This is a selection of the August 31 DVD releases
that interest me, as well as some noteworthy DVD
release news for upcoming releases.

First, the release news. The TV-on-DVD announcements
this week, as gleaned from TV Shows on DVD,
include news that The Bionic Woman will be
available before the year is out. December 7 is going
to be an expensive day for animation fans such as
myself. We already knew that the next batch of Walt
Disney Treasures (including The Complete
Pluto, Mickey Mouse in Black and White Vol.
2, and The Mickey Mouse Club, all of
which I consider “must haves”) will be out on that
day. Now, we have word that the first few episodes
of the Ewoks and Droids cartoons
will be out on that day (which I’ll pass on), joined
by Batman: The Animated Series Vol. 2
Superman: The Animated Series Vol. 1 (which
I consider “must haves”), the second season of
The Flintstones, and the entire series of
Top Cat (both of which I’ll pass on.)
They’ve also released the cover art for the second
season of The Land Of The Lost, due out on
September 28.

As for movie releases, I don’t remember if this was
known last week or not, but the biggest recent news
is that Spider-Man 2 will be released in
normal and Superbit editions on November 11. If you
noticed anything I missed, let us know about it!

Now, for the August 31 genre releases:

• Canterville
  Ghost: The book this is based on is so well
  respected, literary critis like to forget it’s genre
  material.
• Invader
  Zim Vol. 2: Progressive Stupidity: This was a
  subject of discussion in last week’s column.
• Santa
  Claus Conquers the Martians: A true Christmas
  classic.
• Star
  Trek: The Original Series Season One: The
  original series is finally coming out in some nifty
  looking season sets. Unfortunately, they’re priced
  like other Star Trek TV products, so I won’t be
  picking them up.
• Terminator
  3 / 2001 A Space Odyssey Two pack: These two
  titles are being released in a low cost combo pack.
  I don’t know who decided that they belong
  together.
• Trekkies
  2: A sequel to the original amusing
  documentary.
• Dr.
  Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: This seems to be a recent
  version.
• Jack
  Frost: I can’t tell if this is the Michael Keaton
  comedy (doubtful) or the horror flick of the same
  name (likely.)
• Mystery
  Science Theater 3000: The Essentials : This
  contains Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
  and Manos
• Rocky
  and Bullwinkle and Friends Season Two: This may
  have more nostalgia appeal for others than it does
  for me.
• Swamp
  Thing: This is a collection of episodes from the
  animated series.
• Toxic
  Crusaders: The Movie: Yes, this is coming out
  too.
• Videodrome:
  This is getting the Criterion Collection treatment,
  so you know it’ll look and sound fantastic. The
  Criterion DVDs in my collection are the only ones
  with a completely invisible layer change.

Now, for the August 31 non-genre releases:

• Passion
  of the Christ: is bound to be a top seller this
  month.

I’ll be out of town for the September long weekend,
so next weeks’ column may be a bit late.