Friday, March 22, 2013

Here They Come… Again!


Not long ago, we posted the news of Warner Home Video’s “Best of Warner Bros: Hanna-Barbera 25 Cartoon Collection” DVD set, as part of the 90th Anniversary celebration of Warner Bros. Read about that HERE.


As expected, per THIS ITEM, WHV is naturally following that up with a “Best of Warner Bros: Looney Tunes 50 Cartoon Collection”, to be released on June 25, 2013.

Only difference is, the Hanna-Barbera set features quite a bit of “First Time on DVD” material, and the Looney Tunes set does not.

Now, this makes sense in that any such “anniversary collection” SHOULD offer the most famous and/or most popular entries in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies catalog.

But, unless I’ve overlooked something, every one of these (as listed in the item I’ve linked-to above) has already appeared on DVD at least once. …And, given the duplication over the “Golden, Spotlight, and Platinum Collections”, perhaps two or even three times.

Maybe if all of this were framed or accompanied by some sort of “All-Encompassing History of Looney Tunes” feature, it might make such a purchase worthwhile to those of us who have devotedly snapped up all of the previous releases… but, noooo. Nothing is listed, anyway.


In a rare moment of editorializing from the good folks at tvshowsondvd.com, even THEY say the following:

  Yes, that is a lot of previously-available-on-DVD material. ”

So, unlike the Hanna-Barbera set, which I am eagerly awaiting, I intend to pass on this one. However, anyone desiring a prime sampler of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (to me, the best series of cartoons ever produced), here it is.




4 comments:

joecab said...

Question, Joe! Has any of the WB animation released digitally been prepared for HD? Like better resolution and the full theatrical screen width?

Joe Torcivia said...

JoeC:

Hey, we’ve missed you around here!

Overall, I would say no.

The Blu-ray Platinum Collections (Vols. One and Two) look better than their predecessors for sure – but there are some people who still take issue with that. I am satisfied with them.

As for “Full-Theatrical Screen Width”, they are all “full-screen” (not widescreen), as we’ve been accustomed to seeing them on TV. There were those not-so-well-done “full-screen / widescreen” experiments that were attempted with the Looney Tunes Super Stars sets (experiments which have since been abandoned in favor of just “full-screen” – see any of my LTSS reviews for more detail on that), but never a true “widescreen” as we’ve seen on the Disney Treasures Donald Duck final set , the later Droopys, and Tom and Jerrys.

But, if you’re looking for picture quality, the Blu-ray Platinum Collections are as good as it gets.

The set discussed here, doesn’t appear to have a Blu-ray version (or so indicates the linked-article), so I’d imagine they are simply the standard transfers repackaged.

joecab said...

Ah, thanks! I think first I'll investigate an online source and see what, say, it looks like from iTunes.

One of the reasons I never bought the DVDs is because I'm s tickler and what everything in order chronologically. If they were all available for download, I could do that myself (assuming they don't double them up to make it seem like a better deal).

Oh yeah, I've been busy lately! But I always find time to read the site.

Joe Torcivia said...

JoeC:

I’m certain I like chronological order and as accurate a recreation of the original experience as much as you do – and tend to be disappointed when I don’t get it, as with Tennessee Tuxedo.

But, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies is one area in which (from Bosko to Bunny and Claude – or however they ended the run) I can’t imagine ever seeing done in that fashion, so I don’t even think about it.

…Sure would be nice, though!