Filmation's Ghostbusters - The Animated Series, Vol. 1 (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)Not to be confused with "The Real Ghostbusters," the animated series based on the 1984 hit film, Filmation's "Ghostbusters" was actually based on the 1975 live action Saturday morning series "The Ghost Busters" starring Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch [of "F Troop" fame] as ghost busters Jake Kong and Eddie Spenser respectively. Along with Tracy, their gorilla played by Bob Burns, Jake and Eddie fought the ghosts of historical villains. Both versions of the show were produced by Filmation.
Filmation's 1986 animated Ghostbusters series featured Jake Kong Jr. and Eddie Spenser Jr., the sons of Jake and Eddie assisted by Tracy the gorilla, Jessica the reporter, Belfry the bat, and Futura the sorceress. From their Ghost Command headquarters, they battled ghosts and phantoms from fairy tales, present-day and future. Whether traveling through time and space in their transforming Ghost Buggy, or battling the evil spooks of Prime Evil at his Haunt-Quarters, the Ghostbusters would always answer the call to action with their battlecry "Let's Go Ghostbusters!" The battlecry much like He-Man's transformation scene, albeit to a lesser extent, was that scene in the show I always looked forward to, and never got tired of.
I almost didn't bother to watch Filmation's Ghostbusters back in first-run because [at the time] I felt it was trying to steal The Real Ghostbusters' thunder--which it was, sort of. It's all relative however as neither animated series would've been produced if it weren't for the success of 1984's "Ghostbusters" film. Columbia Pictures (who owned the film and spin-off cartoon) settled a lawsuit with Filmation for an undisclosed sum in order to use the title in the film, but that didn't preclude Filmation's own animated attempt to capitalize on poltergeist popularity. With all of that in mind, I did watch both shows in first-run and had found there to be plenty of ghostbusting fun to be had from both shows.
Hopefully, the folks at Sony who produced those infuriating Real Ghostbusters 4-episode volumes will take notes from BCI's Ink & Paint, and sometime soon package The Real Ghostbusters into a set as bountiful in episodes and extras as this Filmation Ghostbusters set.
Filmation's Ghostbusters - Volume One is a 6-disc set featuring the show's first 32 [of 65] episodes in Full-Frame (1.33:1) video, plus the following Special Features:
* Creator interviews with producer Lou Scheimer, writer Robby London and directors Tom Tataranowicz and Tom Sito
* Ghostbusters anti-drug spot
* Original 10 min. presentation of the promo pilot
* Slideshow storyboard for episode 22 "Laser and Future Rock"
* Image gallery of Ghostbusters heroes including the original model sheets and sketches
* English & Spanish audio for all 32 episodes
* Easter eggs and series trivia
* Ink & Paint trailers
* DVD-ROM material: the complete five-episode script for the Ghostbusters "origin story"
* Bonus episode: "The Ghost Busters" live action series episode #1 - "The Maltese Monkey" featuring ghost busting trio Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Bob Burns"Yeah!"
Episodes:
1. I'll Be a Son of a Ghostbuster (Part 1)
2. Frights of the Roundtable (Part 2)
3. No Pharoah At All (Part 3)
4. The Secret of Mastadon Valley (Part 4)
5. The Ones Who Saved the Future (Part 5)
6. Witch's Stew
7. Mummy Dearest
8. Wacky Wax Museum
9. Statue of Liberty
10. The Ransom of Eddie Spenser
11. Eddie Takes Charge
12. The Great Ghost Gorilla
13. A Friend in Need
14. No Mo Snow
15. Prime Evil's Good Deed
16. Cyman's Revenge
17. The Headless Horseman Caper
18. Banish the Banshee
19. Rollerghoster
20. He Went Brataway
21. The Looking-Glass Warrior
22. Laser and Future Rock
23. Runaway Choo Choo
24. Dynamite Dinosaurs
25. Ghostbunglers
26. My Present to the Future
27. The Beastly Buggy
28. Belfry Leads the Way
29. The Battle for Ghost Command
30. Going Ape
31. The Haunting of Gizmo
32. Ghostnappers
Ghostbusters - Volume One:
Feb. 27th!

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Episodes: 1. Witches Stew2. Mummy Dearest3. Wacky Wax Museum4. Statue of Liberty5. The Ransom of Eddie Spenser6. Eddie Takes Charge7. Tracy Come Back8. A Friend in Need9. I\'ll Be a Son of a Ghostbuster10. Frights of the Round Table11. No Pharaoh At All12. The Secret of Mastodon Valley13. The Ones Who Save the Future14. No Snow15. Prime Evil\'s Good Deed16. The Haunting of Gizmo17. The Headless Horseman18. Banish That Banshee19. Rollerghoster20. He Went Brat-A-Way21. Looking Glass Warrior22. Laser and Future Rock23. Runaway Choo-Choo24. Dynamite Dinosaur25. GhostBunglers26. My Present to the Future27. Beastly Buggy28. Belfry Leads the Way29. Battle For Ghost Command30. Going Ape31. Cyman\'s Revenge32. GhostNappersFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC:787364722990

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The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power (1985) Review

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(More customer reviews)My life is complete.
I have spent MANY, MANY YEARS waiting for "She-Ra" to come out on DVD, and it's FINALLY happening! HOORAY!
The release of the "She-Ra" DVD sets will be similar to that of the "He-Man" DVDs. The first "She-Ra" DVD set will consist of the movie "The Secret of the Sword" (which features He-Man and explains how Adam has a twin sister, how Adora became She-Ra, etc.) as well as five of the most popular episodes from the series, which were voted on by fans at He-Man.org. The five episodes that will be featured on the "Best of She-Ra" DVD are "The Price of Freedom," "The Sword in the Stone," "Horde Prime Takes a Holiday," "Of Shadows and Skulls," and (my personal favorite) "Sweet Bee's Home."
The quality of the "He-Man" DVD sets is incredible, and the "She-Ra" DVDs are expected to be just as good, if not better. In addition to the fully restored episodes, the "Best of She-Ra" DVD set will include a documentary, feature-length audio commentary, a music video, storyboard spreads, DVD-ROM scripts, "She-Ra" trivia, hidden Easter eggs, and two collectible comic book art cards. How cool is that?!
Also, just like the "He-Man" DVDs, the complete "She-Ra: Princess of Power" series will be released on DVD in three separate volumes beginning this fall. Each DVD set will contain a variety of special bonus features.
Words cannot express how excited I am about this DVD set! I grew up obsessed with She-Ra, and I am STILL obsessed with She-Ra! When I was a young girl I owned all the She-Ra action figures, the Crystal Castle...even that awful Crystal Falls playset that had a pump shaped like a seashell and squirted water all over everything! I had She-Ra books, She-Ra clothes, a She-Ra birthday cake...EVERYTHING! For the past 20 years I've had to settle for watching my treasured yet crappy VHS copies of the series that I always feared would fall apart at any moment. Now I'm finally going to have the entire series on DVD to enjoy in all its glory for the rest of my life! I couldn't be happier!
July 18 is already marked on my calendar...I am probably going to take the day off work so I can sit at home and watch "She-Ra" all day! I'll be able to recite the words to every episode, too, since I watched them all about a thousand times! "I am Adora, He-man's twin sister and defender of the Crystal Castle." AHHHH! I get goosebumps just thinking about it!
SHE-RA FOREVER!!!

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This two-disc set includes the five best episodes of the long-running series She-Ra: Princess of Power as voted on by fans. It also includes the 1985 feature film "The Secret of the Sword." The set is packed with special features including a documentary featurette a feature length audio commentary a music video featurette trivia collectibles and more! She-Ra: Princess of Power first aired on television in 1985 as a female-directed spin-off of the popular He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC:787364721191

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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Season One, Vol. 2 (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)There's no denying it: BCI Eclipse had some incredible animated titles that risked becoming forever lost to the archives of time once the company was forced to shut its doors this past year. Fortunately Mill Creek Entertainment, which by the way is distributed by BCI's parent company, Navarre, has acquired the rights to bring many of BCI's titles to the home market once more. Even more impressive still is that these sets will be packaged up and sold as complete box sets (rather than individual season releases).
In the case of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, this set represents the complete 2002-series release by Mike Young Corporation. Coming in at a total runtime of 960 minutes, this set spans 4 discs and contains the same clear-plastic slipcase and artwork-style as the previous BCI releases.
The extras contained are only slightly less thorough than the individual season releases and include:
End of Episodes Morals
Interviews with Toyline Artists from Mattel and The Four Horsemen
12 audio commentaries
Scripts for episodes 1-40
A PDF Comic Book for unproduced episode #40
Notably missing from this set are the original art cards (a pair was included in each of the three season releases).
Now let's take a look at the show itself:
Fans are treated to what many consider the most accurate and exciting rendition of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe saga. Debuting in 2002 under the Mike Young Productions umbrella, this latest rendition of the He-Man source material closely follows the original Filmation standard set in the early 1980s with modernized animation quality and in-depth stories that further built upon the original characters and environments. The first season consisted of the following 26 episodes:
The Beginning Part 1
The Beginning Part 2
The Beginning Part 3
The Courage of Adam
Sky War
The Deep End
Lessons
Siren's Song
The Ties That Bind
Dragon's Brood
Turnabout
Mekaneck's Lament
Night of the Shadowbeasts
Underworld
The Mystery of Anwat Gar
The Monster Within
Roboto's Gambit
Trust
Orko's Garden
Buzz-Off's Pride
Snake Pit
The Island
The Sweet Smell of Victory
Separation
The Council of Evil Part 1
The Council of Evil Part 2
Season two consisted of the following thirteen:
The Last Stand
To Walk With Dragons
Out of the Past
Rise of the Snake Men Part 1
Rise of the Snake Men Part 2
The Price of Deceit
Of Machines and Men
Second Skin
The Power of Grayskull
Web of Evil
Rattle of the Snake
History
Awaken the Serpent
In case you're just tuning in, no this isn't the Filmation version of the show so many of us recall with warm fuzzies from our youth. This is in fact the third (and most recent) animated iteration of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Produced for Cartoon Network by Mike Young
Productions, this version ran from 2002 until 2004 where it went for two full seasons (26 in the first season, 13 in the second). Along the way it managed to snag a very well deserved Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing (2004).
While there are few who could argue successfully that anything could replace the original Filmation series, Mike Young Productions managed to capture all of the elements that made the original so successful and to bring them up to modern standards of animation quality, sound work, and script writing. As a result the mythos had been brought to an entirely new generation of fans while simultaneously pleasing fans of the original.
Without giving too much away (I hate spoilers personally), I will say that the origins of Snake Mountain will begin to unfold in the second-half of the first season in addition to the complete origin of the Dark Hemisphere which imprisons Skeletor and his minions. New characters are plentiful as well and contain some slick back-story efforts, which make even the original Mattel toys a lot more desirable. Among the notables includes the stories of Two-Bad, Cobra Kahn, Cyclone, Roboto, Moss Man, Zodak, and Stinkor. Many of these characters were never fully fleshed out in the original show (if they appeared at all) and would have remained only in the imaginations of those who played with the toys if not for the spectacular effort here. We are also treated to a couple of new looks for He-Man himself including an amped up version of he and Skeletor in combat and his ever impressive winter gear which includes a flowing fur cape and a heavy battle ax.
The Snakemen element introduced in the first season develops into sheer brilliance in the second (and unfortunately final) season! Not to insinuate that the Masters didn't have their hands full as it was with Skeletor and his minions, this time around the threats to peace and justice come in from all angles in the form of the Skeletor and company, the Snake Men, and the Evil Horde! Yes, you read that correctly- She-Ra's arch nemesis, Hordak, who just so happens to have been Skeletor's mentor, shows up in Season 2 within Skeletor's origin story that finally ties all of the loose threads of Mattel's franchise together once and for all.
I often like to wonder what ground Mike Young's team would have covered had the show continued. Would they have expanded to include He-Man's sister (She-Ra's) story arc? Could have writer Larry DeTillio revisited some of his wise dragon influence? A shame that we'll probably never know.
All in all, the show simply continued to build upon the foundation first set by Filmation in the 1980s and thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment, can be yours in its entirety for the cost of each of the single season releases.

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The battle for power continues on the world of Eternia! Join He-Man and the Masters of the Universe® as they battle against Skeletor and his crew of detestable villains in the greatest adventures ever told!These 32 episodes continue the saga of the most phenomenal stories ever created in animation! Relive the excitement as you enjoy the adventures of the universe s greatest warriors. The power has returned!System Requirements:Running Time 688 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating:NR UPC:787364651894

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