WHV Announcement: The Essential Bugs Bunny (1 Viewer)

Three new to DVD, huh? Not too sure that's a smart move...


Seems kind of weird to have "The Essential Collection" and "Looney Tunes Super Stars" going at the same time.

At this rate, I'll have been dead for hundreds of years by the time Warner Brothers finishes bringing Looney Tunes to DVD.

I'll get this one. I have always said that I wanted a BUGS BUNNY COLLECTION. I really don't have any need for all the other cartoon characters, which is why I've never bought those other expensive sets in the past. Unfortunately, I wish this set was the COMPLETE BUGS BUNNY. Or, at least VOLUME ONE of a continuous series.

Originally Posted by TimJS

Three new to DVD, huh? Not too sure that's a smart move...

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I'm not sure I like the sound of this, mixing new material with previously released cartoons. C'mon WB, there are too many of these cartoons unreleased to start padding out new releases with the previously released cartoons.


I thought when the Golden Collections ended, this kind of thing (double dipping consumers) was not going to happen.

These kinds of sets are not aimed at collectors; that's what the upcoming Super Stars series is for. Any new-to-DVD shorts should debut for collectors, which may be the case here with the SS Bugs arriving first in August.


It would be nice to get some clarity, however, on what these three new titles are and if we should indeed expect to see them first with the Super Stars.

Well, this is annoying but not surprising. It figures they would put out yet another release for the casual customer and leave the real collector's behind.


I'm all for putting out these smaller releases but why do they have to go backward and re-release the same toons over again ? Why not pull together the remaining Bugs cartons that haven't been put out on DVD and make an entire release out of that ? Seriously. Then you're serving both casual and hardcore fans.


I hope they are at least going to continue with "character sets" such as a Foghorn Leghorn set and hopefully a whole set with more Porky Pig, who stars in bazillions of different ones.

Originally Posted by David Rain


I'm all for putting out these smaller releases but why do they have to go backward and re-release the same toons over again ? Why not pull together the remaining Bugs cartons that haven't been put out on DVD and make an entire release out of that ? Seriously. Then you're serving both casual and hardcore fans.

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"Why?" Because I've refused to waste my money on those other rather expensive Golden Collections to get all sorts of cartoon characters I'm just not interested in, that's why. Personally, all I've ever wanted were all the Bugs Bunny cartoons, Period. I wish they'd put all of the Bugs stuff out separately. So for me, I'm glad they're repeating cartoons on an exclusive set like this one. It's not serving the casual fan (me) if some of the greaters Bugs Bunny cartoons are "only" available by purchasing those multi-character Looney Tunes compilations.

In the beginning, I would have preferred a chronological release or character based release of the Looney Tunes Collection. We did not get that, we got the Golden Collections. Once the Golden Collections started I would have preferred they would continue. That is not happening either. I don't want to end up double-dipping, triple-dipping, or whatever, to keep my collection going. The expense of that would eventually be far greater than just continuing with the Golden Collections. I thought I understood WB to say when the Golden Collections ended that the Looney Tunes would continue to be released in the future in another way, and there would be no double dipping.


So, what is happening here?

Once again, the upcoming single-disc Super Stars series will act as the continuation of unreleased, restored Looney Tunes. Once again, the Essential Bugs Bunny is not aimed at collectors.


Random double-dip sets like EBB, aimed at general consumers, help bring in additional revenue for the LTs, permitting - as Jerry Beck has frankly stated - the restoration of more unreleased cartoons for collectors. One hand is washing the other.


I personally hope they do more of these sets, and get many more unreleased cartoons restored and issued as a result.

Originally Posted by Traveling Matt

Once again, the upcoming single-disc Super Stars series will act as the continuation of unreleased, restored Looney Tunes. Once again, the Essential Bugs Bunny is not aimed at collectors.


Random double-dip sets like EBB, aimed at general consumers, help bring in additional revenue for the LTs, permitting - as Jerry Beck has frankly stated - the restoration of more unreleased cartoons for collectors. One hand is washing the other.


I personally hope they do more of these sets, and get many more unreleased cartoons restored and issued as a result.

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I understand and agree with everything you are saying, except for one point.


Why put any previously unreleased toons on the consumer targeted set and leave them off the collector targeted set? That is backwards to me.

We don't know that's the case. The contents for EBB aren't out yet, so we can't compare. But the three in question could easily be among the new fifteen debuting first in August.

Originally Posted by Traveling Matt

We don't know that's the case. The contents for EBB aren't out yet, so we can't compare. But the three in question could easily be among the new fifteen debuting first in August.

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The EBB set is being released on October 12, approximately two months after the other two sets (Bugs and Daffy). These three toons will not be new to DVD in October if they have already been released on either of the other two sets in August.

The point of reference could be the fact sheet; as of its publishing, those three are unreleased. It's meant for retailers, after all, not us.


I'm not going to fret until the contents of EBB are revealed and we have the details.

Originally Posted by Traveling Matt

The point of reference could be the fact sheet; as of its publishing, those three are unreleased. It's meant for retailers, after all, not us.

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Good point, one I hadn't thought of.


WB has done an excellent job with the Golden Collections, imho, and I just want to keep collecting these cartoons without having to double dip. I hope you are right. Time will tell.

By now, shouldn’t someone have a list of the shorts contained in this set? Why tell us everything but THAT important tidbit?

How about a "Complete Bugs Bunny" set containing all of the shorts he's appeared in ? That would at least please some collector's. Of course you still have your double dipping problem.

Of all the classic "short subjects" produced in the old "studio" days of Hollywood -- which most people remember watching on television as children -- the way Looney Tunes have been treated on DVD is the most disappointing.


The two top "live" comedy short subjects, "Our Gang/The Little Rascals" (the Hal Roach sound years) and "The Three Stooges," have both been presented in their entirely and in chronological order.


Among cartoons, the same can be said for Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Silly Symphonies, Droopy, most of Tom and Jerry, Popeye from the Fleishcer years, Woody Woodpecker, and maybe some others I'm forgetting.


But Looney Tunes -- which might be the best of all -- were never released in any kind of sensible, orderly way.


They really blew it. The Complete Looney Tunes, with two or three years to a set -- maybe not starting until the Porky Pig years -- would have been a phenomenal set.


Now that it looks like no one will ever even begin to have a complete set of Looney Tunes without doing some serious double dipping, things are getting worse instead of better.

[SIZE= 12px]According to Wikipedia, there were 1,003 shorts released from the 1930s through the 1960s. Far more than any of those other series you list. The chances of them making it through all of them in chronological order, with the associated costs of remastering each film, are remarkably slim. They might have possibly ended such a series before even reaching the color films (as it seems they have with Popeye for the time being).[/SIZE] [SIZE= 12px] [/SIZE] [SIZE= 12px]It does feel a bit disappointing that we don’t have a complete collection, especially when comparing them to other series that do, but it’s tough to put the blame on anything other than the sheer volume of the library. Personally, I’m very happy WB went the way they did with the Golden Collections. All the best LTs are out and, considering the current state of home video, it seems an even smarter move in retrospect.[/SIZE] [SIZE= 12px] [/SIZE] [SIZE= 12px]I would have preferred the replacement series (Super Stars) focus even more sharply on the collector, perhaps continuing the GC model with two discs instead of four. Character-themed discs could balance out one-shot/miscellanous discs as doubles (as appealing as character singles may be, I think they’ll have to be creative in marketing one-shot/miscellaneous singles). They could continue releasing the remaining cartoons with, as they did before, popularity in mind until the well runs dry.[/SIZE]

A chronological order would have been great. Then we could have used the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies book by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald as a guide to the cartoons in the sets. I sometimes have trouble finding a particular cartoon I want over the six different Golden Collections.


I used to look forward to the Golden Collections release, because we were at least getting the Looney Tunes, with nice restorations, on DVD. The number of cartoons released was adding up and things were looking positive for getting through this library of cartoons.


Then the bottom fell out and nothing. Now, we are headed in another direction. There was some thought about Blu ray releases for Looney Tunes. I don't get the impression that WB knows where they are headed with this.