RESTORED, REMASTERED AND REE-DICULOUS: COMPLETELY UNCUT AND UNCENSORED LOONEY-NESS, INCLUDING SOME HOME VIDEO DEBUTS! You know what you want. More three-day weekends. More ounces in a pound of chocolates. More Looney Tunes... more ». Your wish is our command. Because in this 4-disc set are 60 more of the most looneytic Looney Tunes ever unleashed on rabbit, duck, pig or humanity. Indeed, some have never before been on home video! Disc 1 features the tall, gray and haresome one. Disc 2 lampoons Hollywood. Ham actor Porky Pig rules Disc 3. And Disc 4 has the duck and a cast of crazies. One thing: to watch these, you must be as tall as this sign. Wrong disclaimer. Read the one in the box below. Got the idea? Now have fun. And pass the chocolates. Disclaimer Box Copy: The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3 Is Intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children.« less
15. "To Beep or Not to Beep" (Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote; 1963)
Audio Commentary by:
Jerry Beck ("Birds Anonymous" and "Gonzales Tamales" with Art Leonardi)
Paul Dini ("Super Rabbit")
John Kricfalusi ("A Gruesome Twosome", "Falling Hare" and "An Itch in Time" with Bill Melendez)
Michael Barrier ("Odor-able Kitty" and "Walky Talky Hawky")
Milt Gray ("A Gruesome Twosome
Known Bonus Features:
*"Philbert" - a rare 1963 TV pilot (Theatrical version)
*Private Snafu in "Gas" *Private Snafu in "Rumors" *Private Snafu in "Spies"
*"Point Rationing of Foods" (a rarely seen wartime short released 2/25/43)
* "The Bear That Wasn't" (the 1967 MGM Cartoon by Chuck Jones, based on the book by Frank Tashlin)
* THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW - "The Honeymousers" (Production #1822 telecast 7/24/62)
* STORYBOARDS (includes deleted scenes):
1. "Falling Hare"
2. "Porky's Party"
* FROM THE VAULTS:
1. "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" (1930 - first Looney Tunes cartoon)
2. "It's Got Me Again" (1932 - the first Warner Bros. cartoon nominated for an Academy Award)
* New Documentaries on:
1. Frank Tashlin
2. Black & White cartoons
3. Restoration of cartoons
4. Pepe Le Pew
5. The Bugs-Elmer-Daffy Trilogy
6. Looney Tunes Go To War
7. Birds Annonymous tribute
So There it is. Hope you enjoy"
Best Collection Yet
Jaime J. Weinman | Canada | 07/21/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This third entry in the popular "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" series looks to be the best yet, mostly because of the selection of cartoons. Volume 1 was great, but the selection was too heavily weighted in favor of a relatively short period of time (about 1948 to 1953). Volume 2 had a more diverse selection of cartoons, but had to include more Road Runner and Tweety cartoons than could comfortably be watched in one sitting. Volume 3 has the widest range of Warner Brothers cartoons yet, ranging from the debut of Porky Pig in 1935 to the end of the WB animation studio in 1963. And each disc will present a varied lineup of cartoons that can be watched from beginning to end with pleasure.
Disc 1 is another Bugs Bunny festival, including such classics as the last cartoon in Chuck Jones's Bugs/Daffy/Elmer hunting trilogy, Bugs's great square dance routine in "Hillbilly Hare," and less-familiar masterpieces such as the bizarre "Rebel Rabbit." Disc 2 concentrates on cartoons with Hollywood parodies and celebrity caricatures, ranging from Tex Avery's great gangster-movie spoof "Thugs With Dirty Mugs" to Robert McKimson's "The Mouse that Jack Built," with the cast of the Jack Benny Show voicing themselves. Disc 3, "Porky and the Pigs," mostly concentrates on WB's longest-running star, Porky Pig, featuring a generous helping of hilarious and imaginative black-and-white cartoons by Frank Tashlin and Bob Clampett, as well as later classics like "Robin Hood Daffy." And disc 4, "All Stars Cartoon Party," collects some of the very best cartoons of WB's biggest cartoon stars, including Tweety and Sylvester's Oscar-winning "Birds Anonymous," the debuts of Foghorn Leghorn and Pepe Le Pew, and Daffy trying to dodge the draft in "Draftee Daffy." There are many masterpieces in this collection and few duds, a tribute to the astonishing depth of the WB cartoon catalogue.
The extras will be up to the previous high standard and then some, with new featurettes including a tribute to director Frank Tashlin; from-the-vault rarities including the unaired animation/live-action pilot PHILBERT (directed by Friz Freleng and a young Richard Donner); original storyboards; music-only tracks; and additional cartoons with characters like Bosko and Private Snafu. For the commentaries, WB has engaged a wider range of commentators this time around in addition to stalwarts Michael Barrier, Greg Ford and Jerry Beck, including superhero cartoon specialist Paul Dini commenting on Chuck Jones's superhero cartoon parody "Super-Rabbit," John Kricfalusi on several Bob Clampett cartoons; "Aladdin" animator Eric Goldberg on two Jones cartoons; Joe Dante on a cartoon by one of his biggest influences, Frank Tashlin; and more. As long as WB avoids the encoding and DVNR problems that afflicted some of the cartoons on the previous set, this should be the best Looney Tunes DVD collection ever -- until set # 4."
One Star Less for Disclaimer
R. Schneblin | CA USA | 11/01/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a good collection. Most of which date back to the early days and introduce beloved Looney Tunes characters. Some of my all-time favorites are here as well such as Hillbilly Hare, Duck Rabbit Duck, Windblown Hare, Rabbit Punch and Talky Hawky.
However, I have dropped a star for the Whoopee Goldberg "racial warning". Having it popup and autoplay on every DVD is overkill. If WB would have made it a menu item called "Sensitivity Disclaimer" that would have been fine.
Actually, I'm getting sick and tired of all DVDs shoving ads, warnings, disclaimers, branding, menu intros, and coming attractions in my face. I have just three DVD titles that do it right. Pop in the DVD, the movie plays immediately. Press the menu button and there is the main menu to select from."
Best Looney Tunes Golden Collection so far.
b. Touch | Orlando, FL | 11/20/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've purchased both of the first two Looney Tunes sets the day they came out, and this one is no exception. Volume 3 is a healthy improvement over the other two in terms of variety of cartoon selection (this set runs the gamut from 1930's "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" all the way to 1959's "The Mouse That Jack Built"), a wide variety of knowledgeable audio commentary providers (Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg, John K., Eddie Fitzgerald, and Joe Dante, among many others)
I'm one of the people that prefer the older, black and white and early Technicolor Looney Tunes to the later ones. I'm particularly fond of the shorts made during the 1940s. This collection has my favorite Porky Pig cartoon, "Porky's Pig Feat", and plenty of other black-and-white Porkys. Plus, you get other classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts like "Falling Hare", "Wakiki Rabbit", "Super Rabbit", "Draftee Daffy", "The Wabbit Who Came to Super", "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!", "The Gruesome Twosome", and a whole lot more.
The selection process for each volume is entirely dependent upon which cartoons have been restored and are available for inclusion. The restorations (which by the way are extraordinary, the washed-out red-tinted broadcast versions of these cartoons are NO substitute for the bright, clear restored versions) take a long time, aren't cheap, and apparently aren't being done in any particular order). So, everyone wondering why their favorites aren't included; they're coming eventually. We just have to wait it out; I personally want to see more of the World War II and mid-1940s Chuck Jones cartoons. But as soon as they're ready, they'll be released.
The special features, while not as comprehensive as the first set (which may not ever be topped in that respect), are still very good: some "Bugs Bunny Show" wraparounds, two full-length documentaries (one on Chuck Jones, the other on Bugs Bunny), plenty of "Behind the Tunes" featurettes (including one on the restoration, satisfying the film technology buff within), and three Private Snafu cartoons as well. Oh, and the menus are spectacular (especially compared to Volume 1's okay menus, and the horrid eyesores that passed for menus on volume two).
There is one area that puzzles me, however: Whoopi Goldberg. While it is obviously apparent that she was needed to introduce the "Tom & Jerry" Volume 2 set (because it contains cartoons featuring Mammy Two-Shoes, a Black character based in racist stereotypes), I'm not quite certain if the slight amount of potentially offensive material included here (Bosko himself is a blackface caricature, I believe a racist caricature or two pop up in the Hollywood cartoons ("Goofy Groceries" has one), and Daffy Duck plays craps with the Black elevator operator--who is heard, but not seen--in "Porky Pig's Feat) warranted Goldberg's forced introduction on all four discs. Perhaps Warner Bros. is setting this up in anticipation of attempting to slide one of the "Censored 11" shorts onto a future volume. Goldberg's introduction doesn't sound like she wrote it herself (which she should have been allowed to do, because I don't think Goldberg would have made it a point to mention WB hired the first Black animator as retribution for their having made cartoons with racially offensive gags), and the segment seems a bit clipped in tone (The Tom and Jerry one is better). If and when WB does decide to release the censored cartoons, Goldberg's inclusion will be seen as a necessary evil (I love her acting and comedy work, but, as a Black man, I am generally apprehensive of apologist disclaimers such as these).
All in all, a highly recommended set. If you have the forty bucks to spend on it, don't hesitate to get it. And if you don't have the money...save up!
Very highly recommended."
To Azure1
G. Flinn | Flint MI | 10/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The classic Warner cartoons were never produced in a wide-screen format. If you look at the titles, the titles of cartoons from the mid-1950s onward do not touch the top and bottom of the frame. The animation also concentrates on the center of the screen. If you see some Blue Ribbon classics of the era which kept the credits, most of them are the original credits and lost the tops and bottoms when shown on the wide screen in theaters."