HBO's brief foray into animation still holds up well!

DVDs:

	• Todd McFarlane's Spawn: Animated Collection (4pc) Keith David, Richard Dysart Hbo Home Video, 2007 average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

HBO's Spawn series

By far the best Spawn series available. As you would expect with McFarlane's involvement in the series it is true to the original story line presented in the comics. Solid animation, excellant story telling. Be warned: this is not for children under 15! It is vividly violent and has some strong sexual content.

HBO's brief foray into animation still holds up well!

Admittedly I'm not one of those fanboys who merely followed along for the sake of Todd McFarlne's craft. Rather this is what introduced me to his work.

Well before I discovered the art of anime and manga this was what I classified as cutting-edge animation. Before I discovered Adult Swim the only "premium" channel worth watching on cable was HBO (the selections on rural cable at the time were pretty bad). And this may have well cemented a higher standard of animated fare into the minds of HBO's audience.

While I think the second season and onward had some weaknesses the story arc of the first season was breathtaking. It served as not just a solid introduction into the many characters but as its own movie in and of itself (early VHS editions simply edited all the first season episodes into one long animated movie and that worked out quite well). The visual styles employed were reminiscent of anime at the time leading to a solid mix of eastern and western sensibilities with a high dose of action especially at the end. And while I've seen the other seasons the first season just stuck with me.

The animation isn't the best but it does a good enough job for the sake of cable presentation. Regarding its televised aspect ratio (4:3) there are certain scenes (most notably during the police chase in the first season's finale) that have been pan'n'scanned during their original broadcasts. The original DVD release shared this flaw as well. And here the original television broadcast aspect ratio is preserved. I can only hope that a full remaster is approved that shows this in its original widescreen form before being cropped to 4:3.

But the real letdown is that the series ended too soon. HBO Animation folded before extra seasons could be produced. I wonder if HBO should've made this its signature animation series rather wasting time with the abysmally awful "Spicy City". And I wonder if the flop of "Spawn; The Motion Picture" by another Of Time Warner's entities, New Line, is another contributing cause for no more "Spawn: The Animated Series" episodes. I would love to hear that untold story.

In any case, the Spawn motion picture was simply awful. When I want to turn friends onto Spawn I pop one of the Spawn animated series discs in. The voice acting is wonderful, the score perfectly matches the moods of the scenes and it's a perfect gateway into not just the Spawn comic series but for adult animation in general. I highly recommend it in spite of its 4:3 aspect ratio limitation.

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Spawn

i remember watching this on HBO all the time when i was a kid. still pretty cool, wish they would make new ones.

I want the series back on tv, lol

If you followed the series when it was in syndication on television. Then this is a must have, aside from all of the episodes it also has extra tidbits; like behind the scenes footage of the voice actors and the creator Todd McFarlane. I really enjoyed watching it, the only problem is watching it made me miss the series especially with the cliff hanger the show left on.

Spawn. Great Series, Very Good Purchase

Spawn is a great show. Very well done. Very dark.
Also, upon purchase, I realized that Eric Rodomski who did a lot of work on Batman: The Animated Series, did a lot of work on the Spawn animated series too.

This is the official dvd release. Seems like there are a lot of extras.

I am only one episode in on this collection, but I am already very happy with it.

I'm not an extraordinarily picky person, but the only reason I gave this review a 4 star rather than a 5 is because the tin case had a couple of hard dents in the back. When I buy DVD's, I'm pretty picky about the packaging.
I kinda have this complex about packaging, like, I could download almost anything, but I don't. To a lot of people, DVD purchasing is a waste of money. As far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest reasons for purchasing DVD's is for the packaging. Otherwise, everyone might as well just download.
So, if I'm gonna pay money, the packaging/case, had better be in excellent condition.

I do give this some lenience due to the fact that it came in the mail.

I would say that, if you buy this, most likely you will be happy with your purchase.
GO FOR IT!!!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Evil begets evil. Hell begets hellspawn. Exploding from the comic book page onto the screen, Spawn is a deadly tornado of untapped, unwrapped merciless power. He was once a man...now he's a hellspawn, battling the forces of evil on earth...and in himself. Gradually discovering the terrifying power he possesses, Spawn fights to uncover the truth about his identity and fulfill his destiny.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Featurette
Interactive Menus
Interviews
Production Sketches
Storyboards

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