Finally: Looney Tunes (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

Haredevil Hare is on the 3rd disc of the Gold Collection and the 1st disc of the Premiere Collection. (Note: It looks like the Gold Collection-exclusive disc 1 will have some more Marvin the Martian cartoons)

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Thanks Patrick !

 

[Brandon Conway]

Those restorations are nothing short of miraculous. x1000

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Apart from that... well, it's just not all that funny (IMO) and is often kind of a letdown in theatrical showings, because it tends to come at the end of a program of cartoons, and its relative slowness and heaviness is kind of a downer after Rabbit of Seville and Hair-Raising Hare and Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid and the rest. Maybe I'd like it better if I could learn to appreciate it on its own terms, but it's just so atypical of WB cartoons...though fairly typical of Jones' post-1955 work.

Jones became a master at self-promotion in later years, and was successful enough at it that many people identify him alone with Looney Tunes shorts.

Frankly, his designs were spectacular...but his cartoons were rarely as funny as those of Clampett, Avery, McKimson, and (early) Freleng.

Still, Jones was an American treasure. He was over 80 years old when he directed his last short, and I'm glad we had him.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Not true. The first Merrie Melodies were B&W as well, starting with Lady Play Your Mandolin from Oct. 1931.

The Looney Tunes were a take on Disney's Silly Symphonies, but used recurring characters (Bosko & Honey, and Foxy, both blatant ripoffs off Mickey Mouse, and Buddy & Cookie). Merrie Melodies were meant to be one-offs, with no recurring characters, but each would feature 2 musical numbers from Warner's music publishing division.

The first color Merrie Melody was Those Beautiful Dames from Nov. 1934. The first 3 strip Technicolor MM was Flowers For Madame from Nov. 1935 (Disney had exclusive rights to 3-strip Technicolor until that time). The last B&W LT cartoon was Puss 'N Booty from Dec. Dec '43.

Merrie Melodies did eventually have recurring characters, and while MM's continued to produce one-off stories, the lines were blurred in the late '40's, and several popular characters were found in both series, and after that point, their was little differnce between the two, with the exception of the themes used for the openings ('Merrily We Roll Along' and 'The Merry-Go-Round broke Down').

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Frankly, his designs were spectacular...but his cartoons were rarely as funny as those of Clampett, Avery, McKimson, and (early) Freleng.

I can't agree with that either -- I've seen plenty of Jones cartoons in theatrical showings and the ones from the '40s and early '50s always get huge, long laughs and applause at the end. The reputation of, say, Bully For Bugs is well earned, because it makes an audience just explode with laughter. After 1955 he started to give in to the cutesy, design-heavy style (and with all the characters redesigned to have huge eyes), but from 1942 to 1955 Jones' cartoons were as good as anybody's.

The guy whose cartoons most often bomb out when I see them in theatrical showings, oddly enough, is Clampett. Maybe I've seen his cartoons with the wrong audiences. (I hasten to add that there are plenty of Clampett cartoons that get huge laughs in the theatre when I see them, like An Itch in Time. But with a lot of them the audience just kinda sits there with a "Oh, that's interesting" vibe, kind of like the reaction to What's Opera, Doc.) And in my experience, the most consistent laugh-getter among WB cartoon directors is Freleng. I don't think I've ever seen a Freleng cartoon with an audience that didn't provoke big laughs from said audience, even cartoons I'm not all that wild about (like Show Biz Bugs). I chalk it up to Freleng's uncanny ability to time a gag just right for maximum laughs.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Just out of curiosity, when did the restoration process start ?

 

[Roger Rollins]

Just out of curiosity, when did the restoration process start ?

Almost 3 years ago (maybe longer?). I remember talking to a Warner rep at the late lamented Dave's Studio Day back in 2000, and they said film element restoration was underway on these to get them ready for DVD.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Actually, the Looney Tunes were Warner's answer to Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoons. From 1930 to late 1933, Bosko was the main star. When Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising left, WB relied on the remaining staff. Tom Palmer, who worked with Van Bueren for some time and Isadore Freleng ended up taking up the weight.

The Merrie Melodies were, until the late 1930's, the Warner version of Silly Symphonies. You could say they almost became a hybrid of Disney's two series. Foxy and Roxy were essentially Mickey clones, but only lasted 3 cartoons. The rest of the Merrie Melodies remained one-shot-only except for some near the end of the decade.

The first color Merrie Melodie was NOT Those Beautiful Dames. Honeymoon Hotel, which was produced in Cinecolor, was the first. They only made one other in Cinecolor (Beauty and the Beast) until the late 1940's (to ease Technicolor's wartime backlog). Those Beautiful Dames WAS, however, the first of the 2-strip Technicolor cartoons.

Flowers For Madame was produced in 2-strip Technicolor, but it's possible they "3-strip-ized" the film for the Blue Ribbon release. Puss N' Booty was the very last theatrical cartoon produced by Warners in B&W...but they still had some B&W cartoons released for the next two years. The Snafu and Mr. Hook cartoons were shot in B&W and released through 1945.

 

[JimmyK]

Two of my favorites are on this tape, "What's Opera Doc?" and "The Rabbit of Seville".

So, will either/both of these features be on the upcoming DVD release?

Thanks!

JimmyK

 

[Keith Paynter]

Yes, I stand corrected.

The Private Snafu & Lt. Hook cartoons were not theatrical cartoons, but were produced for The Army & Navy Screen Magazine, exclusively shown to servicemen. When the Snafu series was produced, Leon Schlesinger undercut Walt Disney's bid. The b&w productions were cheaper to produce. (BTW Disney wanted exclusive merchandising rights to Snafu)

 

[Ruz-El]

I can't be the only one praying for the eventual release of "Coal Black and tha Sebbin Dwarfs"? Racial stereotypes aside, it is one of the fastest, loosest, giddyest cartoons ever produced IMHO.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

"What's Opera Doc?" and "The Rabbit of Seville".

So, will either/both of these features be on the upcoming DVD release?

"Rabbit of Seville" will be there, according to the press release (courtesy of tvshowsondvd.com). "What's Opera Doc" hasn't been mentioned and I suspect it's being held in reserve for the next set. But there are still some 24 cartoons on the Golden Collection that haven't been announced yet; hopefully someone will leak the complete list soon...

I'd like to see "Coal Black" too, but I doubt it'll happen this time around if at all... What I'm hoping is that the Daffy/Porky disc has some earlier cartoons on it, because the titles announced so far are heavy on what we might call "transitional" Daffy (the late '40s/early '50s Daffy, who was no longer the lunatic he was in the early '40s, but wasn't the total jerk he would become in the late '50s). We need a few cartoons with Daffy going hoo-hoo a lot...

 

[Patrick McCart]

Coal Black is one of the greatest cartoons AND likely one of Bob Clampett's top 5.

That being said, I'm hoping it gets a commentary track at least.

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Wow ! I never knew the restoration process took that long !

 

[Keith Paynter]

Some more restoration examples c/o Cartoon Research.

This is a must-own!

 

[LarryDavenport]

Is there a list of what cartoons are on the four disc set? And will all the cartoons that are on the 2-disc collection be on the four disc collection? I eventually would like all the Looney Toons/Merry Melodies through the 1960's on DVD, but would like as few repeats as possible. (I have afeeling this is going to be like buying the Rolling STones on SACD).

 

[Ruz-El]

We need a few cartoons with Daffy going hoo-hoo a lot...

I agree, one of my favorites is "The Great Piggy Bank Mystery" (I might be wrong on the title.) with Daffy as "Duck Twacy", I believe it is a Clampet toon. I don't think it was listed.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Is there a list of what cartoons are on the four disc set? And will all the cartoons that are on the 2-disc collection be on the four disc collection?

Larry... read the thread dude!

Disks 3 & 4 of the 4 disk set are the same as the two-disc set. (So the 4-disc set has all the content of the 2-disc..or so we've been told so far.)

There is no complete list of what is on the set(s) yet though. There are still some 20-odd titles we're waiting to hear about. I'm still hoping for "Transylvania 6-5000" and "What's Opera Doc".

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

* Bugs Bunny meets the little Gremlin, who is
pounding away (I think) with a sledgehammer at
a bomb. (very fuzzy on this one)

This one was already released on Winstar's DVD "Cartoon Crazys Go To War". It has lots of very non-PC stuff in it, which is why I picked up a copy when it was available. Now it's OOP. Contents were:

1. Bugs Bunny Bond Rally - Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd
2. Daffy The Commando - Daffy Duck
3. Eleventh Hour - Superman
4. Ding Dong Daddy
5. Falling Hare - Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin
6. Jurky Turky
7. Tale Of Two Kitties - Tweety
8. Superman - Jungle Drums
9. Fifth Column Mouse - Sylvester
10. Fony Fables
11. Scrap Happy Daffy - Daffy Duck
12. Hell Bent For Election
13. Snafu - Snafuperman
14. Snafu - Booby Traps
15. Snafu - Spies