Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Volume Three

YES!!! I have been waiting for this! I can't wait untill it comes out.

I found some info on Golden age Cartoons.

Here it is.

Disc #1: Bugs Bunny Classics

1. "Hare Force" (Bugs Bunny; 1944)

2. "Hare Remover" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1946)

3. "Hare Tonic" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1945)

4. "A Hare Grows in Manhattan" (Bugs Bunny; 1947)

5. "Easter Yeggs" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1947)

6. "The Wabbit Who Came to Supper" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1942)

7. "Bowery Bugs" (Bugs Bunny, Steve Brody; 1949)

8. "Homeless Hare" (Bugs Bunny; 1950)

9. "The Case of the Missing Hare" (Bugs Bunny, Ali Bama; 1942)

10. "Acrobatty Bunny" (Bugs Bunny; 1946)

11. "Wackiki Wabbit" (Bugs Bunny; 1943)

12. "Hare Do" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1949)

13. "Rebel Rabbit" (Bugs Bunny; 1949)

14. "Hillbilly Hare" (Bugs Bunny; 1950)

15. "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!" (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd)

Audio Commentary by:

Jerry Beck ("The Wabbit Who Came to Supper" with Martha Sigall)

Michael Barrier ("Bowery Bugs" and "Hillbilly Hare")

John Kricfalusi ("Wackiki Wabbit")

Eric Goldberg ("Duck! Rabbit! Duck!")

Greg Ford ("Hare Remover", "Hare Tonic", and "A Hare Grows in Manhattan")

Eddie Fitzgerald ("Wackiki Wabbit")

Disc #2: Hollywood Caricatures and Parodies

1. "Daffy Duck in Hollywood" (Daffy Duck; 1938)

2. "Hollywood Capers" (Beans; 1935)

3. "The Coo-Coo Nut Grove" (1936)

4. "Porky's Road Race" (Porky Pig; 1937)

5. "The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos" (1937)

6. "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" (1937)

7. "The Film Fan" (Porky Pig; 1939)

8. "Speakin' of the Weather" (1937)

9. "Thugs with Dirty Mugs" (Edward G. Robbemsome; 1939)

10. "Goofy Groceries" (Jack Bunny; 1941)

11. "Swooner Crooner" (Porky Pig; 1944)

12. "Wideo Wabbit" (Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd; 1956)

13. "The Honey-Mousers" (1956)

14. "The Last Hungry Cat" (Tweety, Sylvester; 1961)

15. "The Mouse That Jack Built" (Jack Benny; 1959)

Audio Commentary by:

Jerry Beck ("Hollywood Capers" with Martha Sigall)

Michael Barrier ("The Coo-Coo Nut Grove")

Greg Ford ("Daffy Duck in Hollywood" and "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter")

Daniel Goldmark ("Swooner Crooner")

June Foray ("The Honey-Mousers")

Disc #3: Porky and the Pigs

1. "I Haven't Got a Hat" (Porky Pig, Beans; 1935)

2. "Porky's Romance (Porky Pig, Petunia Pig; 1937)

3. "Porky's Party" (Porky Pig; 1938)

4. "Porky in Egypt" (Porky Pig, Humpty Bumpty; 1938)

5. "Porky and Teabiscuit" (Porky Pig; 1939)

6. "Pigs Is Pigs" (Piggy; 1937)

7. "Pigs in a Polka" (1943)

8. "Porky Pig's Feat" (Porky Pig, Daffy Duck; 1943)

9. "Daffy Duck Slept Here (Porky Pig, Daffy Duck; 1948)

10. "Bye, Bye Bluebeard" (Porky Pig; 1949)

11. "An Egg Scramble" (Porky Pig, Miss Prissy; 1950)

12. "Robin Hood Daffy" (Daffy Duck, Porky Pig; 1958)

13. "The Windblown Hare" (Bugs Bunny; 1949)

14. "Claws for Alarm (Porky Pig, Sylvester; 1954)

15. "Rocket Squad" (Daffy Duck, Porky Pig; 1956)

Audio Commentary by:

Jerry Beck ("I Haven't Got a Hat")

Mark Kausler ("Porky's Romance")

John Kricfalusi ("Porky's Party")

Daniel Goldmark ("Pigs in a Polka")

Joe Dante ("Porky Pig's Feat")

Eric Goldberg ("Robin Hood Daffy")

Eddie Fitzgerald ("Claws for Alarm")

Paul Dini ("Rocket Squad")

Disc #4: All Stars Cartoon Party

1. "Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur" (Daffy Duck, Casper Caveman; 1939)

2. "Super Rabbit" (Bugs Bunny, Cottontail Smith; 1943)

3. "Daffy Duck and Egghead" (1938)

4. "A Gruesome Twosome" (Tweety; 1945)

5. "Draftee Daffy" (Daffy Duck; 1945)

6. "Falling Hare" (Bugs Bunny; 1943)

7. "Steel Wool" (Ralph Wolf, Sam Sheepdog; 1957)

8. "Birds Anonymous" (Tweety, Sylvester; 1957)

9. "No Barking" (Claude Cat, Frisky Puppy; 1954)

10. "Rabbit Punch" (Bugs Bunny, Crusher; 1948)

11. "An Itch in Time" (Elmer Fudd, A. Flea; 1943)

12. "Odor-able Kitty" (Pepe Le Pew; 1945)

13. "Walky Talky Hawky" (Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk; 1946)

14. "Gonzales Tamales" (Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester; 1957)

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

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.

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.