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Paramount Studios presents

The Fairly OddParents: Superhero Spectacle (2001-2003)

Timmy's Dad: Guess what movie we rented?
Timmy's Mom: 'The Boring Dog Who Could Shoot Boring Hoop'?
Buff Sounding Announcer: Detective Ryan McCabe is a loose-cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules in 'Loose-Cannon Cop Who Doesn't Play By The Rules'!
Timmy's Dad: Gah! Egads! In my advanced state of lethargy I must have grabbed something interesting by mistake!- Daran Norris, Susan Blakeslee

Stars: Tara Strong, Daran Norris, Susan Blakeslee
Other Stars: Dionne Quan, Grey Delisle, Jay Leno, Frankie Muniz, Carlos Alazraqui, Jason Marsden, Haneef Muhammad
Director: various

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nothing objectionable)
Run Time: 01h:59m:10s
Release Date: 2004-02-03
Genre: television

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
B+ A-BB C+

 

DVD Review

Cosmo. Wanda. Timmy Turner. The Crimson Chin. Crocker.

If you know who any of those people are, then read no further, for you have obviously already enjoyed the wonders of The Fairly OddParents, an ingenious show on Nickelodeon created by Butch Hartman, and follows Timmy Turner (voiced by Tara Strong), an average 10-year-old kid with best friends Chester (voiced by Jason Marsden, and in a couple of episodes, by Frankie Muniz) and AJ (voiced by Haneef Muhammad). Timmy also has a crush on popular 10-year-old Trixie Tang (voiced by Dionne Quan), and has constant conflict with his evil baby-sitter named Vicky (voiced by Grey DeLisle). He lives a normal life, but his parents are "nutso" and frequently leave to go and "read to underprivileged dolphins". Timmy's hero is the Crimson Chin (voiced by Jay Leno), a freakishly buff dude in spandex, who uses his powers to fight crime.

Oh, yeah, one more thing: Timmy Turner has godparents: Cosmo (voiced by Daran Norris) and Wanda (voiced by Susan Blakeslee). Though, I personally think they are aptly called OddParents, as in the title. Basically, they grant Timmy's every wish, as long as "Da Rule Book" allows. (Da Rule is their guidelines as fairies.) Only, if anyone finds out Timmy has GodParents, they will be banished from him forever! Thus, they have the ability to change forms, and spend most of their time as fish in Timmy's fishbowl.

This DVD consists of all Crimson Chin- and Superhero-related episodes. Let's see. We have Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad (Timmy's parents superhero-style), Catman, (who's like Batman, only he's a cat. He's even voiced by Adam West!), The Crimson Chin (our buff comic book star), and Cleft the Boy Chin Wonder (Timmy's superhero alter-ego who helps the Crimson Chin). And those are just the good guys. Evil do-ers include Crocker, Timmy's crazy fairy hunting teacher; Vicky, the insane babysitter; and Jorgen Von Strangle, the fairy form of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not to mention everyone in between. So now that you've the basic idea of the plot and cast, I'll tell you the best and worst parts of this collection.

I have to say my favorite episode on this DVD is Action Packed. In it, Timmy wishes his life was like an action movie, and we all know action movies. The jokes were funny because they captured every action movie cliché ( "This message will self-destruct"; "It's too quiet"). A close second was Chin Up!, in which Timmy accidently blabs to the Crimson Chin that he's not real. Has anyone here seen The Last Action Hero? Well, this is a take-off of that. Everything seems to comes back to Ahnuld on this DVD!

But for every good thing, there's a bad thing. Like in the episode Boy Toy, Timmy wishes he was action-figure-sized, and gets taken by Tootie, Vicky's younger sister, who has a major crush on him. Yeah, not much else happens. Another stinker is Totally Spaced Out, where Timmy wishes Vicky was gone, but gets sent to Floppy Bob's, a child-friendly, uber-safe environment, and wants her back. Turns out, she was sent to Yugopotamia, a distant planet. I'll stop talking now, because I know I'll give away the ending.

The episodes on the disc are:

Chin Up!
Original Airdate: 04/27/01

Boy Toy
Original Airdate: 03/08/02

The Crimson Chin Meets Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad
Original Airdate: 05/09/03

Crime Wave
Original Airdate: 10/10/03

Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad
Original Airdate: 09/06/02

Action Packed
Original Airdate: 03/22/02

Totally Spaced Out
Original Airdate: 07/12/02

So Totally Spaced Out
Original Airdate: 08/01/03

Miss Dimmsdale
Original Airdate: 11/07/03

Mind Over Magic
Original Airdate: 11/07/03

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: All ten episodes are presented in their original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. Like most Nick collections, colors on each of the episodes are rich and bright, with no flicker or shimmer. Black levels are surprisingly solid, resulting in a generally all-around pleasing transfer.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
DS 2.0Englishno


Audio Transfer Review: Audio is provided in hearty 2.0 stereo, and though it lacks anything splashy, it is a nicely constructed and full mix. Obvious directional panning is noticeable, giving the presentation some depth. Character voices are clear and discernible at all times, and everything sounds as good or better than it does on a Nick broadcast.

Audio Transfer Grade:

Disc Extras

Static menu
Scene Access with 10 cues and remote access
1 Original Trailer(s)
4 Other Trailer(s) featuring SpongeBob Squarepants, Jimmy Neutron, The Rugrats Go Wild, The Wild Thornberries Movie
8 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: Extras consist of a series of eight Crimson Chin Interstitials, which are each one-minute long, and originally ran as bumpers between Nick programs. They follow the adventures of The Crimson Chin, and Cleft, The Boy Chin Wonder, as they do battle with a series of wacky bad guys, and the whole thing is presented with very minimal animation, looking more like a comic book than anything else.

In addition to a handful of Nick-related trailers, each Fairly OddParents episode represents a chapter, so there are a total of 10 stops available.

Extras Grade: C+
 

Final Comments

As a seventh grade student, I talk to my friends. A lot. And if everyone has one thing in common, it's the fact that The Fairly OddParents is one of their favorite shows. I would sacrifice my time on the computer (which is quite precious to me) to watch Timmy Turner.

Even if I've seen an episode a million times, the jokes never get old!

Rich Rosell and Sammie Rosell (age 15) 2004-06-10