The one-eyed white wonder returns to DVD with this second set of episodes of Danger Mouse.  This two disc package contains all of the episodes from seasons three and four of the series.  If you've seen the first set you'll know what to expect: some great silly comedy that will entertain both adults and children.
 
Danger Mouse, or DM as his friends call him, is the world's greatest secret agent.  Wherever danger will rear its ugly head, he's there to stop it.  With his faithful, and rather timid, sidekick Penfold (a hamster) to aid him, DM fights the evil machinations of Baron Silas Greenback, the world's most evil toad, Count Duckula (in a pair of shows) and other villains.

A parody of James Bond (and the British TV show Danger Man,) this cartoon sets itself apart from other animated shows with its creativity,  not so subtle satire, and a strong sense of the absurd.  The latter is what I appreciate the most, and makes me a fan of the show.  Each episode is filled with strange situations that really give the show its strange sense of humor.

In addition to the strange plots, there are a lot of bad jokes and even worse puns, some of which the younger viewers may miss but are sure to elicit groans from the adults.  Danger Mouse also realizes that he's a cartoon character.  At one point DM and Penfold have fallen off of a cliff and are holding on only by their finger-tips.  Danger Mouse remarks that "this must be the end of an episode.....the writer always has to end on a cliff-hanger."

Like the first set, this one has a good number of parody shows.  Planet of the Cats has DM and Penfold traveling into the future where the world that is ruled by cats.  Then there is The Great Bone Idol which is partially a hilarious take off on Raiders of the Lost Ark.  My favorite part is where DM finds the secret hole in the desert where the Bone Idol has been secreted.  Lifting the lid, he peers down and can't believe his eyes.  The hole is "packed to the portals with prostrate pachyderms!"  Yes, instead of snakes this relic is guarded by elephants.  (To which the narrator says "Will this multitude of musing mastodons allow our heros to go below, tip-toe to and fro find the lost so-and-so then give it the old heave-ho and blow?  Well, I don't think so.")

One of my favorite parts of the show is the narrator.  His rhyme filled closings are often some of the best parts of the show.  When DM is faced with a half dozen crocodiles guarding an object he needs the narrator closes the episode with "Can Danger Mouse with charm and style smile and beguile the hostile reptile a while, so he can do a quick nick of the Mystic Stick?"

Though the program is very funny, the animation was done on the cheap.  They cut a lot of corners, animating only a person's mouth if they could possibly get away with it, and often having characters look the other way when talking so they didn't even have to do that much.  Scenes of Danger Mouse and Penfold walking or driving in their car are often reused, as are some backgrounds.

Despite the low grade animation, Danger Mouse is a great show.  It has a slightly off kilter sense of humor which makes it enjoyable for both adults and children.

Like the second season, each of these stories consist of five chapters with abbreviated opening and closing credits as they were originally broadcast.  Each chapter runs about five minutes making each story clock in at around 25 minutes.  At the beginning of each episode (besides the first) there is a quick recap of the previous shows.  While you can chapter skip past the opening credits, this intro doesn't have a separate chapter and watching the recaps get a little tiresome after a while.

The episodes included in this set are:

Season Three:

The Invasion of Colonel 'K'
Danger Mouse Saves the World ... Again
The Odd Ball Runaround
The Strange Case of the Ghost Bus
Trip to America

Season Four:

The Wild, Wild Goose Chase
The Return of Count Duckula
Demons Aren't Dull
150 Million Years Lost
The Planet of the Cats
4 Heads Are Better than 2
Tower of Terror
The Great Bone Idol
Public Enemy No. 1

These two seasons of Danger Mouse come on a pair of single sided DVDs.

Audio:

The two channel audio track sounds about average for a program of this age.  The dialog is easy to understand and the background music is clear.  There are a couple of pops that are audible, and a very slight hum in the background that is only noticeable in quiet parts when the volume is turned up fairly high.  There were one or two instances of distortion where the soundtrack cracked, but this was rare.  Not a bad sounding disc though, just average.  There are no subtitles.

Like the first set, this one uses the original British soundtrack.  For American audiences Nickelodeon redubbed only Stiletto's voice and gave him a Cockney accent instead of his original Italian accent.  He speaks with an Itallian accent on these discs.

Video:

The video is acceptable, but not outstanding.  The shows had a faded look to them.  The colors weren't as bright as they should have been, and the details weren't as sharp.  The image was a little on the soft side too.  There are a few specks on the print that was used, but this was a minor defect.  All of this doesn't mean the picture is bad, it isn't, it's just showing it's age a bit.  There are no digital defects worth mentioning.

Extras:

There aren't many bonus items included with this set.  The only extras are a karaoke version of the opening song and text biographies of the characters in the show.

Final Thoughts:

I have to admit, I find this show hilarious.  If anything, these two seasons are even more entertaining that the first two.  The narrator takes on a bigger role which adds a lot to the show, and the jokes are even more silly in places.  A laugh-out-loud funny show, this set is Highly Recommended.