Misanthropes! Outsiders! Cynics! Nerds! Our time is now. Daria Morgendorffer is here to lead us to the promised land. Daria: The Complete Animated Series finally comes out on DVD today.
The animated MTV series, which ran from 1997 to 2002, followed the life of the too-smart-to-fit-in, too-sarcastic-to-care teen Daria and her best friend Jane as they navigated the sick, sad world of high school. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of the eight-disc DVD set and can tell you that the show feels as fresh now as it did 13 years ago when it first aired.
What can you expect from the set? Well, for starters all 53 of the show’s original episodes plus its two movies (Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?) and a handful of special features. The bonuses include the unaired pilot Sealed With a Kick, cast interviews, character profiles, the Mystik Spiral music video for “Freaking Friends,” a pilot for the unaired spinoff, Mystik Spiral, and the Daria and Jane Top 10 Animated Video Countdown.
The only bad news? Because of copyright issues and licensing issues, 99 percent of the music has been changed. Series creator Glenn Eichler confessed the switch in a note included with the set. He said “the cost of licensing the many music bites we used would have made it impossible to release the collection (and for many years did).” While I miss all the great late ’90s music, that’s never what I watched the show for in the first place — I watched it for Daria’s always droll and deadpan observations on the absurdity of teenage life.
So, have you ordered your copy yet? Are you upset about the music switcheroo? Or are you just happy to finally be able to share your low esteem for everyone else with the world?
