How
To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 4K
(2018/DreamWorks/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray +
Blu-ray/DVD Sets)/The New
Scooby-Doo Movies: The Almost
Complete Collection
(Blu-ray Set) + Best
Of/Lost Episodes (DVD
Set/Both 1972 - 1973/Warner)/Paw
Patrol: Jungle Rescues
(2014, 17, 18/Nickelodeon DVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B- C/B/C+/C+ Sound: B+ B+
C+/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C+/C+/C-/D/D Main Programs: C+/B/C+/C+
Here's
a new group of children's releases, but some are for all ages...
Though
it is a belated third feature film, How
To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
(2018) was still enough of a hit that (combined with hit TV show
spin-offs) proves that this (give or take Shrek)
is
DreamWorks most successful franchise and though nothing stunning or
particularly a standout, this is a good installment with some energy
as Hiccup and Toothless find themselves in more classic (and
classical) fantasy adventures, battles and of the comical messes that
made the first film a hit to begin with.
However,
unless you've seen previous releases or can pick up its fantasy world
quickly, one can get quickly lost in the abundant, layered world,
even if the actual storyline(s) are on the simple side. The voice
actors are not bad and use of color is at least impressive in the 4K
version. As a non-fan, I can actually see the appeal as the logic is
consistent with the world built, but will only appeal to fans who
want to be lost in that construct. Otherwise, it is for fans only.
Mostly
from the press releases, here are the many extras you get with this
set...
Digital
Copy
Alternate
Opening with Intro by Writer/Director Dean DeBlois
DreamWorks
Shorts:
Bilby
- Directed by Liron Topaz, Pierre Perifel and JP Sans; produced by
Jeff Hermann and Kelly Cooney Cilella. Threatened daily by the
deadly residents and harsh environment of Australia's Outback, a
lonesome Bilby finds himself an unwitting protector, and unexpected
friend, to a helpless (and quite adorable) baby bird.
Bird
Karma
- Directed by William Salazar and produced by Jeff Hermann, the
beautifully artistic 2D short film Bird Karma tells a delightfully
lyrical and fully unexpected tale of a long-legged bird's journey of
blissful joy, inescapable greed and the accidental discovery of the
consequences when too much is not enough.
Deleted
Scenes with Intros by Writer/Director Dean DeBlois
How
to Voice Your Viking
- Go behind the scenes with the cast as they record the Viking voices
of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD.
Creating
an Epic Dragon Tale
- Discover what filmmakers learned while crafting this epic dragon
trilogy.
How
I Learned from Dragons
- The diverse cast of characters reveal why they think the dragon
trilogy is so special.
Brave
Wilderness Presents: Nature + Dragons = Awesome
- Join Coyote Peterson, host of Brave Wilderness, as he explores what
it takes to make the dragon's characters come to life.
The
Dragon Sheep Chronicles
- Protecting sheep from the dragons of Berk is no easy task but
Hiccup has a plan.
A
Deck of Dragons
- Observe four new dragons as Fishlegs unveils his original deck of
dragon trading cards.
Growing
Up with Dragons - After years of being with these characters, hear
the lasting effects of the dragon trilogy from the filmmaker's
perspective.
The
Evolving Character Design of Dragons - Cast and crew reveal what it
was like to evolve not only the characters of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD, but themselves as well.
Drawing
Dragons
- Get a glimpse of what goes in to designing a DreamWorks dragon.
Epic
Villain -
A different kind of villain, Grimmel brings great challenges to the
village of Berk. Go behind the scenes as filmmakers breakdown this
epic character.
Astrid's
Whole Dragon Trilogy in 60 Seconds
- Hold on tight as Astrid sums up the whole dragon trilogy in a
legendary 60 seconds.
Welcome
to New Berk
- With Hiccup as your guide, get a firsthand look at the updated
Viking village of New Berk.
and
a Feature-Length Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Dean DeBlois,
Producer Bradford Lewis and Head of Character Animation Simon Otto
For
more on the spinoff hit TV series, try this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12293/Dragons:+Riders+of+Berk,+Part+1+&+2+(Fox/Dr
After
the original Scooby-Doo
became one of the biggest hits on Saturday Morning TV, Hanna-Barbera
had created another classic and everybody was watching, along with
Superfriends!,
Hong
Kong Phooey
and Banana
Splits,
the studio was set well into the next decades. The industry took
notice and the next series remains one of the best, with some of the
biggest stars of the time showing up as guest stars in each episode,
whether they were actual entertainers, legendary pop culture
characters or other great characters from Hanna Barbera.
These
new hour-long shows, an unusual length even at this time let alone
then, was called The
New Scooby-Doo Movies.
More remarkable, with an episode or two not available ay this time,
is a new Blu-ray set dubbed The
Almost
Complete Collection
plus a shorter 2-DVD set calling itself The
Best Of/Lost Episodes
set despite all 8 shows being on the Blu-ray. It all started as a
pop culture event when the Scooby-Doo regulars met Batman &
Robin, all while the hit show was suddenly hot in syndication and was
about to get more popular. Shown very early in the morning, it set
ratings records that shocked the industry and this series was the
result.
Playing
throughout the 1972 - 1973 Season, the studio had another huge hit on
their hands and the star power is as fun as the shows, even if they
get a little corny at times. Some of the special guests turned up
twice and they have aged very well despite the canned laugh track and
limited animation. The many guests (skip this if you want
to get the set and be surprised if you are not familiar with the
show) include
Ghastly
Ghost Town - The Three Stooges
The
Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair - Batman and Robin
The
Frickert Fracas - Jonathan Winters
Guess
Who's Knott Coming to Dinner! - Don Knotts
A
Good Medium is Rare - Phyllis Diller
Sandy
Duncan's Jekyll And Hyde - Sandy Duncan
The
Secret of Shark Island - Sonny and Cher
The
Spooky Fog - Don Knotts
Scooby-Doo
Meets Laurel & Hardy - Laurel & Hardy
The
Ghost of the Red Barron - The Three Stooges
The
Ghostly Creep From the Deep - The Three Stooges
The
Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall - Davy Jones
The
Phantom of the Country Music Hall - Jerry Reed
The
Caped Crusaders - Batman and Robin
The
Loch Ness Mess - Harlem Globetrotters
The
Mystery of the Haunted Island - Harlem Globetrotters
The
Haunted Showboat - Josie and the Pussycats
Scooby-Doo
Meets Jeannie (Mystery in Persia) - Jeannie (of I
Dream of Jeannie)
& Babu
The
Spirited Spooked Sport Show - Tim Conway
The
Exterminator - Don Adams
Weird
Winds of Winona - Speed Buggy
The
Haunted Candy Factory - Cass Elliot
Scooby-Doo
Meets Dick Van Dyke - Dick Van Dyke
The
DVD features episodes 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19. The show was
rerun on occasion, but not enough and sort of got lost in the shuffle
of so many later Scooby series, direct-to-video releases and those
bad live-action feature films. Still, it showed TV animation had
really arrived and the guests turned out to be even bigger icons now
than at the time. Tim Conway just passed away as these sets were
being readied.
As
more Scooby shows were made, it became more comedy and less
atmosphere or charm, but it was nice while it lasted for classic fans
who liked the early mix of both still evident here, having to be good
because the characters were still new and there was no telling how
they would endure. The studio was still in a creative peak, which
helps. Fun and energy was still the order of the day, not formula,
which is why (especially on Blu-ray), this is the series to revisit.
Extras
are only on the Blu-ray set and include The
Hanna Barbera Kennel Club Roasts Scooby-Doo,
Embarrassing
Stories of How Scooby-Doo Mumbled & Clowned His Way to Animation
Stardom,
Uptown
with Scooby-Doo & The Harlem Globetrotters,
The
Harlem Globetrotters Show Scooby-Doo some ''New Tricks'',
Girls
Rock!
and Spotlight
on Daphne & Velma.
Finally
we have the latest basic Nickelodeon
DVD episodes compilation, more of the same with Paw
Patrol: Jungle Rescues
(2014, 17, 18) with seven similar episodes taking place in the same
imagined title locale running over 90 minutes and keeping fans happy.
This includes repeating credits a bit, but no extras. Again, its
fine for what it is and looks and sounds as good as the many similar
releases on DVD, but still no Blu-ray release, seasons or anything
else special outside of all this. That's fine for fans, but this is
no more memorable than some of the others, so compare to other
releases reviewed elsewhere on this site for reference.
Now
for playback quality. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1 HDR (10; Ultra
HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Dragon
is easily the best performer here, even showing color and detail not
easy to see on the softer-than-expected 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High
Definition image on the Blu-ray edition and the really soft playback
on the anamorphically
enhanced 2.35 X 1 DVD that is very hard to watch.
In
all that the 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers
on Scooby
can show the age of the animation and sometimes materials used, but
this is far superior anything we've seen of this show before, much
more defined and color rich than the DVD version that looks pale at
times by comparison, has some great color and is the second-best
performer on the list next to the 4K release!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Paw
Patrol
is the best of the DVDs here, but not by too much and is in line with
the other DVDs we've covered, as well as the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
just being active enough to be a little better than simple stereo.
As
for sound, theDolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems)
lossless sound mixes on both the 4K and Blu-ray versions of Dragon
are easily the sonic champs on the list, with decent soundstages and
good performance, though nothing that stunned me. The lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on its DVD version suffers by comparison.
Though
I hoped the Scooby
Blu-ray would have some lossless mono sound of some kind, the Blu-ray
and DVD sets both only offer lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and that
may sound just good enough, I think lossless on the Blu-ray would
have made the jokes funnier and more palpable.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
