DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Looney Tunes 4 Disc Golden Collection (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (2 Viewers)

[Patrick McCart]

But I'd rather wait longer and pay more and get crystal-clear prints, than have these semi-restorations done.

After comparing a few with Disney's cartoon DVD's, Warner's transfers are actually BETTER. For example, the grain texture is actually very similar between the 1942 Goofy cartoons and the two 1942 cartoons on the Yankee Doodle Dandy DVD. In fact, Warner's restorations have MUCH better color recombination than Disney's prints used for their transfers.

Most film restorations are not 100% perfect, but it doesn't mean that they're sub-par.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

What an insipid article.

I challenge anyone to pick 56 WB cartoons to fit on one release...and have that release please ALL the fans. Simply impossible. Sure I would rather have What's Opera Doc? or that wonderful Daffy Duck/Dick Tracy parody but, um...patience is a virtue!

It really DOES seem like the whole tired article is based on one piece of Amazon feedback. The one that labeled this release "garbage"?

Gimme a break.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

You hit the nail on the head, Scott.

How irritating. It's incredibly irresponsible for someone at the AP to base an article quoting some know-nothing on Amazon.

I think this set is terrific, and I'm thrilled with it.

I must also say that I would not call these half-restorations. They were restored on FILM and were not then monkeyed with. So you do see cel dust. You do see an occasional piece of dirt. That's the way they were made.
To introduce any kind of digital clean-up would not be the answer. These cartoons have never looked or sounded as good as they do now.

Here's looking forward to Volume 2.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I must also say that I would not call these half-restorations. They were restored on FILM and were not then monkeyed with. So you do see cel dust. You do see an occasional piece of dirt. That's the way they were made.

Exactly. Restoration means to return something to its original state, not to digitally scrub out all of the detail until it looks like some flat, lifeless Nickelodeon cartoon. Who cares if they weren't 'perfect' (by some contrived contemporary definition) in their original state? They were the best cartoons ever made!

 

[Conrad_SSS]

...and just so we don't think that everyone who posts on Amazon is a moron, here's a much more supportive opinion (which I certainly agree with)that I just found posted there.

I was shocked to read a story on a news website that said fans were upset with this DVD release because of what it didn't contain. My response is: Have people lost their minds!?

This collection of Looney Tunes cartoons is fantastic! And for all those people devastated that their favorite shorts aren't found on this set - patience! Warner Bros. has already announced that many, many more of these wonderful sets are in the works. Complaining and not buying this incredible set is a really good way to make sure no more are released in the future.

The video on these DVD's is amazing. The cartoons have been digitally cleaned up and remastered. Well done, Warner Bros. Don't forget the slew of extras included on this set. Excellent documentaries, audio commentaries on several shorts, and featurettes abound.

Complaining because a handful of cartoons aren't on this set is insane. Pick up this collection - you won't be disappointed. And Warner Bros. - keep up the great work! For every complaint out there, there's 1,000 very, very satisfied customers.

Amen

 

[Shawn C]

I am enjoying the cartoons so far. I am about 1/2 through the 2nd CD. I really don't like Bugs Bunny that much. I always liked the "other" characters. Foghorn Leghorn and the dog he was always tormenting. I liked the cartoons with Sylvester & the dogs. I'm not much into the "main" characters. I always enjoyed the Road Runner / Coyote....

I would like to see more of the secondary characters.

 

[george kaplan]

What a maroon! That guy needs to get a life. This is a fantastic collection, and the only thing they could do to really piss off fans would be not come out with future volumes, or edit some of the cartoons. I think we may eventually be complaining that Coal Black and others didn't get released, but it's very unlikely that they're not going to release What's Opera, Doc.

 

[Gary Seven]

Hello All,

I just picked up the Golden Collection and must say it is a nice set. Particularly the extras and commentary.

As stated previously, I own several laserdiscs of these shorts. The Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol 3 ( a set of 70 cartoons) contains Baseball Bugs. Last night I did a back and forth comparison of this one short and this is what I found:

Video

On laser, when the cartoon starts, the entire beginning is window boxed with a light sky blue frame around it (as is the closing credits). The DVD is not.

The opening credits are pretty close in color, with the DVD getting the nod with a little superiority in color and clarity.

The short itself is quite cleaned up. On laser, colors are faded a bit. However, it is still good enough to see the different shades. On DVD, the colors really stand out. Particularly, the opposing team. The blues are a bit to bright compared to the laser. The shade of blue did not match the original and it looks a little gimicky. Kind of like watching a colorized black and white film. However, this was not true for all the short. The crowd scene looks much better, the sky and field are also nice. The DVD has much nicer detail as evidenced when watching Bugs and the ump argue ("he' out, he's safe"). The wood grain (the fence) behind them is a fine shade with excellent detail, something that is lacking on the laserdisc. All in all, I am pleased with video restoration and the DVD gets the nod for video. But I don't consider it a perfect restoration.

The Sound

Here the laserdisc wins handsdown. On the DVD, the sound is muffled. I had to really turn up my amp and the music was just too flat. This was very disappointing as the music and sound is very much a part of these cartoons. On laser, the bass was more pronounced, the frequencey range more extended. There is a slight hiss on the laser but not enough to be distracting, as it does allow for a broader frequency range. The music really stands out on the laser. Winner laserdisc.

That is one comparison I did. So it really is a toss up between the two, when one considers sound with video. However the extras that come with the Golden Collection and the selection of cartoons given warrants a purchase and I, too, would recommend this set.

However, I will never let go of these laserdiscs.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Here the laserdisc wins handsdown. On the DVD, the sound is muffled. I
had to really turn up my amp and the music was just too flat. This was
very disappointing as the music and sound is very much a part of these
cartoons. On laser, the bass was more pronounced, the frequencey range
more extended. There is a slight hiss on the laser but not enough to be
distracting, as it does allow for a broader frequency range. The music
really stands out on the laser. Winner laserdisc.

Sounds like what I heard when comparing FOX's Hello Dolly DVD to the laser version. Must be some noise-reduction button on everone's console these days that they just can't resist pressing...

Thanks for the great comparison!

dave

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The sound varies by cartoon. A lot of them sound like they were subjected to heavy noise reduction. Others (such as "Feed the Kitty") have their original sonics pretty much intact.

Regards,

 

[PaulP]

Restoration means to return something to its original state, not to digitally scrub out all of the detail until it looks like some flat, lifeless Nickelodeon cartoon.

Nor am I suggesting that. I specifically referred to Disney's restorations of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Those are the types of restorations I was expecting, reading about the set on Jerry Beck's site.

Since Baseball Bugs is brought up above, I'll refer to it. The debris and noise is really unflattering in this case. I don't have a laserdisc, so I don't know if that was always the issue. Obviously the colors stand out, but I can't help notice the myriad of flaws here...

 

[Dean_Jonesy]

I am very pleased with this set! I never owned a Laser Disc player so I am glad to have these on a digital format. I can't wait for the next volume! Maybe "What's Opera, Doc?" will be on that one.

I taped over 200 cartoons on VHS back in the 80's. I will still keep those. Whenever I get a DVD burner, I am assured to have my own little collection going!

 

[David Galindo]

Has anyone else read this article over at CNN?

I just love how they take the extremely negative opinions of one Amazon.com costumer and then assume everyone else on the internet feels the same way.

Eh, who goes to CNN for entertainment news anyway?

By the way, the only problem I have on this DVD is that they spelled music WRONG on one of the menus. I leave it to you to find it

 

[Jeff Savage]

I picked this up at BB yesterday and watched most of the first Bugs disc. I love being able to watch these again. What a treat! The play all feature is really nice.

As an interesting note it looked like BB was almost sold out (after I got mine there were only two left on the shelf). When I went to checkout the Cashier said "jessh another one of these" so I get the feeling that they are selling well. Oh there seemed to be plenty of the 2 disc versions available so hopefully the 4 disc sales are leading.

Laters,
Jeff

 

[Patrick McCart]

About Baseball Bugs:

The reason why the colors don't match up between the LD and the DVD is because older videos supposedly used prints made off of a dupe Eastmancolor negative with yellow layer fading. Thus, the prints made off of that dupe would have a very pale color to them.

Most of the cartoons suffered from this, unless Turner transferred the cartoon from a dye-transfer print.

 

[Steve Christou]

It's a great set, but what they should have done in my opinion is at least put the cream of the crop in this first 4-disc Golden Collection, the most famous titles, like What's Opera Doc? and Duck Rabbit Duck, instead of sprinkling a few gems in each set, unless of course they expect us to buy all 1000 WB cartoons, will they release all of them, would you buy them all? How many times will you watch them?

To be perfectly honest, WB did the right thing, if they had put all the greatest titles in this first bundle, I probably wouldn't have bought any more, this would have represented WB cartoon history in my dvd collection.

With the Tex Avery's I would like every single title because there are only about 50-60 MGM titles, perfect for a box set.

 

[Conrad_SSS]

Patrick is correct about BASEBALL BUGS...

Most of the old transfers on the GOLDEN AGE OF LOONEY TUNES laserdiscs were taken from old nitrate Technicolor prints.
In a few cases however, Turner did not have Technicolor prints, and had to use badly faded Eastman color prints instead. BASEBALL BUGS was an example of a cartoon previously transferred from a faded print. So was ACROBATTY BUNNY if I recall correctly.

 

[Keith Paynter]

Are you saying you want each set to get progressively worse, each with lesser known cartoons?

WB has done a great job in picking titles for this set. Some of the hidden jewels deserve to be mixed in with some of their best-known stuff, and hopefully, we'll get to see more of the AAP catalogue that was part of the Turner library in upcoming sets.

The fact that we got 56 cartoons for approx $40 US (approx $60 in CDN funny money) plus all the extras is a far better bargain than putting down $100 US each for 5 box sets of Golden Age Of Looney Tunes LD's averaging 70 cartoons apiece.

 

[TedD]

I haven't seen ANY print damage/dirt on any of the cartoons I have watched so far. (Disc 1 & 2).

What I have seen in dirt on the cels. (Most noticeable on dark scenes with moving backgrounds.)

So I am going to stick my neck out here and say that we have an accurate replica of what was recorded on the original negatives!

(Except for the windowboxing on the credits, that is .

Ted

 

[James Corey]

sowwy.... pronoun trouble.... please disregard this post