A show's study: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Front Covers

By years 2003 to 2008, Warner Home Video have released six 4-box sets consisting of sixty classic Warner Bros. cartoons, promising to be the next acorn for Looney Tunes' collectors like that was the Golden Jubilee videotape series and The Golden Age of Looney Tunes lasrdiscs that have completed the old Turner Pre-48 library (Minus the Censored 11 films). But when later sets didn't selled well in numbers, that the newly-promising Blu-Ray HD craze turned the label crazy or the 2008s banking recession, the series went stop long before it was publicly announced. It weren't enough for justify the costs of remastering the remaining Looney Tunes shorts, no mention producing newer documentaries that profiling the Termite Terrace crew's history even if it was repeated ad nauseam since the 1975s documentaries Bugs Bunny Superstar and Camera Three. Both them were readily available in the still in-print Golden Collection series, in Vol. 4 and the first one respectively. (The 2011s "Complete" Box-Set re-release is otherwise, out-of-print.)

But if there is a place where fans been confused with is the front cover themselves. Each of them represented the Looney Tunes characters, some with generic clip art and lousy airbrush shadows, others are such respectable representations of the character we will seen in the set and maybe one is rather incoherent, missing the point why these cartoons were made at first place. It's clear that by the 2005s volume, the series was aimed only to collectors instead of the Saturday Morning stand-by like from the two firsts volumes. Let's take a look of these:

Anchored by the theatrical release of the box-office flop Looney Tunes: Back In Action and the launch of a new series of Looney Tunes shorts produced by Larry Doyle, (Only six was made! Executives were in shock by seen these newer  "crass" shorts.) the classic shorts having to wait four-five long years before to get its first, official, DVD release. And that they needed a good reason to marketed them again to the general audience.

The first volume, however, is a pretty random selection of 1940s and 50s cartoons. One have to argue that the majority of these cartoons were already set to be released on DVD, by be among the same masters than those remastered in 1998 (With a newer copyright tag that had thankfully omit it on this package) for foreign-market videos releases. These are also those whom I been introducing to these shorts for the first time, at teenagehood, by the time I just wanted to own the cartoons as long they have none overlap and that was it.

The first cover shown us the core of the marketed Looney Tunes stars: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and of course-- the Tasmanian Devil and Marvin the Martian! Easily the weakest cover of this series but there are among the greatest batch of cartoons WHV have ever selected, not reassured if fans would be enthusiastic to own a collection of old cartoons. If there was fewer of the old Turner package, it's because they needed more time to remastering them like anew, and avoiding the rampant and murky colored-palettes from older masters that were commonplace since the old AAP days. Just in case, the Post-48s shorts were always preserved in good condition, by be part this is by these cartoons we were introducing to the DVD era of the Looney Tunes series of films.

Volume 2 offered a solid collection of Pre-48s/Post-48s cartoons, mostly featuring the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and the team of Tweety/Sylvester and Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote in their respective disc. Unlike the first volume, one effort was done in order to shown the cream of the crop that was left by the first volume, with inarguable classics like One Froggy Evening and What's Opera, Doc? getting their due.

Despite the massive effort to washed-out the randomnized selection of Volume One, this collection is rather inferior in the remastering proceeding. A few shorts been heavily DVNR. The Disc 4 having shorts that got interlacing problems. (One have to look of them in a computer or freeze-frame it for notice how shits these representations looked to be) And the least glaring of all is too much attention was spending to the Robert (Bob) Clampett's work and the inclusion of John Krickfalusi in one audio-commentary would steps all the wrong things to this cartoonist long before his controversial Pedophilia abuse been revealed. Perhaps a good thing to have quit with his blog for many years, thought it was pretty informative long before these obvious.

But about the cover? One start to feel sorry that Tedd Schorr or Patrick Martin weren't called to drawn the covers. Them, were able to be on-model and respectful of the characters we known and love without try to re-invented anything. This set is a B+ due to the limitations of space for add better-loved cartoons starring Speedy Gonzales, Pepe le Pew and Foghorn Leghorn like in the compilations of old.

The 2005s Golden Collection is highly weird! Just look at the cover! Is it supposed to be a MGMs Red rip-off or something?

Nonthenless, it's by this set that the "adult" and edgier stuff started to been more noticeable in this particular series. Washing-out the "safe" shorts of the first volume and the cartoons duos of the second one, the set focusing first on some '40s/50s Bugs' adventures, mostly those from the Pre-48s package. Another one is a continuation of the All-Stars: On Stage and Screen disc from Volume 2, but with the many Hollywood Caricatures and Parodies that does have the task to restored the infamous Wideo Wabbit's "You Beat Your Wife" sequence after been omitted somewhere in the 1990s. That was long before I known that by the cartoon's title, it was the Elmer Fudd's spell to says Radio Rabbit. Not Video like I thought of the first time I have read its title.

Disc 3 offered a batch of black-and-white Porkys and the final disc took a page of the first volume with an All-Stars collection, offering many Home Video Premieres and thankfully, one Speedy cartoon! It was easily the greatest Looney Tunes collection for much fans and collectors but one start to dread what will be about if the series keep to cattering serious adult collectors and cartoons buffs than general consumers who have grew with them on Saturday Mornings.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 is easily the most edgiest of the series. By a disc featuring the works of Frank Tashlin, (A first on a Warner release) another one starring now-on offensive rodent character Speedy Gonzales (The character seems to be plays anywhere except in the United States since the 1990s) for the first time since the Golden Jubilee era and Bugs' cartoons was relegated to only the first disc. The characters' presentations been more on-model and better drawn than before, but where fans gets upsetting is the way discs are stored on the box-set, one above the other. That distract fans who don't want the discs to be scratched and then, after the oft-boring Whoopi Goldberg's Intro from 2005, one newer message started to be presented by says that "the cartoons you are about to see are products of its time..." and that the films may depict racial ethnics and prejudices that will may offend today's standards. Even by be presented uncut, this form of Politically Correctness only tells us the reality that the Looney Tunes banner is now aim for a very nostalgic audience, or the adult audience who are old enough to appreciate these works. This going to be the pattern for all other Looney Tunes compilations collections, but also does the same for other classic Warner-owned animated releases. (Droopy, Tom and Jerry, Popeye, etc.)

The most straight collection of remastered shorts could be found in the Volume 5. And by the most on-model on the Bugs, Porky and Daffy characters unlike what was done before. With an disc entirely themed of the shorts starring either Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck in duo or stand-alone, another one is specifically themed of Fairy Tales spoofs. Then, Bob Clampett gotten his due with a serviceable selection on 15 of his remaining cartoons that weren't including yet on this series and another one is only black-and-white shorts named Early Daze.

The special features however are the less appealing of all. Apart of the very excellent Chuck Jones: Betweens and In-Between - A Life in Animation that was seen first in 2000 on PBS and then, on its single-disc release in 2002, one year ahead of the first Golden Collection volume, this collection is devoted entirely to collectors. There's none Foghorns, Speedys, Pepes and even not a Road Runner at all. The only small consolation would be found (Mostly to the latter) to the Disc 4s special features with the inclusion of three TV specials featuring uniquely brand-new animation and newer Made-for-TV shorts. The set worth its admission just for that alone.

Here it is! The final Golden Collection volume that was released in October 2008, but this time with desperation and lazy quality control. (Especially to Bugs' featuring in the cover. It's also the less attractive front cover since the second one) Sixty other cartoons were devoted to this package. With finally some Foghorns, Pepe, Tweety, Road Runners and finally-- Bosko! (And Buddy on a lesser extent.) Disc 1s is a Pot-pourri of All-stars. Disc two themed of the Termite Terrace's efforts through WWII. (Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips still remains too toxic for be including here after its 1995s headlines while be released first on Home Video, and that wasn't a bad thing at all.) Disc 3 chronicles the earliest days of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies and Disc 4 is about one-shots. The set also boasts fifteen additional shorts as "bonus". Highlights include one Sniffles short, another one with the oft-neglected Hippety Hopper (These twos will get their revenge on Home Video by collected all their filmography on the 2010s) and a foreign audio-print of Hop and Go was presented, muffled all the original Carl Stalling original soundtracks to others generic music cues in the characters' dialogues. 

A very bizarre and unimpressive end to what was arguably the most greatest assemblage of Warner Bros. cartoons in history.

Because several shorts were still deemed too "controversial" for any kind of Home Video release, the desire to own all the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies filmography on Physical Media videos releases is kind-of of a pipe dream. Anyway, who wanna paid for such crummy Buddys or worse, anything from Post-64s or the Daffy/Speedy pairing?