LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION VOLUMES 1 & 2: Back in Print

LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION, VOLUMES 1 & 2 (Blu-ray)

1930-1969 / Volume 1: 357 min / Volume 2: 365 min

Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😸

Looney Tunes are no strangers to home video in every format (save for 4K, which we don’t really need). Over the years, there have been some stellar collections, the best probably being the comprehensive six-volume Golden Collection DVD boxed sets. More recently, Warner Archive’s Collector’s Choice Blu-ray series served up interesting assortments of rarities and obscurities. Both series are must-owns for hardcore fans.

But hey, sometimes you just want the hits. While I like Kiss, I never felt compelled to own every album the band ever made. Whenever I’m in the mood to rock and roll all night and party every day, throwing their greatest hits album on the turntable does the job just fine. Similarly, the three volume Looney Tunes Platinum Collection mostly focuses on the undisputed classics starring Warner Bros’ most iconic characters. For the most bang-for-your-buck, it doesn’t get much better than this.

After being out of print for several years,Volumes One and Two are being re-issued on Blu-ray. The content and bonus features (of which there are a ton) are identical to the original releases, so if you have those, there’s no need to read any further. But if you missed your chance the first time around…

Each volume includes 50 shorts over two discs, and a third one packed with supplemental material and additional shorts (many of the latter focus on a particular director’s work outside of the Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies banner). If forced to choose, I’d say Volume One is the better of the two simply because there’s a greater emphasis on the work of Chuck Jones, who I personally think was responsible for most of the best cartoons (with considerable help from writer Michael Maltese, of course). 

Never overfeed your pets.

Still, both sets provide a treasure trove of fun and history. What’s truly the best of the best is obviously subjective, but it’s hard to argue with what’s included. Volume One boasts such classics as Baseball Bugs, Rabbit of Seville, What’s Opera Doc?, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Robin Hood Daffy, Duck Amuck, Scaredy Cat, Fast and Furry-ous and Duck Dodgers in the 24th ½ Century (if fact, every cartoon featuring Marvin the Martian is here). Most iconic characters have their moments in the spotlight, some more than others. For example, there’s plenty of Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Sylvester, while conversely, Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner and Foghorn Leghorn are comparatively underrepresented. Additionally, Volume One includes some of the greatest one-off shorts the studio ever made, such as One Froggy Evening, The Three Little Bops and From A to Z-Z-Z-Z.

Volume Two kicks off with Bugs’ official debut, A Wild Hare, then keeps the classics coming with Long-Haired Hare, Show Biz Bugs, Deduce You Say!, Porky in Wackyland (director Bob Clampett’s magnum opus), Canned Feud, The Foghorn Leghorn, Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning, Duck! Rabbit, Duck!, Dripalong Daffy and Birdy and the Beast. This sets also showcases several lesser-known Looney Tunes creations, such as A. Flea, Beaky (quite a lot of him, actually) and one of my favorite forgotten foes, Nasty Canasta. Speaking of antagonists, it’s interesting to note that Yosemite Sam is almost nowhere to be found in either collection.

Though they shouldn’t be considered comprehensive, both volumes of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection are must-owns for those who want some of the greatest Warner Bros cartoons from the classic era. Supplemented by an outstanding - and exhaustive - batch of bonus features and historical obscurities, these are excellent re-issues. Don’t miss your opportunity this time around.

EXTRA KIBBLES

BEHIND THE TUNES - Discs one and two of each volume include short retrospective documentaries on certain cartoons (11 on Volume One, 8 on Volume 2), featuring interviews with contemporary animator, historians and a few surviving artists who worked on them.

AUDIO COMMENTARIES - Volume One features 24 commentaries for specific cartoons; Volume 2 has 16.

MUSIC-ONLY AUDIO TRACKS - For specific cartoons.

MUSIC & EFFECTS TRACKS - For specific cartoons.

VOCALS-ONLY TRACK - For The Three Little Bops.

Additional Volume One Kibbles:

A GREETING FROM CHUCK JONES

CHUCK JONES DOCUMENTARIES - Chuck Amuck: The Movie (the best one); Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens; Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood.

THE ANIMATED WORLD OF CHUCK JONES - Nine additional cartoon shorts.

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS - Pencil Test

BONUS CARTOONS - The Fright Before Christmas; Spaced Out Bunny; Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th ½ Century; Another Froggy Evening; Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension; From Hare to Eternity; Father of the Bird; Museum Scream. Most of these were made after Looney Tunes’ classic era.

Additional Volume Two Kibbles:

DOCUMENTARIES - King-Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution; Tex Avery, the King of Cartoons; Friz on Film (Freleng, that is); Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons; Real American Zero: Private Snafu (more on him later).

THE WORLD OF LEON SCHLESINGER - Schlesinger was Looney tunes’ prolific producer, and these are a series of very rare old shorts, including 1930’s Sinkin’ in the Bathtub, the very first Warner Bros cartoon.

FRIZ AT MGM: CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS CARTOONS - Five of the shorts Friz Freleng did for MGM studios.

THE BEST OF THE REST OF TEX - 11 of the MGM shorts Tex Avery did for MGM.

PRIVATE SNAFU - Warner Bros did a series of black &white shorts intended just for U.S. soldiers. 8 of them are included here. The character himself was created by Frank Capra.

MR. HOOK - 3 cartoon shorts created for the U.S. Navy. More were made, but these were the ones produced by Warner Bros.

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A Welcome Throwback

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE (Blu-ray)

2024 / 91 min

From Ketchup Entertainment

Review by Princess Pepper😺

It did my heart good to see The Day the Earth Blew Up. Finally…a movie that remembers Looney Tunes are supposed to be…well, loony.

I’ve loved the classic old cartoons ever since I was a wee one, when catching them on TV was the best part of waking up on Saturday morning. Sure, a majority of those cartoons were made before I was ever born, but the characters and humor were timeless (and better than anything Hanna-Barbera was shoving down kids’ throats).

Of course, times change and nothing lasts forever, but at the risk of sounding like another crusty old boomer, subsequent attempts to keep Looney Tunes culturally relevant felt more like cynical marketing decisions than creative ones. Its classic characters were mere shadows of their former selves, reduced to being a brand name…

…which makes The Day the Earth Blew Up a wonderful throwback, of sorts. It’s not a live-action/animation hybrid. There are no Looney Tunes babies. Nobody’s solving mysteries, teaching college or ringing in the holidays. No celebrity cameos, rap battles or gratuitous product placement. No 3-D or computer animation. Sure, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are tasked with saving the world, but at least it isn’t by shooting hoops with Michael Jordan.

Speaking of which, the plot is sort of perfunctory, but still reflects some creative effort and provides a great canvas on which to showcase a lot of clever humor. Trying to make enough money to repair the roof of their house, Porky and Daffy are forced to get jobs (which they’ve never had). This leads to an amusing montage where they’re repeatedly hired and fired, at least until, at Petunia Pig’s behest, they find work at a local bubble gum factory. That’s when Daffy stumbles upon an alien’s plot to put mind-controlling green goo into the mix, turning people into obedient zombies.

Daffy re-enacts his favorite scene from Pulp Fiction.

The story actually has a few neat twists, but what’s ultimately most important - to this old man, anyway - is Porky and Daffy actually being old school Porky and Daffy. In the latter’s case, really old school. His personality and appearance reflects the Bob Clampett-era Daffy, when he was still a mischievous prankster (though I think angry & selfish Daffy would’ve been funnier). Both characters are voiced by Eric Bauza, who’s arguably better suited for the job than anyone since Mel Blanc.

In addition to the good ol’ slapstick violence that endeared me to Looney Tunes in the first place, director Peter Browngardt and his (huge) team of writers throw in plenty of satiric elements and funny throwaway gags. This includes a hilariously suggestive scene involving Daffy, Porky and Petunia at a coffee shop that'll probably fly right over the heads of younger viewers. 

Not everything works. The strange, surreal scenes involving Farmer Jim (who raised Porky & Daffy) seem to belong to another movie. Not only that, there are layers of sentimentality that I doubt Clampett, Freleng or Jones would have ever bothered with (nor does the story need). Still, that’s a minor quip compared to what we get in return…Looney Tunes being truly loony, and the entire thing presented through colorful, old fashioned hand-drawn animation.

WACKY RACES Speeds Down Memory Lane

WACKY RACES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (Blu-ray)

1968 / 408 min

From Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

While I wouldn’t bet my life on it, I’m pretty damn certain Wacky Races was the first Saturday morning cartoon I remember watching. I also seem to recall my sister and I eating enough Cheerios to collect all the boxtops required to get models of Dirk Dastardly and Penelope Pitstop’s cars. Of course, this makes me roughly 850 years old.

Back when Hanna-Barbara pretty much ruled Saturday mornings, they cranked out scores of shows that would never be mistaken for Disney, but were enough to placate undemanding kids sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs. A few classics notwithstanding, most of them lasted only a season or two. In fact, only 17 episodes of Wacky Races were ever produced.

Originally airing in 1968, Wacky Races featured a variety of colorful characters and their crazy cars competing in a different location for each race. There were always two races per episode, and the winners earned the title of “World’s Wackiest Racer.” As a kid, the fun part was trying to predict who was going to win next because, other than Dirk Dastardly, it could have been anybody.

Dog is my co-pilot.

Looking back at it now, it’s pretty clear that Wacky Races was Hanna-Barbara’s answer to Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons, with Dastardly as the hapless coyote and everyone else taking turns being the Road Runner. Some episodes even copped a few of the same gags. And with such wild personalities behind the wheels of these cars, it’s amusing to think the show may have even been one of the inspirations for Death Race 2000.

For others in their mid-800s who might recall Wacky Races, this Blu-ray is a nifty slab of nostalgia. Though never as uproarious as we might remember, the show harks back to those bygone Saturday mornings when TV was created just for us. Adding to the fun is an assortment of bonus features that delve into the show's short history. Pour yourself a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and start your engines for a trip down memory lane.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races is an 18-minute retrospective of the show, including a few people who were involved in its production; Spin-Out Spin-Offs takes a look at various spin-offs featuring some of the characters from the original how.

AUDIO COMMENTARIES - For 4 individual races/segments.

TRIVIA TRACK - Episode #1 with pop-up text trivia.

DAFFY DUCK’S QUACKBUSTERS: Something Old, Something New

DAFFY DUCK’S QUACKBUSTERS (Blu-ray)

1988 / 79 min

From Warner Archive Collection

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😼

Though Warner Bros first stopped producing Looney Tunes in the 1960s, they kept all its iconic characters alive through television, where those classics were a Saturday morning staple for a couple of decades (and obviously before the days when cartoons were available 24/7). 

Additionally, the studio began assembling compilation films, though the shorts included were seldom seen in their entirety and new animated sequences were used to bridge one short to another. Sometimes the films were dedicated to the work of a particular director, other times the shorts were selected and reassembled to fit within a “new” plot. The results were always watchable, but hardly the best way to view these classic cartoons…especially if seeing them for the first time.

Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters was the first to be produced without the involvement of any of legendary Looney Tunes directors, with Greg Ford & Terry Lennon creating the wraparound story and new animated sequences, in which Daffy Duck is the benefactor of a millionnaire’s wealth on the proviso that he uses the money to provide a service to the community. So he starts a paranormal extermination service, hiring Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig (and his cat, Sylvester), to do most of the grunt work.

A variety of classic horror-themed shorts are woven into the overall plot, including three of my personal favorites, “Transylvania 6-5000,” “Claws for Alarm” and “Hyde and Go Tweet.” While those toons alone make this film worth seeing, the difference between the old animation and the surrounding segments is jarring (as is the voice of a much older Mel Blanc). 

Daffy decides to swear off the duck sauce.

What made Quackbusters unique among the compilation films was the inclusion of two new shorts, The Duxorcist and Night of the Living Duck, the latter of which was made exclusively for this film and the only one shown in its entirety (as a prologue). Both are also directed by Ford & Lennon, and while the animation ain’t quite what it used to be, the humor is often reminiscent of the sly, satiric playfulness that was a hallmark of classic Looney Tunes.

And speaking of new…the 80s was when Warner Bros began to sporadically produce brand new Looney Tunes shorts, seven of which are included on this disc as bonus features. Dating from 1980-2000, not all of them are gems, but Chuck Jones’ “Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century” is irresistible. Elsewhere, “Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers” is more horror-themed fun from Ford & Lennon, whose “The Duxorcist” is also presented in its entirety. Conversely, depicting Wile E. Coyote & the Road Runner as kids in “Little Go Beep” is as contrived as Muppet Babies.

Like the other Looney Tunes compilation films, Quackbusters is watchable without ever being wonderful. Hanging out with these characters is always time well spent, even though watching truncated versions of their antics pales in comparison to the original shorts. Still, the inclusion of the newer cartoons make this worth picking up for completists.

EXTRA KIBBLES

7 SHORTS - Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24th ½ Century; The Duxorcist; Little Go Beep; Night of the Living Duck; Superior Duck; Blooper Bunny; Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers.

TRAILER

LOONEY TUNES COLLECTOR'S CHOICE, VOL. 4: The Golden Years and Beyond

LOONEY TUNES COLLECTOR'S CHOICE, VOL. 4 (Blu-ray)

1937-1964 / 188 min (27 shorts)

FROM WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

This fourth volume in Warner Archive’s Collectors Choice series continues raiding the vaults for more Looney Tunes obscurities from the golden years (and a few which aren’t). Like the previous volumes, it showcases 27 shorts, some of which haven’t been available on home video for years…if ever.

This one goes way back to 1937 with an absolute charmer. “Streamlined Greta Green,” a Friz Freleng-directed one-off featuring a world of personified automobiles and a defiant little car named Junior who cuts class to visit the bustling city. From the same era - and perhaps even more obscure - is “Dangerous Dan McFoo,” directed by Tex Avery.

At the opposite end of the timeline are shorts from the 1960s, generally considered the nadir of the studio’s output, when budgets were slashed and creativity was on the wane. This is best/worst exemplified by the dreadful “Devil’s Feud Cake,” which is a cheaply cobbled collection of scenes from previous Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam shorts to assemble a “new” story. Why it was chosen to represent the studio is a complete mystery. Also from this era is “Road to Andalay” with perpetually obnoxious Speedy Gonzalez. Conversely, “Hopalong Casualty” is another Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote classic (the one with earthquake pills!), as is “D’Fightin’ Ones,” Freleng’s clever take on The Defiant Ones. 

Kitty Krueger.

In between, shorts range from interesting curiosities to resurrected gems. Sylvester and Tweety show up in “Muzzle Tough” and the hilarious “Hyde and Go Tweet,” but there are also a couple of earlier ones with similar characters who predate them (“The Cagey Canary” & “Double Chaser”). Since we all need more Foghorn Leghorn in our lives, this disc offers “Henhouse Henry” and “Leghorn Swoggled.” Sam the Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf punch the clock for another wild workday in “Double or Mutton.” Daffy Duck is extensively represented by “Along Came Daffy,” “Holiday for Drumsticks,” “Stork Naked,”  “Muscle Tussle” and “Quack Shot.” 

A couple of one-offs pop up here and there, the best being Chuck Jones’ “Fox Pop.” As for Looney Tunes’ biggest star, aside from the aforementioned “Devil’s Feud Cake,” Bugs Bunny only shows up in one other cartoon, “Lighter Than Hare,” which (along with “Stork Naked”) appears as a bonus feature. But despite his comparative lack of screen time, Looney Tunes Collectors Choice Vol. 4 is another revealing collection of lesser-known shorts. Few would rank among the studio’s best, but collectors and completists will find a lot to like.

EXTRA KIBBLES

BONUS CARTOONS - Lighter Than Hare, with Bugs Bunny; Stork Naked, with Daffy Duck.