What's the deal? Burn on Wha—?
An exclusive deal with Amazon and Nickelodeon to produce a series of boxed set DVDs on a variety of Nicktoons, one of which being Danny Phantom. Established sometime around late 2008, Nickelodeon signed up with Amazon to sell burn-on demands of their cartoons. "Burn on demands" meaning that you place an order, those underpaid denizens will burn the episodes to a standard DVD, and then ship it to you.

As of this writing, Amazon.com is the only place you can purchase it, so all you younger folks better start bugging your parents silly. Or just steal their credit cards.*

NOTE: This info is out of date. Amazon recently released a full boxed set that contains all the episodes of "Danny Phantom" on Nov. 2009. When I have time, I will update this page with said information on the complete set.


"Season One"
Season One is in [sarcastic] quotations because the "Season One" logo is in a dire state of error.

The major one that most people won't notice until they start playing it is that the DVD only contains thirteen episodes—the first 13 episodes. Each season (except Season 3) carries twenty episodes, so after "13", it stops. The next set of episodes continues in the second DVD set. Oh, but it doesn't end there. Take a look at the both the front and back cover and spot the mistakes. I'll wait.

For those unable to point out: the biggest omission after the "Season One" lie is Danny possessing his "DP" insigna despite not getting that till the second season. The back cover has "Parental Bonding" and "One of A Kind" reversed. "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" is also simply titled as "Attack of the Garage Sale." A long title, so I don't blame them. Or were the editors too chicken that they had to take out the "killer" part for the little tykes?

Season One Discs


Season One Menus

Main Menu



Disc One



Disc Two



Disc Three




"Season Two"
Season Two doesn't fair better either.

Danny's back is turned, so his logo is nowhere to be seen. Honestly, a simple switch between this character art and the one in "Season One" would have sufficed, but no. Like the first DVD, this set claims it's "Season Two", but in reality, it picks up right where the first set left: starting with the fourteenth episode, "Public Enemies" and adding in twelve more episodes to make a full 13 (the last episode on the set being "Identity Crisis".

Again, the back cover is also prone to error. "Fright Night" is misspelled as "Fright Knight", though I'll give them leeway since it's near indistinguishable (and I made that same mistake, too), especially when there IS an enemy called the Fright Knight. The description of the series is faulty; they mention Aragon who DID appear in Season Two, but is NOT on this DVD because it hasn't gotten that far yet. It just makes me wonder if they originally meant to properly put in the twenty-episode set.

On an interesting note, "Reign Storm" is split in two parters. They even have a "Part One" and "Part Two" slapped on the title cards. If anything, it is undeniable proof that yes, the hour-long episodes count as two. It's amazing that this is the one thing the DVD gets right.

Season Two Discs


Season Two Menus:
NOTE: I don't have the menu screenshots for Disc Two; I forgot to retake it. Sorry, please be patient.

Main Menu



Disc 1



Disc 3



Season Three
This one isn't marked in quotations—it's the only one they get correctly! Season 3 hosted only thirteen episodes; this DVD contains all thirteen episodes of Season Three. For once, the logo is appropriate. Even the back cover is flawless. The only visible mistake they made was stating "Phantom Planet" as an "Double Length Episode". Whatever, guys, it still counts as two episodes.

Season Three Discs



Season Three Menus

Main Menu



Disc 1



Disc 2



Disc 3



Sides Just for the hell of it.

Features

NONE.

There is no features beyond the episodes. No bonus behind-the-scenes, no commentary, no trailers, not even subtitles!. It's barebones. The DVD menus doesn't have any fancy animation; what you see in the screenshots above is what you get. There is no music playing in the background in the menus. Season Three's menu does have a ghostly wave when you click on episodes, so some small points for that.

But don't come in expecting something grand. You'll be sorely disappointed.

There is only two things that sets it above your downloaded copies: the first is that we don't have that damn Nickelodeon logo covering the show on the bottom right. Whoo-HOO! The second is the high quality screenshots. Seriously, check some of these out.

You can also see many more sprinkled throughout my site. Still, it might not be enough incentive to purchase the DVDs, especially for the hard core fans (unless you're like me and you waste money on anything with Danny's face plastered to it. Hey, I have a website to run).

OPINION

Quite simply, it's a rip-off. It's error-prone, incorrect, unprofessional. It's clear Nickelodeon wanted to do this in the cheapest way possible. Oh, they must've heard the fan cries for DVDs of their beloved Nicktoons, but unless it's a Nicktoons that make a shitload of money or has a balanced fanbase between kids and adults, any proper DVDs of their cartoons is nil. They're prime targets are children, demographics who won't care about boxed set.

The ones who do gets reduced to this. The other MAJOR problem is that we're still missing thirteen episodes. The second set ended with "Identity Crisis", then Volume Three skips to Season Three. That means episodes starting with "the Fenton Menace" to "Kindred Spirits" were SKIPPED. In my opinion, that's a damn shame because the meat, the root of the character development and story is the deepest and best in the latter portion of the second season. It is criminal if they don't bring it over. Call it "Season 2: The Lost Episodes", I don't care; just bring them things over. I beg of you!

I have to admit though; as cheap as the DVD is, the box set is...relatively nice. It's still cheap, but the "splash" around Danny works well enough. I also like the big fonts they used. It’s not my dream DP DVD cover though. Nope, mine would be if they used these type of screenshots:

Because it both looks pretty and kickass.

So, Buy, Recommend, or Pass?
A mixed bag. It really depends on the type of person you are. We’ve been waiting for DVDs for so long that hearing about this is good news. Despite the cheap packaging/solution the company handled, the episodes themselves, as I stated, are crisp and clear. Gorgeous, you could say. With no extra contents, you have to be the type to consider such as luxury as oppose to mandatory. For the more casual fans, it’s an automatic buy, you’ll get the episodes and that’s all you need. Hard cores may not appreciate it as much.

Be that as it may, the DVDs cost more money then it has any right to be (despite the irony of its cheap built). Amazon.com’s average price for it is a whooping $32 to $36 dollars, a problem I wouldn’t have mind if they had properly put in all 53 episodes in their proper seasonal arrangement, but for 13 episodes a pop, it’s too much. Amazon does constantly change the prices (I scored them at it’s lowest—though I pre-ordered mine’s), so keep a close eye whenever they cheap it up. The episodes are nice to look at, but not worth that much.

In short, heed caution on whether it’s worth shelling out the bucks. Hopefully this inside look helped.

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*Casperhigh.net does not endorse stealing of one’s parent’s credit cards. Don’t do it or you can hello to prison. On the other hand, Casperhigh.net gives full permission to dismiss rapid Japanime Fangirls.