Saturday, 18 January 2020

I Like Him. He's Screwy.

There’s an old saying about not counting chickens before they’re hatched. How many people actually count chickens these days, I’m not sure, but that’s beside the point.

To the right, you see a chicken. One chicken. We can count it because it’s hatched.

To the left, you see a washed out frame from the cartoon Uncle Tom’s Cabaña (1947). It’s not any cartoon. It’s a cartoon that carries some racial baggage, but that’s also beside the point.

It’s not just any cartoon. It’s a Tex Avery cartoon. Fans of his work at MGM have been hoping—I don’t know for how long—for some kind of release of all his Metro cartoons by the current rights holders, Warner Bros. I’m among them. I love an awful lot of Tex’s cartoons. I even like Screwy Squirrel, though Tex insisted he did not. You may have noticed I post frames from a Tex Avery cartoon once a week here.

Well, it appears something is happening, judging by this purposely-vague video.


So is this a full Avery set? (It looks like only one disc). Is it just the old Droopy set un-DNVR’d for Blu-Ray, or will we get great shorts like Bad Luck Blackie and Magical Maestro? Will scenes be cut (or, in the case of Uncle Tom’s Cabaña or Half-Pint Pygmy, whole cartoons omitted)? I’d rather not speculate.

We will get the answers next Tuesday. I’ve waited all this time. I can wait some more. At this point, Jerry Beck has confirmed the disc you see in the video is a first volume. I can do no better than to suggest you keep an eye on his Animation Scoop site for accurate and timely information. For now, we’ll avoid chicken-counting.
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3 comments:

  1. J Lee18 January 2020 at 07:30

    Hopefully the favorable reception of the Famous Studios' early color Popeyes for Warner Archive has convinced the Powers That Be that money is to be had by doing the same thing with the Avery 1942-55 MGM films. If they do 14 per set like the Popeyes, that would be five volumes exactly, if you toss in the two CinemaScope remakes.

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    1. Yowp18 January 2020 at 08:06

      JL, I'll just be happy to see the crisp and clean versions of the cartoons as originally shown in theatres. Anything else is a bonus.

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  2. Jonathan Wilson18 January 2020 at 10:19

    It's a long shot, but I hope to see some bonus features of any kind. That's been sorely lacking from the Famous-Popeye sets (Porky is the one with commentary, but alas, it's only repeats). Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing repeats of Avery docs from the Golden Collection. It just seems almost criminal to give Avery the Vanilla treatment.

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