Are you Spider Man addicted? Disney has a fix
You are probably wondering why there is a review of Spider Man DVDs on a Disney website. Well, get this, Disney owns the rights to the Spider Man animated series from the mid-90s-the heyday of comics. This show often played along with other action adventure fare, such as the Power Rangers, on Disney’s Jetix block of shows on its various cable channels. The company has also released several DVDs for this series. Unfortunately, Disney has chosen to release single DVDs containing 4 or 5 related (some barely so) episodes at a time. Thus, Disney is charging you about $16 for 5 cartoons instead of $40 for an entire season in what I can only assume is an attempt to milk the consumer even more, since most animated series release whole seasons at a time.
The series itself is very good. Its is the forbearer of the resurgence in quality comic-based animation such as its contemporary, Fox’s X-men series to the more recent Batman and Justice League shows. It was on of the first of its kind not to treat its audience like a bunch of morons. Like much of Disney’s children’s entertainment creations, it is not “dumbed down.” It addresses issues that people actually have-a hallmark of Marvel since its birth in the early 1960s. Issues like racism in the X-Men to teen angst in Spider Man, set Marvel apart. It understood, as is demonstrated in this series, that any good science fiction must have real people in extraordinary situations. We see Peter Parker struggle with being a college student and photographer while trying to save New York City on a seemingly nightly basis.
So far, Disney has only released 5 DVDs. The last of which, “The Venom Saga”, was released in June 2005. The rest of the series- “Spider Man vs. Daredevil”, “The Return of the Green Goblin”, “The Ultimate Villain Showdown”, and “Spider Man vs. Doc Ock”- are of roughly the same quality. Some do have interesting bonus features like episodes for the 1960s series or a villains’ guide. Plus, interest has increased with the recently released mega-hit Spider Man 3. Its unclear if Disney has any plans to release more DVDs, but I do hope they release the entire run at some point.
Today’s merchandise review is from Mike, contributing writer to Mouse Extra.