Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 19th, 2010
G.I. Joe the Movie was originally supposed to be a real box office movie. It was to be the first of three animated motion pictures put out by Hasbro Toys. The other two were based on Transformers and My Little Pony. However, production delays caused the other two to go first. When Transformers and My Little Pony did poorly (gee, never would have guessed that a talking magical pony failed to grab box office sales), it was decided that G.I. Joe would go the direct video route. Years later, it still proved to be arguably the best of the three.
It seems that Cobra Commander and Serpentor just can’t get along. They constantly bicker as to who is in charge of Cobra and would rather accuse each other of incompetence than figure out how to defeat G.I. Joe. It is at that moment that a woman breaks into the Terrordrome. Cobra Commander tries to rally the troops and goes off to find this stranger leaving Serpentor behind. However, the woman still makes it to the Cobra Leader.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 12th, 2010
Marvel Superhero cartoons come and they go. For every Spider-Man cartoon, there is an X-Men cartoon, or Wolverine or perhaps even Iron Man gets one. Some of them last more than one season but more often than not they are replaced by shows telling the same stories but in a different style. Marvel Superhero Squad show attempts to break the mold by providing fresh stories with a rather interesting and unique animation style.
Super Hero City is a vast metropolis full of super-heroes and civilian life but chaos has taken hold. It seems that Doctor Doom and his Lethal Legion are looking for scattered Infinity fractals which hold great power. With each one collected, they are closing to building an Infinity Sword, a source of ultimate power. However, standing in their way is the Super Hero Squad and consists of six primary members.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2010
The Griffins, residents of Quahog, Rhode Island, aren’t the standard sitcom familial unit. The patriarch, Peter, a thick-necked, thicker-accented simpleton, has a wonderful grip on eighties television shows and bad musical groups, but lacks in social graces (soiling oneself at a neighbor’s funeral?). His wife, the animated-hot and ever-loving Lois, seems hell-bent on keeping some semblance of normalcy in the household, even if it means burying her feelings and ignoring reality a bit. Their oldest child, Meg, is the very definition of unpopular, but trying. Chris, her thirteen-year-old brother, is a dense lug who fears the evil monkey only he can see. Baby Stewie is a two year old with Rex Harrison’s voice, Howard Cosell’s vocabulary, and Napoleon’s lust for world domination, but his family treats him just like any other two year old. Finally, their dog, Brian, is a well-read, well-spoken hound who’s trusted enough to babysit, even if he’s known to take a martini or two. Family Guy is the almost always hilarious story of their lives and their struggles.
Fox never really knew what to do with Family Guy, even though it premiered right after the Super Bowl. It moved around the schedule like a cartoon Bedouin, never getting a chance to claim a timeslot for its own. Its fans followed it, but newcomers never knew where to find the show after its initial viewing. Its humor also didn’t make it a very easy sell to advertisers; it’s a more gruff version of The Simpsons, with far “bluer” material (sort of like if Homer and Marge were involved in an S&M episode). As a result of these obstacles, and in spite of serious protestations from a very large fan base, Family Guy only lasted three seasons. But never count a good series out for the count. Three years after it left the airwaves, Family Guy was back. Now the show is going into its 9th season. Quite a success story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 21st, 2010
Most people who read this site frequently are aware with my love for cartoons. More often than not, my favorite cartoons are those from the 90’s or 80’s cartoons and included such shows as Batman Animated, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Darkwing Duck. But there are some cartoons that have been made in the last decade that twenty years from now will be considered classics. As it turns out, I got to review one of those modern classics with the help of a very special and biased friend.
Hi there, my name is Michael Durr and you might remember me from such great reviews as Superman: The Complete Animated Series and Duckman, Seasons 3 and 4. Today, we are talking about Johnny Bravo: Season One. Johnny Bravo was a fantastic cartoon on the Cartoon Network that premiered on July 7th, 1997 and would then last sixty seven episodes until it ended in the hot summer of 2004.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2010
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest-running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years. A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown are the most mentioned and certainly beloved by generations of children and adults. I thought I never missed an airing.
Now Warner Home Video has brought together a special collection of the cartoon specials that started it all. It includes a couple annual greats and a few that I don’t really remember so much. Now we get into the second volume of the 1970’s specials. The two discs include the following Peanuts specials:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 13th, 2010
Many of you probably read my review for Iron Man 1994 Animated Adventures on DVD earlier this week. In that review, I told a story of two very different seasons of Iron Man. Well, Iron Man Armored Adventures is even more different because it deals with Tony Stark as a teenager. There is no telling whether this teenage Tony will be like a younger version of the suave and sophisticated playboy or play out like a mechanized version of Peter Parker from the most recent Spectacular Spider-Man show.
Tony Stark isn’t a typical teenage boy. He spends his days coming up with cutting edge technology that is going to help and change the world. His best friend, Rhodey goes to the local school and helps Tony as needed. Howard Stark is Tony’s father and is the head of Stark Industries. However, there are others within Stark Industries that wish to use the inventions for war rather than peace.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 10th, 2010
In September of 1993, an animated series using the wonders of stop-motion animation was broadcast on ABC. The name of the series was called Bump in the Night. It would run for twenty six episodes, spanning over two seasons. It was created and directed by Ken Pontac and David Bleiman. It also featured the vocal stylings of Jim Cummings, a man perhaps most famous for his Winnie the Pooh performance.
Mr. Bumpy (for his warts) is a small, green and purple monster who lives under the bed of a ten year old boy. He loves to eat socks, dust bunnies, snot filled tissues and other assorted things most people would consider disgusting. His disposition can be easily described as vile but yet easy going. Oh yeah, if you haven’t figured it out yet, he doesn’t brush his teeth.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 8th, 2010
Volume Five of the Animated Series known as X-Men is now upon us. Included here are the last fourteen episodes that haven't been put on disc for the masses. There is a lot going on in these twenty one minute chunks. There are some good things, bad things, funny things and more confusing things than probably should be in a children's animated show. So let us spend some time, the final time with our beloved mutant friendly superhero group.
The fourth season had left us on a climatic showdown. The four parter: Beyond Good and Evil had showed us some strange alliances as well as X-Men fighting together to save the day. Apocalypse was put away for another day as he could not defeat the mutant superheroes. Peace had come to the planet Earth even though we all the knew that it could not last. So we dive right into the final Volume of the X-Men.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 6th, 2010
Iron Man 2 comes out this week and is set to do fantastic business. Usually I’m a person who waits for movies to hit dvd and blu-ray and I’m already planning to when I can go see this movie. But one of the things I’ve come to appreciate over the years is when a big movie such as Iron Man 2 comes out, there are disc releases that dip into yesteryear and help to get you in the mood. Imagine my surprise when I was asked to review Iron Man: The Complete 1994 Animated Series.
To do this correctly, I really have to break up this synopsis into two parts. There is the first season and the second season. Trust me, they are so different from each other, I’m surprised they were released together. Everything from drawing style to the characters to the way they craft stories is different. It’s a fun ride either way but you’ll certainly prefer one over the other.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 4th, 2010
Most of my growing up and living occurred in the 1980’s. From ages five to fifteen, I grew up in an era that was famous to many different types of cartoons. It helped to shape my personality, from bad jokes to that unmistakable sarcasm. So, it was easy to attract me to a cartoon set that showcased odds and ends from that familiar era. Join me as we take a step back in history, a history that hits very close to home.
The first toon we find is one called Goldie Gold & Action Jack. They fight by air, by sea and by the seat of their pants. They aren’t kidding. Goldie is a certified lunatic: she rides a helicopter indoors, jumps out windows and talks to hobos. Doesn’t she know that she is blonde and rich? Jack really isn’t all that Action, he’s just good at being lucky. The show is very gadget heavy and has a little Scooby Doo sleuthing thrown in.
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