Just in time for Valentine’s Day, there’s an avalanche of animated and vfx-related titles arriving in DVD stores today. Fans of 1990s-era TV series based on durable Disney characters can pick up Goof Troop: Vol 1 and Quack Pack: Vol. 1, both of which feature three episodes per disc ($14.99). You can pick up both titles for a special price of $21.98 online at amazon.com.
The most powerful man in the universe, He-Man, goes against the evil forces of Skeletor in Brentwood Home Video’s Collector’s package He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’Season One, Vol. 2. ($49.98). You can pretend it’s 1983 all over again with this cool release containing episodes 34-65, and bells and whistles including two new documentaries about the toon phenom, an animated storyboard, two 4×6 art cards, triva, character profiles, commercial spots and five complete episode scripts.
If you’re in the mood for vfx-driven movies, you may want to check out the Henson Company’s killer visual effects in MirrorMask, a strange reworking of Alice in Wonderland, directed by CG artist and designer Dave McKean, based on a novel by fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. The DVD features commentary by McKean and Gaiman, as well as interviews with stars Gina McKee, Gaiman and other members of the cast and rew. The featurettes Beginnings: The Genesis of MirrorMask, Flight of the Monkeybirds and Day 16: A Time-Lapse Video of One Day On-Set, a Q&A session from the 2003 Comic-Con and a gallery of posters and cover art are also included in this handsome package, which is priced at $26.96.
The family space adventure Zathura (directed by Jon Favreau), which can be viewed as a sequel to Jumanji also hits stores today. In the movie, two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space because of the board game they are playing. The Sony release didn’t set the box-office on fire, but it did feature some cool visual effects courtesy of Digital Dimension, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Stan Winston Studio and Zoid Studios. Priced at $28.95, the DVD features commentaries by Favreau and producer Peter Billingsley, making-of featurettes, and spotlights on the creatures, the robos, the game, the miniatures and the book’s popular author Chris van Allsburg, who also penned The Polar Express.
Other titles that might pique your interest this week are Disney Princess Sing Along Songs: Perfectly Princess (Walt Disney Home Video, $19.99), Dragon Ball GT-Set 2 (Funimation, $59.98), Golden Age of Cartoons’Cartoon for Victory! (Ventura, $14.95), Golden Age of Cartoons’Cultoons! (Ventura, $14.95), Panda-Z Vol. 4 (Bandai, $14.98), Party Time with Max and Ruby (Paramount, $16.99), Zatch Bell, Vol. 2 (VIZ, $19,98). Oh ‘ and nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like that crazy uncensored version of the Comedy Central Pamela Anderson Roast out today!
