Looney Tunes on DVD SURVEY! (1 Viewer)

[MikeM]

None of the cartoons were censored for the "Golden Age" set, nor the Warner laserdiscs. They either appeared or didn't.

Patrick, I hear what you're saying, but removing "Bugs Bunny Nips The Nips" from the set in later pressings is censorship.

This is absolutely, positively, the best and only time DVD Easter eggs should be used. Release them all, and then have Easter Eggs allowing one to view the more "politically incorrect" cartoons from the era they were created.

If they censor, or don't have any of the politically incorrect toons on there, I'm not buying them.

 

[Adam_S]

This is absolutely, positively, the best and only time DVD Easter eggs should be used. Release them all, and then have Easter Eggs allowing one to view the more "politically incorrect" cartoons from the era they were created.

which is what they did on the Silly Symphonies set, with Cartoons like Who Killed Cock Robin? and WAter Babies only available via easter egg. after the sets came out, I took to prefacing the films at my high school film club with a pseudo related animated short. When I played Water Babies before "Chasing Amy" I got the best, most raucous and delightful audience response ever. I don't think anyone was able to breathe for several minutes afterward, we were laughing so hard.

(getting away with playing Chasing Amy at a public high school in the bible belt is still one of my proudest achievements).

Adam

 

[AndrewDOZ]

Hmmm...Looney Tunes on DVD uncensored or uncut? I'm not putting money on the bet that Warner Bros. will release these cartoons in there original form. I think laserdiscs are ultimately going to be the last truly uncensored medium these cartoons will see. Where laserdiscs were once for the wealthy animation connoisseur, DVD's are for the masses. I wouldn't mind betting the cartoons they put to these DVD discs are going to be same censored toonies you see on TV. I could be wrong, but you definitely won't see bugs bunny's "Nips the Nips" on DVD or several other politically incorrect cartoons from the Golden Age. My suggestion...laser discs of your favorite Looney Tunes are still a hot item on eBay. If you are a true collector, this is the medium.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Where laserdiscs were once for the wealthy animation connoisseur, DVD's are for the masses.

Oh, absolutely. The most controversial Warner/MGM shorts that were released on home video back then were only released on Laserdisc, even though VHS releases were coming out at the same time. The producers and Turner surely knew that if 'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips' or 'Uncle Toms Cabana' came out on VHS, that joe-sixpack busybodies would come out of the woodwork and complain. But LD was a format of film enthusiasts, not mass entertainment. Hence the more controversial material on LD.

 

[PaulP]

Where laserdiscs were once for the wealthy animation connoisseur, DVD's are for the masses.

That's why I think what Disney's doing with their Treasures (and they are treasures) series is absolutely the best way to do it. Sure, the limited nature of the sets isn't so appealing, and to be honest, I don't care what number my Mickey Mouse in Living Color is. But Disney is sending a message with these sets that they're not for a mom's little kids to watch when they're bored. They're for collectors, for animation fans, for those who understand and appreciate the art. And it is art, no matter what Warner may think. I applaud Disney for releasing the Wartime Cartoons set (which is all but confirmed at this point), which should include VERY racist/controversial content (i.e. Education for Death, etc.). If Warner doesn't fully commit to such releases, I won't buy any. Unless they intend to release all of the shorts, complete, it's sadly a no sale to me. If they want to make family-friendly sets, that's fine by me, as long as 4- or how many ever disc sets are available for collectors. If they wish to release 10-disc sets and charge us 200 dollars, I'll buy it.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Each individual short is a work of art. Boycotting any Warner cartoons because they have not stated plans to release them all is cutting off ones nose to spite their face. Kind of like boycotting all of the Warner Kubrick films because 'Eyes Wide Shut' is censored.

Frankly, the best chance of getting all the cartoons released is making sure the sales for the first sets are absolutely astronomical.

You know, when 'Round 1' of the Disney titles came out, they did not commit to the wartime shorts, or the B&W Mickey shorts. And they still have never said that every single Disney short will be released. Frankly, doing so would be stupid. What if sales dropped substantially and the sets start losing money? You owe it to your shareholders to end the series.

And censorship in titles like 'Fantasia', Who Framed Roger Rabbit', and the withholding of 'Song of the South' shows that Disney is certainly not the perfect role model.

When the first Warner titles ship, they won't make any commitments about the future. And I'll happily buy the titles. But hey, I'm just an animation fan (and a rational person).

 

[AndrewDOZ]

Speaking of Disney Treasure Series, is there a forum talking about the rumored releases for 2003? Please post a reply link to this forum if there is. Thank you...(I'm new to hometheaterforum.com).

 

[Malcolm R]

Hi Andrew.

Here is a link to the recent Disney Treasures discussion.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Tom & Jerry is available in Japan (basically all of the "good" ones) fairly cheaply in both censored and uncensored variations.

 

[JonathonSan]

I have the Japan released T&J. They are of fair quality and a few are edited. Also Mammy Two Shoes has been dubbed. There are Two of the Quimby shorts missing-Photo Finish and Greased up Pup(I think). Lots of compression artifacts and the Cinescopes are P&S, but a worthy addition to my animation collection, considering the lack of releases here.

Jonathon

 

[PaulP]

When the first Warner titles ship, they won't make any commitments about the future. And I'll happily buy the titles. But hey, I'm just an animation fan (and a rational person).

I may have said wrongly what I meant about not buying Warner shorts, sorry. I too will buy whatever Warner releases, as long as it's uncut and unedited. That's what I meant. I'd obviously like to see them release every single short, but I also understand that if the first set(s) doesn't sell well, there won't be any more, likely.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Regarding the survey issues - I don't think WHV is wrong for cutting off the input from a certain group. The point of surveying is to understand ALL the market, not just a bunch internet savvy DVD fanatics that are mostly male and between 15-35...not to mention collector types.

I expect that besides the online polling that WHV will be pursuing data on other demographics via other methods.

I very much doubt that WHV has failed to notice that within a certain limited demographic their potential sales are through the roof. If they think our group is large enough then that will be all they need to hear. If not then obviously they would want to see interest from some other groups. Either way the strong feedback generated from places like HTF is sure to have caught their attention, which is why they no longer need to see more hands raised at this point.

It's equally obvious that they took notice of the strong returns Disney has posted with their Treasure sets. We had a Warner rep talk to the HTF group back at the 2000 Cali meet about this set, yet it's not till now that we see some publically released potential covers and content options. That's due to Disney's success almost certainly.

 

[Eric Emma]

hmm...

 

[Michael St. Clair]

That's due to Disney's success almost certainly.

A reputable Warner insider told me 18 months ago that DVDs were definitely forthcoming and that work had started in that direction. They also warned me that it would likely be some time before anything was announced and that format was completely up in the air.

This person also told me that the internet petitions to get LT/MM on DVD had gotten attention at WB and made a difference.

While internet petitions may be useless 90% of the time, it was refreshing to hear that they don't always fall on deaf ears.

 

[oscar_merkx]

now that is good news indeed

 

[James Reader]

While upon first glance, this may not seem relevant to the discussion, it is clear that Warners are, at least, considering single disc 'themed' releases in R1.

Just passed at the BBFC is the collection of cartoons for the Tweety and Sylvester VHS (which was originally announced for VHS and DVD in the UK, with the DVD subsequently either canceled or postponed, depending on who you believe).

So should Warners go for the 1 disc "Carrot Collection" these cartoons are likely to be on the Tweety and Sylvester disc. If they go for a multi disc collection, some of these cartoons are still likely to be included (as one assumes they are the cartoons that have been restored).

00:06:40:10 | SYLVESTER AND TWEETY - THE LAST HUNGRY CAT
00:05:43:21 | HYDE AND GO TWEETY
00:06:15:18 | BIRDS ANONYMOUS
00:05:56:13 | CATTY CORNERED
00:06:31:03 | A MOUSE DIVIDED
00:06:07:23 | TREE FOR TWO
00:06:45:16 | TWEETY'S S.O.S.
00:06:23:15 | HOME TWEET HOME
00:06:23:03 | BAD OL PUTTY TAT
00:06:22:00 | TWEETIE PIE
00:06:57:00 | LIFE WITH FEATHERS
00:05:48:05 | LOONEY TUNES - BIRDS OF A FATHER
00:05:48:05 | MOUSE AND GARDEN
00:06:46:22 | CANNED FEUD

Of course, Tweety's first appearance was in A TALE OF TWO KITTIES which is not on the list (one assumes it would be as the proposed 2 disc set is to include "first appearances"). The first Sylvester cartoon is LIFE WITH FEATHERS which is included, as is the first Tweety and Sylvester cartoon TWEETIE PIE (note the spelling).