Looney Tunes... a few questions. (1 Viewer)

Okay, I'm thinking about buying the Looney Toones DVDs... but I was wondering. How many cartoons were made back in the fifties? Or were they made during the 40s? Is it known how many have been made? And have they restored every single cartoon and placed it on DVD? If not, do they intend to?

I'm really interested in the old black and white Looney Toones cartoons. You know, where they animated the cars and gas stations... hehe! You know, the real vintage ones. the cartoons they used to "experiment" with. You know what I mean?

This may seem like a lazy answer, but it's actually based on my own experience. If you check IMDB (http://www.imdb.com), I believe that every Looney Tunes short (or at least most of them) is listed there. I found this out by looking up Mel Blanc, who I believe was the voice actor behind all the characters except Elmer Fudd.

No. There's a Golden Collection, v1 out now -- and I have read that there is a v2 on the way. Assuming that they do issue all of the cartoons, 50 to 60 cartoons at a time, it is going to take a while.

By the way, avoid the two-disc Premiere Collection. It's the one they are aiming at non-serious collectors and all of the cartoons on it are also in the four-disc set.

There's a reference book that might be helpful to anyone with a serious interest in Looney Tunes films. Amazon says that it's "out of print" and has "limited availability" (which means that instead of a new copy setting you back $15, a used one might set you back $30 or more).

The book is Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons. It's by Jerry Beck & Will Friedwald (Henry Holt; ISBN 0-8050-0894-2).

From the back cover:

They were made from 1930 through the mid 60s. Most of the "classic" shorts people remember were made in the late 40s/early 50s, which is the era focused upon in the Looney Tunes DVD box set.

You'd want early 30s for bouncy gas stations, although not so much after '33 or so. 1920s silent and early talkie cartoons had more of that kind of thing, which was before Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies.

(Did ya notice I didn't say this belongs in the film forum? )

Great book. I snagged a copy a few years back. Not only is it a handy reference guide, it is actually enjoyable to read (the two don't always go together).

I'm surprised that this hasn't been reissued with the popularity of the Warners sets.

Steve

Thanks guys. Now if only they'd release these buy decades. If they run up to 2 minutes, you could place a lot of shorts.. on there. How about it? Is anyone with me?

From 1930-1969, there were exactly 1000 theatrically released 1-reel Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. There's about 100 more cartoons ranging from the unreleased (Bosko: The Talk-Ink Kid, Bosko and Honey, etc), military films (Snafu, Mr. Hook, recruitment films, etc), post-1969 releases (Blooper Bunny, Carrotblanca, etc), specials (The Adventures of the Road Runner, Philbert, etc), bumpers from The Bugs Bunny Show, and feature film appearances.

All in all, it should take roughly 16 collections (counting the 2003 set and the upcoming 2004 set) to release everything. It may only be 14, though. I doubt Warner is going to release a lot of the 1965-1969 cartoons, as well as the Buddy cartoons. They'll probably pick a few good or historical ones (like the first and last Buddy cartoons).

These are great cartoons and they should be preserved on DVD.