Customer Reviews

Looney Tunes - Golden Collection

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3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those of you who have a favorite Director you may have found categorization by character quite frustrating. Personally I don't care for a whole disc of Bugs, or a whole disc of Daffy; I want a whole disc of Chuck or a whole disc of Friz. Even the fine episode lists above, which really do hold all the information you need, are not organized according to how the episodes appear on the discs in the collection. To remedy this problem I have the following list to provide you with the episodes, organized in the order they appear on the discs, and who directed them. I hope this proves useful to someone, and will save them from having to do this all over again themselves.

Volume One: Disc One
1.Baseball Bugs (Friz Freleng)
2.Rabbit Seasoning (Chuck Jones)
3.Long-Haired Hare (Chuck Jones)
4.High Diving Hare (Friz Freleng)
5.Bully for Bugs (Chuck Jones)
6.What's Up Doc? (Robert McKimson)
7.Rabbit's Kin (Robert McKimson)
8.Water, Water Every Hare (Chuck Jones)
9.Big House Bunny (Friz Freleng)
10.Big Top Bunny (Robert McKimson)
11.My Bunny Lies Over the Sea (Chuck Jones)
12.Wabbit Twouble (Bob Clampett)
13.Ballot Box Bunny (Friz Freleng)
14.Rabbit of Seville (Chuck Jones)

Volume One: Disc Two
1.Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones)
2.Dough for the Do-Do (Bob Clampett)
3.Drip Along Daffy (Chuck Jones)
4.Scaredy Cat (Chuck Jones)
5.The Ducksters (Chuck Jones)
6.The Scarlet Pumpernickel (Chuck Jones)
7.Yankee Doodle Daffy (Friz Freleng)
8.Porky Chops (Arthur Davis)
9.Wearing of the Grin (Chuck Jones)
10.Deduce, You Say (Chuck Jones)
11.Boobs in the Woods (Robert McKimson)
12.Golden Yeggs (Friz Freleng)
13.Rabbit Fire (Chuck Jones)
14.Duck Dodgers in the 24 ½ Century (Chuck Jones)

Volume One: Disc Three
1.Elmer's Candid Camera (Chuck Jones)
1.Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (Chuck Jones)
2.Fast and Furry-ous (Chuck Jones)
3.Hair Raising Hare (Chuck Jones)
4.The Awful Orphan (Chuck Jones)
5.Haredevil Hare (Chuck Jones)
6.For Scent-imental Reasons (Chuck Jones)
7.Frigid Hare (Chuck Jones)
8.The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (Chuck Jones)
9.Baton Bunny (Chuck Jones)
10.Feed the Kitty (Chuck Jones)
11.Don't Give up the Sheep (Chuck Jones)
12.Bugs Bunny gets the Boid (Bob Clampett)
13.Tortoise Wins by a Hare (Bob Clampett)


Volume One: Disc Four
1.Canary Row (Friz Freleng)
2.Bunker Hill Bunny (Friz Freleng)
3.Kit for Cat (Friz Freleng)
4.Putty Tat Trouble (Friz Freleng)
5.Bugs and Thugs (Friz Freleng)
6.Canned Feud (Friz Freleng)
7.Lumber Jerks (Friz Freleng)
8.Speedy Gonzales (Friz Freleng)
9.Tweety's S.O.S. (Friz Freleng)
10.The Foghorn Leghorn (Robert McKimson)
11.Daffy Duck Hunt (Robert McKimson)
12.Early to Bet (Robert McKimson)
13.Broken Leghorn (Robert McKimson)
14.Devil May Hare (Robert McKimson)

Animation legend Chuck Jones had a mythic set of ground rules for his ingenious Road Runner series: the setting was always the desert, the characters never spoke, the Road Runner never left the road, the Coyote never caught the Road Runner, etc. A similar set of rules seems at work in THE GOLDEN COLLECTION introductory DVD presentation of Warner Bros. animated shorts. Here is the breakdown:

1. The majority of the fifty-six motion pictures included are artistically valuable and the collection as a whole is a sheer delight which belongs in the library of anyone who loves classic cartoons. The set includes such masterpieces and popular favorites as "Duck Amuck", "Bully for Bugs", "Deduce You Say", "Fast and Furry-ous", "Long-Haired Hare", "Rabbit of Seville", "Rabbit Fire", "Rabbit Seasoning", "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", "Wabbit Twouble" and "Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2 Century". All the films, even the weakest, deserve preservation, restoration and DVD availability.

2. The selection of complete shorts spans two decades (1940-59), according to year of initial theatrical release. This means that the heyday of Porky Pig (1936-39) is excluded, along with the historic Harman-Ising period (1930-33) and such early characters as Bosko, Buddy and Foxy. On the other hand, the set is also free of material from the Warner cartoon studio's years of decline (1960-64) and decay (1965-69).

3. Within the 1940-59 span is an intensive focus on the six-year "middle" period 1948-53, when the Warner cartoons were at their technical zenith. Fully half of the films in the collection were released during the three peak years of 1949-51 (ten in 1950 alone). The high degree of concentration allows for appreciation of the studio output of a particular era, lent contrast and variety by the broader context.

4. The star of the show is unquestionably Bugs Bunny, with twenty-one cartoons. There is an adequate amount, for a starter set, of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Sylvester & Tweety. Key films of the Road Runner, Pepé Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn and Speedy Gonzales are duly included. Important supporting characters like Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian are well-represented, and the Tasmanian Devil makes a token appearance. The bill is rounded out with a few one-shots and curios.

5. The individual directors at Warner's animation studio are as notable as its character stars. A full twenty-five of the films (almost half) are by superstar director Chuck Jones (and written by Michael Maltese). Most of the rest are directed by Friz Freling, with several by Robert McKimson and one by Arthur Davis. Only three films are directed by the great Bob Clampett.

6. There are no films directed by the legendary Tex Avery, who departed the studio in the early 1940's, or the influential stylist Frank Tashlin.

7. Most cartoons are voiced by the amazing Mel Blanc.

8. All cartoons are scored by Music Director Carl W. Stalling or his immediate successor.

9. Most notable of the anomalies is the poor showing of the ultra-popular (and ultra-"violent") Road Runner, with only one episode (albeit his debut); while tired old Foghorn Leghorn encores with an undistinguished late episode -- rather than, say, "The High and the Flighty", his memorable pairing with Daffy Duck. In keeping with Rule #6, Avery's Oscar-nominated classic "A Wild Hare" (1940), the first "true" Bugs Bunny cartoon, is supplanted by Jones' "Elmer's Candid Camera", a rare prototype from earlier that year which features the debut of Elmer Fudd and the still-evolving Wascal Wabbit. And the extras, in their mania for completeness, include the animated excerpts from the feature films TWO GUYS FROM TEXAS and MY DREAM IS YOURS twice each, but only one version is digitally restored.

10. Not all of these Golden Era cartoons are masterpieces or true classics, but the less exceptional films included represent the high standard against which the extraordinary stand out. A technically crude quota quickie like McKimson's "Rabbit's Kin" shines because voice artist Stan Freburg's endearingly dumb Pete Puma character is memorable. A couple of genuine duds (Davis' "Porky Chops", for instance) have been thrown in for good measure, and even these serve to offset the overall excellence of the remainder.

11. Organization is minimal, with most of the Bugs Bunny material on Disc One, Daffy and Porky on Disc Two, and the others in an "All-Star" free-for-all on Discs Three and Four. The cartoons are presented in seemingly random order, but this very randomness is exactly how audiences experienced them both in theaters and on television.

12. The hours of extras are an embarrassment of riches.

13. Such beloved masterpieces as "Beanstalk Bunny", "Duck, Rabbit, Duck!", "Robin Hood Daffy", "The Singing Sword", "The Three Little Bops", the Oscar-Winning Rabbit's "Knighty-Knight Bugs", and (supremely) "One Froggy Evening" and "What's Opera, Doc?", have been withheld for future DVD editions. The set is designed to whet the appetite for more and leaves the grateful viewer with much to look forward to.

14. THE GOLDEN COLLECTION is worth more than its cost in dollars and is an infinitely better investment than the cheap alternate "Premiere Collection", which simply duplicates Discs Three and Four with no extras. The Premiere Collection is kiddie fodder for the undiscerning bargain-store shopper and is to be avoided by anyone concerned with art and popular culture. High sales of the vastly superior Golden Edition will determine future releases, so buy 'em up and give 'em to your friends.

CARTOONS ARE FOR EVERYONE!

Rating: 10/10 ***** EXTRAORDINARY.

QUERY: "What's Up, Doc?"
ANSWER: My favorite DVD of the year. Possibly of all time.

The original LOONEY TUNES gang is back, and boy do they look terrific. Warner Home Video has compiled a terrific selection of 56 animated gems starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky, Pig, Elmer Fudd, along with dozens of other characters, and added hours and hours of bonus features and documentaries. This is sure to become a perennial in anyone's serious DVD collection.

Best of all, the cartoons have been GORGEOUSLY restored. Restoration means bringing something back to its ORIGINAL form, and that's what Warner Bros. has lovingly done here. The glorious Technicolor imagery is mind-boggling, the animation art is sharp and clear. So sharp and clear that you see can even see the dust that was on the original cels these cartoons were painted on.

THAT'S restoration.

Thank heavens Warner didn't go the route that Disney did with SLEEPING BEAUTY and monkey around with these images, wiping out all traces of the original cel animation and making them look like CGI. No, it's beautiful old-style animation, and each cartoon has been restored to look as they did when they first hit theater screens decades ago.

Each cartoon on this collection is an American classic in its own right. Happily these classics have not been tampered with, but are presented with the utmost respect and attention for the masterpieces they truly are.

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. You know the characters: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd. You love the cartoons, with the hilarious gags and sharp dialogue, the superb animation and design, the great voice acting and music. Well, let me tell you this: If you're looking for these cartoons on DVD, GET THIS SET and this set alone. The Looney Tunes Golden Collection features 56 cartoons from the 1940s and '50s, fully restored from the original negatives (so that they look better than you've ever seen them on TV). The cartoons will be uncut, so you'll get to see the gags they won't show on TV: the suicide gags in "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" and "Tortoise Wins By a Hare," the Russian-Roulette game at the end of "Ballot Box Bunny." And the set includes an incredible number of extras, including: audio commentaries by animation experts and voice actor Stan Freberg (who provides the voice of Pete Puma in "Rabbit's Kin" and Junyer Bear in "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears"); excerpts from TV shows and recording sessions; storyboards; featurettes; a new documentary on the making of Looney Tunes; music-only tracks for Carl Stalling's musical scores; and more, much, much more than I can list here.

It's hard to believe, but Warner Brothers is reportedly not sure that these cartoons can sell. This set is a test to see whether DVD collectors are in the market for Looney Tunes fully restored and presented with in-depth extras. If the set sells well, there will be more big boxes like this one, with still more cartoons (including earlier classics that are still in the process of restoration). If it doesn't sell, all we'll get is bare-bones samplers aimed at kids alone. So don't buy the bare-bones "Premiere Collection," a poorly presented kid-oriented release with no extras and only half of the cartoons on this set. Get the Golden Collection, and you'll not only get the extras, but you'll get Bugs posing as conductor Leopold Stokowski ("Leopold!") and getting revenge on an arrogant opera singer in "Long-Haired Hare"; Daffy and Porky battling Marvin the Martian for control of Planet X in "Duck Dodgers in the 24 & 1/2th Century"; Porky and Sylvester dealing with psycho-killer mice in "Scaredy Cat"; Bugs playing against an entire baseball team by himself in "Baseball Bugs"; Daffy as the host of the game show "Truth or AAAAAGGGGH!" in "The Ducksters," and on and on and on. 56 cartoons. Great extras. Help make "The Looney Tunes Golden Collection" a best-seller and you'll not only be helping the cause of classic animation on DVD, you'll be getting some of the best comedy films ever produced, animated or live-action. You'll be getting fascinating extras and supplements. You'll be getting hours and hours of great entertainment. What could be better than getting great entertainment in a good cause? Buy this set, and if enough people do, we'll get to see more sets of Bugs, Daffy, and the rest, to enjoy at home as often as we want -- and believe me, we'll want to watch it often.

Let's face it, when it comes to cartoons, LOONEY TUNES rule! This superb DVD collection distills the over 1100 Looney Tunes made over the course of nearly 40 years, and brings us some of the very best selections, along with exceptionally entertaining bonus features.

Each cartoon has been meticulously restored, with dazzling color and great sound quality. These shorts look as great as they must have when they were first released to theaters decades ago.

The hilarity is contagious, so be warned!

Among the great highlights:

DUCK AMUCK (Probably Chuck Jones' masterpiece)
RABBIT OF SEVILLE (The amazing send off of Rossini)
DUCK DODGERS & THE 24 1/2 CENTURY (Need I say more?)
BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID (Clampett's take on Bugs with Buzzard)
BUGS BUNNY & THE THREE BEARS ("Tell me more about my eyes!")
FAST AND FURRY-OUS (The very FIRST Road Runner cartoon)
DOUGH FOR THE DO-DO (The surrealistic Porky Pig masterpiece)
SCAREDY CAT (Sylvester and Porky in a macabre lampoon)
HAREDEVIL HARE (The FIRST Bugs Bunny & Marvin Martian cartoon)
DEVIL MAY HARE (The FIRST Tasmanian Devil cartoon)
SPEEDY GONZALES (The Oscar winning cartoon with the famous mouse)
WABBIT TWOUBLE (Bugs and Elmer in an early Bob Clampett gem)
BULLY FOR BUGS (Bugs as matador vs. a nefarious bull)
THE FOGHORN LEGHORN (The rattled rooster at his best)
FEED THE KITTY (The little kitten bewitches bulldog Marc Anthony)
BASEBALL BUGS (Wait till you see the colors on this one!)...

and that's ONLY the tip of the iceburg. 40 more beguiling LOONEY TUNES and MERRIE MELODIES masterpieces have been assembled here with great care, with the participation of several animation veterans and experts.

Nicest touch of all is an introduction by Chuck Jones, obviously taped before his recent passing.

This collection is a great start from the brothers Warner, and I'll just have to wear out these discs until the next volumes are released.

BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!

The wait is finally over, and it was worth it! Like I say in my title, this is not the best of Looney Tunes, but this selection of cartoons scanning the 1940's - 1950's is so wide and covers so many directorial styles and characters that complaints about content are moot - all the major characters of the studio are represented in this collection, and while the selections made don't always represent THE best of the best, there's not a dog in the set. As one critic said, "The amazing thing about Warner Brothers cartoons is the good ones are classics, and the bad ones aren't a total loss," and that holds true for this collection. Just as it wouldn't make sense for the studio to release all of the best on one package, there are a good number of "one shot" cartoons - like "Fair and Worm-er", that have no classic characters but are hilarious nonetheless - that would go unseen if not packaged with more recognizable cartoons.

The extras are uniformly excellent and informative, from the commentaries to the featurettes to the documentaries, and as an added bonus, docs like THE BOYS FROM TERMITE TERRACE feature clips from unrestored cartoons that make you appreciate just how much work was put into this excellent collection.

Are there other cartoons I would like to have seen in this set? Of course. But the very fact that Warner's (and the others, such as Jerry Beck, Stan Frieburg and Michael Barrier, to name only a few) put the amazing amount of work into this collection that they did proves that they respect not only the cartoons themselves but the expectations of the fans. It's very much appreciated and well worth the asking price.

Forget the "Premiere Collection." This 4 disc set is loaded with extras that the Premiere Collection doesn't have. All of the cartoons are uncut and digitally remastered. Among the extras -- commentaries by Jerry Beck, Mike Barrier (compiled from his rare audio interviews with animators), Greg Ford, and Stan Freeberg, interviews, isolated music tracks, and documentaries. The collection of cartoons is somewhat of a "Best of," but if this set sells well, we're bound to see more volumes with different cartoons that are not so well known. Although the cover art is a little cheesy looking, who cares? And, contrary to what the previous reviewer said, (the person who gave it 1 star) all of the cartoons that have been anounced to be on this set ARE on this set. To make it clear for everyone, "WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?" IS NOT ON THIS SET. I know this for certian. As a matter of fact, here is the list of cartoons that have been announced to be on this set:

DISC #1 - Bugs Bunny:
1. Baseball Bugs
2. Rabbit Seasoning
3. Long-Haired Hare
4. High Diving Hare
5. Bully for Bugs
6. What's Up Doc?
7. Rabbit's Kin
8. Water, Water Every Hare
9. Big House Bunny
10. Big Top Bunny
11. My Bunny Lies Over the Sea
12. Wabbit Twouble
13. Ballot Box Bunny
14. Rabbit of Seville

Disc #2 - Porky and Daffy:

1. Duck Amuck
2. Dough for the Do-Do
3. Drip-Along Daffy
4. Scaredy Cat
5. The Ducksters
6. The Scarlet Pumpernickel
7. Yankee Doodle Daffy
8. Porky Chops
9. Wearing of the Grin
10. Deduce, You Say
11. Boobs in the Woods
12. Golden Yeggs
13. Rabbit Fire
14. Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century

Disc #3 - All Stars:

1. Elmer's Candid Camera - Elmer Fudd
2. Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears - Bugs Bunny
3. Fast and Furry-ous - Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote
4. Hair-Raising Hare - Bugs Bunny, Gossamer
5. The Awful Orphan - Porky Pig, Charlie Dog
6. Haredevil Hare - Bugs Bunny, Marvin Martian
7. For Scent-imental Reasons - Pepe le Pew
8. Frigid Hare - Bugs Bunny
9. The Hypo-condricat - Claude Cat, Hubie & Bertie
10. Baton Bunny - Bugs Bunny
11. Feed the Kitty - Marc Anthony & Pussyfoot
12. Don't Give Up the Sheep - Ralph Wolf & Sam Sheepdog
13. Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid - Bugs Bunny, Beaky Buzzard
14. Tortoise Wins by a Hare - Bugs Bunny, Cecil Turtle

Disc #4 - All Stars:

1. Canary Row - Sylvester & Tweety
2. Bunker Hill Bunny - Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam
3. Kit for Cat - Sylvester, Elmer Fudd
4. Putty Tat Twouble - Sylvester & Tweety
5. Bugs and Thugs - Bugs Bunny, Rocky & Mugsy
6. Canned Feud - Sylvester
7. Lumber Jerks - Goofy Gophers
8. Speedy Gonzales - Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester
9. Tweety's S.O.S. - Sylvester & Tweety
10. The Foghorn Leghorn - Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk
11. Daffy Duck Hunt - Daffy Duck, Porky Pig
12. Early to Bet - The Gambling Bug
13. Broken Leghorn - Foghorn Leghorn
14. Devil May Hare - Bugs Bunny, Tasmanian Devil

(credit is due to Jerry Beck for this information)

FINALLY! i can't believe that looney tunes is coming to DVD after all these years, this actually look like a great DVD set. All of the cartoons on it have been restored and remastered. heres a list of what will be on this DVD:

~Disc #1:
14 remastered Bugs Bunny cartoons including:
* a special opening greeting from Chuck Jones;
* Audio track commentaries on these cartoons:
RABBIT SEASONING (Mike Barrier & audio from his rare interviews with animators), LONG HAIRED HARE (Mike Barrier), HIGH DIVING HARE (Greg Ford), BULLY FOR BUGS (Mike Barrier), WHAT'S UP DOC? (Greg Ford), RABBIT'S KIN (Stan Freberg), BIG TOP BUNNY (Mike Barrier), WABBIT TWOUBLE (Mike Barrier);
* separate music tracks for RABBIT SEASONING, WHAT'S UP DOC? and RABBIT'S KIN
* Featurettes on Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, and Elmer Fudd with exclusive interviews;
* THE BOYS FROM TERMITE TERRACE part 1 (rare John Canemaker documentary);
* animated sequences from MY DREAM IS YOURS and TWO GUYS FROM TEXAS
* THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW bonus materials: Bridging sequences from episode #1648 "A Star Is Bored"; Mel Blanc recording session from episode #1639 "The Astro-Nuts"
* Bonus shorts:
FIFTY YEARS OF BUGS BUNNY IN 3 1/2 MINUTES (1989 short)
BLOOPER BUNNY (1991) with commentary by Greg Ford
* A gallery including Lobby Cards, photgraphs, music cue sheets and original dialogue transcripts.
*Trailers from 1950s theatrical compilation shows: BUGS BUNNY'S CARTOON FESTIVAL and BUGS BUNNY'S CARTOON JAMBOREE

~Disc #2:
14 remastered Porky and Daffy cartoons, including
* Audio track commentaries on DUCK AMUCK, DRIP-ALONG DAFFY, THE SCARLET PUMPERNICKLE, WEARING OF THE GRIN, and DUCK DODGERS by Mike Barrier using his exclusive interview audio with classic animators.
* Separate music tracks for DUCK AMUCK, DRIP-ALONG DAFFY,THE SCARLET PUMPERNICKLE and RABBIT FIRE.
* Bonus featurettes on MARVIN MARTIAN, Porky Pig, and DAFFY DUCK
* THE BOYS FROM TERMITE TERRACE part 2
* A gallery including Lobby Cards, photgraphs, music cue sheets and original dialogue transcripts.

~Disc #3:
Premiere Collection Vol. 1 includes 14 remastered Looney Tunes, including
* Audio track commentaries compiled by Michael Barrier for FAST & FURRY-OUS, HAIR RAISING HARE, HAREDEVIL HARE, FOR SCENT-I-MENTAL REASONS and BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID; FEED THE KITTY (commentary by Greg Ford), BUGS BUNNY AND THE THREE BEARS (Commentary by Stan Freberg).
* Separate music tracks for BATON BUNNY and FEED THE KITTY
* Featurettes on the ROAD RUNNER, MEL BLANC and CARL STALLING
* TOONHEADS: THE LOST CARTOONS
* Original storyboards for HAIR RAISING HARE and THE HYPO-CHRONDRI-CAT
* A gallery including Lobby Cards, photgraphs, music cue sheets and original dialogue transcripts.

~Disc #4:
Premiere Collection Vol. 2 includes 14 remastered Looney Tunes including:
* Audio track commentaries compiled by Michael Barrier for TWEETY'S S.O.S. and THE FOGHORN LEGHORN and commentaries by Jerry Beck on CANARY ROW, DEVIL MAY HARE, CANNED FEUD and SPEEDY GONZALES
* Separate music tracks for PUTTY TAT TWOUBLE, BROKEN LEGHORN, and SPEEDY GONZALES.
* Featurettes on SPEEDY GONZALES, FRIZ FRELENG AND TWEETY & SYLVESTER, and ROBERT McKIMSON AND FOGHORN LEGHORN.
* Bonus all-new 50 minute documentary "Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age Of Looney Tunes" narrated by Stan Freberg.
* The complete "BOSKO THE TALK-INK KID" pilot
* Virgil Ross pencil tests
* A gallery including Lobby Cards, photgraphs, music cue sheets and original dialogue transcripts.

Let's be realistic. Does this collection contain some of the greatest works of art of all time? It does. Does it also contain some duds? Duds R us. Is it "restored"? Not really. It does contain the best available print of every cartoon, and some are pristine mint. But it does not use computer enhansement to restore cartoons whose best existing print has "speckles" (see, for example, "Scaredy Cat"). Some of the special features are really special, others less so. It is unfair of reviewers to complain about omissions -- there are too many great Looney Tunes to fit on four DVDs. It does seem strange that the box does not list the directors, Chuck Jones for example, next to the cartoons they direct. Not everybody owns The Warner Brothers Cartoons by Friedwald and Beck, though everybody should. The special features and the selection try to be even handed -- except toward Tex Avery -- none of his cartoons were chosen. But not all Warner Brothers cartoons are equally good. Chuck Jones was the best, but only the fast-Chuck, not the slow-Chuck or late-Chuck. Professor Jones got his flawless sense of timing in the early forties, and lost it in the sixties. After Jones, Friz Freleng. Friz was not the super-genius Jones was, but he was very funny. The other directors just aren't as good, and for me the entire fourth disk in this four disk set was a waste of time. But there are so many great cartoons here: Bully for Bugs, Rabbit of Saville, The Scarlet Pumpernickel -- that I'm not complaining. I can hardly wait for the next volume.

If you're like me, you've seen the entire body of classic Warner Bros. cartoons (some 1000 between 1930-1969) more times than you care to count. But if you haven't seen this unprecedented DVD collection, then as Bugs might say, "You ain't seen nothin' yet, Doc!"

To see these oft-rerun cartoons in DVD format is to see them for the first time. Digitally remastered, they are visually stunning, giving the viewer not old enough to have seen them in theaters a sense of how they must have looked when they first appeared on the big screen. The increased clarity only becomes bothersome in darker scenes, when one can see the dust particles on the original cels--it does in some cases overpower the action on screen.

The main reason to buy any DVD set, however, is the extras, and they're here in abundance. Of particular interest to me was the audio commentary by Stan Freberg for the cartoon "Rabbit's Kin." (In which Freberg voices the unforgettable Pete Puma). Decades later, Freberg expresses surprise that a "one-shot" character could be so memorable. He's being modest--while the Warner's writers shone as usual on that cartoon, what made it memorable was his hilarious voice characterization and line delivery ("Better give me a lotta lumps--a WHOLE lotta lumps!") As a treat to the fans, he reprises the voice several times in his commentary. (And can still do it).

Author and toon historian Jerry Beck was a consultant on this project, and his loving care shows. This is an animation set put together by an animation fan.

Among the extras, some of the more pleasant surprises are rarely seen clips from the Jack Carson movies "My Dream Is Yours" and "Two Guys From Texas." (In the first film, be sure to check out Carson and his female co-star in bunny suits, dancing alongside an animated Bugs). One can also see interstitial clips from ABC's "Bugs Bunny Show", long since edited into oblivion and unseen for four decades. Some of the "missing" footage is in black and white, the original color footage having been lost.

The crown jewel of the set would have to be the film that started it all: for the first time we see "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid," the 1929 pilot film animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising showed Leon Schlesinger to prove the viability of music and sound in animated cartoons. Though crude, it was nonetheless a masterful use of sound for its time--remember, only Walt Disney and Max Fleischer had attempted sound before this, and neither had yet mastered the synchronation of mouth movements to dialogue. Harman and Ising made it look effortless.

John Canemaker's 1975 documentary, "The Boys From Termite Terrace" is also on this set. Sharp-eyed fans might recognize segments later used in subsequent documentaries about the Warner's crew, but for first-time viewers it's a must-see. It contains, among other things, a rare interview with the painfully shy animation legend Tex Avery, who unfortunately left us just a few years later.

Speaking of Avery, isn't it something of an insult to his memory to show the aforementioned interview, but not any of his cartoons--not even the groundbreaking "A Wild Hare?" Oh, well.

There are other disappointments, albeit minor ones. For instance, the scarcity of Bob Clampett's material compared to that of Chuck Jones (one can only hope this is remedied in subsequent editions) and Warner's timidity in failing to include any of the "Censored 11". (The name fans have given to cartoons withdrawn from circulation because of racist content). These cartoons, however objectionable they may be to 21st-century audiences, are a part of history and should be treated as such. Warner's has failed to realize that sets like these are not merely for children. There is a growing audience of adult collectors out there, for whom the absence of these cartoons is inexcusable.

(Reviewer's additional note: Bob Clampett's cartoons are indeed represented on this set--one of them, anyway--the 1941 Bugs Bunny entry "Wabbit Twouble," with optional commentary by Michael Barrier. This cartoon is noteworthy for two things--the opening titles written in "Elmer Fuddese", and the debut of the "little fat Elmer," eventually abandoned after four cartoons. Listen for Clampett's comments on that unfortunate decision).

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if this set has done as much to sell DVD players as Milton Berle did to sell TV sets. Not a moment too soon, either, as these animated gems are rapidly disappearing from even cable television.