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Dom Robinson reviews
Quest for the Lost Scrolls (Animated) Distributed by 
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 9053152
- Running time: 60 minutes (3 * 20)
- Year: 2002
- Pressing: 2003
- Region(s): 2, 4 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 3 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Pro Logic)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: English
- Fullscreen: 1.33:1
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £15.99
- Extras: Trivia Quiz, Eyptology, Character Files, Trailer
Directors:
- Eddy Houchins and Dick Sebast
Producers:
- Joe Barruso, Tom Pugsley and Greg Klein
Screenplay:
- Nick Dubois
Music :
- Cory Lerios, John D’Andrea and George Gabriel
Voices :
- Imhotep: Jim Cummings
Alex O’Connell: Chris Marquette
Rick O’Connell: John Schneider
Evy O’Connell: Grey DeLisle
Jonathan Carnaghan: Tom Kenny
Ardeth Bay: Nicholas Guest
Colin Weasler: Michael Reisz
The Mummy: Quest for the Lost Scrolls is the kind of cartoon anyone my age – 31 this April – will have seen time and again. It’s good against evil, and the evil has an accomplice to do as much of their dirty work as possible.
This genre of cartoon I remember back in the ’80s and the animation that’s brought us here hasn’t exactly come on in leaps and bounds, but that doesn’t matter too much for its target audience who’ll no doubt have seen The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, despite being far too young for them, and will lap up this animated continuation. As I said, it’s not a huge leap forward, but then I enjoyed The Real Ghostbusters which was equally nonsensical and just took the basic premise from the film as an excuse to churn out an endless string of adventures based on that.
Although two full series have been made for the US at the time of writing this review – and a complete episode guide can be found at Epguides.com – only three episodes (plus a bonus one) are available on this disc:
- The Summoning: The first episode in the series, in which Evy (Grey DeLisle) becomes the Chief Archeologist type after discovering the Book of the Dead, which allows Imhotep to come back to life. Since colleague Colin Weasler (Michael Reisz) is rather embittered about having left out, so he becomes the right-hand man for the skeletal baddie in their bid for world domination.
- The Puzzle: After the opener, we skip to the first of the final two episodes from the first series. Ardeth helps the O’Connells find the Puzzle of Horus after he rescues the first piece from the Mummy. Put together by the end, they will discover to where lost scrolls can be traced.
- The Maze follows on from The Puzzle, After 20 minutes and a scrap with a minotaur, can the family finally retrieve the Lost Scrolls? And is Alex forced to spend the rest of his life with the Manacle on his arm or will a bit of butter and a trip to casualty get rid?
Overall, this is a fairly predictable cartoon, but it’s completely inoffensive and will entertain those under 10. It also makes a pleasant change to watch a cartoon without endless adverts in the middle or huge horrible TV channel logos stuck over the top of it.
This is a recent cartoon so you’d expect – and you get – a crystal clear image with no defects whatsoever. Given that it’s American, it’s been made in 4:3 fullscreen, whereas more adult animations in the UK, such as Stressed Eric and Monkey Dust are presented in 16;9.
The sound is basic Dolby Pro Logic and has no problems, but it won’t exactly set your speakers alight.
The disc is fairly light on the extras:
- Trivia Quiz: Five easy questions, after which you’re rewarded with a fourth cartoon in which our heroes must rescue the Orb of Aten from Imhotep’s evil clutches, after which Rick gets to meet baseball legend Babe Ruth.
- Eyptology: Text screens with info about the legend.
- Character Files: A few words apiece about Alex, Evy, Rick, Imhotep and Ardeth Bay.
- The Mummy Animated: Trailer (1 min): In 4:3 fullscreen, like the programme.
Subtitles are available in English, although in The Orb of Aten, the subtitlers think the hero of the hour is called Nick and not Rick, there’s only one chapter per story which isn’t enough and the menus are largely static with music, although there is some animation before the main menu.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.