Author J.K. Rowling’s young wizard makes more magic and mischief in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which wands its way to home video today. The fourth film in the hugely successful Warner Bros. celluloid saga arrives at retail along with new DVD releases of animated TV classics including The Flintstones, Baby Looney Tunes, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, Tennessee Tuxedo and Here Comes Peter Cottontail.
Directed by British filmmaker Mike Newell (Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral), the latest Harry Potter adventure has the student wizard chosen to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, a challenging, multi-faceted competition that pits him against representatives from three different wizarding schools. In addition to the tremendous pressure to bring school pride to Hogwarts, Harry must deal with the return of the evil Voldemort in this vfx extravaganza featuring computer animated creatures and other digital wizardry by ILM, The Orphanage, BUF, The Motion Picture Company, Framestore CFC, Rising Sun Pictures, Cinesite, Animal Logic and Double Negative.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is available as both a single-disc release featuring the movie only, and two-disc deluxe edition complete with bonus materials including additional scenes; cast interviews with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint; a Hogwarts timeline; Preparing for the Yule Ball featurette; Reflections on the Fourth Film; and featurettes on all of the various tasks involved with the Triwizard Tornament. There’s also a DVD-ROM demo of the EA video game and interactivity with the film’s official website. The Warner Home Video release lists for $28.98 (single disc) and $30.98 (deluxe edition).
Leading the list of TV compilations new on Disc The Flintstones: The Complete Fifth Season. The four-disc set contains 26 episodes from 1960, as well as rare and unseen Flintstones gems dubbed “Gemstones,” and the comical featurettes A Stone Age Parenting Guide and The Gruesome’s Road To Bedrock. Fans also get original production storyboards and an interview bite with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera discussing the creation of the show. The set from Warner Home Video retails for the suggested price of $44.98.
Baby Looney Tunes Volume 1 and Volume 2 hit retail, each containing around 48 minutes of toon fun from 2002. Toddler versions of Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Taz and the rest of the gang get into a series of misadventures in these cartoon compilations sold separately for $14.98 each and together for $29.32.
Also issuing from the Warner vault today is The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour: The Complete Series. This four-disc set contains the first new Scooby-Doo episodes since 1973, joined by installments of Dynomutt, a silly 1980s cartoon show featuring the mechanical Dog Wonder and his superhero pal, the Blue Falcon. A total of 32 episodes are included, along with the extra features Eerie Mystery of Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt’s History, In Their Own Words with the original Scooby-Doo and Dynomutt voice actors, and unseen treasures from the Hanna-Barbera vault, including original character sketches and more. Fans can pick it up for the suggested retail price of $44.98.
The cartoon adventures of a certain wisecracking penguin and his motley crew of animal pals are packaged to own with Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales, a compilation of episodes from 1963. In a bid to raise the quality of zoo life, Tennessee and his fellow residents are constantly scheming against zookeeper Stanley Livingston and his flunky assistant in this series of shorts that also offered educational tidbits on scientific principles. The disc is available from Sony Wonder for around $12.98.
Last, but not least, Here comes Peter Cotton Tail arrives on DVD just in time for Easter. In addition to the Rankin & Bass stop-motion animation holiday special from 1971, the disc features a series of animated stories titled Peter Rabbit and Other Tales, a sneak peek at the upcoming Peter Cottontail: The Movie, a Peter Cottontail: The Movie music video and Here Comes Peter Cottontail singalong songs. One edition from Sony Wonder even comes with a sponge art kit for decorating eggs and retails for $16.98.
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