Be
Cool Scooby Doo: Teamwork Screamwork
(2017/Warner DVD Set)/Nella
The Princess Knight
(2017/Nickelodeon DVD)/Teen
Titans: The Complete First Season
(2003/DC Comics/Warner Archive Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/C+/B Sound: C+/C+/B Extras: D/D/C+ Episodes: B-/C+/C+
Now
for the next child-friendly releases, all offering their own takes on
adventure...
Be
Cool Scooby Doo: Teamwork Screamwork
(2017) offers another (un?-)lucky 13 mysteries over two DVDs that are
not bad if you have not seen the original series, but retains some
charm and offers some good humor throughout, so it is not as poor as
some other revivals of 'the gang' in the Mystery Machine. The show
is apparently doing better than other revivals/continuations and is a
bit better than some of the recent video-only feature films we've
covered, some of which have been the near nadir (outside of those
awful live action films with Freddie Prinze, Jr.) so you can do
worse.
This
Warner DVD set runs almost 300 minutes (!) in all, but there are no
extras. Why not? That's another mystery for another time for the
gang to solve.
Nella
The Princess Knight
(2017) is the next attempt for the Nickelodeon Network to launch a
new series (and franchise) with the title character a pretty young
gal who can still look good doing battle against new opponents and
situations throughout the eight episodes debuting on this DVD. The
supporting characters in this fantasy world have names like Trinket,
Sir Garrett and Clod. That alone makes me wonder where the show will
go (humor-wise included), but it was not one that stood with me.
However, I could still see it being some kind of hit and at least it
is ambitious as it looks for its audience.
There
are no extras, but our copy came with a paperboard slide cover over
the DVD case that featured a lenticular cover to see Nella in both
kinds of outfits we will have to get used to seeing her in through
the series. The animation is not bad either.
Finally,
from DC Comics and Warner Family Entertainment comes the beloved 2003
DC Teen Titans cartoon, now on crystal clear Blu-ray disc
commercial and network-watermark free. The animation style is
similar to that of the '90s Batman: The Animated Series
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) mixed with a kind of PowerPuff
Girls-vibe. The show is high energy that's fun for kids with
references that adults will dig in Teen
Titans: The Complete First Season.
Teen
Titans features the voice talents of Scott Menville, Greg Cipes,
Khary Payton, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong, and Dee Bradley Baker.
The
Teen Titans - Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Robin - face
their rogues gallery of villains - Mad Mod, The Puppet King, Mumbo
and Slade across thirteen episodes. Based in Titans Tower, the
junior heroes still have a lot to learn when compared to their adult
counterparts but still manage to save the day.
Episodes
include Final Exam, Sisters, Divide and Conquer, Forces of Nature,
The Sum of His Parts, Nevermore, Switched, Deep Six, Masks, Mad Mod,
Apprentice Pt. 1 and 2, and Car Trouble.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio with a
lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track, the show looks and
sounds fine with little to complain about. Some of the lines around
the characters are a little imperfect but the style is neat and very
colorful.
Special
Features include...
Finding
Their Voices: The secret information behind the making of Teen
Titans
Comic
Creations: From Comic Book to Cartoon
Puffy
AmiYumi Music Video
Sneak
Peak at Hi Hi Puffy YamiYumi TV Show
Puffy
AmiYumi Interview/Featurette
Toon
Topia bonus cartoons: The Hiros Episodes 1 and 2 in HD
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio with a
lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track, Titans looks and
sounds fine with little to complain about. Some of the lines around
the characters are a little imperfect but the style is neat and very
colorful.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Scooby and Nella
look as good as they can for the format with good color and fairly
good depth. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Scooby and lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Nella are good for the new
recordings that they are, but are limited by the format's
compression. This is pretty much what we expected, but that's fine.
-
Nicholas Sheffo & James
Lockhart (Titans)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
