Looney Tunes Golden Collection

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by I. Freleng, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson and Robert Clampett

DVD Review: Warner Home Video (I4 disc) - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	10:40:9
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.85 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital English, 2.0 Dolby Digital French
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish and None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • See comments DVD Release Date: October 28, 2003 Five panel Digipak with slipcover

Comments

While WB released all 500+ cartoons on laserdisc, it has taken over ten years to get to the point where WB has chosen to release them on DVD. The result is mixed pleasure.

All cartoons have been restored and they look stunning. Even more impressive is the sound reconstruction, which is perfect. No noise whatsoever.

Another huge bonus is the extra material. Spread over all four discs, there is a very informative documentary from 1975 made by Camera 3 running a little hour, where a narrator explains elements of WB cartoons and demonstrates it with cartoon examples and interviews. Even more informative and impressive are the two new exclusive documentaries about the inventiveness of WB and the lost cartoons. And even more informative yet, are the small segments about specific elements of the WB cartoons. In total about 4 hours of WB cartoon theory and history. Watch this DVD and you will become a cartoon expert.

The negative comment goes towards the selection of cartoons. The 4 DVDs have 56 cartoons, of which 28 (those on this sets disc 3 and 4) were re-released a few months later on DVD (Looney Tunes Premiere Collection). That is a bit weak. Weaker still is the selection. Most of them almost seem picked at random, only a handful of classics are on the set (Rabbit Seasoning, Duck Amok, Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century and Canary Row); the rest range from great to thin. There also seems to be no consistency in chronology.

Another negative comment is that some cartoons are cropped in terms of missing finger tips, missing tips of Bug’s ears, half anvils and so forth. This suggests an overscan of aprx 15%, which is curious, as the title frame is underscanned by 10%. While the fade to black and then fade up is common use for all cartoons, Disney use fade up by Iris shot, this does allow a change in scan from -10% to +15%. Below are two frames. Frame 1 is a title shot demonstrating the -10% scan. Frame 2 demonstrates the +15% scan (notice how the stars at the bottom are cut off).

Knowing that cartoon fans will buy these cartoons, WB should simply release their cartoons by category (or artist) and by chronology, as Disney has done. There are about 450+ WB cartoons yet to be released. We are waiting.

But despite the critic, this set is a must have. It looks great, it sounds perfect and the range of additional material is the most impressive I have seen to date on any set.

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Disc 1 - Best of Bugs Bunny (5.85 mb/s)
- 14 Cartoons (8 with commentary, 3 with music-only track): Baseball Bugs, Rabbit Seasoning, Long-Haired Hare, High Diving Hare, Bully for Bugs, What's Up Doc?, Rabbit's Kin, Water, Water Every Hare, Big House Bunny, Big Top Bunny, My Bunny Lies over the sea, Wabbit Twouble, Ballot Box Bunny, Rabbit of Seville (1:43:40)
- A greeting from Chuck Jones (3:50)
- Behind the Tunes: 'A rabbit for all seasonings' (5:40), A small tale of Yosemite Sam (3:04), Forever befuddled (3:27)
- Camera Three: The Boys Termite Terrace - Part 1 (28:54)

Disc 2 - Best of Daffy & Porky (5.84 mb/s)
- 14 Cartoons (5 with commentary, 4 with music-only track): Duck Amuck, Dough for the Do-Do, Drip-Along Daffy, Scaredy Cat, The Ducksters, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Yankee Doodle Daffy, Porky Chops, Wearing of the Grin, Deduce, You Say, Boobs in the Woods, Golden Yeggs, Rabbit Fire, Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century (1:40:04)
- Behind the Tunes: 'A hard luck duck' (3:42), 'Porky pig roast' (3:44), 'Animal quackers' (4:18)
- Camera Three: The Boys Termite Terrace - Part 2 (27:59)
- Stills gallery

Disc 3 - Looney Tunes All Stars (5.85 mb/s)
- 14 Cartoons (7 with commentary, 1 with music-only track): Elmer's Candid Camera, Bugs Bunny and The 3 Bears, Fast and Furry-ous, Hair-Raising Hare, The Awful Orphan, Haredevil Hare, For Scent-imental Reasons, Frigid Hare, The Hypo-Chondri-Cat , Baton Bunny, Feed the Kitty, Don't Give Up The Sheep, Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid, Tortoise Wins By A Hare (1:42:59)
- Documentary 'Toon Heads: The Lost Cartoons' (45:37)
- Behind the Tunes: 'Too Fast, Too Furry-ous' (5:02), 'Merrie Melodies: Carl Stalling and Cartoon Music' (4:22), 'Blanc Expressions' (4:25)
- From the Vaults: 'Hair-Raising Hare Schematics' (7:48), 'The Hypo-Chondri-Cat Schematics.' (7:41)
- Still gallery

Disc 4 - Looney Tunes All Stars (5:84 mb/s)
- 14 Cartoons (6 with commentary, 3 with music-only track): Canary Row, Bunker Hill Bunny, Kit for Cat, Putty Tat Trouble, Bugs and Thugs, Canned Feud, Lumber Jerks, Speedy Gonzales, Tweety's S.O.S., Foghorn Leghorn, The, Daffy Duck Hunt, Early to Bet, Broken Leghorn, Devil May Hare (1:39:17)
- New documentary 'Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age of Looney Tunes' (50:41)
- Behind the Tunes: 'Needy for Speedy' (3:12), 'Putty Problems and Canary Rows' (5:37), 'Southern Pride Chicken' (3:03)
- From the Vaults: 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid' (4:44), 'Virgil Ross Pencil Tests.' (1:11)
- Stills gallery