Monday, January 20, 2014
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2
Just a quick reminder that Warner has released the second volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum collection on Blu-ray. The three disc set again contains fifty classic shorts, fully restored in pristine condition and presented in HD for the very first time. Needless to say it comes with a huge amount of special features, including extensive audio commentary tracks by Michael Barrier and John Kricfalusi, Bob Clapmpett, Eddie Fitzgerald, Kali Fontecchio and Greg Ford. The set also comes with a 28 page booklet filled with archival material, written by our good friend Jerry Beck.
While the first two discs contain 25 Looney Tunes shorts each, the third disc (which is not included in the regular DVD release) features some great classic material. Included are shorts from the 1930s, featuring Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, like Sinkin in the bathtub, Warners very first theatrical short, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. It also contains eleven more Tex Avery directed shorts, like Red Hot Riding Hood (with the famous sequence animated by Preston Blair) and The Blitz Wolf. Too bad these shorts were not restored and are therefor presented in Standard Def on the Blu-ray set. But maybe thats something for the future.
The fifty Looney Tunes shorts are presented in non-chronological order and were produced between 1938 (Porky in Egypt and Porky in Wackyland directed by Bob Clampett and Porkys Hare Hunt directed by Ben Hardaway) and 1959 (Friz Frelengs Mexicali Shmoes).
Above: Porky meets all kinds of crazy and then some, looking for the infamous last Dodo bird in Porky in Wackyland (left), with animation by Norman McCabe and Izzy Ellis. (remade in color in 1949 as Dough for the Do-Do). Right: Porky (and his camel) again go nuts later that year looking for Egyptian mummys, but finding not much else then a pretty vivid Mirage, in Porky in Egypt.
Among the collection of restored shorts are also all three cartoons from Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny hunting trilogy: Rabbit Fire(1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952, above) and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953, below). In these shorts, Bugs and Daffy try to outsmart each other, hoping to convince Elmer what kind of hunting season it really is, Duck or Rabbit! (images compiled by me from different takes).
The compilation also features valuable restored versions of the Oscar nominated shorts A Wild Hare (Bugs Bunny cartoon from 1940 that lost to Rudolph Isings The Milky Way), the 1957 Speedy Gonzalez short Tabasco Road, (lost to the Sylvester/Tweety short Birds Anonymous, from Warners Merrie Melodies) and Mexicali Shmoes, also a Speedy Gonzalez short (lost to John and Faith Hubleys Moonbirds in 1959).
All in all, a great collection of classic shorts that have been painstakingly restored in High Definition, something that obviously must have taken quite some time and a whole lot of love. Great job guys! For a complete list of all shorts and features go here.
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