Three comic book-related films managed to make it onto the list of the Top 25 DVDs sold in the North American market in 2005.  Batman Begins, which made a number of '10 Best Films of the Year' lists, was not only the top grossing comic book-based film of the year ($205.3 million), but it also sold the most DVDs (nearly six and one-half million units) and placed ninth on the list of all DVD releases for 2005.  Although Marvel has admitted that the Fantastic Four merchandise flopped (see 'Variety Sees Trouble in Superhero Paradise') and a few critics, notably Roger Ebert, have put the FF movie on their '10 Worst' lists, the film nevertheless earned over $150 million and the box office and sold 4.61 million DVDs -- good enough to place it at #20 on the list for 2005.

Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City film took in less than half as much as the Fantastic Four at the box office ($74.1 million), but it managed to move nearly 83% as many DVDs (3.79 million) and a lot more graphic novels.  The 2005 total for Sin City DVDs also doesn't include a good portion of the sales of the Extended Collector's DVD, which didn't debut until December 13th.

The Top 25 DVD with the smallest box office take was the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite, which only earned $44.5 million at the box office, but sold 4.7 million DVDs and finished at #19, one spot ahead of the FF.  McFarlane Toys is preparing its second series of Napoleon Dynamite action figures -- and judging from the sales volume generated by the DVD, this property is far from running out of steam.

Four of the five best-selling DVDs of 2005 were based on animated films.  The Incredibles was #1 with 17.44 million units sold, followed by Star Wars Episode III (10.73 million, the only live action film in the top five), Madagascar (10.28 million), Shark Tale (10.06 million) and The Polar Express (8.5 million).

Animated TV shows also did well, placing five titles on the Top Ten TV DVDs list -- three Family Guy releases, the Simpsons Sixth Season, and Star Wars Clone Wars Vol. 1; though Chappelle's Show: Season 2 was clearly the cream of the TV crop selling more than twice as many units (3.1 million) as the second place title (Family Guy: Vol. 3).  The original Family Guy DVD, Seasons 1 & 2, which was released way back in 2003, amazingly managed to take the #6 spot on the 2005 chart -- further testimony to the power of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.