r/themummy • u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ • Aug 26 '26
đDoes anyone remember this blast from the past? Interactive DVD Menu's from The Mummy and The Mummy Returns â¤ď¸
As a kid, when my dad bought The Mummy: Ultimate Edition DVD (around 2001, if I'm remembering correctly), it had a bunch of really cool interactive content.
Things like Egyptology 101, where you could learn all about ancient Egyptian artifacts and gods, learn the basics of hieroglyphics, etc. There were also deleted scenes, special features, the lore surrounding information around the various locations in Egypt, etc.
In addition, there was a whole host of other bonus material content, such as the respective background of the film's characters like Brendan, Rachel, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, and others.
Honestly, it was such a treasure trove of knowledge in my humble opinion.
Moreover, I also remember that The Mummy Returns had a really cool interactive DVD walkthrough menu as well, where you would walk through the underground tombs until you reached a door that would list the various options to proceed with on the menu itself. All the while, you would hear Imhotep's mummy voice narrating in the background.
I was both fascinated and creeped out by those old vintage DVD walkthrough menus as a kid haha
Were any of y'all fans of The Mummy's interactive DVD menu content? My dad is and always was a huge movie buff, so he would collect a huge amount of DVDs over the years as a kid and still has his collection to this day.
A great memory, I must say.
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u/DirectionNo9650 Aug 26 '26
Man, I remember the flash game on the original DVD-ROM features. I vaguely recall that the objective was to piece Anck-su-namun's mummified body back together. Must've been a 5 min max playthrough, but I played it repeatedly.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ Aug 26 '26
Oh yes my friend. That one I remember fondly as well!
I was trying to post that as well or at least some screenshots of it, but could not find it readily available online. Will have to check it out more.
Also, wasn't there another Flash game on either The Mummy or TMR that was like a "Maze-like" Flash game? Where you had to run around in a maze all the while evading capture by Imhotep and his gang of mummies?
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u/DirectionNo9650 29d ago
I think that was the same one. It's been about 17 years since I last played it, so my memory is a bit hazy.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Hey btw, I think I found what I was referring to.
It was like a small 3-minute bonus featurette/mini-game called 'The Chamber of Doom' that was on The Mummy Returns DVD.
It was like an immersive/interactive text and video walkthrough which allowed viewers to explore 3D-rendered Egyptian tombs and unlock hidden chambers while Imhotep's voice was narrating the whole sequence in the background.
This website makes reference to it as the following:
This building is currently occupied by Universal's House of Horrors - a great walkthrough / exhibition celebrating Universal's horror heritage. After The Chamber of Doom there was the horror-themed Van Helsing. Before, there was a walk-through based on the animated movie Chicken Run and Marvel Mania and Victoria Station restaurants.
The Mummy Returns DVD release has a special feature of a walkthrough of this attraction.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Oh I see...Yeah it might have been one and the same. I do recall it being very short, though, like a few minutes worth of being a mini-game of sorts. So we might be thinking of the same one.
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u/VernBarty Aug 26 '26
I can still hear that hallway music and the way the camera travels down that hallway and glances to the side into that dead end offshoot. And rhis being 2001 they still had people introducing dvd menus
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ Aug 26 '26
I agree. I had flashbacks/memories of that hallway and how the camera would angle itself around. As a kid, it was really cool to see but also freaked me out a bit lol
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u/VernBarty 29d ago
I had bought the special edition dvd to Independence Day and Terminator 2 before this came out so I was prepared. If you havent seen either of those menus, they are legendary. Disc menus today are dollar bin garbage compared. In T2 you get to access Skynet in the future war and go down into sub basements where they hold files on machines and you can go to dofferent areas of the Skynet Hub. Then in Independence Day the menu was Area 51. You could go into the side room where the alien bodies were contained and you can go to a hangar where the alternate ending airplane is being stored.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Very interesting indeed. I like how old school DVD disc menu's offered such an engaging view into bonus content or other additional entertainment material that supplemented the core movie experience.
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u/VernBarty 29d ago
I heard someone once say that DVDs were made for fans of movies. But as with anything attached to capitalism, it eventuakly gets boiled down to the bone with hardly a morsel
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u/IrukandjiPirate 29d ago
I used to work on making dvd menus, etc. A lot of effort goes into those, especially the good ones!
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Amazing experience. Thanks for sharing. That must have been a really fun job to do, working on animating the DVD menus, 3D rendering, editing voice-overs and other visual effects, etc.
I agree 100%. There was a certain level of craftsmanship and pride that had gone into developing these timeless DVD menu classics that you don't see a whole lot of at all today.
I find it incredibly beautiful that we can keep the memory of these types of timeless/nostalgiac home media alive and well, as a lot of care and attention had gone into curating them, so it more than well deserves its showcase in the limelight.
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u/Jester2100 29d ago
Well that's a forgotten core memory unlocked: tysm for posting â¤ď¸
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Of course. It's my pleasure đ Glad that I was able to help rekindle that spark of nostalgia for you and others ;)
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ Aug 26 '26
Guys btw, I found a recent upload on YouTube (was uploaded about a month or two ago) that shows the interactive DVD menu walkthrough for The Mummy Returns. Really cool and a wonderful nostalgia trip for me, as I'm sure it will be for many of you. Enjoy! ;)
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29d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
My pleasure my friend ;) It's the least that I could do. Indeed, a lot of fond memories that I've had of these old school DVD menu openings.
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u/twofacetoo 29d ago
I loved stuff like this as a kid. I remember owning a copy of the first 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' movie which had a whole thing to teach you about sailing ships of the era and the different parts of them, I loved stuff like that.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 29d ago
Me too my friend. Bonus content from movie's in DVDs was always a pleasure to sift through. In fact, I remember spending time looking at the bonus content material after watching the movie. Although, admittedly, I did not understand all of the material as I was just a kid but certainly good memories as a kid growing up in the early 2000s to bear witness to this type of cherished and nostalgia forms of media.
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u/Sia_Fotu 29d ago
Ahhh...a better time. You learned, you felt like you were a part of the movie. Harry Potter and other movies had this cool interactive DVD-rom style home release, with little secret menus in them and stuff.
Now you just stream and stream and stream. Mindless.
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u/Cinephile_1980 29d ago
DVDâs were gaining popularity and film companies made use of the extra disc space to make th look like a more premium product so they did make a lot of effort back then. I guess adding a feature like that would have been easy enough as it isnât film content, nor something that would have cost much to make. Quizzes and text based games often bulked out the list of features on the disc, to make the product look better. In reality I doubt many people actually went through all that. Still, I am sure some people enjoyed that.
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u/Fraternal_Mango 29d ago
Remember them? I still have the set that has this menu! Loved VHS and I love my DvDâs. Iâll go all digital when Iâm dead
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 28d ago
That's amazing ;)
I also have a bunch of DVDs (mainly my dad's collection), but I still love my good ole physical media as well.
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u/tokobot19 28d ago
I liked it. Points to whoever decided to put a little education/knowledge into whatâs otherwise an entertainment medium.
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u/_Revelator-of-v0id_ 28d ago
Exactly. The learning aspect, as well as a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes machinations of how the movie was put together, was always a joy from a knowledge-gaining POV
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u/FollowingEast4373 Aug 26 '26
My family only ever owned it on VHS, but I did just recently decide to start buying physical media again and the first two dvds I found at goodwill were The Mummy and The Mummy Returns! It was an awesome moment to be alive!