Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6

As Spike, the bulldog in that famous cat-and-mouse series from another studio entirely, once put it, "'dis is more like it!!"

I have wanted the LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION series to look like the contents of these four truly golden disks for as long as the collection existed! This collection truly has something for everyone--cartoons from the days that were golden to those who were introduced to these characters on many a Saturday morning, and cartoons for those of us (like me) who grew up knowing that there were LOONEY TUNES before Bugs and Daffy and the rest of the characters that most folks (and the clothing makers) are familiar with. No one, and I mean *NO ONE* should be complaining here. I think I've played the contents of these disks more than I've played all the contents of the other sets combined, and the pure gold in these sets have also forced me to go back and appreciate all over again the true essence of other volumes in this collection. My only down side is that I wish it were still going beyond six volumes but, judging from the previous reviews here, it seems as if the collections that indeed are promised for the future may have to further sharpen their focus, perhaps a deeper unearthing of all the decades of this studio's prominence in separate volumes, to each find their nitch audience as so many are sneering here at the diligence of those at Warner Brothers who do really care about the history of the animation studio. It is all very important and should be seen in volume after volume, and gathering them into one detailed series is getting those who would have never given some titles a toss a chance to again check the stuff out and enjoy the studio in all its incarnations and struggles to get to where it got before the doors were closed in the 1960's.

We finally get the taste that some of us have been longing for of the wartime shorts here, with the inclusion of an ultra-rare WB short called "THE DUCKTATORS", now seen here with its ending intact, and even the earliest LOONEY TUNES star, Bosko, suddenly finding his world at war! On the same disk, as bonus feature, we get a glimpse at what Friz Freleng had done during a time away from the Warner Brothers cartoon studio, working on a failed series for MGM of the KATZENJAMMER KIDS comic strip, here called THE CAPTAIN & THE KIDS, and, despite its unpopularity even with the animators, we see that Freleng ads his own comic touch to some of these shorts, like the beer barrel sequence in "A DAY AT THE BEACH" and the hilarious results of the horse in "MAMA'S NEW HAT" accidentally tipping over a bottle of glue and getting an electric fan stuck on its rump--makes me long for a similar unearthing and restoration on these and other more notable MGM titles to show the touches given to that studio by the likes of Mel Blanc who voiced the goofy raven in the two BOOK WORM cartoons produced by Hugh Harmon.

The third disk is daring in its exposure of some shorts that show our perspective on the world during the 1930's. It is a unique time capsule as the studio begins to formulate and the animators find their way. Now, we finally get to see the uncut version of "BUDDY'S CIRCUS", a cartoon often severely edited on Nickelodeon showings, and then there is the simple but surreal "CARTOONIST'S NIGHTMARE", a premise perhaps somewhat better executed at a studio like Max Fleischer's during that same period and before, but it is still a unique touch. It is also notable that we finally get the complete "blooper reel" or gag reel that those at Termite Terrace produced to amuse themselves at the Warner Brothers Christmas party.

The set closes on a high note, too, with an ASSORTED NUTS collection of one shots that prove the studio's diversity over the years, displaying that, even within the often-disliked final period of "limited animation", the last theatrical age of LOONEY TUNES and MERRIE MELODIES, the mid-1960's, there was still a hint of something novel and creative. In fact, I liked the way the set closes, with an inventive cartoon from its early period ("PAGE MISS GLORY") and its final days ("NORMAN NORMAL"), the latter featuring the vocal talents of Peter, Paul & Mary with the comedy "stylings" and vocal clowning of Paul Stookey, telling the story of one man and his dissatisfaction with the corporate world which should be played over and over again during our current economic trials! It is not only a time capsule, but a film that still unfortunately remains relevant!

This set is an absolute triumph, and I want Warner Brothers to know that I've never seen such an intelligent, clear-headed collection from any studio to rival this. If this is the end of the series, I only hope that the years hence bring us gems that dig even deeper into the vaults before the ravages of time do a healthy job of stealing more of our memories! Wonderful job, guys and gals. This should win all kinds of awards for its excellence! It should and will not be the last "hoorah" for all LOONEY TUNES and MERRIE MELODIES as this is just the tip of the iceberg! The true thaw has begun!

If you are perhaps a cartoon historian you might appreciate this collection, however, this set of cartoons is not entertaining. There are a lot of cartoons that are just not funny. So if you are a casual cartoon fan, I would stay away from it.

The sixth Looney Tunes Golden Collection is here! Sound the welcomes and blow the crumpets!

This is a nice addition to the Golden Collection series, yet there are a few aspects that prevent this set from reaching the lofty heights of a few of the previous volumes.

Disc One has a great mix of cartoons, ranging from Yosemite Sam's debut to a couple of Foghorn Leghorn classics. (One frustrating thing about the Golden Collection is how few Foggy cartoons were included - considering that Speedy Gonzales got an entire disc..!)

Disc Two features a lot of rare WW2 cartoons, as well as the three WB cartoons of the 50's that speak of the vitures of capitalism.

Disc Three probably won't appeal to the average fan, but the early B&W cartoons are fun to watch on a rainy afternoon (for me, anyway!).

Disc Four is pure gold! Many rare, one-shot cartoons that fans have wanted to get for years. These one-shot cartoons are films the directors *wanted* to make. They often feature experimental storylines and artwork. They are also often better than the films that featured WB's usual cast of characters.

The bonus features on this collection are quite sparse, yet we *do* get one of the best bonus items in the whole Golden Collection series - the infamous Schlesinger Christmas reels!

The Christmas reels are short comedy programs made by the studio to be shown before the employees all went out to the annual Christmas party. It's a treat to be able to see all of the people who worked at the studio all those years ago.

There is also an optional commentary by Martha Sigall and Jerry Beck. Martha identifies just about everyone in the short films. Her memories offer a wonderful glimpse into life at the studio and finally being able to put faces to the names we've seen all these years is a treat! (After watching the reels, go watch "Russian Rhapsody" and try to see which
gremlin was which Schlesinger employee!)

Sadly, apart from the Christmas reels and the in-depth feature on Mel Blanc, the rest of the bonus features included are lacking.

The "bonus" shorts are unrestored, which is painfully obvious. Warner Brothers has said that future collections won't "double dip", yet I hope this doesn't mean these bonus shorts won't be restored. Including them on this set seems to suggest that they won't be restored in the future. That would be unfortunate.

The number participants for cartoon commentaries also dropped off. Only Jerry Beck, Greg Ford, and Mark Kausler took part. Earlier volumes featured more of a variety of participants, so it seems like this is more bare-bones release than the earlier collections.

The "lower-shelf" feeling is also enhanced by some quality-control issues too... For example, there is a Jerry Beck introduction on disc three for the "Bugs Bunny Bond Rally", yet that film is not on the disc. What's more, the packaging lists a Jerry Beck commentary for "Fifth Column Mouse", yet there is no commentary for that cartoon on the disc...

Volume 6 is a welcome addition to the Golden Collection series, but maybe it is time to move on. The bare-bones "bonus" features and lack of commentary participants makes this release seem to be not as special as earlier volumes. The lack of quality control also makes you wonder if now might be the best time to end this series. (Maybe we'll eventually see collections that feature characters like Foghorn Leghorn and Pepe Le Pew (ala the "Golden Jubilee 24 Karat" VHS collections from the mid-80's.)

But, the (main) episodes look as great as the cartoons do on the earlier sets, which is why we buy these in this first place. For that fact alone this set is highly recommended!

Warner Bros recently announced that they expect sales of Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6 to be "mild," and that this release will probably be the last of the series. They did say that they would continue releasing the cartoons under a different title, but I know that merely changing the title of the releases isn't going to improve the sales numbers.

The reason the Golden Collections aren't selling so well is because they refuse to make the DVDs that people want. People want a variety of different characters on each disc, not 15 cartoons in a row all of the same character.

The people who were waiting for Foghorn Leghorn and Pepe Le Pew are going to be really upset that Vol. 6 has a disc of Bosko and Buddy instead. Almost no one cares about those cartoons. Those cartoons should have had their own seperate release instead of being mixed in on Vol. 6 with the cartoons that everyone wants.

Want to make something that sells a huge amount? Release a 10 disc (single sided, double layered) set of 300 cartoons where each disc has a wide variety of characters. That would sell very, very well.

If a 10 disc set would be too expensive for a lot of people, then how about 10 individual releases, with 30 cartoons per disc?

Each disc could have:

3 Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd cartoons

2 Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam

1 Bugs Bunny and minor character

1 Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

4 Daffy Duck

1 Daffy Duck and Porky Pig

2 Porky Pig

3 Tweety and Sylvester

2 Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote

2 Foghorn Leghorn

1 Speedy Gonzales

1 Pepe Le Pew

1 Marvin the Martian or 1 Tasmanian Devil

1 Marc Antony and Pussyfoot or 1 Hubie and Bertie

1 Wolf and Sheepdog or 1 Goofy Gophers

4 Miscellaneous or one shots or some other cartoon, which could include any of the above characters

Mix the cartoons around so no character appears in two consecutive cartoons.

Each disc could have a suggested price of $19.99 and an actual price of $13.99.

They could be called "Classic Looney Tunes Vol. 1" and so on.

Huge numbers of people would buy these.

I love Road Runner cartoons. But who wants to watch 11 of them in a row, as is the current situation on Vol. 2?

Wouldn't it be more fun to watch a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and then a Road Runner cartoon, and then a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon?

If the executives at Warner Bros want to make money, they should not ignore the wishes of their customers.

Another fabulous collection of shorts. I'm a fan who LOVES the older and more obscure titles. Bring on MORE Bosko and Buddy and 1930's black and white. One thing I especially liked about this set is that the discs were well mixed. Sure, Bugs is great, (as is Daffy, Speedy and everyone else) but sitting through 15 Bugs shorts in a row can get a wee bit tiresome.

Downsides? Disc one of my set is defective, so it has to go back for an exchange. (This is the only time I've had a problem with a LT set, so I'm sure it's a fluke.) And I might have liked to see more and better extras. I'm guessing that, after 5 sets, they've run out of documentaries and such, but why put 5 more standard titles on the disc and call them 'special features?' Why not more Private Snafu on the military disc? Or some of the more politically incorrect Buddys and Boskos on the 'early days' disc? Also frustrating was the inability to play the audio commentaries AND the subtitles at the same time.

Finally, the loss of foreign language tracks and subtitles is a dissappointment. (Yes, I'm quite fluent in English, but have always enjoyed listening to Daffy speaking French!)

Here's hoping that when they release their next series, they continue to offer new, never-before-released-on-DVD, shorts. (And not, as someone else fears, 15 re-releases and 5 new titles on each disc.)