Out now are two new releases from the animation world to help us see the lighter side of life:
First we have The Powerpuff Girls: Tiara Trouble. After over a decade since they left the air in 2005, Buttercup, Bubbles, and Blossom returned to Cartoon Network in April of 2016 to continue to fight crime in Townsville, coming up against villainous foes such as Mojo Jojo, Fuzzy Lumpkins, Princess Morbucks, Manboy, the Gangreen Gang, and others. The reboot follows the successful run of the Powerpuff Girls series (fun tidbit: it was originally titled Whoopass Stew!), which garnered several award nominations and wins in addition to a feature film, a series of video games, and a merchandise line. The new series (starring Natalie Palamides as Buttercup, Kristen Li as Bubbles, and Amanda Leighton as Blossom) has itself received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program and has enjoyed respectable viewership numbers, reaching over 19 million viewers its first four weeks on the air. New and old fans of the Powerpuff heroine trio will be happy to know that the first season of the reimagined series is now out on DVD, including all twelve episodes plus a bonus sticker pack (available on Amazon for $9.96). The series is also available on both iTunes and Amazon video for $2.99 per episode or $19.99 for the complete season (be aware that on both it’s simply titled The Powerpuff Girls: Vol. 1 even though it’s the new Tiara Trouble series). The full season streaming options do also include the bonus 2-minute music video for “Who’s Got the Power?”, but in my opinion that certainly isn’t worth doubling the price. Remember also that these episodes are geared toward the goldfish-like attention spans of kids at eleven minutes each, so keep that in mind when considering how much content you get in relation to cost.
Next is Beavis and Butt-Head: The Complete Collection, the story of two teenage delinquents 
who love heavy metal, music videos, couch surfing, and voicing monosyllabic critiques of their environment and culture. The series, created by (and starring) Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Office Space, Idiocracy), originated from the 1992 short film Frog Baseball and was later developed by MTV into the show fans would grow to love (and emulate). The series ran from 1993-1997 and later was brought back for an eighth season in 2011; it was also turned into the 1996 feature film Beavis and Butthead Do America. This collection is a compilation of the previously released Mike Judge Collection sets, series revival, and the feature film, including bonus features such as the MTV 20th Anniversary Special, VMA appearances, a Thanksgiving Special with Kurt Loder, a panel discussion from 2011 Comic-Con with Mike Judge, and more. (No new material for this collection–it’s more a case of just having it all in one set.) It’s also important to note that the episodes themselves are edited (by Judge himself) because there are still rights complications for music, television, etc that weren’t an issue during the airing of the original series but are, of course, for home release. If you’re expecting a complete-complete-complete collection, therefore, you may be waiting a while, but if you’re a fan who’s just happy to have everything available to-date in one place, this may be a set for you. If so, you can snag it on DVD on Amazon for $26.99 (no Blu-ray option for this one right now…maybe in the future.)
