As Cowboy Bebop is multiple episodes, you'll want to rip the entire DVD. You'll get a .iso file, which the current VLC will open and play.
After a little experimentation I've reached the tentative conclusion that DVD Player deals with my rips better than VLC does...audio seems about the same, but video may be a bit "crisper."
Oops; never mind. I just discovered that pausing play with DVD Player's onscreen control panel causes
something to crash, necessitating quitting and relaunching it...deal breaker...VLC it is.
Thanks again for your help.