The success of the Penguins of Madagascar spin-off TV series has led to a direct-to-DVD release featuring over 2 hours of “missions.” For faithful viewers of the Nickelodeon series, please be forewarned that this DVD is not a comprehensive collection of aired episodes, rather it contains a smattering of televised shows. However, fans will be glad to find two never-before-seen adventures, “Truth Ache” and “Command Crisis” as well as the television special “Dr. Blowhole’s Revenge” which is scheduled to air on Nick February 15, 2010.

Consequently, myself and my 9-year old have probably watched “Dr. Blowhole’s Revenge” a half-dozen times since receiving the DVD. We can’t seem to stop quoting the ever-quotable lemur King Julien. This episode leads off the DVD and certainly sets the tone for an overall fun ride.

Neil Patrick Harris shows amazing vocal range in bringing Penguins nemesis Dr. Blowhole to life

The full list of episodes are as follows:

• Dr. Blowhole’s Revenge
• Truth Ache
• Command Crisis
• Go Fish
• Roomies
• Needle Point
• Launchtime
• All Choked Up
• The Hidden
• Tangled in the Web

The special features are nothing more than promoting all things Nick and DreamWorks.  Really nothing offered in the way of anything too terribly captivating.  The disc contains previews for “Kung Fu Panda World” an online gaming experience still under construction last I checked, How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After trailers among other ads and previews.  There is an online game at Nick.com called “The Devious Dr. Blowhole Game” in which you attempt to thwart the evil dolphin’s “Rings of Fire.”  Ho hum. I don’t believe it would even keep the young ones satisfied for longer than 2 minutes.  And the other main feature is a DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox which allows you to cycle through short videos featuring songs from various DreamWorks films:  Shrek — “I’m a Believer,” Over The Hedge — “Rockin’ the Suburbs” (Over the Hedge Version), Madagascar — “I Like to Move It, Move It,” Kung Fu Panda — “Kung Fu Fighting,” Bee Movie — “Here Comes the Sun.”

In short, if you have kids that are Penguins of Madagascar fans…this purchase is a no-brainer.

If you have yet to see the Nick series, certainly go for it!

For those of us older folks who are young at heart, this disc is completely passable.  However, the inexpensive price tag may just be what you needed to warrant grabbing this up for the 2 episodes which never aired on Nick.