad taste.

Perils of Penelope Pitstop: The Complete Series

While still not one of Hanna-Barbera’s very best, this is still an entertaining show that is perhaps the strongest of the Wacky Races “trilogy.”

Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines: The Complete Series

Another spiffy DVD set for a mediocre H-B cartoon. The Wacky Races spin-off gets nicer treatment than it warrants, but I have no probalmes with that.

Team America: World Police – Unrated

South Park‘s Trey Parker and Matt Stone let rip on everything from bad Hollywood movies to the threat of global terrorism in possibly the most hysterical movie ever made. With puppets.

Dream On, Silly Dreamer

Independent documentary Dream On, Silly Dreamer projects the tragic tale of a medium deemed “dead” by numerous corporate heads. Animated News & Views’ Lindsay Mayer and Christian Ziebarth were on hand to sample the picture at separate screenings.

Pocahontas: 10th Anniversary Edition

Disney’s underrated musical drama returns on DVD with a healthy upgrade in bonuses and an extremely warranted “extra” inserted into the main feature itself!

Aladdin: Crew Reunion

Animated News & Views presents a lengthy writeup of the Aladdin Reunion held on Friday, April 22, 2005. The report contains four photos from the event, hosted by ASIFA-Hollywood and conducted at the Glendale Central Library.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law: Volume One

My childhood memories are disturbed by this send-up of classic Hanna-Barbera characters, yet I cannot help laughing.

The Plague Dogs: (1983 US Edited Edition)

Martin Rosen’s haunting adaptation of Richard Adams’ chilling book, here unfortunately shown in the truncated, illogical US edition which loses 20 minutes of material.

Shark Tale

Perhaps the least essential big studio CGI feature released so far, DreamWorks’ hyperactive comedy is brash and loud, more surface gloss than wanting to explore deeper waters.

Wacky Races: The Complete Series

This old favorite turns out to not have a lot of substance to it, but it is certainly fun as well as being a nearly essential purchase for the Hanna-Barbera fan. Warner Home Video produced a pretty nice little set overall, with a couple of good featurettes.

The Incredibles: Collector’s Edition

Disney/Pixar’s exceptionally entertaining dysfunctional superhero family spoof comes smashing onto DVD in the usual customary packed set.

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind

Miyazaki’s early masterpiece– finally available in its true form.

Bambi: Platinum Edition

Walt Disney’s original Circle Of Life is an epic masterpiece that has shaped generations. This new Platinum Edition shows the film has lost nothing of its charm or ability to strike emotionally.

Mulan II

Disney’s Chinese heroine returns in a half-hearted follow up that fails to engage the emotions or get the heart pounding with its lack of action and rudimentary romantics.

Broken Saints (Original Release)

This Internet sensation, an experiment in graphic literature, gets amazingly deluxe treatment in a superb 4-disc set bursting with extras. Broken Saints may not be for everyone, but many have been blown away by this story of spirituality, multinationals, politics, and… well, everything!

Picks Of The Year 2004

Although it only seems a few weeks since we last compiled a pick of our favorite animated goodies, we have come to the end of yet another year and so again offer our selection of all fine things animated!

Gargoyles: The Complete First Season

Gargoyles premiered on October 1994, as part of the syndicated Disney Afternoon block, with a five-part episode arc entitled Awakening. These episodes told the story of how the gargoyles lived in their old world of Scotland, and about how they were transplanted to downtown Manhattan. The first five episodes, with their action and mythology-packed storylines, created a world where gargoyles came out at night to defend their castle. The story featured six living gargoyles that sleep as statues during the day, and were awakened at sunset. A new breed of superheroes was created and the gargoyles later would come to see all of Manhattan as their home and castle.

Top Cat: The Complete Series

This Hanna-Barbera series is relatively forgotten compared to some of their bigger properties, but fortunately Warner Home Video gave us this fine DVD release so that everyone can now appreciate just how great this prime-time show was.

Rudolph And Frosty’s Christmas In July

This somewhat obscure 1970’s Rankin-Bass feature is surprisingly adept at keeping up the ol’ Rudolph & Frosty magic.

Mary Poppins: 40th Anniversary Edition

Walt Disney’s exuberant musical masterpiece comes to special edition DVD in a wonderful package that does the film justice, explores every avenue of production and bundles in a new short too!

Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Pluto, Volume One

Walt’s original pup gets his first solo outing in the Disney Treasures line, with part one of a “complete” collection of his works. Grrrreat!

Kaena: The Prophecy

This French CGI project’s origins as a video game show, but the look of the film is unique and the story interesting, even if the details of the plot are a bit hazy.