Warner Archives Announces Porky Pig Collection 1934-1943 (1 Viewer)

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According to the Stu's Show broadcast, these are straight transfers off of archival prints instead of the negatives with minimal remastering. No Blu because either the transfers didn't meet WAC's standards for Blu-Ray or budgets didn't allow for transfers in a resolution higher than 480p (my connection kept dropping out at that point). I know budgets are a factor, but I hope it's the former.

The screens on the Animation Scoop page look great. If not Golden Collection quality, then they should AT LEAST be on par with the Olive Betty Boop discs (which were also straight transfers of prints).

WB has these shorts insured and according to some records all porky pigs were restored and remastered / finished in 2016 - so we get old crappy transfers / shameful

 

[dana martin]

I pulled the trigger, I would hope that this leads to more releases

 

[Lord Dalek]

WB has these shorts insured and according to some records all porky pigs were restored and remastered / finished in 2016 - so we get old crappy transfers / shameful

Well its not like they're going to be making much money off of this set anyway so whatever.

 

[Mark Y]

Does anybody know if there's an online checklist somewhere of which Warner Bros. cartoons are on home video, and where?

I could swear I saw such a page once, but now I can't find it.

http://www.intanibase.com/forum/pos...es-Filmography---Available-on-DVD-and-Blu-Ray

 

[Patrick McCart]

Pre-ordered. A Blu-ray set would have been great, but this is exactly the sort of set to test the waters on. If this does well, I can see them giving the color cartoons Blu releases and the B&W/lower-tier shorts DVDs.

 

[Randy Korstick]

WB has these shorts insured and according to some records all porky pigs were restored and remastered / finished in 2016 - so we get old crappy transfers / shameful

Please provide a link for that because based on past releases if these were cleared for release they would definitely use the best prints available. I think this is clearly a case of they wanted to release these but knew there is a limited audience for these so they couldn't justify the cost of a major restoration. This is also a good example of why they discontinued loony tunes and tom and Jerry on blu ray. Too many picky complaints and too many people saying they won't buy these because of this reason or that.
We either buy these, accept the that they aren't perfect and hopefully get more releases.
Or we complain about them endlessly, do not buy them and encourage others not to buy them and then get nothing else released.
Easy choice for me. YMMV

 

[Lord Dalek]

At least Warner Bros. holds the black and white shorts in their original forms (unlike the slews of Merry Melodies from the era which only exist in BR reissues). Its not like we're stuck with the old late 60s retraces or colorizations here.

But lets not beat around the bush here, these shorts are, by and large, not very good to borderline terrible to outright garbage, and I knew that even as a seven year old watching 'em on Nickelodeon. This is basically "for completionists only" territory and the good ones (Porky in Wackyland and You Ought To Be In Pictures) are already available elsewhere.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Even if a lot of the B&W Porky cartoons are sort of "fillers", nearly anything from Avery, Clampett, or Tashlin is gold. Also, most of the unreleased cartoons are public domain staples that have never had a decent release.

 

[TJPC]

This is a first day purchase for me. Now if only I could buy the colour Popeye cartoons from the 1940s to complete that collection.

 

[rmw650]

It just popped up on Amazon not too long ago and here is that specific link...https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074ZMZGJS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[Ken_Martinez]

I'm still curious about why made the new transfers for this set unfit for blu-ray. The new-to-DVD cartoons on the last couple of Platinum and Super Stars collections were noticeably darker, grainier and all-around inferior in quality to cartoons restored before 2011 or so. As if they were being transferred from prints and not the negatives. And those still got put out on Blu.

Maybe WAC's standards for Blu-Ray are higher. It seems most of Blus they put out are modern productions (like the DC animated stuff) or material that was already restored during home video's heyday.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[dana martin]

This is a first day purchase for me. Now if only I could buy the colour Popeye cartoons from the 1940s to complete that collection.

Amen, to that!

 

[rmw650]

Is there a full listing of all 101 cartoons somewhere for this set?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Assumedly its all 96 black and white Looney Tunes (+ 2 additional color ones) and three color Merry Melodies to star Porky between 1935 and 1943.

 

[TravisR]

Is there a full listing of all 101 cartoons somewhere for this set?

There's a list of all Porky Pig cartoons here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porky_Pig_filmography

Like Joel said, it's presumably all the cartoons on that list from 1935 to '43.

 

[rmw650]

That's what I was looking for, thanks Travis. Appreciate it.

 

[Vintage Horror]

Classic Flix is offering a special 3 day preorder sale for only $34.98 here: https://www.classicflix.com/blog/20...-101-arrives-in-september-3-day-special-price

 

[JoHud]

Honestly, very happy with this news. These will honestly sell "well enough" and there are likely others character/themed sets in the works. I can only hope this means we will be seeing more MGM toons (minus T&J) and the color Popeyes.

As for quality, the best ones are easily the Tashlin and Avery shorts and some of the Clampett ones. Tashlin was covered in one of the Golden Collections, but most of the Avery's have been largely unavailable and almost every one of them is outstanding.

In this set the Clampetts would seem to take up the bulk of the set, and those tend to be pretty hit and miss, though the "bad" hardly the worst thing one could watch, just forgettable. The Jack King episode are probably the weakest but thankfully there aren't that many of them

Remember, this is the Warner Archive here. It's already selling to a niche crowd and they hardly have to sell any to make a profit given it is essentially MOD. Their main audience is cinephiles and completists interested in whatever overlooked property WB has in its vaults and unlike many of the TCM movies/short subjects, these cartoons aren't being aired anywhere anymore, by and large. So it's a bit unusual to assume "low sales" will somehow affect a WAC line, which handles far more obscure cartoon and short subject properties.

No doubt this will meet WAC sales expectations, and hopefully it leaves the door open for many more sets to come out ant, fingers crossed, leads to the entire library being available.

 

[Ken_Martinez]

And the cartoons should look fine. WAC always goes to the interpositives and for the most part their new transfers get solid reviews.