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Quack Pack DVD Volume One Review
Reviewed: 09/15/2009
If this is what they call a “Best of” set; then the show is in big trouble already!
Time for another DVD review from your friendly neighborhood rant man himself. This one should be very short; but also very painful for DTVA fans. Apparently; Disney thought it was safe to release a DVD of Quack Pack. Now why they did this (and release a Best of Goof Troop set) instead of just releasing 27 episodes of Goof Troop is beyond me. I guess Quack Pack got enough heat for a DVD release; even if it is the wrong type of heat. So how does the Quack Pack DVD “Best of” fare. Don't read on if you don't want to know.....
The DVD Box
Unlike most DTVA sets; the Quack Pack DVD set comes in a plastic white DVD case which is understandable since there is only one disc to the set. The front uses a white background on 75% of the cover with 25% of it green around the sides and some yellow within the picture. The Quack Pack logo is on top and the picture of the new nephews carrying a helpless Donald Duck in a television set. This is so symbolic of the show itself since the kids took over. And no one liked it one bit. Below is in black letters Volume 1 (why bother since this is a “Best of” set?) and the Disney DVD logo is on the bottom right. I noticed that are featuring a feature called Disney's Fast Play. It basically means it plays all which is useless since there are no bonus features to speak of; other than those ads Disney likes to insert. The artwork is actually pretty good here. The left side is full lime green with the Disney logo (and Disney's version of Play All of course) on top; the Quack Pack logo sideways in the center and the stock number on the bottom. It features a picture of Donald standing proud while Dewey is a total coward. No shock there. The back is where things just simply fall apart for this set. There is a green background on the back cover with a banana yellow part which seems pretty sloppy for the most part. The Quack Pack logo is on the top left side along with the UPC code. I also noticed some proof of purchase stubs you are supposed to cut away; but the film prevents them from being accessed.
Now you know why the cardboard inserts were used in most DTVA sets. In a way the top summary is as good as it was going to get; although calling it web-foot fun for the whole family is libel since there is really no fun to be had; unless you really love Donald Duck and Daisy Duck to death. To the right below the UPC code; there is a terrible television image from Feats of Clay. It looks like something worse than Darkwing Duck (in fact; it's in a similar style to the Darkwing Duck VHS images which is UGH!). Below the summary on the left there is a pretty decent piece of artwork which shows a zoom out of the Donald Duck/Dewey picture from the sides; along with Louie, Huey and a jack in the box. To the right; they have the cartoon selection with the three episodes and once again they commit libel by claiming that it's an hour of feather ruffling fun. It does ruffle my feathers; but in the absolute wrong way possible. And who's idea was it to clash blue with hot pink and banana yellow. Talk about a video fashion faux pas there guys. It also includes the tech specs which are quite respectable all things considered. Below the picture there is the usual information from legal, tech, websites, logos and such.
Now since Agony Booth likes talking about Video Box Idiocy; I found one on the bottom left which is the fact that there is an MPAA rating on this disc. Despite the fact that Quack Pack has never been in the cinema before and has only been on television; I call libel on the G rating it got. For reference; DTVA sets are not rated by the MPAA or even by the television ratings AT ALL (I haven't seen the Goof Troop Best of DVD to compare it to). The only rating is the Canadian Home Video Rating of G (which is on the box); but that only applies to the Canadian Market. Even funnier is that the first volume set of Rescue Rangers was released in 2005; while this one was in 2006! They might as well slap an R rating on it like they did for Night of Horror; it would have made just as much sense. Oh; and they also tell you how Fast Play works on the back too. Short answer: It's basically a trademark name meaning Play All. I haven't see this on ANY DTVA set other than this one either.
Final Note: Inside the disc box; there is an insert for Timeless Tales DVD and Best Pals DVD on the front; while the insert of Quack Pack itself is at the back hidden from sight. That alone should tell you what Disney thought about this series in general. These inserts are not in other DTVA sets that I know of. This also shows what they were really selling the DVD for since those six DVD have better entertainment value in ten seconds than Quack Pack had in it's entire series run.
My Rating on the DVD Box: ** ¾ - The front cover is really good; but the back is filled with terrible pictures; libel summaries and falsehoods. Buyer beware indeed.
The Disc:
The disc has the usual DTVA punch press which of course bugs me for reasons I have stated before. The disc front has the same picture from the front cover; only against a green background with a kaboom lighter green the closer you get to the picture. The Quack Pack logo is on top and all information and logos are on the center left and bottom. Sadly; the support lines are blocking the picture which is really sloppy for an off center image. The legal information and address is around the disc edge along with the running time which is about 66 minutes; and the stock number. One other quibble: Notice that the MPAA rating is NOT on the disc; but there are TWO Canadian Home Video ratings. Why they did that is beyond me.
As for the disc contents; the menus are fine. The video and sound quality are as good as you are going to get for a old television disc without remastering. However; Disney's mastering of the disc leaves a lot to be desired. When I usually play a Disney DVD set; it doesn't skip at all. In fact; the only problem I have with DTVA sets is that they sometime fail to play the audio properly after a chapter stop. Thankfully; that is an easy fix in that I stop the DVD and then play it again. However; the Quack Pack DVD did a lot of skipping. The first episode I ranted on had it skip five times in the opening alone. Five Times! That is inexcusable. Even WWE DVD's don't do it THAT often. And then about five or six minutes into Feats of Clay; the Play All feature I was using caused the disc to freeze up completely! I was forced to play by episode to fix the problem; but even then the episode continued to break up in places. This is a tell tale sign of how much Disney cared about releasing this series. A series that played a role in the creation of the New Disney we see TODAY! And there were enough fans to warrant even a small three episode disc?!
Episode Rants For The Disc:
Quack Pack - Transmission Impossible Rant- For a Cartoon That Ended an Era...
Quack Pack - Feats of Clay Rant- Is this Clay Aiken's new CD or something...?!
Quack Pack - Heavy Dental Rant- I don't think I'll be eating solid foods after watching this cartoon..
My Thoughts:
Well; since I have already explained the quality of the disc itself, that makes the episode selection part much shorter. When I was originally planning on doing this DVD; I was hoping that Transmission Impossible and maybe Feats of Clay would provide me with some form of entertainment other than mocking the new nephews. I was hoping for some charming, fun train wrecks. Well; I got the train wreck part; but it was hardly fun. Transmission Impossible to me pretty much signaled the end of the series as a fun train wreck right from the very start. While Jymn Magon tried his best to write a somewhat solid plot line and complete story; he was completely hamstrung by nine logic breaks (which is unacceptable for an episode that is supposed to be the best of what the show has to offer); a few blown spots and a terrible finish. The biggest problem for Magon was that he was working with three really terrible characters in Huey, Dewey and Louie that according to the premise must overwhelm every episode with their presence. As much as Donald, Daisy and Villanova tried (and their performances were solid; even Ken Powers didn't suck much); the nephews kept pushing the crappy button every chance they got. The torture dream scene at the start was the best joke in the series and Magon failed to pay it off. I don't know if it was BS&P's fault; but it doesn't matter.
Heavy Dental was actually worse despite having a good finish and a solid villain in Agent X. Doug focused way too much on Huey vain attitude which was a stupid plot line to begin with (much like the lying plot in Transmission Impossible); and failed to do any character development for SMOOSH over than Agent X. Again; the new nephews overwhelmed the episode with more logic breaks and the story looked like it was put together by chewing gum. Toon City was okay in animation and Donald's presence did keep it from being a negative star episode. Feats of Clay was a total DUD in every sense of the word. Let's use Chinese stereotypes; Huey's sexist attitude for girls, bury Soo Lin and turn her into a heel; write out the funniest character in the show (Donald) from the nine minute point onward; invoke a Mr. T climax and finish that makes no sense and then end it with some creepy subtext of Huey's attitude towards girl. Top it off with Sun Woo blowing spots out of the wazoo and lots of logic breaks. The biggest allegory of the episode came when Huey was in William Wu's (who would have been good if he wasn't a grumpy dumb babyface along with Soo who was good as long as she wasn't getting buried; or being an offensive heel) dark museum and Huey then gets giddy about saving the day and then we see Soo's head kissing him over and over again with the squeak sound. I think you know my feelings about that one.
My Rating for Disc One: DUD – This was a terrible experience for me to watch. Episodes that I thought were okay by Quack Pack standards were worse than I thought and the disc itself is a joke with lots of skipping and even freezing at one point. Disney should be ashamed of itself for slapping even Quack Pack fans in the face for the terrible quality of this disc.
Extras
It is exactly like all DTVA DVD sets not named Gargoyles. There are no extras present so therefore no rating.
Set Up
Like a lot of full DTVA sets; the set up is pretty basic. However; despite the lack of quality in the disc itself and the episodes, the set up does contain a French audio track and 2.0 stereo sound. It also contains English subtitles; but as usual Disney Caption is it's usual screwy self. Although compared to other sets; it's not as bad as some. Also there is a Play All feature; which is fine. However; since the disc quality caused freezing on the final episode of the disc; I was forced to play by episode. Not a good sign for the feature.
My Rating for Set Up: ***- Probably the best part of the disc and that is not saying much.
My Rating for the Entire DVD Set: * 1/2 (30%)
The Review Line:
Well folks; we have our first hands down worst DVD set ever by Disney DVD. I think my review speaks for itself. Good box art and set up; but the rest of it; which is the most important aspects of the disc are terrible beyond belief. Much like the series actually. The disc mastering is beyond terrible (you cannot have a disc skip and freeze like this one); false advertising (The MPAA rating for instance) and of course the three episodes they did show ended up being worse than I thought they would be. This was a hellish DVD to review and rant on and I shudder to think how bad the other 36 episodes of the series ended up. If you are a Quack Pack fan; skip this DVD and watch it on Youtube. Disney deserves to be slapped down for insulting those fans at least. Let alone insulting everyone else in general for even thinking of green lighting this series without Jymn Magon as the leader and not the follower. I'm surprised Toby Shelton still has a job after this debacle. So.....
I give this DVD a thumbs down; and I'll see you next time.