DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Looney Tunes - Golden Collection Volume Two (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Herb Kane]

Calling all WB animation fans...

Since disc four seems to be the crown jewel of the collection, I spent the afternoon going over it again with my trusty companion, Jerry Beck's book “LT & MM A Complete Illustrated Guide”, which is what I used to note and date the various LT & MM shorts. His book mentions (on page 134) that The Hep Cat was the first color LT... but the opening and closing credits indicate it's a MM... Hmmm.

 

[Patrick McCart]

A LOT of Looney Tunes were turned into Merrie Melodies when they were re-issued as Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies.

Other Looney Tunes that became BR MM's:

My Favorite Duck
Tick Tock Tuckered
The Swooner Crooner
Duck Soup to Nuts
From Hand to Mouse
Booby Hatched
The Stupid Cupid
Odor-Able Kitty
Trap Happy Porky
Ain't That Ducky
A Tale of Two Mice
The Bashful Buzzard
Book Revue (retitled "Book Review" and restored with original titles)
Baby Bottleneck (restored with original titles)
Daffy Doodles
Hush My Mouse
Of Thee I Sting
Mouse Menace
Roughly Squeaking
The Goofy Gophers
Scent-Imental Over You
Birth Of A Notion
Along Came Daffy
Crowing Pains
House Hunting Mice
Little Orphan Airedale
A Horsefly Fleas
What's Brewin', Bruin?
Back Alley Oproar (retitled Back Alley Op-Roar and restored with original titles)
Hop, Look And Listen (original titles exist)
Bone Sweet Bone (original titles exist)
The Rattled Rooster
Kit For Cat (restored with original titles)
Scaredy Cat (restored with original titles)

Oddly enough, the version of The Hep Cat used in an episode of The Bob Clampett Show (when Cartoon Network used to show classic animation) had a "fake" opening featuring a computer colorized version of the 1941-1942 season B&W Looney Tune opening. It would have had the red rings 1942-1943 season opening with Daffy and Porky. Oddly enough, the 1942-1946 Looney Tunes not only lost their original openings, but they also lost the ending card with Porky bursting out of the drum.

On most of the other Blue Ribbons, except for the 1956 season (which used "THE END" instead of "That's All, Folks!") they kept the original end cards... so, you'd have different ring colors for the open and close!

Oh, one more thing... here's a comparison between the old print of Katnip Kollege on the Adventures of Robin Hood DVD and the restoration:

 

[Herb Kane]

Thanks very much for the detailed response Patrick - very much appreciated.

 

[Keith Paynter]

So is Tin Pan Alley Cats, a brief clip of which is on one of the documentaries (watch for one of the characters kicking Hitler, then the "Fats Waller" cat screams, "Get me outta here!!" - Now give us the whole thing (along with Coal Black please!!)

 

[Chris Cheese]

Wow, I remember thinking that the shorts included on the "Night at the Movies" releases looked pretty good! That's a pretty drastic difference between the new version and that one. Thanks for posting that.

 

[TedD]

Yes, disc 4 has some serious mis-flagging going on. Chapter 5 and 6, Title 1 are particularly bad. Even my NVidia player software couldn't sort it out. Some of the titles look like they came off of video sources, not film.

Ted

 

[Tino]

I too am experiencing major flagging problems on disc four.

Recall??

 

[Patrick McCart]

Ok, it's only 5 cartoons on Disc 4. Everything else seems to be flagged correctly.

The 5 interlaced flagged cartoons are Book Revue, I Love to Singa, Hollywood Steps Out, A Corny Concerto, and Have You Got Any Castles?.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

There is also interlacing on the "Looney Tunes Go Hollywood" featurette.

I have the disc 4 interlacing problem too, on my DVD player and my PC. Kind of a disappointment, especially considering that disc 4 is the best. If WB provides a replacement, hopefully someone will mention it here so we'll know about it...

 

[Patrick McCart]

All of the featurettes are from interlaced video....but that's usually how it is on DVD's.

 

[rob kilbride]

Does anyone know who is the guy who says something like "Are you guys having fun?" in "Hollywood Steps Out"? I believe its also the same guy who is shown in the Looney Tunes celebrity feature on the same disc saying something like "I go everywhere, I do everything, but I never have any fun." I find the caricatures of him to be particularly funny.

 

[rob kilbride]

In "Baby Bottleneck" it looks like the mother pig is going to say something to the baby alligator but it cuts abruptly to the next scene. Last time I noticed a cut that looked this stranged (a Tom and Jerry cartoon) it turned out is was a censored version. Any experts out there have an opinion on this one?

Edit: I listened to the commentary and the cut is mentioned but its not clear whether it was every released in theaters with the line intact or not. So anyones expertise is still appreciated.

 

[Roger Rollins]

BABY BOTTLENECK basic content is presented on DVD exactly as it was in original theatrical release.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The "Baby Bottleneck" cut of the "don't touch that dial" gag was made before it was released theatrically. I think that's mentioned in the archival interview & commentary, but it's not as clear as it could be.

BTW, when "Katnip Kollege" appeared on the first Golden Age of Looney Tune laserdisc box set, it looked completely different than the version that was on the Robin Hood DVD. The GAOLT version had pretty decent color, but suffered from high contrast and softness (possibly sourced from a Technicolor print?). The version on the Robin Hood DVD had much better contrast and resolution, but the colors, as the clip above indicates, were terribly faded. The new DVD gives us the best of both worlds (or maybe slightly better than that ), and was probably sourced from a low contrast element created from early generation source material.

Regards,

 

[RandyMathis]

I wanted this but the price scared me off.

Now that I know that I can hear Elmer sing "Kill the Wabbit" once again I may find myself asking somebody to get me this for Christmas.

 

[Paul Penna]

Ned Sparks

 

[George See]

Is there even such a thing as too much road runner?

I can't wait to pick this up, i have sinking feeling the wife is going to want me to wait till Xmass though.

Part one of this and the Ultimate toy box are definitly my two favorite animated DVD releases thus far, I hope we get a part 3.

 

[Jonny_L]

This set looks just as sweet as the first. I'll tell Santa to add it to my Christmas list. It's because of stuff like this I wish I had a digital projector. I've never seen anything made prior to about 1985 projected. :frowning:

I can't wait for the Tex Avery interview.

 

[george kaplan]

There certainly is if, like me, you find the road runner cartoons to be pretty repetitous after awhile, and devoting a whole disc to them keeps out a disc full of more desirable cartoons. A whole disc of road runner isn't going to stop me from getting this, but yes, there is such a thing as too much road runner. Now, if they'd just include ONE cartoon where the coyote actually caught and ate that damned road runner, then I'd be ecstatic!

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

If he caught him, there wouldn't be any more Road Runner. You wouldn't like that, would you?

I think maybe you oughta see a puhskyatrist.