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Looney Tunes Golden Collection


Looney Tunes Golden Collection


The Looney Tunes Golden Collection is a series of six four-disc DVD sets from Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts originally released from the 1930s to 1960s. The initial run of the series was in folding cardboard packaging issued gradually from October 28, 2003 to October 21, 2008. A boxed set combining all six volumes was released in 2011, and each volume was reissued separately in standard Amaray-style cases in 2020.

Overview

The Golden Collection series was launched following the success of the Walt Disney Treasures series which collected archived Disney material.

These collections were made possible after the merger of Time Warner (which owned the color cartoons released from August 1, 1948, onward, as well as the black-and-white Looney Tunes, the post-Harman/Ising black-and-white Merrie Melodies and the first H/I Merrie Melodies entry Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) and Turner Broadcasting System (which owned the color cartoons released prior to August 1, 1948, and the remaining Harman/Ising Merrie Melodies; most of these cartoons had been released as part of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc series), along with the subsequent transfer of video rights to the Turner library from MGM Home Entertainment to Warner Home Video.

The cartoons included on the set are uncut, unedited, uncensored, and digitally restored and remastered from the original black-and-white and successive exposure Technicolor film negatives (or, in the case of the Cinecolor shorts, the Technicolor reprints). However, some of the cartoons in these collections are derived from the "Blue Ribbon" reissues (altered from their original versions with their revised front-and-end credit sequences), as the original titles for these cartoons are presumably lost. Where the original titles, instead of the "Blue Ribbon" titles, still exist, Warner has taken the "Blue Ribbon" titles out.

A handful of cartoons in the first two collections and the bonus cartoons on Volume 6 have digital video noise reduction (DVNR) artifacting. The noise reduction process sometimes unintentionally erases or blurs some of the picture on certain scenes of the cartoons, which has caused controversy among some Looney Tunes fans. The most recent collections, however, lack such artifacting. Since August 2007, Warner Home Video has been quietly reissuing copies of the fourth disc of Volume 2 that lacks artifacting and interlacing because of numerous complaints by consumers.

Beginning with Volume 3, a warning was printed on the packaging explaining that the collection is intended for adults and the content may not be suitable for children (except for Volume 6, which states that it isn't suitable for children). This goes along with Whoopi Goldberg's filmed introduction in Volume 3 which explains the history of ethnic imagery that frequently appears in cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s. Beginning with Volume 4, a singular disclaimer text card similar to Goldberg's spoken disclaimer precedes each disc's main menu. This is seen on the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection discs and even on the back of the Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection discs (though for the latter, they are from Universal, not Warner Bros.).

The DVDs also feature several special features including interviews/documentaries of the people behind the cartoons such as Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson, Chuck Jones, musical conductor Carl Stalling and voice-artist Mel Blanc, pencil tests, and audio commentaries by animation historians Jerry Beck, Michael Barrier and Greg Ford, as well as current animators Paul Dini, Eric Goldberg and John Kricfalusi and voice actors Stan Freberg and June Foray. In addition to the appearances by the above-mentioned, there is interview footage of Stan Freberg, June Foray, Noel Blanc, Billy West, Keith Scott, Mark Evanier, Bob Bergen, Joe Alaskey, Bill Melendez, Willie Ito, Corny Cole, Peter Alvarado and the children of the various directors: Robert McKimson, Jr., Ruth Clampett, Sybil Freleng and Linda Jones. Audio footage of Mel Blanc in recording sessions is heard as a bonus feature on several of the discs, as is an obscure audio clip of Arthur Q. Bryan rehearsing a line as Elmer Fudd in What's Opera, Doc?. In total, there are 356 cartoons (18 more than The Golden Age of Looney Tunes) spread throughout the six volumes.

In some regions, such as Regions 2 and 4, each disc in each volume is packaged (or re-packaged) separately. In this format, it was titled "Looney Tunes Collection" omitting 'Golden' from the title. There were no boxes to group the various volumes, and no numbering on the spine of each individual cover, so storage order was not easily maintained. The Region 1 box set has since been released in Regions 2 and 4.

Releases

Volume 1

Volume 1 (released on October 28, 2003) contains 56 cartoons (all in color) mostly from the 1950s with a smaller selection of shorts from the 1940s. Popular shorts include:

  • Baseball Bugs
  • Rabbit Seasoning
  • Bully for Bugs
  • Long-Haired Hare
  • High Diving Hare
  • Rabbit of Seville
  • Duck Amuck
  • The Scarlet Pumpernickel
  • Rabbit Fire
  • Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
  • Hair-Raising Hare
  • Fast and Furry-ous
  • For Scent-imental Reasons
  • Feed the Kitty
  • Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid
  • Tortoise Wins by a Hare
  • Speedy Gonzales
  • The Foghorn Leghorn
  • Devil May Hare

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one is dedicated to Bugs Bunny
  • Disc two is dedicated to Daffy Duck and Porky Pig
  • Discs three and four consist of an assortment of shorts featuring other characters, grouped by director: Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett on disc three, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson on disc four

Volume 2

Volume 2 (released on November 2, 2004) contains a broader selection of cartoons from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, including:

  • The Big Snooze
  • Broomstick Bunny
  • Bugs Bunny Rides Again
  • The Heckling Hare
  • Little Red Riding Rabbit
  • Tortoise Beats Hare
  • Baby Buggy Bunny
  • Beep, Beep
  • Stop! Look! And Hasten!
  • Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z
  • The Dover Boys
  • Mouse Wreckers
  • A Bear for Punishment
  • Bad Ol' Putty Tat
  • Gift Wrapped
  • Ain't She Tweet
  • Tweetie Pie
  • Kitty Kornered
  • Baby Bottleneck
  • Old Glory
  • The Great Piggy Bank Robbery
  • Porky in Wackyland
  • Back Alley Oproar
  • Book Revue
  • A Corny Concerto
  • I Love to Singa
  • Three Little Bops
  • One Froggy Evening
  • Show Biz Bugs
  • What's Opera, Doc?
  • You Ought to Be in Pictures

This is the first volume to have 60 cartoons, which would continue to be the "standard" number in later volumes (though most would also include additional "bonus" cartoons).

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one, as in the first edition, contains only Bugs Bunny cartoons.
  • Disc two contains Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote shorts, along with four cartoons from Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote creator Chuck Jones.
  • Disc three contains nine Sylvester/Tweety shorts, along with six cartoons starring Daffy Duck and/or Porky Pig.
  • Disc four is an all-stars disc, though there is some relation between each cartoon on the disc: they are either musicals, Hollywood parodies, set on a stage, or incorporate other forms of show business.

Volume 3

Volume 3 (released on October 25, 2005) contains a selection of cartoons (52 in color, 8 in black-and-white) mostly from the 1930s and 1940s, but with some from the 1950s and 1960s including such popular shorts as:

  • A Hare Grows in Manhattan
  • Hillbilly Hare
  • Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
  • Thugs with Dirty Mugs
  • Swooner Crooner
  • I Haven't Got a Hat
  • Porky's Romance
  • Porky's Party
  • Porky in Egypt
  • Pigs in a Polka
  • Porky Pig's Feat
  • Robin Hood Daffy
  • Claws for Alarm
  • Super-Rabbit
  • A Gruesome Twosome
  • Draftee Daffy
  • Falling Hare
  • Birds Anonymous
  • An Itch in Time
  • Odor-able Kitty
  • Walky Talky Hawky

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one, as with previous volumes, is only Bugs Bunny.
  • Disc two features Hollywood caricatures and parodies.
  • Disc three mainly concerns Porky Pig, with a few other pig-related cartoons thrown in.
  • Disc four is the all-stars disc.

Volume 4

Volume 4 (released on November 14, 2006) contains selections (51 in color and 9 in black and white) ranging from 1936 to 1966 (the latest Looney Tunes cartoon yet), including such popular shorts as:

  • Rabbit Hood
  • Operation: Rabbit
  • Mississippi Hare
  • 8 Ball Bunny
  • Knighty Knight Bugs
  • The Case of the Stuttering Pig
  • Plane Daffy
  • Puss N' Booty
  • The Stupid Cupid
  • Cat-Tails For Two
  • Mexicali Shmoes
  • The Pied Piper of Guadalupe
  • The Night Watchman
  • The Aristo-Cat
  • Dough Ray Me-ow
  • Mouse and Garden

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one continues the tradition of the only-Bugs Bunny disc.
  • Disc two is dedicated to director Frank Tashlin.
  • Disc three contains only Speedy Gonzales cartoons.
  • Disc four consists of cartoons starring obscure Looney Tunes cats, with a few Sylvester cartoons thrown in for good measure.

Volume 5

Volume 5 (released on October 30, 2007) contains 41 color cartoons and 19 black-and-white cartoons (the most of any set thus far), including such popular shorts as:

  • Ali Baba Bunny
  • Buccaneer Bunny
  • A Pest in the House
  • Stupor Duck
  • The Stupor Salesman
  • The Abominable Snow Rabbit
  • You Were Never Duckier
  • Bewitched Bunny
  • The Bear's Tale
  • Goldimouse and the Three Cats
  • Little Red Walking Hood
  • The Trial of Mr. Wolf
  • Buckaroo Bugs
  • Hare Ribbin'
  • The Old Grey Hare
  • The Wise Quacking Duck
  • The Daffy Doc
  • A Tale of Two Kitties
  • Eatin' on the Cuff
  • Porky at the Crocadero
  • Scrap Happy Daffy
  • Gold Diggers of '49
  • Porky's Preview
  • Wholly Smoke

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. This is the first time that the first disc is not entirely dedicated to Bugs Bunny, now sharing the spotlight with Daffy Duck.
  • Disc two contains parodies of fairy tale stories, mostly of Little Red Riding Hood.
  • Disc three honors the work of director Bob Clampett.
  • Disc four features Porky Pig and other early classics - all in black-and-white (the first such disc in the LTGC).

Volume 6

Volume 6 (released on October 21, 2008) concludes the entire series of the Golden Collection. The ratio of color to black-and-white cartoons (41 to 19) is the same as the previous volume. This volume contains such popular shorts as:

  • Hare Trigger
  • Crowing Pains
  • My Favorite Duck
  • Satan's Waitin'
  • Bear Feat
  • Dog Gone South
  • A Ham in a Role
  • Herr Meets Hare
  • Russian Rhapsody
  • The Draft Horse
  • The Ducktators
  • Horton Hatches the Egg
  • Fresh Airedale
  • Chow Hound
  • Rocket-Bye Baby
  • Much Ado About Nutting
  • The Hole Idea
  • Now Hear This
  • Page Miss Glory

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one features an all-star collection.
  • Disc two features cartoons with a World War II theme (and possibly World War I in the case of Bosko the Doughboy).
  • Disc three features early 1930s black and white cartoons that star Bosko, Buddy and other characters.
  • Disc four features a collection of one-shots.

Re-release

On December 27, 2011, Warner re-packaged all volumes in a single boxed set. From January through June 2020, each volume was reissued separately in standard Amaray-style cases.

Other DVD releases of Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection

Concurrently with the Golden Collections, Warner Home Video also released the Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, each volume of which packaged half of the cartoons of a Golden Collection, on two DVDs. The exception to this practice was in 2005, with Warner Home Video instead releasing the somewhat-misnamed Looney Tunes Movie Collection, which featured DVDs containing The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie and Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales.

Looney Tunes Super Stars

In November 2009, it was reported that two new single-disc DVD releases, with 15 cartoons each, would be released in April 2010. It was also reported that these 30 cartoons would not contain any duplicates that had already been released as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection releases. This series of DVDs is called Looney Tunes Super Stars and the first two titles are Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire and Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl. These new DVDs still have the cartoons digitally restored and remastered - in addition to being shown uncut and uncensored. A second set of Looney Tunes Super Stars DVDs was released on November 30, 2010. The titles in the second wave are Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth and Tweety & Sylvester: Feline Fwenzy (which featured a collection of 15 previously-on-DVD shorts).

Some viewers noted discs of the first wave proved to be cropped and distorted and otherwise poorly restored to present the shorts in "widescreen" as opposed to their original aspect ratio (though these were just for the post-1953 shorts). Warner Bros. stated the reason for this was that all post-1953 WB shorts were shown in matted-widescreen in theaters.

On December 1, 2010, animation expert Jerry Beck explained on the Shokus Internet Radio call-in talk program, Stu's Show that Warner aimed this series not at collectors, but at the mass market who expect it to fit on their widescreen TVs. He speculated that at some point down the road there will probably be a double-dip release of those shorts in a collector's DVD version with the video in fullscreen format. However, the Foghorn Leghorn disc contains both the matted-widescreen versions and the original fullscreen (and will most likely continue for future waves featuring new-to-DVD shorts). Jerry Beck stated on Stu's Show on December 1, 2010 that 2011 would see new Super Stars releases, such as a release titled Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (which features new-to-DVD shorts), another Sylvester release titled Sylvester and Hippety Hopper (with more new-to-DVD shorts) and another Bugs release (with double dips).

Looney Tunes Platinum Collection

Another new series, Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, was released on Blu-ray. The first volume was released on November 15, 2011. A 2-disc DVD version of the Platinum Collection was made available on July 3, 2012. The first two discs overlap with releases from the Golden and Super Stars collections. Two more volumes were released on Blu-ray and DVD in the following years.

Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection

In 2012, Warner Home Video released a 2-Disc Blu-Ray and DVD set titled Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection that contained both Sniffles and Hubie and Bertie's entire filmography.

Porky Pig 101

In 2017, Warner Archive released a 5-disc DVD set called Porky Pig 101 featuring the first 101 cartoons of Porky Pig's filmography.

Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection

In 2020, Warner Home Video released a 3-Disc Blu-ray Disc set collecting 60 Bugs Bunny cartoons, all digitally restored in HD, including 40 cartoons previously unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray Disc.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice

In January 2023, Warner Archive announced they would be releasing newly restored to disc shorts via the single disc Looney Tunes Collector's Choice series, with the first volume releasing on May 30, 2023.

Available shorts

This is a listing of the shorts in the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series currently available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collections, and its successors, Looney Tunes Super Stars, Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection, The Essential Bugs Bunny and The Essential Daffy Duck. A new series has made it to Blu-ray Disc with the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection. In addition Warner Archive released Porky Pig 101 which contained all 99 black and white Porky Pig cartoons. In 2020 Warner Home Video released Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection which contained several newly restored shorts that were previously unavailable on DVD or Blu-ray Disc. In 2023, Warner Archive began the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice series of Blu-Rays, beginning with Volume 1 released on May 30. This list also provides shorts included as bonus cartoons on miscellaneous DVDs.

Key

Giuseppe Zanotti Luxury Sneakers

See also

  • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1960–1969)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1970–present and miscellaneous)
  • The Golden Age of Looney Tunes
  • Looney Tunes Super Stars - the successor series of DVDs dedicated to one star of the series per DVD
  • Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Blu-ray successor

References


Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Looney Tunes Golden Collection by Wikipedia (Historical)

Articles connexes


  1. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1
  2. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2
  3. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
  4. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3
  5. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4
  6. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5
  7. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6
  8. Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1
  9. Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection
  10. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959)
  11. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
  12. Looney Tunes Collector's Choice
  13. Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3
  14. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1960–1969)
  15. Looney Tunes Super Stars
  16. Looney Tunes
  17. Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2
  18. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
  19. List of Looney Tunes feature films
  20. The Bugs Bunny Show