It’s one of those rare weeks when there aren’t a ton of animated releases hitting retail outlets. What we do get today are episodes of Cartoon Network’s hit series Ben 10: Alien Force and a reintroduction to the female counterparts of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Fans of the vfx-laden Underworld film series can also pick up a double feature set of the first two installments before the third movie hits theaters next weekend.
Ben 10 Alien Force Season One, Volume 2 offers five episodes of the top-rated boys’ action show created by Man of Action (Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steve Seagle). In this latest chapter in the continuing Ben 10 saga, 15-year-old Ben Tennyson chooses to once again put on the Omnitrix and discovers that it has reconfigured his DNA and can now transform him into 10 brand new aliens. Joined by his super-powered cousin, Gwen Tennyson, and his equally powerful former enemy, Kevin Levin, Ben is on a mission to find his missing Grandpa, Max. In order to save Max, Ben must defeat the evil DNALIENS, a powerful alien race intent on destroying the galaxy, starting with planet Earth. The Warner home video release carries a suggested retail price of $14.98.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes contains six episodes from the 1980s series. This compilation focuses on the three female chipmunks, who will be featured in the upcoming big-screen outing Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. In these comic TV adventures, high-spirited diva Brittany maintains a love-hate relationship with Alvin, brainy Jeanette hits it off with Simon, and super-athletic Eleanor romances the chubby Theodore. The paramount Home Entertainment release lists for $16.99.
Vampires and werewolves continue a centuries-old battle in Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, which Sony has packaged together in one three-disc set. The release includes the two-disc Underworld Unrated Extended Edition and Underworld: Evolution Special Edition, both starring Kate Beckinsale, Scott Speedman, Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen. Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) and Sheen (Frost/Nixon) are returning for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which bites into theaters on Jan. 25. Until then, fans can pick it up the Underworld/Underworld: Evolution double feature for $19.94 or less.
