Okay everyone, here it is:my review on my unofficial
101 Dalmatians: the Series boxset!
DISCLAIMER: This is a review about a bootleg set that I bought on iOffer. It is pirated, not a true, officially licensed boxset of the series.Okay, since I know for a fact that we all love
101 Dalmatians: the Series, and with DVD being what it's become, it's not uncommon to see DVD releases of your favorite TV shows in complete, comprehensive boxsets. Hot TV shows are a no-brainer, the public eats them up with a spoon. And others? Well, obscure TV shows are not off-limits either; in fact, lesser and lesser popular shows wind up getting DVD treatment and before you know it, they suddenly have a new fanbase. It's happened before with shows people didn't immediately like (examples include
Firefly,
Greg the Bunny and
The Tick), so don't give up hope--
101 Dalmatians: the Series has a chance as well. Not to mention some especially popular shows have as of yet to see a legitimate boxset release (
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies and
Alvin and the Chipmunks come to mind).
Until then, here's an iOffer-released boxset review:
Now have you read my review on
101 Dalmatians: the Series? If not, I have written a RetroJunk article on it that had received a lot of good ratings. You can read it for yourself at the following link (don't worry, I'll still be here once you come back):
www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/3689/(waits)...
Hi, welcome back.
So, now that you know how I feel about the series, what about the package? Well, this set includes the run of
101 Dalmatians: the Series in one nice little package. The box, as well as the discs themselves, have the same artwork; just the dalmatian polka dot pattern reminiscent of the background here on this site, with the series' logo and Lucky and Rolly on the front, with the claim "65 episodes on 12 DVDs" claim. The back has the cover art and claim again, with a brief summary on the series pulled from Toon Disney's official website, along with four screenshots from the episode "No Train, No Gain" and a silhouette of movie-era Cruella DeVil together with 3 miscellaneous puppies. On the spine, you see the logo, a pic of Rolly on the bottom above a DVD symbol and a cast shot of the characterized puppies and Spot on top. The main series font uses the Improv font, but the "65 episodes on 12 DVDs" claim as well as the series' summary, are written in another font.
What about the box's claim? It contains all 65 episodes (and I DO mean ALL 65, no false advertisements here) on 12 DVDs. The inside of the box includes one big black plastic jewel case so each disc can fit inside neatly.
There is no insert that would let you see which episodes are on what disc, you just would need to put the disc inside your DVD player and see for yourself. The disc ratio would be 6:6:6:6:6:6:6:5:5:5:5:3. This means that for Discs 1 through 7, there are 6 episodes, Discs 8 through 11 have 5 and Disc 12 has 3. I believe all of these bootleg sets would be the same, and if they are, I have gone to make an insert playlist for you so one may see what episodes are on what disc. The disc set includes:
Disc 1Howl Noon/Easy on the Lies
Two for the Show/An Officer and a Gentledog
Bad to the Bone/Southern Fried Cruella
Swine Song/Watch for Ralling Idols
The High Price of Fame/The Great Cat Invasion
No Train, No Gain
Disc 2Rolly's Egg-Celent Adventure/Wild Chick Chase
The Dogs of DeVil/Dog's Best Friend
A Christmas Cruella
Out to Launch/Prophet and Loss
You Slipped a Disk/Chow About That?
Tic Track Toe/Lucky All-Star
Disc 3Shake, Rattle n' Woof/Cadpig Behind Bars
Leisure Lawsuit/Purred it Through the Grapevine
Our Own Digs/Goose Pimples
Two Faces of Anita
The Fungus Among Us
Market Mayhem/Lucky to be Alone
Disc 4Four Stories Up
It's a Swamp Thing/Roll Out the Pork Barrel
You Say it's Your Birthday
Oozy Does It/Barnboozled
Citizen Canine
Full Metal Pullet/Dough the Right Thing
Disc 5Frisky Business/Cadet of the Month
Valentine Daze
Close but No Cigar/Invasion of the Doggy Snatchers
Smoke Detectors/Lobster Tale
Double Dog Dare/Mooooove it on Over
Shipwrecked
Disc 6Mall Pups
Shrewzle Watch/The Life You Save
Spots and Shots/On the Lamb
Treasure of Swamp Island/Lord of the Termites
Fountain of Youth/Walk a Mile in My Tracks
Cruella World
Disc 7Hail to the Chief/Food for Thought
The Maltese Chicken
Film Fatale/My Fair Chicken
Snow Bounders/Gnaw or Never
Poison Ivy/Twelve Angry Pups
The Goodbye Chick
Disc 8Robo-Rolly/Splishing and Splashing
Virtual Lucky
Cupid Pups
The Artist Formerly Known as Spot/The Nose Knows
K is for Kibble
Disc 9Humanitarian of the Year
Beauty Pageant Pandemonium/Hog-Tied
Coup DeVil
Channels/Un-Lucky
Every Little Crooked Nanny/Cone Head
Disc 10The Making Of...
Best of Show/Walk on the Wild Side
Horace and Jasper's Big Career Move
DeVil-Age Elder
Jurassic Bark/My Fair Moochie
Disc 11Dog Food Day Afternoon/Spot's Fairy God-Chicken
Good Neighbor Cruella/Animal House Party
Dalmatian Vacation Part 1: Road Warriors
Dalmatian Vacation Part 2: Cross-Country Calamity
Dalmatian Vacation Part 3: Dearly Beloved
Disc 12Home is Where the Bark Is
He Followed Me Home/Love 'Em and Flea 'Em
Alive 'N Chicken/Prima Doggy
Up until the near end, it seems like the episodes are included at random; many of these episodes are all out of original broadcast order.
Picture quality? For the most part, the episodes look fine. The episodes all have something of a 'stop' and 'continue' when the episodes end, and this doesn't seem to be a problem; it even feels fine in a half-hour episode where they would have to stop for a commerical break. They are clearly taped off the mid 2000s era Toon Disney (as evidenced by the logo in the lower left hand corner of the screen). The picture quality dips a little on Disc 12; "Home is Where the Bark Is" is taken from what had to have been someone's Fox Family Channel, "He Followed Me Home/Love 'Em and Flea 'Em" are from what seems to be a Channel 8 from Connecticut. And yes, the infamous lost episode, "Alive N' Chicken/Prima Doggy" appears on this set as well, appearing to be taped off the same channel (the episode was pulled from syndication back in 2001 due to the fact the former episode has a sequence reminiscent of the attacks on the World Trade Center).
The DVD menus all have the same artwork with no background music. You have the option to watch each episode individually or select "Play All" and you are able to watch each episode in order they are placed on the disc. I would complain, but it's not like Disney is doing a whole lot more with their official releases (the only features you would get on a
DuckTales or
Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers set is a foreign language track, captions and some previews). Least within bootleg concerns, it's doing the official releases justice.
So, now that the series is over ten years old, how does it hold up in the contemporary time? Honestly...
It seems to have aged just fine. The characters are still appealing and likable and seem to have the same impact they originally had back in the late 1990s, the dialogue still fits in with the current day and age, the humor still works, and basically seems like it will continue to be so in the foreseeable future. When was the last time old school Disney Afternoon fans could say that about
Darkwing Duck?
So, until Disney decides to release the series in an official boxset release, I am happy with this set.