Check out the official Shout! Youtube playlist for Magoo clips.
I grew up (way) too late to catch the Mr. Magoo animated adventures in their prime, but having seen some of the previously released TV series on DVD, and now the Theatrical Collection, I think it’s fair to say that the quality of the series has withstood the test of time. In watching the Theatrical Collection, the quality of the show wasn’t actually the first thing to strike me. To my surprise, and delight, it was the technical presentation quality. The first cartoon, Ragtime Bear, hardly looks like it was first produced in 1949. I dare say that the quality of the animation and its restoration, as completed by Sony Pictures for this DVD set, puts it about on par with some old Disney re-masters. All fifty-three shorts from the 1949-1959 era are here, plus the 1959 feature film, 1001 Arabian Nights. All of this material received the re-master treatment and the result is, in a word, impressive, especially given the age of the source material and that most “cartoons” don’t receive this level of attention to detail. Oh, I should point out that all shorts are presented in their original aspect ratio, which varies between 4:3 (1.33:1), 16:9 (1.85:1), 16:9 (2.55:1), and a few are even 16:9 (2.35:1). Interestingly, or perhaps fortunately, the artwork on the back of the DVD case with the shorts contains not only the shorts on each disc and the year of their release, but also the aspect ratio.
While I am on the topic of the quality of the presentation, it’s definitely worth pointing out that the English subtitles are included for all shorts and 1001 Arabian Nights. This is an absolute rarity for Shout! animated DVD releases. I honestly don’t recall the last Shout! animated DVD release that had subtitles, and while I don’t always use them, sometimes I actually do, and so it’s great that they’re included here. I also really appreciate that Shout! did not include any fillers here, like trailers for other products and so forth. Instead, you pop the disc in, and only seconds later you arrive at the main menu with no BS to skip. The package and menu design are sufficient and functional well. Inside the outer box are two standard size DVD cases, one of which contains three discs separated like pages of a book while the second case contains the 1001 Arabian Nights film.
The effort put into this set wouldn’t mean as much if the actual content of said set were not of similar quality. Fortunately, and not surprisingly, the material here is indeed quality. From the comparisons I can make and in briefly reading others’ opinions online, most would argue that the quality of these shorts trumps that of the main TV series. The cast and crew did a consistently superb job with these fifty-three shorts and the movie, as evidence by how popular Magoo was all those years ago and how well the material holds up today. And while its true that in later years the effort that went into the animation was reduced somewhat, as seen in shorts like “Magoo Saves the Bank,” the rest of the production was still excellent.
Rounding out this box set are a host of extra features that essentially cement this as a must-have for collectors and Magoo fans. Fourteen audio commentaries are here with various presenters including John Canemaker (Academy Award winning animator and Magoo historian), Emily Hubley (daughter of Director John Hubley), Jerry Beck (animation historian), Tee Bosustow (son of UPA founder Steve Bosustow), Adam Abraham (animation historian), Bob Longo, Phd (UPA animator), Mark Evanler (animation historian), and Michael Schesigner (archivist). There is also a photo gallery with over 100 images set to play in a slideshow that has stills of vintage pencil tests, sketches, storyboard scenes, and promotional posters from around the world for 1001 Arabian Nights. There is also a really cool and interesting vintage promo/making of video starring the voice of Magoo, Jim Backus, as he takes viewers on a six minute tour of what it took to get the princess character created for 1001 Arabian Nights. An interview with the inimitable Leonard Maltin is also on the 1001 disc.
An all around great set — and with that, let’s get to the summary…