***** - the films
***** - the discs
This review may seem contradictory, this is a five-star set of cartoons presented in a five-star Blu-ray release, and I have to rate this set on those merits. But there are some things not five-star for those of us who have been collecting the Golden Collections on DVD.
O.K, , you are probably saying "These Looney Tunes Blu-ray titles seem familiar", that is because just about all of them have been released on the DVD Golden, Oscar, & Superstars Collections. Why? Because when they were restored for those Collections they were restored in Hi-Definition 1080p, so Warner had an easy Blu-ray release here with out spending much money for new film transfers.
This means that unlike the "Wow" effect we got when we first saw the Golden Collection DVDs after watching washed out Laserdiscs & VHS tapes, this time we will see the same film transfers with improved restoration in 1080p resolution. I have seen the Blu-ray presentations of "Rabbit Hood" and "I Love to Singa" and they look nice, but you will need a rather large HD-TV to notice any kind of improvement over the Golden Collection DVDs. "I Love to Singa" still looks grainy & has negative dust just like the Golden Collection DVDs.
One BIG improvement is with BABY BOTTLENECK, the original film transfer has undergone further restoration work to reduce the grain seen in the older DVD. There is still grain, but it is a big improvement.
Warner did spend some money to make a few new Hi-Def transfers for titles not previously on DVD:
Disc #1
Lovelorn Leghorn - Foghorn Leghorn - only available previously on VHS
Disc #2
Hasty Hare - Bugs Bunny & Marvin Martian - previously available on the Laserdisc "Looney Tunes After Dark"
Hare-way To The Stars - Bugs Bunny & Marvin Martian - previously available on the Laserdisc "Looney Tunes After Dark"
Bill of Hare - Bugs Bunny & Tasmanian Devil - previously available on the Laserdisc "Stars of Space Jam"
A Witches Tangled Hare - Bugs Bunny & Witch Hazel - only available previously on VHS.
Feline Frame-up - previously available on the Laserdisc "Assorted Nuts"
Disc #3 (Presented in STANDARD DEFINITION unless noted)
Marvin Martian in the 3rd Dimension (1996) - non-anamorphic letterboxed small screen presentation.
Father of the Bird - Foghorn Leghorn (1997)
Museum Scream - Tweety & Sylvester (2003) - High Defenition, anamorphic widescreen
And some Chuck Jones productions:
Hell Bent for Election (1944)
Hitch In time (1955) - High defenition
The Door (with Bill Cosby 1968)
It is puzzling, and disappointing that disc #3 is mostly in STANDARD DEFINITION Blu-ray, with noticeable scan lines. It is obviously hobbled together quickly to give this set a third disc. I saw only three Hi-Definition cartoons on disc #3: "A Hitch In Time" (1955), "90 Day Wondering" (1955) and in anamorphic widescreen "Museum Scream" (2003). "Superior Duck" also looks good like it might be in Hi-Definition but it clocks in with the other standard definition cartoons. "Marvin Martian in the 3rd Dimension" (1996) is a real disappointment in standard definition, it is letterboxed and not anamorphic, the picture is really shrunk down. I was also looking forward to seeing "The Dot and The Line" as well as "The Bear That Wasn't" in Hi-definition, but that was not to be here. Maybe if a Chuck Jones MGM Cartoon set comes out in Blu-ray we may see true Di-Definition presentations of those cartoons then.
So if you have all of the DVD Golden Collections, The Oscar Winners & Nominees collection, and the Superstars Collections, you will likely only be buying this for the 6 newly restored cartoons on discs 1 & 2.
I guess a direct re-release of the Golden Collections on Blu-ray would have sold less than a Blu-ray collection featuring 6 new titles not previously on DVD.
Notice that there are only 50 classic cartoons here, the old Golden Collection DVDs had 60 cartoons per set. So it will take more Blu-ray sets to cover the same quantity of cartoons as the old DVD sets.
** If you are trying to decide between the expensive "Ultimate Collector's Edition" and the regular edition, there is really nothing "Ultimate" about the "Ultimate Edition". The Ultimate edition adds a Bugs Bunny shot glass (yes you heard me Bugs Bunny is promoting alcoholic drinking) and a certificate of authenticity (like we are worried about bootleg Blu-rays), a tin with a picture on it and a matted lithograph. I think reproductions of the cartoon lobby cards that appear shrunken in the booklet would have been a better deal.
Save your money & get the basic version, the discs are the same.**
At least something is being released for the animation fans again by Warner Home Video. If you can afford it, lets support this Hi-Def project and keep some new titles coming out.