Holiday DVDs: Make a list, check it twice

What's that swoooosh I hear? The sound of 2 million air conditioners trying to beat that 105-degree heat wave in L.A.? Nope, it's jolly old Saint Nick's sleigh, out making some early holiday DVD deliveries.

In the alternative Video World, Halloween comes about Labor Day, and the end-of-year holidays are in full swing come Halloween. Your friendly DVD blog will be tracking all the cool Christmas DVD titles. It's kind of chilly sitting here under the A/C vent so let's get started. Ho.

Dennis the Menace Christmas comes from the new straight-to-video production unit Warner Premiere. This time out, Robert Wagner does the scowling as Mr. Wilson. Louise Fletcher adds some class as Mrs. Wilson. Maxwell Perry Cotton is the "newly defined Menace" while funnyman Godfrey limns Bob the Christmas Angel. Dennis is on a quest to be gifted with the Raleigh Mite-Y-Max bike. Yikes! He'll throw his leg out. Retail $20.

The Pink Panther: A Pink Christmas debuts on DVD via MGM (Fox). Fritz Freleng and John W. Dunn wrote the teleplay for this 30-minute TV toon from 1978. The Panther must scheme his way into a holiday dinner in cold old Manhattan. Filling out the disc are Freleng's "Pink Panther: The Olym-pinks" (1980, 30 mins.) and "Pink at First Sight" (1981, 30 mins.). Retail $15, out Nov. 6.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is based on the children’s book by Susan Wojciechowski. Nothing says holiday cheer quite like an appearance by Tom Berenger, who plays Toomey, a cranky wood carver with a "mysterious secret past." A boy (Luke Ward-Wilkinson) and his widowed mother (Joely Richardson) move to town. The long-term forecast is for warm and fuzzy. From Genius Products, out Oct. 23 at $15.

The Year Without a Santa Claus (deluxe) -- a remastered version of the stop-motion animation special first beheld in 1974. Santa decides to slack off and skip a year. A child shall lead him out of the gloom. Extras include a docu on the legacy of Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, purveyors of fine seasonal TV specials. From Warner Home Video, out Oct. 2 at $20. (Pictured above)

Christmas Television Favorites from Warner. Presented in "unique, eye-catching, collectible packaging reminiscent of a classic book with foil accents," the four-disc, eight-title set goes for $40. The TV specials are "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" "Horton Hears a Who!" "The Year Without a Santa Claus (see above)," "Rudolph’s Shiny New Year," "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, " "Frosty’s Winter Wonderland," "‘Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July." "Grinch" is the terrific 50th anniversary remastered edition from last year. Two discs appear to be previously released two-fers from a ways back.

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