The fact that Warner Home Video has titled this release as ‘volume one’ gives me great hope on the next volume. Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One is a release that will certainly please any Looney Tunes looney out there in the world.
In this release, you get 50 classic cartoons presented in high-definition. You get a large variety of the most popular cartoons from the Looney Tunes library. So expect cartoons like ‘What’s Opera, Doc?’, ‘Baby Bottleneck’, ‘Fast and Furry-ous’, ‘For Scent-imental Reasons’, ‘One Froggy Evening’ and ‘ The Three Little Bops’. There’s a lot of favorites in this first volume and it’s good to see that Warner Home Video recognized important episodes for their fans. There’s nothing like getting a volume that doesn’t feel like it has a rhyme or reason to the content. I’ve seen many releases like this one that just had a bunch cartoons that didn’t take into account fan favorites.
Warner Home Video started off on the right foot with Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One.
On top of choosing the right material, they also took into account the artists and directors that people tend to love in the Looney Tunes universe. So, along with such great episodes mentioned above, you also get a variety of cartoons from different directors. Expect to see works from Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson,m the folks at Termite Terrace and the ever popular Chuck Jones (positively my favorite director in the Looney Tunes land). Not to harp too much on this point, but it’s important to realize that this wasn’t just ‘another’ release from Warner Home Video. They seemed to make sure that the different directors were honored in a balance way (including a good amount of episodes from each) and they made the content worth a darn when it came to choosing what should go into the release. It’s certainly one of the more impressive Looney Tunes releases in recent years.
Having said that, let’s talk about the Blu-ray quality of the cartoons.
Some of the most difficult tasks when it comes to Blu-ray is taking cartoons and upgrading their quality to HD. When it comes to Disney Cartoons they seem to have a perfect formula. The colors in their features generally come out clean and crisp, regardless of year. If you have seen Pinocchio then you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s potentially one of the more perfect HD transfers for a cartoon that is super old. If you look at what 20th Century Fox has done with The Simpsons then you understand the difficult task of transferring a cartoon to HD. The earlier seasons of the show look far worse than the more recent seasons (starting at season seven). You get a lot of artifacts and graininess left over, even after the HD treatment. With that said, Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One falls somewhere in between those two items.
The earlier cartoons on the collection, such as ‘I Love to Singa’ and ‘The Great Piggy Bank Robbery’ show their age. I’m not sure if it was how the film was stored/treated, but regardless you still get a lot graininess and artifacts in the picture. You can see that the film was cleaned up (the colors are rich — especially the yellows, greens and blues), but you can still see that it wasn’t done perfectly. Again, the earlier cartoons look the worst in the bunch, but the worst isn’t the worst when it comes to Blu-ray transfer. As you get into the late 50s and into the 60s then you can see the true HD start showing up. The Chuck Jones cartoons really hit home with very vivid colors (lots of nice reds, greens and such) and little to no artifacts/grain included. So, the entire release varies, but it does a consistent job of looking good. You can tell that Warner Home Video did their best to make sure the quality was truly HD, but somethings simply can’t be perfect.
Anyway, the release looked and sounded good overall.
As for features and goodies, you get a lot with Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One. You get a lot of commentary on nearly every episode (some don’t have it) from different directors. You also get featurettes on each disc, which includes a featurette called ‘The Making of What’s Opera, Doc?’, one for ‘One Froggy Evening’ (this one is really darn interesting, as it discusses how epic this one cartoon was through Leonard Maltin and Chuck Jones (and others)) and a load of bonus cartoons. You get some great features for this release, which truly makes it ‘platinum’. It’s nice to see that Warner Home Video packs in the goods.
Speaking of goods, you get a small cel, a tin and a certificate of authenticity with this release. What you also get with this release is an item that is going to be misinterpreted by parents all over the nation. You get a small commemorative glass with Bugs Bunny on it. I have to admit, I’m a tad baffled by this inclusion. When you think of ‘small commemorative glass’ then you think of a glass that is somewhat tiny that you can drink out of without a hitch. Well, this glass is tiny. It’s tiny enough to be misinterpreted as a shot glass. I showed this glass to several people and all of them gave the same puzzled expression about it, and then promptly asked why it was included in a box full of cartoons. Having had a few days to digest this, I fully understand the significance of it, but it still seems a bit off. This was the only question mark on the release.
Overall, the first volume of the release is pretty solid. I personally can’t wait to see the next one.