more classic cartoons coming to dvd

I have *no* idea how I missed these, they weren’t even in my wish list. I didn’t see these three until I was dinking around on Amazon.com this morning. Maybe they were recent additions.

July looks to be a good month for new releases. First, on the 17th, we get treated to the complete series of both Birdman and Space Ghost.

I really love both of those shows, and remember them quite fondly, mostly because they were *never* on television, and being able to catch them was a very rare treat. Plus, as a little kid, I loved the sci-fi / fantasy cartoons as my favorites, so of course that made them only even cooler. I’m really excited to pick up these two sets and can’t wait to give them a watch. I’m hoping that we get treated to even more classic sci-fi cartoons from Hanna-Barbera in the future, too. Their works have been so extensive, there’s just so much good stuff in there.

For some reason, I recall Woody Woodpecker as being one of the more crazy cartoons … seems like they did more … something. I can’t really pinpoint it now, but I do remember liking this cartoon almost more than any at a really young age. Of course, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry always were enjoyable too, but for some reason these seem to stick out more in my memory. One thing I do remember is they seemed to have a lot more color to them.

I did just notice that Chilly Willy is on the box. I love that little penguin. Ah, I can’t wait for this one.

Next up is another classic collection, this time of Popeye cartoons. I was always on and off about these as a kid. I remember sometimes I’d really like them, and other times I’d get bored of the formulaic plot (at such a young age, too! It still bothers me today with TV). So, I’m not sure what to say about this one. I remember liking some of them, a lot. I’m more excited to see a good, near complete, nicely put together collection come out more than anything. They are classic, though, and there’s nothing I love more than the cartoons that were originally shown in the theater. On some of my Tom and Jerry cartoons, there are some that were filmed in scope, and it is really cool watching them with such a huge aspect ratio.

Speaking of theatrical collections, Droopy’s comes out just a week from today. To be honest, I’m really surprised there even are that many Droopy cartoons to start with. I remember watching them alright, but they seemed really rare now that I think about it, or I just didn’t happen to catch them much. Either way, I can’t imagine there being very many of them, but I could be wrong. I can recall a few images of these in my head, and while I can’t really remember anything special about the cartoons, I do know I enjoyed them. I’m thinking it was probably just standard slapstick kiddy cartoon fare, and didn’t really stand out. Not to say they weren’t good, they just got mixed in with the others, and never really got individualized. I’m really curious to get my hands on this one as I think most of them will be new to me.

And here’s one that already came out, but I’ll comment on it anyway, since I’m getting all nostalgic. I got this for my birthday in March, since my little sister got me an Amazon.com gift certificate. Thanks Beckie-poo!

I picked up a copy of Captain N: The Game Master, the complete series, and I’ve been watching it lately — partially to reminisce and partially to torture me.

The animation on this thing is so horrible, it’s sad. Even Legend of Zelda fared better than this one (check out an old post on that subject). The styles don’t match half the time, and sometimes the background is missing or not moving or something. It’s pretty funny. I do, however, remember really clearly loving this show when I was a kid. Actually, it came out in 1989 it looks like, so I would have been 13 at the time.

It always really bugged me that we didn’t have a Nintendo growing up, and this was the best I could get, pretty much. The stories of arcade games always fascinated me, and watching this cartoon show was a great way for me to get into the parts that I really cared about anyway — the character development. I know it sounds odd, but just mix together my love for stories, science fiction, fantasy, computers, cartoons and games and it makes perfect sense. In all honesty, I still enjoy watching the show today, as its interesting to see how things “work” in the game world. I dunno how else to explain that. It’s just kinda fun. 🙂