At Last!!! Early "Looney Tunes" on DVD!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Jo_C]

As indicated by Maxwell's latest "Classic Coming Attractions" article, Warner has at long last included the original black-and-white "Looney Tunes" cartoons on DVD...albeit in WB's "Gangsters" collection. Of note is the first "Merrie Melodie" released, "Lady Play Your Mandolin", a short that some say has suffered print deterioration over the years. This was represented in the "Toonheads: Lost Cartoons" special on the first "Looney Tunes" box set. Why it wasn't included in its entirety on the second box set is beyond me, but at least we will get to see the whole short this time!

"Smile Darn Ya Smile" is in there too. But, no Bosko.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The 3rd Golden Collection will probably have more early cartoons, as it has already been indicated that "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" will be on it (which is why it was removed from GC 2 as an extra).

The B&W cartoons apparently have very fragile elements to work from, which would explain why only two are on DVD so far.

As an aside, I read in one review for the Warner Gangster set that the two Harmon-Ising Merrie Melodies looked great, so perhaps they're the restored versions. The Cartoon Network prints look awful.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Another B&W Looney Tune on DVD is Bob Clampett's great "The Daffy Doc". It is an extra on the Marx Brothers' "Room Service/At the Circus" DVD in the WB box set.

Regards,

 

[ChrisPearson]

I haven't seen the CN prints, but I wouldn't describe the two H-I shorts as looking great. Smile, Darn Ya, Smile looks good, but the closing title indicates it's the Turner "dubbed version", so therefore probably not restored. Thugs with Dirty Mugs and The Coo-Coo Nut Grove are also dubbed versions, but do look very good nevertheless. Lady Play Your Mandolin is showing it's age – I doubt this one is restored. Porky and Daffy and Homeless Hare both look very soft; my guess is that they are LD ports.

Bottom line: the Gangster set is one of the best things I've seen on DVD and I'm delighted with it, but if you're buying for the cartoons alone, you may be disappointed in their presentation.

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

If LTGC 3 has yet more early cartoons on it, then the post-'48, Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour-Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show cartoons will be reduced to minority status on the set. And that doesn't please me one bit.

How long must we wait to at least see every cartoon in the Golden Jubilee VHS series on DVD?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Well, a few dozen Bugs cartoons are on the two sets. Only two B&W Porky cartoons.

It's great to have the "all-stars", but quite a few of the pre-1940 cartoons are real gems... even if they're not as popular as most Bugs Bunny cartoons.

 

[Ruz-El]

Actually, I've just finished LTGC 2, and I would be pleased as punch to see nothing but 30's and early 40's cartoons. I've discovered in watching these 2 volumes that Chuck Jones doesn't do it for me anymore. I can appreciate the sophistication in the post Avery/Clampett toons that Chuck did, but they are dry and have half the charm. They rarley make me laugh, and don't hold up to the Friz of McKimson. The Road Runner cartoons, are basically the same as the Tweety cartoons in premise, but the Friz toons had me laughing, with the Chuck Roadrunners made me squirm, actully, all of disc 2 would of been a write off if not for the last 5 cartoons on the set (with Dover Boys easilly being the best of the bunch.)

I was anticipating getting "What's Opera Doc", but was blown away by Clampetts "Corney Concerto" which was funny, energetic and a perfect spoof of "serious cartoons" and Disney in general. Watching Bug's ballett at the end of his piece, dancing into the sunset as the iris moves in on the close, only to fall on his ass at the last moment before the fade had more charm, satire, and improvised craft in it that all of "What's Opera".

So bring on more of the early Avery and Clampett, (Avery's Heckling Hair and Rabbit Beats Hair completly blew the other tunes on disc one away, and as much as I enjoyed the Friz tweety toone on disc 3, Clampetts "Kitty Kornered" was a cartoon revelation. It was my first viewing of this toon, I had to watch it 5 times to take it all in. Absolutly incredable toon!) )

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

Below are all of the Golden Jubilee collection cartoons not as yet on DVD (Golden Collection).

Duck, Rabbit, Duck!
Ali Baba Bunny
Hare Do
The Grey-Hounded Hare
Roman Legion-Hare
Knighty Knight Bugs
Beanstalk Bunny
Operation: Rabbit
Hare Brush
Bedevilled Rabbit
Bugs Bonnets
Robin Hood Daffy
Curtain Razor
Design For Leaving
Often an Orphan
Cracked Quack
The Daffy Doc
Porky's Duck Hunt
Tweet and Lovely
Hyde and Go Tweet
Birds Anonymous
Tweety and the Beanstalk
The Last Hungry Cat
Greedy For Tweety
Who's Kitten Who?
Mouse-Taken Identity
A Mouse Divided
Tree For Two
Zip N' Snort
To Beep or Not to Beep
Hook, Line, and Stinker
Tortilla Flaps
Tabasco Road
Cannery Woe
The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
Gonzales' Tamales
Here Today, Gone Tamale
Cat-Tails For Two
Lovelorn Leghorn
Little Boy Boo
A Fractured Leghorn
Leghorn Swoggled
Plop Goes the Weasel
Feather Dusted
The Leghorn Blows at Midnight
Scent-imental Romeo
Really Scent
Who Scent You?
Odor of the Day
Past Perfumance
The Cat's Bah
Ready, Woolen, and Able
High Note
Much Ado About Nutting
Cat Feud

Quite a lot to go yet, and then there's the cartoons in the Cartoon Calvacade series, the 1992 and 1993 character series (Truth or Hare, Hare-Brained Hits, etc..), Stars of Space Jam, Bugs and Friends, Looney Tunes Presents... Sigh. Is there no love for these cartoons anywhere?

 

[Patrick McCart]

Kevin:

There's 1000 regular theatrical Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (1930-1969). Right now, there's 116 of the restored versions on the two GC's. It's not a matter of cartoons being respected or not, it's just that Warner has to work with over a thousand of them. If Warner did put all of the cartoons you mentioned on the next set, you'd have a lot of people angry that _____ and _______ and _________ are missing. No one is going to be happy until all of the volumes are released. It's just my opninion, but even though a lot of my favorites (many on your list) are not on DVD yet, but I'm happy about the 116 that are.

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

Patrick, I'm not advocating that all of the cartoons I listed go on the next set, but I've seen people, several people, advocate that none of them, or a mere smattering of them, go on the next set...

Having resigned myself to the fact that I'm never going to have a complete collection on DVD (the range will be stopped before then, or I'll be dead or a fiftysomething-sixtysomething who no longer buys DVDs), at the very least I want to have as many cartoons as possible from the character-series period on shiny disc, that's less likely to happen if indeed Warner plans to have each DVD set largely emulate the GAOLT laserdisc route vis-a-vis cartoon representation, i.e. the DVDs being mostly remastered GAOLT sets. And from the way people are talking, and from the orientation of most reviews of LTGC 2, that seems likely.

These days, the post-1948s are taken for granted, if indeed they're loved or appreciated at all...

 

[Jeff Reis]

Well Kevin I can say I MUCH prefer the post-48 shorts (minus the Depatie-Freleng stuff of course), though they all have their charm. I just find the post-48's much funnier. I just hope they continue to find a good balance of all eras.

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

You and me both, Jeff. It's a relief to know I'm not alone anymore, as I do seem to be elsewhere on this subject whenever I speak out.

When it comes to proportional representation, the late '50s, early '60s stuff has yet to be given its due.
Foghorn, Pepe, and Speedy are under-represented. Yosemite Sam as well. And their cartoons are almost entirely post-1948.

And as regards DePatie-Freleng, yes, the Daffy and Speedy stuff is mostly dire. But I do in fact prefer the likes of "Rushing Roulette", "Sugar and Spies", "Out and Out Rout", "The Wild Chase", and "Cats and Bruises" to such early stuff as "Buddy's Day Out", "Bosko's Knight-Mare", "The Dangerous Dan McFoo", "Porky's Romance", and "Tortoise Beats Hare". It's a matter of imprinting on one's impressionable, young mind, and a desire to view the regular 12 characters in their definitive forms, less abundant but more precise animated action, and classic antagonistic pairings. And besides that, a belief, with some basis in fact, that the cartoons of the post-1948 period by and large have a less outrageous, more subtle and sophisticated brand of humorous expression. And I don't only refer to Chuck Jones' cartoons...

We have a long wait to get 'em all in any case, if indeed we do got 'em all...

 

[Herb Kane]

I just watched my copy of Bringing Up Baby last night and the 1938 MM short, "A Star Is Hatched" looks very very good. I don't believe it's been restored as it too has the Turner "dubbed version" line in the closing title, but it does look excellent - and it's a great short.

 

[Patrick McCart]

The dubbed versions aren't too bad, as the transfer quality is great... it's just that it's all old film materials. Comparing the dubbed "Katnip Kollege" with the restored version GC2 makes the old version look pretty inferior. Almost black & white, due to the fading.

 

[Dick]

Just give me BUCCANEER BUNNY and I'll be happy.

 

[ChrisPearson]

It should be remembered that the 1948 transitional point is an arbitrary one, started when Warner initially sold off the early part of its colour cartoon back catalogue. In terms of the studio's history and artistic development, it's meaningless.

That said, I think a lot of the enthusiasm for "early" WB cartoons stems from two things: the relative unavailability of B&W and two-strip titles due to TV networks' and WBHV's historical reluctance to screen them, and the lamentable condition of the colour titles previously owned by AAP. I love the 1950s shorts, and would like to see more of them restored for DVD, but right now I'm even more thrilled by seeing a B&W Bosco or Porky I've never seen, or a colour Merrie Melody the way it originally looked. To reduce it to cases, Bob Clampett is a director who's reputation has particularly suffered as a result of the neglect of the pre-48 titles, while the ubiquity of the post-48s mean Chuck and Friz's reputations are solid. That doesn't mean we shouldn't get more Pepe Le Pew or Speedy Gonzales, just that it's not as much of revelation to many people as a restored Clampett or Avery.

Personally, if we're talking neglected titles, I'd like to see more of the 1950s one-shot cartoons, especially those by Jones (Punch Trunk, No Barking etc), which are among my favourites of his work. There has been rather too much reliance on "star" characters in the series so far.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I'd like to see more early mid-30's up Tashlin and PRE-40's Clampett and Avery films released along with some of the better Porky and Daffy Mckimson pairings up to the early 50's like "The Up-Standing Sitter", "Fool Coverage", "Daffu Duck Slept Here", etc.

What I would absolutely LOVE would be an entire set devoted to the early 30-40's one-shot Merrie Melodies.

But we definitely need more Porky Pig. He was the first breakthrough LT star character and ironically, he is poorly represented on these Golden Collections save for a few shorts here and there.

We NEED at least an entire discs worth of early Porky Pig.

 

[John Sparks]

"Uncensored Bosko" vol.1&2 are pretty great. Released thru Bosko Video and Image, they say they are the best copies you'll find anywhere!

 

[Patrick McCart]

Well, the best public domain DVD's. They're no match to the materials Warner holds... such as original negatives and fine-grain positives.

 

[Brad M]

I bought my kids the Looney Tunes: Premiere Collection, Volume 1. I have had the dvd for some time and just noticed that one of the cartoons on the second disc will not play. It freezes up. You can skip it and the rest play fine. I've tried it in a different dvd player and still the problem continues. The disc is clean, no scratches. Does anyone know how I can conatct WB to try and get a replacement? I had no luck at their website.