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First of all, as the press release title states, "The Wait Is Over: The First Star Wars Movie is on DVD." Yes, folks, Star Wars: Episode I, The Phantom Menace is making its way to DVD this year on October 16th. The 2-disc set promises over six hours of unique material including:

• The first-ever running commentary by Lucas
• An exclusive deleted scenes documentary featuring seven new sequences completed just for this DVD
• An extraordinary hour- long documentary film culled from over 600 hours of behind- the- scenes footage.
• An interactive featurette with a glimpse into the process of creating scenes from storyboards to animatics to final film composites
• Original theatrical trailers
• TV spots
• A gallery of never-before-seen cast and crew photos
• An award-winning twelve- part web documentary series
• Five featurettes that provide an insider's look at The Phantom Menace's storyline, design, costumes, visual effects and fight scenes.

It sounds like quite a collection, and the retail price has been set at $29.98. So, when you are done digging through all of the Snow White DVD material and your older kids need a change of pace, this will be available the following week for your viewing pleasure.

In addition to the Episode I announcement, Lucasfilm commented that a second title will be released at the same time. Currently unannounced, the title is believed to be Lucas' fantasy / adventure Willow. I'll keep my eyes open for any additional information that may arise in the coming weeks...

In other fairly big news, The Simpsons: Season One DVD box set release was recently confirmed. Slated for a September 25 release, the set will include all 13 of the first season episodes with a bunch of bonus material. Included on the discs will be:

• The original shorts that debuted on "The Tracey Ullman Show''
• A never-before-seen lost episode.
• Seven foreign-language clips, showing, for instance, Homer and Bart as dubbed in Japanese
• Albert Brooks outtakes
• A BBC special called "America's First Family''
• An ABC News Special Report on the Bart Simpson T-shirt controversy

The disc set will be priced at $39.98. A follow-up set of the second season may be released in time for the holidays, with two more sets being released each year thereafter. However, keep in mind that the price and number of discs will go up for subsequent seasons, since all subsequent seasons have 26 or more episodes.

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Warner Home Video recently announced the long awaited release of The Goonies DVD on August 21. The disc will include an audio commentary from director Richard Donner and the cast, a "Making of…" documentary, a music video, deleted scenes, outtakes, and the theatrical trailer. It will retail for $24.98.

One last little tidbit, especially for the younger kids, is the August 7 DVD release of Bear in the Big Blue House: Potty Time With Bear / Visiting The Doctor. Personally, these are two topics that are close to my heart, as I’m sure they are to anyone with a 2 –3 year old. The disc will retail for $19.95 and will run 75 minutes.

That's it for now, but stay tuned for more!

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