With the smashing reception toDragon Ball Daima, Akira Toriyama’s beloved forty-year-old franchise has been getting reappraisals for even its earliest work. Beyond the somewhat predictable spike in discussion aboutDragon Ball Z, Super, and evenGT,the public eye has recently shifted back onto the originalDragon Ball. AsToei Animation on X(formerly Twitter) announced on June 12, 2025, Apple TV and iTunes have theDragon Ball 4-Film Collectionfor purchase. These movies famously show Toei Animation’s feature-length products about Goku’s earliest adventures.
Dragon Ballhas a long history with film, with its earliest project,Curse of the Blood Rubies, first debuting in cinemas in July 13, 2025. The franchise regularly draws revenue, with the latest iteration,Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,raking in over $100 million at the international box office. This is due to viewers having a healthy appreciation for the higher film budgets, often making better-animated fight sequences, and the originalDragon Ballfilms are no exception.
Apple TV and iTunes Now Offer a Dragon Ball 4-Film Collection
Four Movies Across a Decade of Dragon Ball
As announced by Toei Animation, theDragon Ball 4-Film Collectionis available on iTunes and Apple TV, with the movies previously spotted back in 2018 by users onKanzenshuu. With the originalDragon Ballanime debuting in February 1986, the series didn’t even take a full year before the resulting fervor generated its first movie. Within the decade,four films for the original series emerged, generating billions of yen at the Japanese box officeand ultimately getting DVD box set releases for physical media collectors.
The following fourDragon Ballfilms feature in the collection:
This highlights Apple TV and the iTunes platforms asunique spots to watchDragon Ball-related content online, with their distinction as the best overall place to digitally purchase their films.The bundle itself is aheavily discounted package forDragon Ballfanslooking to watch their favorite stories on-demand without perhaps the shelf space for the available DVD box sets. However, these films stand out from the laterDragon Ball Zprojects in some noteworthy cases.
Early Dragon Ball Films Gained Renewed Relevance with Dragon Ball Daima
Kid Goku’s First Adventures Have Aged Well on Film
Along with being well-animated adventures in their own right, the final originalDragon Ballfilm,The Path to Power, aged well thanks to excellent choreography and animation. The originalDragon Ballfilms largely either borrow from pre-existing story arcs, likeMystical Adventure,or are an elegant reboot and swan song for the original series inThe Path to Power’scase.With Goku being shrunk down to child formalong with his friends inDragon Ball Daima, these films offer insight into how brave and resourceful a fighter was even at his weakest points, resulting in thrilling and charming adventures.
Sources:Kanzenshuu,Toei Animation, Apple TV, and iTunes Store
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
