It’s always a good day to read about restored cartoons that can find their way to your home.
Once again, the Warner Archive Collection is coming through with what you see on the right as of March 24th. You can see the list of shorts HERE.
There’s a lot of Chuck Jones in this two-volume set, but there are some cartoons by Art Davis, one by Tex Avery (The Heckling Hare) and even two of Norm McCabe’s efforts (the less than exciting Hop and Go and the in-need-of-restoration The Daffy Duckaroo). And there’ll be a clean, clear version of Jim Backus as the Hubert Updyke III genie in Bob McKimson’s A Lad in His Lamp that was last seen on laser disc.
Don’t expect Bosko or Buddy to show up here.
If you’re a fan of Famous Studios, you’ll be happy to hear word from Cartoon Logic that a 1940s collection will be distributed soon by ClassicFlix. There will be more about this in the new year.
These shorts really needed loving care; it seems the versions I’ve seen are either faded or turning a shade of pink. In fact, the TV prints I watched in the ‘60s don’t strike me as being all that great.
You can watch a clip below. The restoration is exemplary.
I hope they mean it about the side mats. Some DVD collections, like the Daffy Duck, pushed up the image (so we're missing the top and the bottom) to fit a 16x9 screen.
ReplyDeleteOf all the shorts listed as being in this collection, I think maybe six of them I'd be interested in having in a compilation I'd pay for. Of course it's an entirely subjective thing. I still say what needs to happen is that every cartoon be made available on an a la carte basis so that viewers can pick out their favorites and preview less familiar titles, download their selections, and burn their own DVDs. Or else simply put out every single title in release order. At least that way viewers could avoid repeats with these repackaged collections augmenting discs they already have or having to start over every time.