Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

I was never an early riser during my childhood, but I would wake up with a smile on face on Saturday mornings with the full intention of eating a full bowl of sugary cereal, sit on the floor directly in front of the TV, and watch my favorite cartoons on network television.

Yes, times have definitely changed thanks to the government setting rules about children's animated programs. Now the networks only show local news and educational programs; though you can still find cartoons airing on cable channel. Plus, you can find tons of cartoons on streaming services. However, it doesn't have the same feeling as it did in the 1980s when you could watch free animated delights on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox.

While I do watch the occasional cartoon series on Netflix, I tend to watch old and new cartoons on DVD or Blu-ray; which leads to me to today's review of the Jackie Chan Adventures: The Demon Portals Saga DVD ($24.98; 13 hours 51 minutes) that's being released on June 4th from Mill Creek Entertainment. The 3-disc set contains all 39 episodes from the second season.

I'm pretty sure almost everyone has heard of the great action star Jackie Chan. Well, believe it or not he had his own animated series that aired from 2000 to 2005 on the now defunct Kids' WB for 95 episodes over the course of 5 seasons. Jackie Chan voiced an animated version of himself. The rest of the voice cast consisted of James Sie, Stacie Chan, Sab Shimono, Noah Nelson, Clancy Brown, Adam Baldwin, Miguel Sandoval, Susan Eisenberg, Franco Velez, and John DiMaggio.

In the series, Jackie Chan is an archeologist for a San Francisco university and he's also an excellent martial artist. He lives with his 11-year-old niece, Jade, and their uncle, Uncle Chan, who owns an antique store. Jackie's life is turned upside down when a covert police squad called Section 13 enlists him to locate 12 magical talismans that are scattered across the world.

Sounds like fun, right?

Well, as it turns out, the sinister Valmont wants the talismans and sends his Dark Hand goons to retrieve them.

Jackie, Jade, and Uncle Chan must work together as a team to keep the talisman from falling into the enemy's hands.

The real-life Jackie Chan is featured in a short segment at the end of every episode, where he answers a few questions from his young fans.

 

Final Thoughts