Customer Reviews

Looney Tunes Pepe Le Pew Collection

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Writer Mike Maltese came up with the idea of a cat disguised as a skunk getting chased by an oversexed French version of the genuine article for Chuck Jones to use in 1945's ODOR-ABLE KITTY, but the idea of a continuing series was laughable. After all, the punchline of that cartoon was that the skunk was henpecked and the French accent fake (not to mention the cat he had been chasing was male -- draw your own conclusions). But it must have been in the cards that the skunk was destined for stardom. He returned as "Stinky" in 1947's SCENT-IMENTAL OVER YOU, and achieved immortality when Jones won his first Oscar for FOR SCENT-IMENTAL REASONS in 1949.

This release collects all of the Jones unit's cartoons featuring Pepè Le Pew in one neat little package, and makes no discriminations or reviled alterations like earlier "Super Stars" releases did. Everything is present and accounted for in full-screen, and none of that "1954 and on only" nonsense (making the excuses for the selection on the Foghorn Leghorn release pretty flimsy). The cartoons look absolutely stunning too, allowing one to truly appreciate the work of designers like Robert Gribbroek and Maurice Noble.

In spite of this being a selection of cartoons from one of the most important animation directors of all time at the height of his power, poor Pepè's cartoons don't exactly shine when stacked in a row like this, given that nearly all of the cartoons follow FOR SCENT-IMENTAL REASONS' formula - a black cat gets a white stripe on her back and Pepè tries to woo her. It's not Jones and Maltese at their most creative; these were their bread-and-butter pictures after all. Still, the Pepè formula doesn't embrace a hip iconic status like that of the Road Runner series. Don't judge too harshly though - all of these cartoons were made over a period of some fifteen years, when reuse was an accepted practice in short subjects and the chance of actually seeing a Pepè cartoon at the theaters was one in fifty.

In spite of any aesthetic shortcomings, "Zee Best of Zee Best" is a solid and watchable compilation, much more so than the Speedy Gonzales disc on the fourth "Golden Collection", and any of the Warner guys' attempts at formula beat the spitfire out of the other studios'. Plus, you get two oddball selections: Art Davis's disgusting ODOR OF THE DAY, featuring a skunk that looks like Pepè but isn't, and DOG POUNDED, a Friz Freleng Tweety & Sylvester classic with a cameo by the skunk at the end. Abe Levitow's REALLY SCENT (him filling in for Jones on a sabbatical from the studio) is also an underrated, charming gem, with the cat _wanting_ to be with Pepè!

So be like Pepè himelf with the ladies, and just _go_ get this without hesitation! Vive L'Amour!

I have the first five of the Looney Tunes golden collections, and have waited for this Pepe Le Pew collection for much too long! Pepe has long been one of my favorite Looney Tunes chaaracters and this set has all seventeen of his shorts! It is a terrific addition to any collection of cartoons. My only complaint would be the dvd is a bit of a pain to navigate but Pepe made up for it. They are all enjoyable, but one of my favorites is the "Wild about You" where Pepe becomes enamoured with a wildcat from the zoo. No matter how many times she attacks him, he keeps coming and utters one of my favorite lines. After a ball of frenzied scratches, a confused Pepe says "I hope I hold out!" Hysterical! I am so glad Warner Brothers listened to all the fans requests and gave us this collection. It's priceless.

Finally, after three years of rip-off DVD's, Warner Brothers releases another excellent Looney Tunes DVD collection. This has the complete Pepe le Pew cartoons including the Sylvester & Tweety cartoon "Dog Pounded" where he makes a cameo appearance. Everything about this one is perfect. I wouldn't be worth a scent if I didn't own this DVD.

This series of bare-bones "Looney Tunes Superstars" releases pales in comparison to the "Golden Collection" series, and has been flawed in many ways from the get-go. The Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck discs included cartoons cropped for a phony wide screen format, the Tweety and Sylvester disc didn't have a single new-to-DVD cartoon, and the Road Runner disc, while fine for the Looney Tunes completist, was filled with latter-day, non-Chuck Jones cartoons. The Foghorn Leghorn one is excellent, but padded out with one-shot cartoons and lacking many of the Foggy cartoons we've all been waiting for.

This one finally got it right. While there are no special features, the majority of the cartoons are new to DVD, and all are dazzlingly restored. Plus, it's the complete filmography of one of Chuck Jones' most enduring characters.

If you're not familiar with Pepe Lew Pew, here's the idea: A cat (or the occasional other species) paints herself to look like a skunk on purpose or by accident, and is pursued by the amorous French skunk. While most of Pepe's victims have little objection to his romantic advances, they quickly smell him and have second thoughts.

Although they're formulaic, and a few of these cartoons in one sitting is more than enough, they're still funny, and if you like Pepe, Chuck Jones and the hilarious writing of Mike Maltese, buying this is a no-brainer.

Cartoons from all eras, flawlessly remastered (no strange restriction to titles from 1953 and later).
Full-screen option throughout.
No double-dipping, except for reasons of completeness.
No weak 1960s cartoons, except for reasons of completeness.

If the "Looney Tunes Super Stars" series had been like this from the start, I suspect sales would be stronger. If there's such a thing as justice, you'll be rewarded for getting it right this time.

As the other reviewers have already noted, this DVD is done right, all the classic Pepe Le Pew cartoons in their original aspect. Can a similar DVD of all the Chuck Jones Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons be far behind?

My only suggestion is that these cartoons are best enjoyed one at a time. I don't recommend watching all 17 one after another. Why not add a cartoon to your evening movie, thus simulating the experience of those of us who saw these in theaters?

I love all of the cartoons on this disc. The remastering is excellent as is the choice of cartoons! I am a huge Pepé fan, so this turned out to be a perfect collection for me. The cartoons and their original dates are as follows:

1) Odor-able Kitty (1945)
2) Scent-imental Over You (1947)
3) Odor of the Day (1948)
4) For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)
5) Scent-imental Romeo (1951)
6) Little Beau Pepé (1952)
7) Wild Over You (1953)
8) Dog Pounded (1954)
9) The Cats Bah (1954)
10) Past Perfumance (1955)
11) Two Scent's Worth (1955)
12) Heaven Scent (1956)
13) Touché and Go (1957)
14) Really Scent (1959)
15) Who Scent You? (1960)
16) A Scent of the Matterhorn (1961)
17) Louvre Come Back to Me! (1962)

This was a great gift for my mother-in-law. Great size and very cute and practical. They have a magnet that joins them and this makes it easy to store on the table.

I've made the mistake of picking up the other Looney Tunes Collection DVDs, and have been disappointed every time... until now. Whoever was overseeing this collection actually knew what they were doing. They've included an option to see the cartoons in the intended full screen or the cropped wide screen. They've also included nearly all, if not all of the Pepe cartoons. These include the first one which features a very different Le Pew. It's interesting to see the evolution of the character throughout the series. There were several that I had never seen before. These included some rather racy jokes, so I'm wondering if that's the reason I never saw them on television.

My only complaint is that they aren't offering these in a blu-ray format, but it's still well worth buying. I hope that WB has realized they botched the earlier collections and have decided to take a different path going forward.

I just love to watch Pepe Le Pew. It's just so silly and cute. I just wish that cartoon network would air more of the old style Pepe Le Pew.