Toon Zone Talkback - "Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1960s, Vol. 2": Frustratingly Uneven

[Speedy Boris]

This is the talkback thread for "Saturday Morning Cartoons: The 1960s, Vol. 2": Frustratingly Uneven.


Despite my criticisms, I really am happy to see more Bugs Bunny Show on DVD. Here's hoping if WB makes a third volume, it makes another appearance.

[Mario500]

The review referred to Isadore (Friz) Freleng by only his surname. Some readers might not be familiar with the director.

[Speedy Boris]

Originally Posted by Mario500

The review referred to Isadore (Friz) Freleng by only his surname. Some readers might not be familiar with the director.

First name added.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Why do they even put Looney Tunes on these sets? That material is available in so many other places it just seems redundant.

[Mister Intensity]

Originally Posted by Shawn Hopkins

Why do they even put Looney Tunes on these sets? That material is available in so many other places it just seems redundant.

It's part of the Saturday Morning experience, although I think they should use the version used in Saturday Mornings as opposed to the theatrical version, assuming they are different (I grew up in the 70's and 80's when the Saturday Morning versions were different that may not be the case for the 60's version of the various Looney Tunes Saturday Morning packages).

[Radical Raven]

Originally Posted by Shawn Hopkins

Why do they even put Looney Tunes on these sets? That material is available in so many other places it just seems redundant.

IIRC, people have been wanting to get the Bugs Bunny Show on DVD for the sake of the wrap-arounds, as they're completely original Looney Tunes-related material that's hard to come by legally. And since it would be silly for them to just put the wrap-arounds on the disc without the episodes...

[Speedy Boris]

^ Speaking of wraparounds, I didn't mention this in the review, but The Road Runner Show episode on here includes some wraparounds as well, directed by Robert McKimson. They're about, what else, Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner but failing. Good to see those.

On the downside, being that they were trying to keep the episodes close (or identical) to the way they originally aired, we only get the generic title cards for the three cartoons on The Road Runner Show. So we don't get to hear the final time "Powerhouse" was ever used in a Looney Tunes cartoon (over "Jet Cage"'s titles), replaced instead by a five second ditty that opens every short.

[Bolt2008]

It's a shame it's not released in the Danish stores.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Oh, okay. So it's not just a few shorts, it's actually in the format of the Looney Tunes cartoon shows that used to air. That is a good thing to add to the Saturday Morning experience.

[Jon Cooke]

Special features are slim; both discs come with "Saturday Morning Wake-Up Calls," which are just quick previews for the shows we're about to watch. Aside from the enthusiastic announcer's voice (which sounds similar to the deceased Don Messick to me), these are skippable, especially if you watch the episodes beforehand.

The announcer of the Saturday Morning Wake-Up Calls on both this set and The 1960's, Vol. 1 is none other than Gary Owens! Casey Kasem does the announcing duties on the 1970s sets.

[Speedy Boris]

Originally Posted by Jon Cooke

The announcer of the Saturday Morning Wake-Up Calls on both this set and The 1960's, Vol. 1 is none other than Gary Owens! Casey Kasem does the announcing duties on the 1970s sets.

Now that you mention it, you're right, that is definitely Owens.

[Mark The Shark]

Interesting review -- I was familiar with the majority of the shows included in this set, and it's interesting to read the perspective of someone who didn't grow up with this stuff and who might not have the same fondness for some of these characters and shows that I do. So thanks for that. (Sometimes, you just "had to be there" to appreciate certain cartoons -- which are not all created equally.)

Regarding the comments about the varying print quality on the Warner Bros. cartoons in this set -- yes, I am pretty sure that the whole point was to present these shows as they would have been seen on a network Saturday morning lineup (the same would apply for Tom & Jerry). I note that for some cartoons, they apparently did "remaster" them but still clipped off the original titles, either leaving them "title-less" (for the 60s Bugs Bunny show) or adding the short TV titles (for Bugs Bunny/Road Runner on the 1970s set) to represent how they would have appeared on Saturday mornings -- kudos for making the effort to do that; I really didn't expect to see the actual TV titles -- I didn't think they would necessarily have even been archived. I see what you're saying about the clearly "unremastered" Road Runner show -- yes, they could have cleaned a lot of this up, but I think if they're going to make the effort to do that, then they should go all the way and present the cartoons in their original form and original context (which is what they've done on the Looney Tunes Golden Collections). Hopefully, there will be much more of that to come, since there are hundreds of cartoons still yet to come out on DVD. These Saturday morning sets are a different animal altogether, and it actually is a little jarring to me to see a scratchy short TV title leading into the body of a beautifully remastered cartoon ("Duck! Rabbit! Duck!" for example). (If they really wanted to be authentic, depending on what year or era they were going for -- then DRD would have been presented with all the shooting gags cut out!) On CBS, I seem to recall they just crudely spliced stuff out of the film source; later on ABC they did edits on video, and for the later 1980s/1990s syndicated shows I remember seeing crude "video freezes" using a still frame from elsewhere in the cartoon while Daffy was being shot.

Thanks for the review. I have been enjoying these sets.

[Mister Donut]

Originally Posted by Speedy Boris

Now that you mention it, you're right, that is definitely Owens.

Given the matter, if a 1980's set ever comes out one day, I'd like to have Rick Dees warming the mike personally!

Originally Posted by Mark The Shark

Interesting review -- I was familiar with the majority of the shows included in this set, and it's interesting to read the perspective of someone who didn't grow up with this stuff and who might not have the same fondness for some of these characters and shows that I do. So thanks for that. (Sometimes, you just "had to be there" to appreciate certain cartoons -- which are not all created equally.)

This is very true. I was glad to at least had a sample of it personally.

Regarding the comments about the varying print quality on the Warner Bros. cartoons in this set -- yes, I am pretty sure that the whole point was to present these shows as they would have been seen on a network Saturday morning lineup (the same would apply for Tom & Jerry). I note that for some cartoons, they apparently did "remaster" them but still clipped off the original titles, either leaving them "title-less" (for the 60s Bugs Bunny show) or adding the short TV titles (for Bugs Bunny/Road Runner on the 1970s set) to represent how they would have appeared on Saturday mornings -- kudos for making the effort to do that; I really didn't expect to see the actual TV titles -- I didn't think they would necessarily have even been archived. I see what you're saying about the clearly "unremastered" Road Runner show -- yes, they could have cleaned a lot of this up, but I think if they're going to make the effort to do that, then they should go all the way and present the cartoons in their original form and original context (which is what they've done on the Looney Tunes Golden Collections).

In this case, the context was in how those out there had seen these presented back at a time when the thought of film restoration was never in the minds of anyone!

Hopefully, there will be much more of that to come, since there are hundreds of cartoons still yet to come out on DVD. These Saturday morning sets are a different animal altogether, and it actually is a little jarring to me to see a scratchy short TV title leading into the body of a beautifully remastered cartoon ("Duck! Rabbit! Duck!" for example). (If they really wanted to be authentic, depending on what year or era they were going for -- then DRD would have been presented with all the shooting gags cut out!) On CBS, I seem to recall they just crudely spliced stuff out of the film source; later on ABC they did edits on video, and for the later 1980s/1990s syndicated shows I remember seeing crude "video freezes" using a still frame from elsewhere in the cartoon while Daffy was being shot.

I can remember the CBS edits fondly. They were infamous for what was done with the WB cartoons in the 70's/early 80's.

Thanks for the review. I have been enjoying these sets.

Still need to buy 'em!

If you wanted to be real authentic, here's a recording of the ending to a typical BB/RR show from '76!