Thursday 19 March 2020

More Tex

The country wolf sums up the reaction of Tex Avery fans when the world was told there would finally (!) be a Blu-ray release of some of his MGM cartoons. Animation fans couldn’t order it fast enough.

Now, Jerry Beck has revealed the Warner Archive people will be releasing Volume 2. When? Well, with the pandemic situation the way it is, the time line is a bit in doubt but it’ll be before the end of the year.

The revelation was made yesterday on the Stu’s Show podcast.

A few other things mentioned by the inimitable Mr. Beck:

● There were supposed to be 20 cartoons on Volume 1, but one was left off because of some temporary skittishness somewhere within Warners (in offices of entertainment companies, skittishness is practically an incurable pandemic). However, this cartoon will be included in Volume 2. Jerry left enough clues that the cartoon in question is Happy Go Nutty (1944). The cartoon contains an explosion/blackface gag cut out of other video and television releases.



I’m very pleased Warner Archive is releasing the cartoons uncensored. You’ll get to see a fully-restored version of the gag above along with some very funny stuff (including Avery’s end-title card turnabout).
● There will be more than 20 cartoons on this Blu-ray. Jerry didn’t say which ones but, in his opinion, this release will be better than the last one. There are so many great Avery cartoons, I’ll be happy with whatever is put on disc. I am looking forward to a restored Magical Maestro, though it’s best seen at a theatre because of Avery’s use of corners of the frame. It would be a treat if the original ending of Lucky Ducky somehow could make it onto the release. And Blitz Wolf, Avery’s first MGM release, is a huge jump from much of what he did at Warners, and it will have its war-time gags restored (some anti-Japanese animation was either changed or deleted). And there are so many more.
● The door is open to possible bonus materials. The impression I get from Jerry is Warners is like any huge conglomerate. It owns all kinds of things but they’re all separate and apart. So just like profits from Disneyland aren’t used to shore up some ABC streaming channel, Warner Archive can’t just put its hand out and get cash from Warner Home Video or any of its other entertainment companies. It’s a small operation that has to make it on its own, or at least well enough so the corporate hierarchy doesn’t dissolve it. This is a windy way of saying Warner Archive doesn’t have the money for frills. Assembling a little professional-looking video, even limiting it to stills and voice-over narration, takes time and some expense. Perhaps Jerry and Mark Kausler or Keith Scott could be induced to do commentary tracks. Even .png files of the MGM cartoon synopses from the Library of Congress would be welcome. Keith, incidentally, is responsible for what really is the bonus material for the first Blu-ray, though it’s not on the Blu-ray itself. He wrote about the voice actors on Volume 1 at the Cartoon Research website.
● Eventually, all of Tex’s MGM cartoons will be released.
● Other Warner Archive projects are taking a proverbial back seat (in the Car of Tomorrow?) for now. Sorry, fans of the churn-‘em-out, 1950s Famous Popeyes, it means you’ll have to wait because...sing along now:
I’m full of bravery
But let’s see Tex Avery
Says Popeye the Sailor Man
(Toot Toot. Eyebrow goes up and down)


By the way, if you want to hear animator Bob Jaques and Thad Komorowski examine each of the cartoons on Volume 1, tune into their podcast here.

Again, my thanks and appreciation to Jerry Beck for making these sets finally a reality.

12 comments:

  1. HOORAY!! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RELEASE - WE'VE WAITED THIS LONG FOR VOLUME I, AND GIVEN WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD TODAY, WE CAN WAIT FOR VOLUME II!!

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  2. I also know that Mark Kausler's original print of "The Shooting Of Dan McGoo" has previously been transferred to digital, and I severely would like this opportunity for it to get presented to the world on this set (I hope I hope I hope)!

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    1. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW THE MOST OF ALL AS WELL....
      i also want to know if they will be using the correct titlecard for "The Early Bird Dood It!" as the reprint version had the bird's tail removed, even though said tail is still there on the poster used in the actual short itself.

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  3. Replies
    1. The Blu-rays (and DVDs) released by Warner are region-free, yes.

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    2. These are Blu-ray format. Do Blu-rays have regions?

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  4. Great post, YOWP. A few things: Blitz Wolf will obviously not be a problem contents-wise, because that cartoon has already been released 100% uncensored on both the 2008 Academy Awards DVD set and the bonus disc of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 Blu-ray set. (Also, Happy-Go-Nutty was released uncut on the Compleat Tex Avery LaserDisc set, so it hasn't been censored on ALL earlier video releases.)

    Your point that "Eventually, all of Tex’s MGM cartoons will be released" is interesting, because some users on the IAD forums interpreted Jerry's comments differently (apparently, he sais stuff like "You should be glad for the cartoons you're getting"): https://www.intanibase.com/forum/posts/m29536-Jerry-Beck-on-Stu-s-Show---3-18-20#post29536 I obviously hope all of them will be released.

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    1. Sigh. I don't have the Avery stuff on the Platinum Collection. Thanks for letting me know. As you can see above, I have an uncut Blitz Wolf so it's out there.
      The impression I got from Jerry, in response to a question by Stu, was that the hope is to release all the Avery MGM cartoons. Jerry can correct me if I'm mistaken. I don't want to misinterpret what he said.

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  5. Wow!Volume 1 is awesome!Cant wait to have volume 2 😍🥰😜

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  6. For all its faults, Porky 101 had every B/W Porky Pig cartoon uncut, some of which are the most un-PC Warner-owned shorts that aren't part of the Censored 11.

    I hope good sales and a lack of complaints give the WAC plenty of leverage for Tex.

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