[.ca] Kim Possible: The Secret Files

From Amazon.com:
She's your basic average girl and she's here to save the world. An Alias-type heroine for the tween-age set, the Disney Channel's Kim Possible is a high school cheerleader who doubles as a super agent. Here's the sitch: In "Attack of the Killer BeBes," the first of three episodes, KP (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano, the star of another Disney series Even Stevens), her sidekick, Ron Stoppable (Will Friedle), his naked mole rat, Rufus, and supergenius Wade take on a bunch of evil robots controlled by her arch-enemy, Drakken. "Downhill" introduces DNAmy, the wacko geneticist who creates fearsome hybrid creatures. The title of the never-before-seen episode, "Partners," has two meanings--first, Kim and Ron decide to break up their partnership, sort of, and Drakken teams up with DNAmy to form a mutant army to take over the world. No big. KP and her team have enough smarts, cheerleader moves, and high-tech gadgets to save the day, and the sly wit and Kim's school-girl awkwardness can prove appealing to grown-up kids as well. (Ages 6 to 10; cartoon action, bare midriffs, staying out late on a school night) --David Horiuchi

Additional Features:
DVD features are pretty good. The three main episodes are presented in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 and look and sound terrific. Comparison with the episodes as they were broadcast shows new detail on the sides, so either they were shot in widescreen then trimmed for broadcast, or art was added to fill out the picture for this DVD release. Bonus features are the first episode, "Crush," biographical capsules of nine villains, and Christy Carlson Romano's high-energy music video, "Say the Word." (Yes, she really can sing; she appeared on Broadway in Parade.) The next obvious step would be KP season sets. That would really be worthy of a "Boo-yah!" --David Horiuchi

Disney Does Buffy Does Lara Croft Does Alias:
If you're hip and flip and love a good laugh, you're already taping this popular series, but you could do worse than treat yourself to this colorful handful of engaging episodes and standard promo extras. It may be packaged for kids, but like the 1960s T.V. Batman, it's really made for adults - in fact, one of the series episodes (not on this DVD) features Adam West in a takeoff of his original Batman role, in the very funny "The Fearless Ferret." It's hard to imagine anyone who hasn't yet encountered Kim Possible, but for those who haven't and are seeking a clue, here goes: Kim is "your average basic girl, out to save the world," the adorable green-eyed, redheaded high school cheerleader daughter of a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon, with a jealous bimbo rival (Pep-Squad wannabe-leader Bonnie), two troublesome twin younger brothers, and helpful friends (Ron Stoppable and his naked mole-rat "Rufus," and never-leaves-his-screen computer geek Wade). She has her own website, which has made her something of a superhero in spite of herself. Her adversaries are idiot mad-scientists and the like, such as the two featured in this DVD, D. N. Annie and Dr. Drakken. Drakken, especially, is a comical cad, a failed NASA robotics expert who happens to be Kim's father's arch-rival, though it takes him a long time to figure out that Kim, despite sharing the same rare last name as Dr. Possible, is related. His "three blue BeBe's," seen in this collection, are among the most memorable "henchmen" in the entire series. His usual assistant, Shego - infinitely smarter than the mad, blue-skinned doctor, himself - is almost Kim's own dark alter-ego, a fashion-conscious snob with super-athletic abilities and glow-in-the-dark green eyes and hands. This is one of my favorite shows, which is saying a lot, since I ordinarily can't stand anything Disney produces. Kim Possible is much smarter and wittier than the usual Disney fare, to the point that even the obligatory adorable animal - Rufus, the naked mole-rat - actually manages not to be insipidly annoying, but often highly useful to the plot and rather endearing. The music is catchy and bright, the action fast, the dialogue clever and snappy. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Lara Croft doing Alias, jazz-it-up a couple notches and make it more family-friendly, and you've pretty much got this series in a nutshell. But enough. Stop reading, and go introduce yourself to Kim Possible and her absurdly insane adversaries. You'll be hooked, quick. And just in time for Christmas, to boot! "Boo-yah!"

Wonderful, entertaining role model.:
I'll write this review with the parent in mind, and leave the plots and story lines to someone else. Kim Possible is an intelligent, science-loving high school student with an adventurous side. If I may be permitted to assert my parental instincts here, I would like to add that I think kids get way too much weird stuff in cartoons. Kim Possible, on the other hand, is a good role model for her studious habits and intelligent interests. My children love watching this cartoon (lots of laughs and bumbling bad guys), but I also enjoy it, and have no problem watching it with them. This would make a good Christmas or birthday present for the cartoon-watchers in your family.

KP: The Anti-Princess:
I let my 5-year-old watch Kim Possible, because KP's one of the few strong role models for girls. The animated violence is usually kept to kung-fu style fighting (usually Kim v. Shego). The dialog is often clever and insightful, and it's good to see that the characters often have real world problems (like having your Mom and Dad along for a field trip). If you are a parent, try to catch KP on ABC (Saturday A.M.) to get an idea of what to expect.

K.P. You Rock:
Kim Possible is one of the greatest shows I have ever seen! If you like the show,then just pop this baby into your dvd player and get ready for SERIOUSLY COOL STUFF! Even though K.P. is a great show,it's not my favorite (Cartoon Network's ''The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy'' is my big time fave)but SUPER nonetheless! ''So not the drama!''

Better for kids than adults, but still fun:
For some reason on the menu the three main episodes are listed as separate chapters of one program, no big deal but it seems a little odd to me. I think I've seen most of the episodes that have come out, Crush is perhaps the best on the DVD, maybe one of the better ones in the series. Of the characters I've always preferred Kim, the villains are REALLY cartoony, Ron Stoppable isn't much better. I like the action but the artwork looks crude to me, too simple, maybe they figure 10 year olds won't care. The music video doesn't do a thing for me, the show theme is so much better. The extra feature game where you click on a villain's picture then figure out which combination of Kim & others' pictures need to be selected to open a file on that villain can be very frustrating. After a while I noticed that at the bottom of the screen Rufus the mole rat was in a star shaped box, click on that to get the combination revealed, some kids and their parents will really appreciate that assist.