Looney Tunes Golden Collection (DVD-2003)
Warner Home Entertainment
Reviewed by Dennis Kwiatkowski
It was long
in coming, but it was worth the wait. Warner Bros. has just released a prestigious
4-DVD set called: Looney Tunes: The Golden
Collection.
Containing
56 of the animated cartoons Warner Bros. made during the 1930’s through
the 1960’s featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweetie and Sylvester, Pepe Le Pew, the Road Runner and many
others, the Golden Collection also boasts remastered and uncut prints and archival material long hidden in the vaults.
These classic
cartoons have been rounded up together and released on DVD for the first time.
For more than 70 years, the Looney Tunes cartoons have entertained audiences
of all ages. Whether you are someone who grew up watching these animated shorts
in movie theatres over the years, or whether you have come to know them through the medium of television broadcasts, these
visual and aural delights are guaranteed to please.
Also included
in the set, aside from the formidable cartoon selections are several documentaries showing how the cartoons were created and
detailing their historical and popular significance. An absolute gold mine of
supplemental material is also included such as commentaries on select cartoons, music only options on several of the shorts,
featurettes, recording sessions and tantalizing tidbits too numerous to mention.
Of particular
significance to many will be the rare archival surviving material of the original Bugs Bunny TV show series. And a satirical short of Bugs Bunny bloopers entitled “Bugs Bunny’s 51st and a half
Birthday Spectacular” is absolutely hilarious.
Which is
also a good way to describe the cartoons themselves. They have aged exceptionally
well—humor, pacing, timing and dramatic punch are as potent as ever. The
re-mastered cartoons sport excellent color and artistic detail and the sound is of exceptionally pristine digital quality.
There are
glimpses of Bugs Bunny’s evolution as a character—including that strange sounding old Bugs Bunny with the ears
pinned back. Similarly, Elmer Fudd started out as quite a different character
named Egghead. And Daffy Duck and Porky Pig themselves underwent quite an evolution—all
of it fascinating to see.
A documentary
called “The Boys of Termite Terrace” detailing the artist crew which created the cartoons over the decades in
a dilapidated wooden building on the studio lot nicknamed Termite Terrace is endlessly interesting. Beginning with 13 cartoons a year and eventually producing 42 cartoons a year, the studio produced 170
Bugs Bunny cartoons alone, not to mention 800 additional cartoons of all kinds. And,
being from Warner Bros., the cartoons had the additional advantage of a soundtrack provided by the Warner Bros. Symphony Orchestra,
a large ensemble which added the final touch of class and pizzazz!
Cartoon director
Chuck Jones himself introduces the collection and speaks of the distinctly American spirit and character represented by Bugs
and the other characters. With laugh-out loud humor, superb animation and direction,
outstanding musical accompaniment, the brilliant voice characterizations of Mel Blanc, and a treasury of supplementals, the
Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Golden Collection fully lives up to its title as a must-buy
collector’s edition.
