Two Cartoon Network revivals of classic animated properties are available on DVD today. The first season of Transformers Animated, the newest incarnation of the popular TV, film and toy property, shares a release date with season one of the all-new George of the Jungle series. Also hitting disc are Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers’The Collection: Volume 2 and the first five episodes of the NBC animated children’s series Jane and the Dragon.
Co-produced by Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro, Transformers Animated introduces new characters while bringing back such fan favorites as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead, Ratchet and Megatron. Set in Detroit, Michigan in the near future, the show finds the alien robots in disguise thrust into a world populated by humans and automatons. The Autobots learn to adjust to their new home as they work with the human population to battle the evil Decepticons and save planet Earth from destruction. The two-disc set offers 16 episodes and carries a suggested retail price of $26.99.
A re-imagining of the classic 1967 Jay Ward cartoon show, the new George of the Jungle features a younger George, who is back to protect the jungle of Mbebwe with a little help from best buddy Ape, friends Ursula and Magnolia, his faithful elephant Shep and the Tookie-Tookie bird. The show is co-produced by Bullwinkle Studios and Studio B Prods. All 19 episodes from the first season are packaged as a three-disc set that lists for $23.98.
Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers’The Collection: Volume 2 is a four-disc set containing the final 33 episodes of the ’80s action cartoon series. Produced and created by Robert Mandell, director of the 1986 action flick, F/X, and the 1993 pilot episode of The X-Files, the series takes place in the year 2086 as two peaceful aliens journey to Earth seeking help. In appreciation for Earth’s assistance, the aliens share the plans for the planet’s first hyperdrive, allowing mankind to open the doors to the stars. With the fantastic device in hand, a team of unique individuals is assembled to protect Earth and preserve law and order across the new frontier.
The animation for Galaxy Rangers was completed in Japan by the famed Tokyo Movie Shinsa, but it was one of the first anime-style shows to be created, storyboarded, voiced and produced in the U.S. The show originally aired as a series of sixty-five 30-minute episodes that combined elements of the Hollywood Western, the space opera and the epic sword-and-sorcery fantasy. The disc set lists for $39.98 and also includes on-camera interviews with series creator Robert Mandell and writers Dan Fiorella and John Rawlins; commentary on select episods; original music backing tracks; memories of voice lead Jerry Orbach (Law and Order), a slideshow of Galaxy Rangers character art by Justin Norman; and a 28-page collectible booklet with original illustrations.
The hit animated children’s series Jane and the Dragon makes its home video debut with Jane and the Dragon: A Dragon’s Tale, a compilation of the first five episodes of the show based on the bestselling book series by Martin Baynton. Employing motion-capture CG animation created by Weta Workshop, the fantasy yarn is spun in the ninth-century English kingdom of Kippernium, where 12-year-old Jane Turnkey seeks to buck convention by becoming a brave knight. When she rescues Prince Cuthbert from a not-so-ferocious dragon, she’s granted special permission to begin training as a knight’s apprentice with the gentle, wisecracking dragon by her side.
The single-disc DVD includes English and Spanish tracks, a behind-the-scenes featurette narrated by the author, a look at the show’s art narrated by Oscar-winning Weta vfx supervisor Richard Taylor, printable coloring sheets, character profiles, original concept art and a motion picture flight sequence. The DVD carries a suggested retail price of $14.99.
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