Only a few months ago, Disney released two of its animated series from the 1980s on DVD. These were “Duck Tales” and “Chip ‘N’ Dale Rescue Rangers.” Both series came out with a complete single-season set, each containing more than 20 episodes on three discs.

It’s time for the 1990s to get their turn. Appearing to mirror the scaling back from the extravagant 80s, these 90s cartoons are not given an entire season box set. Instead, they hold three episodes each. These series include “Goof Troop” and “Quack Pack.”

“Goof Troop” features Goofy and his son Max, who live next door to Pete and his son. There’s a friendly rivalry between Goofy and Pete, but the meat of the show is the camaraderie between Max and Pete’s son P.J.

“Quack Pack,” like the circa 1980s “Duck Tales” focuses on Donald Duck’s three nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. However, unlike their incarnations in “Duck Tales,” the 1990s versions of the nephews are much more hip. Instead of wearing matching sweaters and ball caps, the ducklings dress in the fashion of the time, sporting messy haircuts and baggy clothes. Think of the three sons from “Home Improvement,” give them white feathers and you’ll have the new versions of Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Between the two shows, I prefer “Quack Pack.” The three ducks give a little more play between the characters. “Goof Troop” featured less versatility in Max and P.J. and thus, less creative stories. “Quack Pack” also brings Donald back into play while “Duck Tales” had the kids living with their miserly Uncle Scrooge. I do miss Scrooge a bit, but I like Donald enough to enjoy seeing him again.

Volume 1 of both “Quack Pack” and “Goof Troop” contain three cartoons from the animated series. This amounts to a little more than an hour of cartoons for each disc. Unfortunately, this better selection of series isn’t as voluminous on DVD as the lesser ones from the 1980s.

Overall, the stories are pretty clever, pitting the ducks against an art thief who uses satellite technology to beam away artifacts and having Pete trick Goofy into being a star on “World’s Most Painful Home Videos.”

It’s clear these series were produced in the 1990s. They reek of the decade – from hair styles to music choices. There is a timelessness to the other cartoons in Disney’s repertoire, but that can still work to the advantage of “Goof Troop” and “Quack Pack.” If you grew up watching these shows on the Disney Channel, you should feel an appropriate level of nostalgia when viewing them again.



Specifications: 2.0 Stereo Sound. Full frame (1.33:1). French language track. English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.