Official **LIVE** Questions Transcript --- WB Chat (March 29, 2005) (1 Viewer)

[Kevin L McCorry]

So, does nobody on this thread other than me favour the later cartoons, then? :frowning:

Fair enough. Bring on the early cartoons en masse.

My final post on the matter.

 

[Patrick McCart]

n/a

I guess I can't say anything else I already have. :frowning:

 

[John Kilduff]

To veer the thread away from the animation fracas, I have another wish for a Warner DVD release.

I'd like to see a release of the documentary "MGM: When The Lion Roars". Turner produced this documentary 13 years ago, so I would think the rights would be with Warner now.

Of course, the documentary is dated, so the release would have to be updated with segments on how Warner acquired many of the great MGM classics through the Turner buyout, while the rest of MGM's library ended up being sold lock, stock and barrel to Sony.

Also, if Warner were to release this, I have a great idea for a bonus disc.

Time Warner and Turner Entertainment, for the past decade-and-a-half or so, have been filming interviews with the stars, writers, directors and assorted other personnel of the great movies of the past. If you were to take many of the MGM-centric segments and put them onto a bonus disc (perhaps alongside a couple of the TNT promos for the documentary), then it might turn out cool.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

This space for rent. Call 555-WRNR.

 

[Adam_S]

On that note, I'd love to see the Peter Bogdanovich documentary on John Ford in any Ford set WB puts out, but I've no idea how the rights go on that (wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up on Criterion's mysterious Ford project, either).

 

[JeffSchiller]

Wow, I'm surprised to see such a lengthy discussion between Kevin and Patrick here, but I'll throw in my two cents (even though the discussion appears complete). Sorry to "re-hijack" the thread

There are about 500 pre-48 cartoons and 500 post-48 cartoons. Out of the 118 cartoons released, 35 have been pre-48 and 83 have been post-48. The numbers show an obvious bias for post-48 cartoons but I think the balance is getting better.

I consider the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies as a complete series that was "divorced" for a period of time due to business reasons. Now that they are reunited, I want to collect them all.

Personally, I feel Looney Tunes really hit their stride by the late thirties and with some (very) notable exceptions, lost their steam in the late 50s. I also think Tashlin, Clampett and Avery never got their due and deserve fair representation in a DVD release.

Kevin, I'm very confident that Pepe le Pew or Foghorn Leghorn (most likely both) will be well-represented in the next set as well as some popular Bugs Bunny shorts (like Hillbilly Hare or Knighty Knight Bugs). Hopefully you won't snub it as you've snubbed Volume 2.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Well, the cartoons of the '50s and early '60s are the ones I grew up with so I have more nostalgia for that period. Personally, I hope that we see more Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn ( probably my favorite character ), Speedy Gonzales, and Tasmanian Devil in the upcoming sets. Also, owning the five LD sets gives me access to a number of the older toons so I can be patient with regards to their release.

However, considering how much I've enjoyed the previous sets, I'll be purchasing the upcoming DVD sets regardless of the era(s) represented.

- Walter.

 

[MichaelSloan]

It's a little off topic here, but I can't think of a more appropriate existing thread for it: I've the idea in my head for a few days now that it would be nice to have "San Francisco"(1936) theatrically rereleased in 2006 before it hits DVD.

 

[Patrick McCart]

My last post on the matter, but it's rumored that only 2 B&W cartoons are going to show up on the 3rd Looney Tunes set.

So, little worry of the older cartoons being that prominent.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

My prime concern, confirmed.

Two black & White cartoons out of 60 odd films per release is just not right.

I can't wait to purchase this next volume, but I find this practice very disrespectful. WB are known for their classic film treatment, yet they are ignoring the REAL classics in these releases. It's dissapointing.


Back on-topic... Has WB gotten back w/ any word on the issues of the T&J censorship/editing among other topics mentioned?

It seems like it's taking a bit of time to answer a few simple questions that would have otherwise been dealt with in a single night. I hope we aren't being put off again...

 

[Roger Rollins]

Patrick wrote:



This is how rumors become twisted as fact.....

Patrick did not state that this was verified information, he stated it was a rumor.

How many times on this forum have we seen rumors become perceived as truths and then get many people upset, only to have the rumor be just that, and the truth later turn out to be something else.

R-E-L-A-X!!!!!!

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Don't mean to be a bother here, but we're 2 days from approaching the one month mark... have there been any updates?

Has WB been in contact with Ron or Parker or any of the other mods and are we any closer to getting a definitive answer on some of our concerns and questions?

 

[Mark Anthony]

I would love to know too!

M

 

[JeffSchiller]

Ron, any word from WB Animation?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

At the risk of violating my prior promise to have posted for the last time on this thread, I am venturing back onto the thread to respond to Jeff's posting in reference to mine.



I'm not sure if any of the cartoons you mention are popular anymore. :frowning:

For the record, I didn't snub Volume 2, Jeff. I bought two of them, as I did Volume 1, but I got much less enjoyment out of it. Mind, because I was told last October to shut up by someone at Amazon.com (with a resounding number of agreeing votes), my disposition to enjoy watching any of the cartoons was diminished. Never one not to do as I was told, I complied with the shut-up command (BTW, it was the Road Runner and Tweety bashing and demands at Amazon for fewer post-1948s that I was responding to in the first place)- and deleted every Amazon review I had written, in addition to every evidently apocryphal article I wrote on the cartoons for Jon Cooke's Website, bar the Looney Tunes On TV ones, because those were a joint effort between myself and Jon.

But I still did not snub Volume 2. I have yet to watch some of the stuff on it, but I did buy it on release date and jumped right into it. I wanted "Hyde and Hare", my favourite cartoon, remastered on DVD and got my wish, though I bemoaned its status forever as one of the worst of the un-classic Bugs cartoons. And quite a shame that it can't be reached on the disc by forward scanning, which freezes up with "Slick Hare" and won't advance. Disc 2 with the Road Runner was on the whole to my liking and my favourite disc in the range. Pity it's no longer fashionable to appreciate the speeding fowl's cartoons and is instead fashionable to despair of their existence.

If I sound bitter, indeed I am. I've been down this road before with countless entertainments. Just about everything I was weaned on is now unsuitable for any positive attention as per vast, matter-of-fact majority opinion. I thought that perhaps, just perhaps, my interest in the cartoons wouldn't be invalidated, but sure enough, it has been. Ah, well...

We'll see what happens with Volume 3. One thing's for sure, I won't be in a position of being told to shut up the month before its release. I plan on saying zero about it whenever it's officially announced- whatever the announced cartoons on it.

Going back onto the subject of this thread, I must say that I'm looking forward to seeing San Francisco. A disaster movie 40 years ahead of its time. Am getting rather impatient for Mutiny On the Bounty '62, though.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Who says the post-1948 cartoons are "inferior"? Most of the 1948-1962 cartoons are considered to be classics... especially since this era featured most of the Pepe Le Pew, Roadrunners, best Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer, most Yosemite Sam, not to mention the era where Chuck Jones made dozens and dozens of true classics.

I don't think amazon.com reviews should be taken that seriously, anyways. The Chuck Jones Roadrunners are Warner Bros. animation at its finest.... they're textbook examples of comedy timing. Same thing for Tweety.

Hillbilly Hare is probablly one of the most wanted cartoons (I know I've seen it show up in a lot of want lists on various forums), also.

That's what's great about the Warner cartoons, though... consistency. They had plenty of great cartoons every year from 1936 to 1963.... more than 30 years of making great cartoons. What's really neat is that in 1957, MGM stopped making cartoons and Paramount stopped making Popeye cartoons. Disney more or less slowed down production on shorts in the mid-1950's. So, Warner Bros. was the main source for quality shorts from 1957-1963. Even when MGM was farming out cartoons to Gene Deitch, they were putting out stuff like Now Hear This, The Unmentionables, and The Dixie Fryer.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

So any updates at all... how much longer can WB avoid this issue?

 

[Kevin L McCorry]

I'd guess that within another month or so we'll know what WB will be releasing this year.

 

[John Kilduff]

Once again trying to get this conversation back to non-animated matters, I have an idea about how to get 2 cult-interest titles in the same DVD package.

I've been told that the idea of a 2-Disc Special Edition for "Electric Dreams" might be ludicrous, but it could work this way:

Many people want "Electric Dreams" on DVD and many older film fans want "Madam Satan" on DVD. Clips from "Madam Satan" were used in "Electric Dreams", so you can take the 2 movies, put each on a DVD with suitable extra features and there you go...

ELECTRIC DREAMS: 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

I hope that people at WB will see this suggestion...For that matter, I hope people in this thread will see this suggestion.

 

[felipenor]

Anything about The wizard of Oz SE?

 

[John Kilduff]

Back again.

I remembered another title I would like to see Warner release on DVD.

I was inspired to remember this because I downloaded the song "Americanos" by Holly Johnson. It sounded familiar and then it hit me.

It was the theme to the 1989 Lorimar Film Entertainment mafia comedy "Cookie". I would like to see this title on DVD.

It was a cute little piece from the director of "Desperately Seeking Susan" and it starred Peter Falk, Emily Lloyd and Dianne Wiest.

Once again, this could be a good title to include in a budget-line comedy promo.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

And "Americanos" is a good song by the way.