'Little Mermaid' still utterly charming

Here are some new DVDs of old TV shows — except for the first one here, the theatrical film that put Disney back on the animation map in the 1990s. All are scheduled for release on Tuesday.

• THE LITTLE MERMAID: PLATINUM EDITION (Disney, 1989, G, $29.99, two discs). This was the film that gave Disney animation a shot in the arm when the cartoon factory was flagging, thus paving the way for "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King."

The film remains utterly charming and fulfilling in this razzle-dazzle reissue, with great songs and humor bolstering the classic Hans Christian Andersen story. Great fun for kids of all ages, as they say.

Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary, deleted scenes/alternate ending, new short "The Little Match Girl," featurettes, art gallery, music video, trailer, interactive games,

• THE DICK TRACY SHOW: THE COMPLETE ANIMATED CRIME SERIES (Classic, 1961, not rated, $39.98, four discs). This collection of five-minute cartoons from UPA (the folks who did "Droopy" and "Gerald McBoing Boing") are aimed at youngsters, with caricatures faithful to the original comic strip combined with UPA's signature abstract style.

Oddly, Tracy himself takes a back seat, sending others — all created for these cartoons, including a talking English bulldog! — to bust the crooks. The bad guys are often Tracy regulars: Flattop, The Mole, Mumbles, Pruneface, among others, with voices only an older audience would recognize, spoofs of Peter Lorre, Edward G. Robinson, etc.

The real "keeper" here, however, is a 68-page comic book with black-and-white replications of three 1930s comic-strip stories. Cool.

Extras: Full frame, 130 color cartoons, chapters.

• WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? UNCENSORED! SEASON ONE, VOL. 1 (Warner, 1998, not rated, $24.98, two discs). These two discs have the first 10 episodes of the popular improv series hosted by Drew Carey (an Americanized remake of a British show), along with "special-feature" outtakes and bloopers (hence the word "Uncensored" in the title).

Carey, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles are regulars in these shows, with Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood — and Kathy Kinney, who played Mimi on Carey's show — rotating in and out. Bits include "Sound Effects," "Let's Make a Date," "Foreign Film Dub," etc. The talented crew is pretty funny, making it up as they go along.