It is very surprisingthough that when it comes to animated cartoons these days, nobody under the age of 10 thinks of the Looney Tunes gang. They are more interested in Spongebob Squarepants, The Fairly Odd Parents, and Hannah Montana and High School Musical from Disney. But, the classic eera of animation still remains a jewel that is fun and worth watching all over again. the previous volumes of the Looney Tunes: Golden Collection had a few flaws, but they overall didn't dissapoint. Now, that magical time is there again to say hello to the classic Warner Brothers gang, but does this volume shine like the previous editions, or does it fall from grace as the way the budget-priced spotlight collections do?
The Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 is a 4 disc DVD collection that reflects the best of Warner Brothers greatest cast of characters from the golden era of animation. The collection contains 60 great cartoons that try as the cream of the crop. But, there are a few surprises that are shown here, as the first disc completely displays. The first disc, which was basically all about Bugs Bunny from the previous four volumes, but this time he has to share the spotlight with one of his friendly foes, Daffy Duck. The first disc does slim down the number of Bugs cartoons here, but they do show Bugs & Daffy duking it out like the old Bing Crosby & Bob Hope days, as was the case which director Chuck Jones brightly displayed on cartoons like Ali Baba Bunny and The Abominable Snow-Rabbit from 1961. There are also a lot of great here from the two seperate here including The Stupor Salesman, where Daffy is a door-to-door salesman who tries to sell anything to a wanted criminal who thinks Daffy is with the police, and wants him dead, as well as Bugs' Bonnets, where Elmer Fudd goes after Bugs as usual, but the aid of falling hats Bugs & Elmer act out what hats they were in a unrealistic way of what they wear from a game warden, to Elmer wearing a brides' vale. It is one of my favories.
Disc 2 is all about looney fairy tales, and the way Warner Brothers tailor made the Looney Tunes gang, through classic fairly tales like Senorella & The Glass Hurache, a mexican version of the classic Cinderella story, and Bewitched Bunny where Bugs walks into a Hansel & Gretel story where the debut of Witch Hazel and her craving for children, turns to a craving for rabbit stew. There are also a few other great delights here including Goldimouse & The Three Cats with Sylvester Jr. demanding something different than pourage, and Sylvester does whatever it takes to get his son a mouse to eat. There are a few lesser-known gems here as well including Holiday For Showstrings, and The Trial Of Mr. Wolf, where the wolf speaks his side of the story in a weird twist on the Red Riding Hood story.
Disc 3 pays respect one of the most influential animation directors of all time, the great Bob Clampett, who helped innovate the looney, into looney tunes. This one brought out the first peak of the classic cartoons from the 1930's and 1940's when Clampett worked with Warners. The collection on this disc shines noblely well with great classics like The Old Greay Hare where Elmer Fudd goes ahead in time into the year 2000 and tries to go after an older aged, Bugs but falls victim to his looney ways, and Patient Porky, where Porky visits a hospital after overeating a birthday cake, but falls prey to a phoney doctor who tries to do more than surgery on Porky. There also is The Bashful Buzzard, which was one of the few cartoons with the unforgettable Beaky Buzzard who tries to find something to bring home for dinner for his family to cook, but is just dopey enough to bring anything from a bumble bee, to even a dragon.
The final disc, mainly focuses in on Warner Brothers beginnings from the 1930's, with Porky Pig as the main attraction here in classic cartoons like Porky's Poppa, and Wholly Smoke. There isn't much here, but there are a lot of extras that work well on the final disc including specials like Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over which include gems like Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Bunny, where a pint-sized Bugs & Elmer go out each others wits, and the actual one time where Wile E. Coyote is up to his old tricks, but finally catches his prey, the Road Runner.
All in all, The Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5 isn't a bad buy for die hard Looney Tunes fans, but surprisingly could've had a bit more from the first disc with Bugs & daffy, which I was hoping for much better. I was hoping classic cartoons like The Million Hare and People Are Bunny would've been used with two of them going at each other instead of the ones they are just seperate and funny. It isn't as much of a must buy for newcomers, as was the case with the previous golden collections, but it does show most of its merit, and that is all folks. Hopefully, the next volume can bring in more of the zany action.
Remastering: B+
Price: B-
Extras: B+
Shorts: B 1/2-
Packaging and cover: B+
Overall: B 1/2-