Finally a Porky Pig B&W Collection

Best reason to buy this .......These are great cartoons

 

Buut, I already got great cartoons. According to my mother, I've already "watched 'em all". And according to my voluminous "yet to hear" pile in the office, the creaking, overworked hard drives on both TiVos, and a standing date every Thursday down at the local arts cinema...there's just not the time in my life expectancy to make it through another box set before my big chess-tournament-on-the-beach-with-Death as it is...AND, I still got a lawn to mow!

So removing myself from my lifelong urge to "gotta get 'em all" to finally embrace cold logic and mathematics, "'cuz they're good", isn't really gonna cut it.


(On the other hand, a Harman-Ising version of Porky feuding with the ChemLawn man...sounds like comedy gold...)

 

I began seeing the re-drawn color Porky Pigs around 1971 when Ch. 38 in Boston leased them, and while I took them for authentic 30s/40s animation(and watched avidly since I was a nostalgia buff), I began feeling confused. "Why do these particular cartoons look like this when the ones in the A.A.P. package don't?", I wondered, and was also confused as to why Warner still owned these if UA owned others of the same vintage. Not until about 1976, when I read "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons" by Joe Adamson, did I figure out that the cartoons had been traced over. There wasn't anyplace I could learn about the twisted tale of the B/W Looney Tunes ownership then.

 

Cool, thanks for the info! So the Platinum set is also completely unedited like the Golden Collection? Might be worth getting just for the HD upgrade methinks.

That Mouse Chronicles set looks mighty interesting as well! Is that also completely unedited/uncensored? I might have to pick that up as well - I guess I am behind!!!

 

No, blu-ray pressing costs very similar to DVD. And I am sure they scanned these at a higher resolution than what we are getting on DVD for the restoration process.

I would guess we are only getting DVD because:

1) That is Warner Archives business model - they can make DVD-R on demand. For bluray, they are all factory pressed, so they might get stuck with extra stock.

2) WB probably only wants Warner Archives to release a DVD, so they are free to have a wider bluray release in the future if they want (although unlikely).

3) A bluray would show the quality of the restoration with greater detail, so they might be feel obligated to fix up the specks of dust/scratches/tears more (which apparently they do not have the budget for). With DVD the resolution is low enough, you won't notice these defects as much (the whole picture will be a lot blurrier).

On one hand it is true, if the restoration isn't good enough for bluray - better off sticking to the DVD. And it is much better to be getting these from DVD than not at all. On the other hand, they could just have easily released this in DVD resolution on a bluray disc - so instead of 5 DVDs the set would be just a single bluray. Or they could just have released this on bluray in HD and tell people they have to just accept the quality of the restoration for what it is.

It is a shame they don't have the budget to do a little more work so they would look good in HD. It is not clear to me why Warner Archives did not have access to the original negatives, or even original artwork.

 

I would guess we are only getting DVD because:
1) That is Warner Archives business model - they can make DVD-R on demand. For bluray, they are all factory pressed, so they might get stuck with extra stock.


Some companies produce and distribute burn-on-demand Blu-ray's. Example: Janis: Little Girl Blue-BVD-R

 

Yes, but Warner Archive does not. All of their blurays are factory pressed. Apparently some devices have compatibility issues with burned blu-rays.

 

Regarding the cropped cartoons on the first two Super Stars DVDs: Am I correct that this was no different from any other recent releases of post-1953 material like the 1950s Three Stooges shorts etc., which were filmed open matte and shown that way on television for several decades, but were cropped for "widescreen" for authenticity reasons because that's how they were initially seen for a couple weeks in theatres.

I'm glad they went back to full frame for the Warner cartoons on subsequent releases. But if it hadn't been for the outcry over those two DVDs, I bet all subsequent Warner cartoons released to video also would have been cropped.

Meanwhile, the Three Stooges' "Goof On The Roof" still has people's heads cut off at the top of the frame.

It would be nice to have a choice of formats for stuff like this.

I just wonder why the outcry for the Warner toons being cropped, while other stuff from the same era seems to be okay.

 

But these are real dvds if you pre order from their site not dvd-rs

 

If I remember correctly there are a many extra cartoons on the blu ray Platinum sets that are not in HD. I have all three sets but have not watched all the discs yet.

 

I know, that's why I pre-ordered this set.

 

Now, why do I suddenly have this image sticking in my head, of Daffy the Outside Window Cleaner, staring at a window, and saying, "Well, whaddya know...a little SPECK-!"...then, scraping it with his finger (ummm, ducks got fingers...?!) until that nasty glass-squirky noise awakes a sleeping Porky from his hotel bed...?

Aaaand, therein lies my point about investing in something fearing it goes out of stock: just an extra impetus to hold a properly-produced disc hostage if I don't forget pragmatism, and buy, Buy, BUY!
And then years later, "I have all the sets but have not watched all the discs yet."

 

Today only at the WB online store, use code "WBECLIPSE" and get 15% off the Porky Pig 101 preorder. Not a huge discount, but it does knock the price down a bit.

 

You Got the Blues, Not Me!

 

Yeah, and rabbits and dogs and mice have opposable thumbs in cartoons, too. Go figure.

 

I think it's in their contracts...

 

But usually only a thumb and three other fingers. That's all the union negotiated for them.

 

Reminds me of the Mad parody "Mickey Rodent", with Horace Horsecollar being dragged away by the police for not wearing three-fingered gloves.

 

I have a pair of "mickey mouse" gloves like that...used to wear them in parades.

 

What are the cons of DVD-R?

 

Mainly that a recordable disc isn't likely to last as long as a pressed disc, and is also more susceptible to damage. Some DVD-Rs become unplayable after only a few years, and the degeneration can be accelerated by storage in direct sunlight or extreme temperatures.

 

Is it possible to copy protect them?

 

I don't believe that the standard CSS encryption used on pressed discs will work on a DVD-R, however, I've heard of other (far less common) ways utilized on some DVD-R discs that seem to serve the same function as copy protection.

 

Just received this set from WB (the packing slip says "DVD9" so my guess is I got the factory pressed discs), and have been enjoying these classic cartoons immensely. One of the commentators called the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: "Silly Symphonies on steroids."

If anything, I would like to have seen more of those commentaries, plus a documentary on Porky Pig, including animator histories, merchandising, etc. Oh, and an illustrated booklet might have been nice too, but I can't really complain as what's here is transcendent.

Definitely a must for any fans of Termite Terrace!