02.06
Of many little things that have occurred during my life in which I can remember, watching the classic Looney Tunes with my grandfather will remain one of the most memorable to me. You see, before there was TV or video to watch these fabled shorts, you’d have to go to a movie to see a cartoon short, and my grandfather was there when this was prevalent, so while I’d be making future memories, my grandfather was also reliving nostalgia, which added to our experiences. Now that we’ve been collecting the brilliant Golden Collections, we’ve been reliving good times, and I’ve been rediscovering why I appreciate animation so much; years of repeated viewings of Termite Terrace’s classics introduced how good timing and well-done animation can make entertainment all the better.
When volume six came out, I knew I’d have to get it, not only to watch the cartoons for old-times sakes, but also to give a darn-fine review of the set. One thing other Termite Terrace Traders may of noticed is that this set is scheduled to be the last of the famed Golden Collection, and when you look at the cartoons listed, it’s obvious how Jerry Beck and crew went all-out to commemorate this, but I’ll get to this later, as it’ll be best to tell you what you’re getting here.
On the first disc, which is typically noted for being primarily Bugs and Daffy related on each collection, the wave of cartoons starts off with yes, indeed, a Bugs Bunny cartoon, “Hare Trigger”, staring my grandfather’s ever-favorite Yosemite Sam. Strangely enough, however, this and disc 2’s “Herr Meets Hare” are the crowd-pleasing rabbit’s only contributions to this collection, and Daffy only has about 5 on this collection, as well. To me, this signalizes that this particular set isn’t meant for the general Looney Tunes fan who probably don’t know a character less obscure than Pussyfoot wouldn’t enjoy this set as much as the hardcore fans who could spot all the different scenes that were cut out of different syndication cycles that contained these cartoons.
So, while the duck and the rabbit are all but absent on the first disc, who do we have on it, then? Well, for a change we have some often overlooked characters by today’s standards like Foghorn Leghorn(my grandfather’s other favorite!), Pepe Le Pew, and even the Three Bears, as well as other favorites like Sylvester, Porky, and the Road Runner. Myself, I’m happy to get some Foghorns and Pepe on here for a change, since it seems by today’s standards that kids don’t know of them as well as Bugs and Daffy. After you’ll get through the initial 15 cartoons, bam la bam, check out the bonus features! There, we’ll discover the four bonus cartoons on the disc, which will help add to the collection’s total cartoon count of 75, 15 more than your typical Golden Collection, including a personal favorite, “Hippety Hopper”, which contains an underrated favorite series of shorts of mine, in which Sylvester and Junior trying to take on a “giant mouse”. As well as these bonus cartoons and your typical commentaries and audio-only tracks that fill up the extras, you get two TV specials staring the cartoons themselves, Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court and Daffy Duck’s Easter Egg-Citement. Despite often having Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones’ involvement in these specials, they often suffer from bland animation, uninspired writing, and often even just recycle the classic cartoons that we admire the characters for so much in favor of making a full story, and while the latter isn‘t prevalent, the former two are quite true here. Overall, I’d consider these shippable.
Disc two focuses on wartime cartoons, which comes out with mixed results. I’ll always consider “Russian Rhapsody” the classic that it is, but most of these propagandized cartoons come out as dated and offensive, and even overly informative, as the last three cartoons, “By Word of Mouse“, “Heir-Conditioned“, and “Yankee Dood It“, are literally nothing more but Economics lessons with Sylvester and Elmer Fudd in them, give or take a cartoony gag or two. On the opposite, however, it’s best to remember that these cartoons were made over half a century ago, when the public needed a break to laugh at the perils of the WWII. Another way to think about these cartoons is that while film will never completely replace print(that’s a given, anyway, as long as we’re still using scripts), animation is capable of breaking more barriers to bring satirical comments to life. And thanks to daring pieces like what we’ve received in this disc, we’re able to have cartoons like The Simpsons and South Park today.
In addition to three bonus cartoons alongside the 15, we also get a few extra shorts from Friz Freleng’s brief tenure at MGM Studios. Unlike Tex Avery’s shorts from the bigger-budgeted cartoon studio, Friz’s cartoons from here are, for the most part, uninspired and unfunny, so much so, that after only 2 cartoons in I had to sit out on them. While it is interesting to see a fabled director try something different than what he’s known for, and watching some of the Captain’s escapades in action, these sure are different from Sylvester & Tweety.
Possibly the most talked about disc is the third, which is entirely full of classical cartoons. By classical here, though, I am referring to Warner’s Harman & Ising era of shorts. Before Warner was sprucing out the cartoons we all know and love, most of what was coming out from Termite Terrace were Disney-like productions, where the cartoons were treated as merely child’s fare instead of laugh riots. I dislike this notion as Tex Avery has always believed that if you’re thinking about what ten-year-olds would find funny, you’re going to end up slowing your project’s pacing and dumb it down, and looking at today’s cartoons aimed at children, I think this belief is quite right. At the end of the day, though, we have to understand that this was the common practice at the time these cartoons were made, and that they must of done their job well, as they lasted for quite a while.
The biggest star on this disc is easily Bosko, the talk-ink kid, who we’ve already had a taste of on the previous disc’s “Bosko the Doughboy”. While he isn’t as charismatic as Porky or psychotic as Daffy whom in only a matter of years would replace him as the studio’s lead stars, Bosko can at least put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and he goes full out to entertain the masses on “Bosko in Person”. And to get it clear now, on the subtitles of “Bosko’s Picture Show”, the little guy merely said “The dirty fox!”, so keep that little novelty out of your heads.
I think the problem with these cartoons at the end of the day is that a majority of them are just advertisements for Warner’s song library and often forget to give a patricianly interesting or competent story alongside the pretty visuals. We get some cute shorts out of these, like “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile”, which is easily Foxy‘s, Warner’s most obvious Mickey clone, greatest appearance, while others, like “We’re in the Money”, are just dull(at the time this was made, weren’t we, in fact, NOT in the money?) The cartoons started to make more sense as the disc goes by, like with Buddy’s Our Gang-influenced shorts.
The initial 15 on the disc caps off with “A Cartoonist‘s Nightmare”, starring Beans, who was supposedly supposed to be Warner’s new Bosko but eventually got booted out in favor of his co-star in “I Haven’t Got a Hat”, a certain Mr. Pig. In this one, a somewhat-familiar cartoonist falls asleep in the middle of working on a Beans layout and somehow gets stuck inside the cartoon, forcing Beans to save him. The short was directed by Jack King, a popular director for another familiar duck over at Disney’s animation studio, and it shows, as the short focuses more on story rather than humor, which is what separates the two studio’s cartoons at the time; Disney was interested in plot, while Warner was just getting into funnies. As different as the cartoon may feel, it’s still a fun one to watch and worth looking over.
Four more charming-albeit-less-than-humorous follow in the extra’s department, as well as the main piece of the pie here; The World of Leon Schlesinger. This combines a great array of videos and other works left over from the cartooning site’s golden days and highlights that the people behind some of the greatest pieces of animation of all time are as crazy outside their heads as they are inside.
And the last disc features a massive supply of one-shot and experimental cartoons, which is probably my favorite of the four discs as a whole. It starts off with the Seuss-based classic “Horton Hatches the Egg”(appropriate considering that the big lug recently had a decent success at the box-office with Horton Hears a Who), which somehow manages to keep the crazy storybook writer’s insane visions to life. It’s also worth noting that even though this is the incredible Bob Clampett’s vision, fellow director Chuck Jones would one day bring to life the definitive interpretation of one of Seuss’ other most beloved characters, the Grinch. Of course, that ain’t all, folks.
I think the reason this disc is my favorite is that throughout the entire supply of shorts here, the reason the Looneys are so dear to us is highlighted all over. From the black comedy displayed in “Fresh Airdale” and “Chow Hound”, the satirical views of “Wild Wife” and “The Hole Idea”, to Jones’ groundbreaking “Now Hear This”, and even with the Golden book-esq “Bartholomew Versus the Wheel”, it’s all here, and it’s all good. One hidden gem I found in here was “Norman Normal”, a one-of-a-kind darling that stands on it’s own. Your general Looney Tuney cartoony style of visual humor is absent here, but what is here is a sense of wit and class that the animators of yore who’d recently left Warner’s animation department for dead never seemed to of matched.
The bonus feature to keep your eye on in here is Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, which may just be the man behind the voice’s greatest piece of documentation. After seeing how much he loved his job and how he loved to entertain, whatever high amount of respect you have for the man most likely should increase tenfold.
To sum this collection up as a whole, the fair-weather fan of Looney Tunes probably will find this collection uninteresting(my grandfather had little interest in the second and third discs, and I had to finish the last one myself), but the lovers of cartoons, comedy, or just entertainment as a whole(like) will likely get a kick out of this one, but may also find some of the cartoons to be less-than-great. This Trader, at least, approves of this collection.
Avaitor out.
Originally posted on Sunday, November 9, 2008.