Home Video

Disney Classics, Pink Floyd's The Wall, And Other Home Entertainment Titles Are Set For Release. Although Disney has released a few titles on DVD, including The Nightmare Before Christmas and A Bug's Life, they have not released their classics in the US on DVD, preferring to back DIVX, a DVD competitor that was sold through Circuit City retail stores. But now that DIVX is defunct, due to the lack of consumer support, Disney is embracing DVD. Buena Vista Home Entertainment will debut nine of Disney's animated features on DVD over the next four months. Each of the titles will be available for a limited 60-day time period, and most of the offerings will then be placed on moratorium for up to 10 years. The titles include: Pinocchio, which became the studio's first animated classic to be released as a sell-through video back in 1985, and will be the first DVD release on October 26. 101 Dalmatians, Hercules, and Mulan will be released on November 11. Lady And The Tramp, Peter Pan and Simba's Pride (Lion King Ii) will be released on DVD on November 22. The Jungle Book and The Little Mermaid will be released on December 7. All of the releases will be presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios and in Dolby Digital or Dolby Surround sound. Foreign-language supplemental tracks will also be included on all of the nine titles. However, there will be no other supplemental materials, and the retail price will be a lofty US$39.99. . .

Columbia Records will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's album The Wall with the release of the film on DVD in October. The film includes animation designed and directed by Gerald Scarfe, who went on to design Disney's Hercules. The DVD features a new transfer of the original widescreen film, as well as unreleased footage, a remastered 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, the 25-minute "making of" documentary The Other Side Of The Wall, and the new 45-minute documentary Retrospective, with running commentary from Roger Waters, Gerald Scarfe, and more. . . Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle, a collection of the third season of HBO's Spawn animated series, was released on August 23 in the US. . . Image Entertainment, Inc., a licensee and distributor of DVDs in North America, will release six computer animation titles from Odyssey Productions on DVD and videocassette. The first title to be released, on October 19, will be Computer Animation Marvels which includes Pets, The Persecution, Vache Folle, Ticked Off, Carved Journey, The Hungry One, The Physics Of Cartoons--Part 1, H2o, Bowtie Blues, Cpu, Last Call, Rockpaperscissors, A Narrow Martian Of Error, Love & Rockets, Fly Hard, The Sitter, and Chris Landreth's Bingo. The DVD version also includes Jataka. . . Rhino Home Video released episodes from three Sunbow Entertainment series from the 1980s, G.I. Joe, The Transformers, and Jem, on VHS on September 21 in the US. G.I. Joe and The Transformers are packaged in three-volume box sets, while Jem is a single volume. Each volume includes two episodes. . . Columbia TriStar Home Video is releasing its first original computer animated direct to video title, The Nuttiest Nutcracker. The animated musical, based on Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite, is directed by Harold Harris and features the voices of Jim Belushi, Cheech Marin, and Phyllis Diller. It will be available on VHS and DVD in the US beginning October 19. . . Manga Video released Fist Of The North Star Volume 5, which includes Episode 13, 14, and 15, on August 31, 1999 in the US. In these episodes, the hero confronts a mutant giant, the personification of Satan, and continues his search for his kidnapped girlfriend.

Pinocchio returns to VHS. Buena Vista Home Entertainment previously announced that the 60th Anniversary Edition of Disney's classic Pinocchio would be the first Disney animated feature to be released in the DVD format [Animation Flash 8/24/99]. Now they have announced that a new VHS edition of Pinocchio, fully restored and THX-certified, will be available on the same day as the DVD version, October 26, 1999 in the US. This version will include a "Making of Pinocchio" bonus section, which will only be available on the VHS edition. The retail price is US$26.99. The previous home video release of Pinocchio, in 1992, was also marketed as being "fully restored," so it remains to be seen how this one differs from that release in sound or picture quality.

Street of Crocodiles. Courtesy of Kino on Video.

Institute Benjamenta. Courtesy of Kino on Video.

Kino Releases Brothers Quay. New York-based Kino on Video is releasing two Brothers Quay videos. The Brothers Quay Collection: Ten Astonishing Short Films 1984-1993 includes The Cabinet Of Jan Svankmajer, The Epic Of Gilgamesh Or This Unnameable Little Broom, Street Of Crocodiles, Rehearsals For Extinct Anatomies, Dramolet (Stille Nacht I), The Comb (From The Museums Of Sleep), De Artificali Perspectiva Or Anamorphosis, Are We Still Married? (Stille Nacht Ii), Tales From The Vienna Woods (Stille Nacht Iii), and Can't Go Wrong Without You (Stille Nacht Iv). Only Dramolet has never been released on video, but these films have never been available together at such a reasonable price. The tape retails in the US for $24.95. Also being released by Kino is Institute Benjamenta Or This Dream People Call Human Life, the Brothers' first feature. Although it is primarily live-action, and includes only a little animation, the style of this film about a decaying boarding school is reminiscent of their animated films. The retail price is US$79.95, but the price will probably be reduced next spring to $24.95. The US street date for both titles was September 14, 1999.

Image Releases Hubley DVD. Earlier this year Image Entertainment and Lightyear released Art And Jazz In Animation, a compilation DVD of more than four hours of features and shorts by John and Faith Hubley. The compilation includes two features, The Cosmic Eye and Of Stars And Men, as well as the shorts: Of Men And Demons, Voyage To Next, Eggs, Cockaboody, The Hole, The Hat, Dig, Harlem Wednesday, Adventures Of *, Urbanissimo, and The Tender Game. While some of the older films are disappointingly faded and a bit worn, fans of Hubley or independent animation will not want to miss this title. The price, US$39.95, is a bargain, especially when compared to what one would pay for the individual videos that include these films.

Universal Offers Alvin And Chipmunks DTV. Universal Studios Home Video is releasing Alvin And The Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein. Produced and directed by Kathi Castillo and animated at Universal Cartoon Studios in Universal City, California, the direct-to-video shows what happens when the havoc wrecking chipmunks encounter Dr. Frankenstein and his creation at a Universal Studios-type amusement park. The chipmunks were created by Ross Bagadasarian (aka David Seville) in 1958 for the hit novelty record, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)." Seville's earlier hit, "Witch Doctor," featured high-pitched chipmunk-like voices, but they were not yet chipmunks or characters. The first Chipmunks series appeared on television on October 4, 1961 when THE ALVIN SHOW premiered.

Winstar Releases Gulliver's Travels. Los Angeles-based WinStar, which has recently released a number of public domain titles under the Cartoon Crazys heading, released a "fully restored" version of the Fleischer Bros. 1939 feature, Gulliver's Travels, on DVD and VHS on September 28, 1999 in the US. Transferred from a newly struck print taken from an original negative, this version features enhanced audio remixed in Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround sound. The musical score also has been remastered with additional scoring and instrumentation. (It remains to be seen if this is a good thing.) Also included are two Gabby shorts, King For A Day (1940) and Swing Cleaning (1941). (Gabby is the town crier in Gulliver's Travels.) The DVD also includes a 1937 on-site Fleischer Studios report, rare photo stills, a magazine and picture gallery, a history of Fleischer Studios, and Spanish and French subtitles.

Warner Bros. Home Video announces The Iron Giant on video. (L to R) Director Brad Bird, Van Diesel, voice of the Iron Giant, and Tom Lesinski, senior vice president of world wide marketing and development. Photo © German Silva/Berliner Studio.

Iron Giant Comes To Home Video. Some fans, who are still shaking their heads over the poor boxoffice performance of the critically acclaimed The Iron Giant, director Brad Bird's adaptation of the children's book by British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, have suggested that Warner Bros. should re-vamp their publicity campaign for the film by targeting a larger audience than the young kids that were originally targeted, and re-release The Iron Giant theatrically. Such a scenario appears unlikely now that Warner Home Video has announced The Iron Giant for home video and DVD. In fact, Warner appears to disagree that the film would have benefited from a different marketing strategy since the video retailer's announcement for the video release says that "part of the campaign for the release of The Iron Giant [video] will be a major advertising schedule targeting kids ages 4-11 and parents of kids 4-11." The same video announcement does not mention any "advertising schedule" targeting a broader group. In any case, fans of the widescreen film will be happy to know that the film will be released in letterboxed format on both VHS and DVD. The DVD will also include "The Making of The Iron Giant," the Cha Hua Hua music video by Eddie Platt, one of the soundtrack's featured performers, the theatrical trailer, and a filmography section. The video retails for US$22.95, and the DVD retails for US$24.98. Both will be released on November 23, 1999.

You can read an interview with acclaimed director Brad Bird, "Lean, Mean Fighting Machine: How Brad Bird Made The Iron Giant," written by Bob Miller in the August issue of Animation World Magazine.

A.D.V Films Releases More Anime For Fans. A.D.V. Films is releasing the following anime titles in the US. On November 9: Martian Successor Nadesico Volume 1 - Invasion! - An unorthodox crew fights to save Earth from annihilation by Martians; Compiler 2 - It's Compiler versus Compiler in deadly showdown!; and Original Dirty Pair Volume 4 - Kei and Yuri stumble upon a child who is the sole survivor of a mass murder committed over twenty years ago. November 23: Bubblegum Crisis Volume 2 - Trial By Fire - Sylia's brother Mackey joins the team as the whole town goes up in flames; and Those Who Hunt Elves Chapter 4: Ghostly Encounters - Take a trip with your favorite elf-strippers and find out what happens when the hunters become the haunted. December 7: Master Of Mosquiton, The Vampire 2 - Find out what happens when you love a vampire; and Sorcerer Hunters Volume 6 - Arcane Revelations - The boundaries between reality and fantasy completely disappear when the Sorcerer Hunters get trapped inside an enchanted book where anything that can possibly happen does. All of these titles will be released in both English dubbed and Japanese with English subtitles. A.D.V.'s Softcel division, which specializes in titles with nudity, sex, and adult situations, is releasing the following titles: October 12: Can Can Bunny 2 - Everywhere he goes Kenta finds his path strewn with willing women who fall into his arms. November 9: Countdown: Akira Part 2 - What will Akira's stepsister think when she returns home to find her precious little brother the burning desire of every woman in town? December 7: Can Can Bunny 3 - Thanks to a little magical nudge from Suwati, the mortal she's in love with is scoring with every woman under the sun, but what about the lovelorn goddess?; and Countdown: Akira Part 3 - She's back! After many long months spent modeling in Europe's most fashionable showplaces, Akira's stepsister is finally home. But she's not alone.

Manga Releases Macross Plus DVD. Manga Video is releasing Macross Plus on DVD on October 12, 1999. Macross Plus, directed by Shoji Kawamori, is a DTV (direct-to-video) which is based on the original Japanese TV series Superdimensional Fortress Macross, which was used as the basis for the 1980s American TV series Robotech. Macross Plus is set approximately thirty years after the original Macross and just before the events in the Japanese TV series Macross 7. In Macross Plus, the universe's most popular virtual reality singer, Sharon Apple, comes alive and is out to take over the galaxy. The DVD includes a Musical Photo Gallery, Japanese production team credit menus, and Macross Plus trailers. The programs can be watched in English, Japanese, or Japanese with English subtitles. The DVD plays in regions 1, 2, and 4.