Disney’s talking animal saga Beverly Hills Chihuahua topped the DVD sales charts by a wide margin for the week ending March 8th, while Warner Brothers’ direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman finished at #5 on the DVD charts (and #6 on Blu-ray list).  Another comics-related title from Warners, the Watchmen Motion Comic finished at #9 on the DVD charts, but at #4 on the Blu-ray top ten.  Blu-ray discs made up a very high percentage of the Watchmen Motion Comic’s sales (29%)—and the motion comic, which has been available for downloading on iTunes for quite some, did surprisingly well on DVD, something that bodes well for the DVD release of the Watchmen movie, which has run into something of a rough patch in theaters after a solid opening.

 

In contrast to the Watchmen Motion Comic only 3% of the sales of Beverly Hills Chihuahua were on Blur-ray, which is a real shame since the Mexican locations are spectacular in the hi-def Blu-ray format.  Disney is extremely clever at constructing these sorts of all-ages hits.  Even those who typically resist talking animal live action movies such as TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz found much to like about Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which also appeals to dog lovers who aren’t enamored of lap dogs (a German Shepherd police dog is one of the main characters in the film).  With top rate vocal talent, superb location work, great stunt work from the critters, and a heartwarming story Disney managed to make Beverly Hills Chihuahua far more entertaining than it had any right to be.

 

Wonder Woman, the latest DC Comics Animated Original Movie, is off to a solid start on both regular DVD and Blu-ray (14% of its first week sales).  The new Wonder Woman DVD begins with a superbly animated version of the character’s origin story, which should draw new viewers into the Wonder Woman mythos (though later on elements that are familiar only to comic readers such as her invisible plane are introduced without explanation).  Although extremely well-acted on the vocal plane, this Wonder Woman saga would have been improved with more exposition and fewer ultra-violent comic book-type smackdowns.  The chief problem with this version of Wonder Woman can be traced to the tension between its powerful, but peace-loving heroine and the nature of the “direct-to-DVD” animated format that targets older male comic fans with action that is far too violent (decapitations, etc.) for Saturday morning.

 

That said, there is much too like here, especially the vocal work of Keri Russell, who is a strong convincing presence as Wonder Woman, and Nathan Fillion, who is utterly charming as Steve Rogers.  Fillion, who is perhaps best known as Captain Mal Reynolds in Serenity, is so good that his presence serves to remind viewers that Warner Bros. really missed the boat when they took Joss Whedon off of the live action Wonder Woman project.  The other voice actors, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Oliver Platt, and Virginia Madsen are also great, but the extras on this disc are even better.  Two excellent documentaries examine Wonder Woman’s eccentric creator William Moulton Marston and the development and influence of this powerful female archetype.  Unlike many extra features these two documentaries are truly enlightening and not to be missed.

 

Another animated film with definite cult film potential is Igor, which was directed by Anthony Leondis and released by MGM.  With a graphic style reminiscent of Nightmare Before Christmas, Igor looks fantastic in the Blu-ray format.  This saga of the struggles of a hunchbacked assistant to strike a blow for second bananas everywhere by winning the Mad Scientist fair  is perhaps geared more for horror films fans than for kids, but with a solid vocal cast that includes John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, and John Cusack and plenty of both slapstick and dark humor, Igor is a film that should please a wide audience as well as develop a devoted following.