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Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 10/27/2009 Run time: 277 minutes
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Last updated: November 10, 2009, 7:17 pm
Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Vol. 2 Customer reviews:
Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 4
(L. J. Hall, 2009-11-01) What can I say -- these are timeless. I remember them from the 70's and now my 13 and 3 year old daughters are watching them. They cleaned up the "fuzziness' that *may* have been in the original but the colors are true. It is also great for the 3 year old before bed, as the episodes are only 15 minutes, so you are not stuck arguing about watching a 90 minute movie. I also like the way they did the menu -- the villian appears in a little box on the screen as you page thru the episode titles, so you don't have to guess or remember the titles if you want a certain episode. I love these.
(Bret H. Nordland, 2009-10-31) My 2 year old loves Scooby and this series has added some variety to his collection.
(C. Point, 2009-08-11) This is a very nice Scooby Doo DVD set. It contains the first twenty five episodes ever made. Wow! You can finally get them all in one set unlike the dvd's such as greatest mysteries original mysteries and creepiest capers. The discs are high quality and so is the case. The cartoons even have subtitles. It has the original villains such as the space man with a crazy laugh, Creeper, and the phantom puppeteer. The episodes are very entertaining too! A great buy!
(Joker, 2009-08-08) I've always loved the original Scooby Doo cartoons. The first season (1969) and the second season (1970) were by far the best Scooby Doo mysteries ever. Things started to go downhill when they started to include Scooby Dum and Scrappy Doo, etc. in later years. The first two seasons are the best. I used to watch Scooby Doo and other cartoons every Saturday morning before going to my junior bowling league. Then I'd come home in time to watch The Pro Bowlers Tour on ABC at 3:30, then ABC's Wide World Of Sports at 5:00. Those were the days when TV had good shows and good cartoons, such as Scooby Doo. The stuff of today is plain sick and lame garbage compared to the shows of yesteryear. These DVDs will entertain longtime fans and newcomers alike. You can't go wrong with a cartoon that features humor, a mystery to solve and crooks dressed as spooks who try to scare their way to a fortune where the setting is often a haunted house. I love Halloween, so this show has always been right up my alley. I think Shaggy and Scooby are at their best in these two seasons as far as humor goes. Every episode has them clowning around in some way. I like the ever-shifting trajectory of these episodes. There's a scary moment, then there's a light and hilarious moment. It's a good mix of humor and haunts. You get all 25 episodes in this set. My personal favorites are Spooky Space Kook, Hassle In The Castle, Bedlam In The Big Top, Mine Your Own Business, A Gaggle Of Galloping Ghosts, A Night Of Fright Is No Delight, That's Snow Ghost, and Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Werewolf? Scooby Doo Where Are You? is an all-time classic cartoon and far better than anything out there today. Your kids will love it. This stuff is 40 years old and has stood the test of time, so I highly recommend it!
(Rina, 2009-07-17) My 4 year old and 2 year old LOVE Scooby. The thrill is what keeps them going!! But beware, it may be a little too scary for 2 year olds, because since Scooby, my daughter is very afraid at night. But it's too late; she loves it, so I still let her watch.
(Colleen Bratsveen, 2009-10-09) My son is now 10yrs old--his favorite pasttime seems to be finding episodes of Total Drama Action on TV and recording it on the DVR. I decided to make his life (and mine!) a little easier by purchasing this series for his birthday--HE LOVES IT!!! Now we (including his 15yr old sister) don't argue over who gets the TV and he can watch his favorite episodes over and over and over...great purchase!
(Monique G. Desrochers, 2009-09-27) This is a cute Survivor like reality show in cartoon style. Chris tortures a group of teenage campers and the drama abounds. They do crazy stunts like jumping out of an airplane with bad parachutes and landing onto a couch, blind trapaze with no net over a small pond filled with jelly fish, a blindfolded William Tell with the arrow and apple thing, all to compete for a 100,000 dollar prize. They vote off a camper each week. Sometimes they will conspire to get rid of a fellow camper who then walks down the "Dock of Shame" to the "Boat of Losers". The characters go into the outhouse to do personal diaries. It's funny and quirky. My 10 year old daughter wanted this for her birthday. She loves it. Recommended for all kids under 13 or so. And not so bad for grownups either.
(tommom, 2009-09-24) My seven year old loves this show and is so happy to have all the episodes of Season 1. He has been watching it non-stop since we got it. Definitely worth the money.
(Daisy, 2009-09-24) Total Drama Island is a funloving, realistic cartoon that I happen to love to watch each week with my son. I purchased this dvd for him. It is his favorite cartoon on TV!!! We can't wait until Total Drama Action is on dvd too! Keep the fun rolling!
(Lonnie Knighton, 2009-09-19) the item was actually for my son. he is a total drama island fanatic and had to have the dvd set. thank you.
(Mr., 2009-10-13) This is it! Superman! Wonder Woman! Aquaman! Batman & Robin! The very first Super Friends incarnation, with Wendy, Marvin & Wonderdog is finally coming to DVD! Fans have been waiting years for this and now it's here! The show was comprised of 16 hour long episodes (about 45 minutes without commercials) and included some rare guest appearances such as Green Arrow & Plastic Man among others. Warner Brothers is releasing the 1973 Season in Two 8 episode Volumes, which are both 2 discs each. Episodes included with Volume 1: Disc 1: 01) The Power Pirate 02) The Baffles Puzzle 03) Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C. 04) The Weather Maker Disc 2: 05) Dr. Pelagian's War 06) The Shamon 'U' 07) Too Hot To Handle 08) The Androids There will be a Super Friends interactive Trivia Challenge Quiz game included as bonus material. Depending on how well it sells will have an affect on when Volume 2 is released. This is great news for Super Friends fans every where! :-)
(Ryan Daniels, 2009-10-02) It's like 3 episodes per disc on each side. That was the problem with the volume sets. Then now, they just slap on those god-awful double side disc and says the complete superman collection. I mean the Batman animated series the complete animated series dvd set got a much better complete collection dvd release then this. I'm highly dissapointed.
(Thom, 2009-09-21) When I saw this was being released I thought Superman would finally be available in the same quality as all the other products in DCAU. But no. This is still going to have the two sided discs which get scratched to easily and just don't seem to have the quality. I would have bought it otherwise. The one good thing about this is it is reasonably priced unlike the complete Batman and soon to be released complete Justice league which cost more than the individual seasons combined.
(GutsMan, 2009-09-15) they're repackaging the scratch prone double sided discs from the individual sets, my rating might seem harsh but companies should improve their product when they double dip, and they won't as long as consumers keep accepting things as they are
(trashcanman, 2009-09-11) Superman is truly one of the greatest superheroes ever to bear the title. He also happens to be one of the most maligned. There's even an entire website dedicated to proving he's a jerk. Few things make a mean-spirited comic geek smile more then seeing The Man of Steel getting his rear end handed to him. Some of the reasons for this are innate to the nature of the character, and some are based on the way the character has been handled by writers in the past (what with the racist WWII propaganda and all). Supe's reputation as "The Big Blue Boy Scout" makes him a fairly lame goody-two-shoes kind of hero, which is really hard to get away from without changing the character entirely. Modern sensibilities prefer darker heroes like Batman. Also, the fact that Superman is ridiculously overpowered makes him hard to root for. We like underdogs. Underdogs generally aren't invincible with superspeed, heat beams, x-ray vision, plus immortal with infinite strength. Most great heroes are flawed and are often at a disadvantage against their villains, but Superman was always portrayed as flawless and indomitable. Unless you had a green rock that is. That's what we call an uninteresting weakness. Also, Supes has become a massively utilized deus ex machina device for DC comic writers. Write yourself into an impossible situation in a Green Arrow story? No worries, Ollie can just shout Clark's name and all's taken care of. Ugh. But when you get down to it, we all grew up with him and we all love him. He's as American as apple pie and 10 times more iconic. He's also one of those characters whose moral compass is always clean. It may make him boring, but it also makes him a perfect hero. After the massive success that was Batman: The Animated Series, where else would DC's amazing animation team go? And they did an amazing job with a hero whose kiddie comic legacy gave them little to work with. Here's the textbook for writing great Superman stories, right here. Now, Supe's God complex was the first thing that needed to go. No turning back time at light speed or moving planets out of orbit for this Superman. This is a powered down version of the character who retains all of his powers from the comics, but has them amped down just enough to make him vulnerable and more relatable. He regularly has to use his brain to outwit villains, which is great. Second, the characters needed work. The shallowness of The Man of Steel's rogues gallery is legendary. Plus his legacy is layered with more cheese then a Chicago-style pizza. While there are numerous winks and references to the old school (Krypto and Bepto even get nods), this iteration really brought a hipper attitude and presentation of the denizens of Metropolis while walking the line between respect to the source material and updating outmoded devices flawlessly. This show is quite simply the definitive Superman. It pays tribute to the Golden Age with a sly sense of humor, but makes bold strokes to set itself apart from every past version of the character and the result should please all fans old and new. Pretty much the entire "Batman" team returned for this show, which accounts for the quality, and the voice acting was again as impressive as the fluid animation and great character designs. Dana Delaney is the perfect Lois Lane. She plays the character as cynical and snarky but lovable and entirely fearless. It's still annoying to me that the best reporter on the planet can't figure out that her closest co-worker is Superman with glasses on, Especially considering she finds out who Batman is in a day or two. I'd prefer that relationship just be out in the open already. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far. Other awesome contributions to the show include Michael Ironside as planet conquering overlord Darkseid, the fantastic Malcolm McDowell as kryptonite-fueled terminator Metallo, Lori Petty as Livewire (who was created for this series and proved to be one of the more memorable villains), and Brad Garrett as The Main Man himself, Lobo. A great cast goes a long way to making a good animated endeavor an unforgettable one. Like "Batman" the show also featured episodes co-starring many other DC regulars including Steel, Dr. Fate, Aquaman, The Flash (who challenges Supes to a footrace), Green Lantern, and others. The centerpiece of the series is an epic three episode arc teaming up The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel in a perfect melding of the two series. Bruce Wayne sweeps Lois off of her feet, Harley Quinn has a catfight with Lex Luthor's bodyguard Mercy Graves (another of several character created for the show that ended up being adapted to the comics), The Joker owns Supey and Luthor alike; the whole thing screams "WE LOVE YOU!" to fans of both shows. It was the first time they would cross over, but not the last. Eventually the entire DCAU would be united in the flawless Justice League series as a result. While "Superman: The Animated Series" is not as good as the Batman and JLA series, the difference in quality is negligible. This is a remarkable cartoon show that is probably even more enjoyable for adults then it is for children due to the sly humor and occasional darkness that marks this as the best adaptation of the character ever. Obnoxious interdimensional imp Mr. Mxyzptlk (voiced by Gilbert Goddfried, no less) being outwitted in seconds (he has to say his own name backwards to be sent back to his own dimension) by Clark and then spending 3 months plotting his next scheme while ignoring his Jessica Rabbit-looking sexpot of a wife only to be outsmarted in seconds again is too funny. And the evil irony of a murderer deducing Superman's secret identity exactly one second before he is executed is black comedy at it's finest. And let me tell you, the final arc shows us a seriously dark side to the Kryptonian boy scout. However, I honestly find it hard to believe that they went three full seasons without General Zod and his crew. They had a pair of Kryptonian criminals that were similar, but I think it's safe to say we would have rather seen updated versions of the villains from The best Superman film. While the cynic in me still likes to see Supes get owned now and again, this show made me realize just he much fondness I still have for the character and what he stands for. He holds a unique role as the prototypical American superhero who was and is the ideal champion to children everywhere. The 70's films with Christopher Reeve will remain cherished classics for generations to come. Big Blue deserves his props and this is where he really got it outside of comics it for the first time since Reeve wore the cape and refused to kneel before Zod. Fans of "Batman: The Animated Series" or comic book superheroes in general need to check this out. This is how you adapt The Man of Steel. 4 1/2 stars, rounded up for degree of difficulty.
(Corgi Kid, 2009-11-03) I just purchased the second volume from the Saturday Morning Cartoons 70's collection. Let me just say that I am quite pleased with this collection. I watched many of these cartoons during the 70's and it brings back many happy memories from childhood. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show and the Banana Splits were the primary reasons of my purchase. The bridging sequences including the introduction to both Bugs Bunny/Road Runner and Banana Splits were not restored. However, I can't complain too much. I am unable to get the Cartoon Network Boomerang channel where I live and have been wanting to watch many of these cartoons for such a long time. I hope Warner Brothers continues to release more collections in the near feature. More Bugs Bunny/Road Runner and Banana Splits please! Also, would like to see the New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Michael Shea (Huck) and Lu Ann Haslam (Becky Thatcher); really campy but from part of the Banana Splits series. Thanks again Amazon!
(John W. Yocum, 2009-11-01) I didn't buy the first 70's set because there just seemed to be too much on it that I never watched. This set, however, was full of things I remembered. I appreciate seeing them no matter what condition the prints are in, but there are a few odd things about the set. First, there are two adventures with Shazzan, but if you select "play all" you only get to see one. You have to go back to the menu to select the other episode. Also, the main titles from Shazzan are missing. Secondly, what was supposed to be the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour seems to be an episode from the five-week 1/2 hour evening run that the show did on CBS in the mid-seventies one summer. There are only four cartoons and since they used restored prints for this set and not the original edited-for-violence versions, the show lasts 28 minutes, which would be too long for the original 1/2 hour length and too short for the hour-long version. Finally - what's up with the menus and chapter stops on these sets? I wish you could select just the show you wanted and it would play the whole thing. The way it is, if you select Banana Splits from the menu you have to watch part of the show, then it goes back to the menu where you have to select the next part of the show. Of course, you canjust hit "play all" and skip to the show you want, so I guess it's OK. Overall, I love this set (except for "Yogi's Gang" for reasons mentioned by another reviewer) and look forward to more.
(Andre M., 2009-10-31) Okay, literally speaking this is not just a seventies set (Shazzan & the Banana Splits are from the late 60s), but if you were born between about 1960 to 1973, you'll really get mellow over this. Much of this has since been forgotten or ignored by pop culture, but since those of us who fondly loved these as children as only children can are now in position to get them back, then let the games begin! The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show inlcuded here will bring on the warm and fuzzies for the generation that immediately followed the baby boomers. The fondly recalled tune "On With the Show" with Bugs & Daffy and the Road Runner theme songs will make those who remember this show smile with a warm glow. "Shazzan" was the first cartoon I actually remember watching on television. The adventures of two kids with the flying genie is a good example of the wholesome but FUN adventure-type toon that ruled the Sat. morning airwaves until the Shiny Happy People brigade of Politically Correct killjoys nearly destroyed the genre by imposing sissified Barney-style New Zoo Revue fruit loop slop that was long on morals but short on entertainment. "Yogi's Gang" (1973) is a sad example of this. The once great HB stable is reduced to a nauseating tale of the beloved Yogi, misled by an Archbunker type, touting the superiority of bears and dismissing the others as "animal lovers." Mess like this should have been lost in a fire like "London After Midnight". Oh Pepto-Bismol, where is thy sting? Bring back Ranger Smith and the pic-i-nic baskets! You had to be there to really dig "The Great Grape Ape," the adventures of a 40 ft. purple ape (Magilla's cousin?) and his canine sidekick Beagly Beagly, but it remains amusing to a point and I'm glad to see it again after 30 years. The 1970s defanged Tom & Jerry (for reasons stated in the above paragraph) are no comparison-poor cousins to the violent but hilarious original classics. Best of all for late 60s/early 70s kids is the funny and funky BANANA SPLITS-Hanna Barbera meets Sly Stone-that is fondly remembered by our age group. I particularly enjoyed DANGER ISLAND with it's Batman-style tounge in cheek adventures, and you'll be VERY pleased to see it here. (Everbody sing "Tra la La, La la la la!") Overall, this will make people of our age group VERY happy and is a good rendidtion of what we enjoyed in the pre-DVD, Internet, and video game days. Most of these will also be enjoyed by the current tot set, so it's a worthwhile family purchase.
(MEWZIK, 2009-10-30) My favorite edition of Saturday Morning Cartoons for sure. So, if you don't have Boomerang, or had enough of watching horrid quality internet movies -this is GOLD. At this point though, I'd like to see a proper release with all the episodes of say Shazzan! Grape Ape and Hair Bear Bunch. If there was no market, they wouldn't put it in Cartoon Network programming. Shazzan! is the least seen of all these classics, so what's the point of holding them back to dvd or even download only? The plus is they picked strong episodes here. Nonetheless, how can this compilation not get five stars? Arrested development accomplished! What would make this better (not that I hold this against anyone) is adding a couple timepiece commercials between the breaks...I'm thinking Happy Meal and bad teeth fall out of your mouth cereal commercials. Exit, Stage Right.
(Paul J. Mular, 2009-10-21) Semi-restored, disclaimer says some elements no longer exist in pristine condition. No restoration attempts were made for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, that is from an ancient 2" video tape with occasional glitches & break-up. I know the show was quickly cut up into half-hours in the mid '70s, but some film segment elements should still survive. Another Disappointment is the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, it is the short-run Prime Time half-hour version that ran in the summer of 1976 on CBS, not the hour long saturday morning version. NOTE: Authoring error: if you chose 'Play All' The Living Island cartoon from Shazzan will not play! You must select this individually. Disc 1 HELP! IT'S THE HAIR BEAR BUNCH (1971): Keep Your Keeper NEW ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN (1974): Off Limits SEA LAB 2020 (1972): Deep Threat AMAZING CHAN AND THE CHAN CLAN (1972): The Mardi Gras Caper (Episode 12) SHAZZAN (1967): The Living Island / Master of the Thieves ***watch 'Thieves' first, it has the open titles, then 'Island' second, it has the end credits.*** YOGI'S GANG (1973): Mr. Bigot Disc 2 BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW (1976): For Scent-Imental Reasons/Stop, Look and Hasten, Hare-Way to the Stars/Duck! Rabbit, Duck! VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS (1974): Forbidden Fruit TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE SHOW (1976): Ep.#1 - No Way Stowaway / That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape / The Ski Bunny / The All American Ape / Stay Awake Or Else BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR (1968): Joning the Knights/The littlest Musketeer/"Danger Island" INCH HIGH PRIVATE EYE (1973): Diamonds are a Crook's Best Friend NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN (1977): Sweet Joke on Gotham City ---O.K., few real classics here. But if you grew up on Saturday Morning cartoons in the 1970's this sampling will bring a smile to your face. One thing that puzzles me is the inclusion of some 1960's cartoons. I don't remember SHAZZAN (1967) ever airing on Saturday Mornings in the 1970's. Maybe somebody confused it with 1974's SHAZAM, a totally different show spelled with one "Z" and a "M". THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR (1968) did technically run until the end of summer 1970 and then went into syndication, even though only one season was produced. THE BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW started as an hour show in 1968, but this is the CBS summer of 1976 PRIME TIME half-hour version. Unlike THE BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW, the TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE SHOW will not feature classic theatrical cartoons, these will be the cheaply made Hanna Barbera TV cartoons from the 1970's. This show is probably the weakest in the bunch, and it is the full hour version! I dare you to sit through the entire show without pushing the fast-forward button. SEALAB 2020 & VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS are probably the highlights here. Both of these reminded me of my favorite Saturday Morning adventure cartoons of the late 1960's & seemed to be a refuge from the ultra-silly cartoons of the 1970's that required laughtracks to remind you that it is funny. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy comedy cartoons, but the 1970's comedy cartoons were pitiful. Just compare THE PEBBLES & BAMM BAMM SHOW to the classic FLINTSTONES of the 1960's.
(Matthew Hunter, 2009-11-04) -Review by Matthew Hunter [...] "Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960's Volume 2" is kind of like that huge "sampler" tin of chocolates your family gets for Christmas every once in a while. There's a lot of variety, plenty for everybody, and the contents range from fantastic to gag-inducing. This set, like the previous volume, collects a wide variety of cartoon series from the 1960's, and attempts to present them as closely to their original TV presentation as possible. It's a great idea on Warner's part, as it brings together material that may not warrant a complete box-set release by itself (or hasn't yet) in an affordable and enjoyable way. The bulk of the material included here is of the Hanna-Barbera variety, and it's interesting to compare earlier, better material like "Quick Draw McGraw" to later efforts like "Atom Ant" and "Wally Gator". Towards the end of the 1960's, Hanna-Barbera had been cloning their "funny animal" formula so often that it grew even more stale with every new attempt. H-B eventually began focusing on "action" cartoons, and unfortunately the examples of these included on this set are among the weakest. The collection opens with an episode from "The Quick Draw McGraw Show", nicely restored with its original opening theme song and supporting segments, "Snooper and Blabber" and "Augie Doggie". The animation on this show is limited and low-budget, but the writing and humor hold up extremely well, thanks in large part to writer Michael Maltese. Quick Draw is a Wild West hero who just happens to be a horse, Snooper and Blabber are a cat and mouse detective team, and Augie Doggie is a brainy sitcom-style kid living with his fater, Doggie Daddy. This episode, along with a second episode focusing on Quick Draw's famous alter-ego, "El Kabong", really makes me wish Warner had released the Quick Draw show as a standalone series collection. Next up is a show that should be avoided at all costs. Though an interesting curio, there is absolutely no entertainment value in "The Space Kidettes", a show about a group of annoyingly cute space-age kids in a Jetsons-esque setting who are being stalked by a space pirate named Captain Skyhook. Its supporting segment, "Young Samson", is even worse, about a teenage boy named Samson and his dog, Goliath, who can transform into a superhero and a lion, respectively. How does a dog turn into a lion? That is a mystery I do not want to uncover...because to do it, I would have to watch more episodes! This show sucks, and is largely unheard of for VERY good reason. "The Bugs Bunny Show" is a nice surprise, including the original "This Is It" title sequence and some long-lost bridging footage. Mac and Tosh, the Goofy Gophers, are the hosts, but end their incessant polite disagreement forces Bugs himself to introduce the cartoons to keep the show going. There is some footage missing, but everything is in color and presented as it would have aired in Saturday Morning reruns. All three cartoons (minus titles and credits, as they originally aired) look fine: "Big House Bunny' and "Canned Feud" are the restored "Golden Collection" versions, "Home Tweet Home" is not, but it's a better transfer than I've seen before. "The Porky Pig Show" compiles three more Warner Bros. classics with the original opening, closing and several bumper segments from that TV package. An interesting "skit" that probably originated on the "Bugs Bunny Show" has Bugs Bunny playing piano on stage, in animation re-traced from "Rhapsody Rabbit", to introduce the musical short "Baton Bunny". The other two shorts included are "Scaredy Cat" and "Feather Dusted", and all but the third are restored. "Feather Dusted" is at least uncut and is a perfectly acceptable copy. Next, we get another "lost treasure" from Hanna-Barbera, entitled "The Adventures of Gulliver". A young man named Gulliver and his father go on a sea voyage with a treasure map to a lost island, a creepy stowaway thug knocks them out, steals the map, and Gulliver wakes up shipwrecked with his dog on the island of Lilliput. What follows is little more than a loosely updated knockoff of the old Jonathan Swift tale "Gulliver's Travels". It will probably be of interest only to those who recall seeing it as kids. No flaws in terms of print quality, picture or sound here. "The Wally Gator Show" is a fondly-remembered 3-cartoon variety show featuring "Wally Gator", "Touche Turtle", and "Lippy Lion and Hardy Har-Har". Unfortunately, it was a hastily-produced and thoroughly lackluster series, aimed squarely at children. Wally Gator longs to roam free in the Everglades, instead he's stuck in a zoo with a nagging zookeeper named Mr. Twiddle. Touche Turtle is a diminutive do-gooder voiced by Bill "Droopy Dog" Thompson, who dresses like a French musketeer and tries to help people (in this case, Captain Ahab) along with his aptly named dog sidekick, Dum Dum. Lippy the Lion and his depressed, sad-sack hyena sidekick Hardy Har Har (brilliantly voiced by Mel Blanc) are easily the best of the bunch, but they, too, seem cookie-cutter and forced. If these cartoons have not aged well content-wise, they have fared even worse physically. Originally mastered on cheap film, they look muddy, scratchy and at times out of focus. For those nostalgia buffs longing to see this stuff beautifully restored, you won't find it here! A classic "Jetsons" episode entitled "Elroy's Mob" rounds out the first disc. Young Elroy gets mixed up in a crime, and in typical 60's sitcom fashion, hilarity ensues, followed by a happy ending. It looks and sounds great, probably the same version used for the original series DVD set. Disc Two begins with Quick Draw McGraw again, this time in the guise of "El Kabong", a masked, Zorro-like alter-ego who fights villains by bashing them on the head with a guitar. Once again, this does not disappoint, with razor-sharp humor and charm that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. Snooper, Blabber, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy once again hold the supporting segments, and are also worthwhile, "Augie" especially. As with the episode on Disc 1, everything from the opening and closing titles to the cartoon shorts in between look and sound great. Following Quick Draw, we again descend into the abyss of Hanna-Barbera's decline with one of the strangest cartoon characters ever created: Peter Potamus. Peter is a fat, purple hippo who travels the world in a hot air balloon with his monkey pal, SoSo. In this episode, Peter gets caught in the middle of a fight between cowboys and Indians. The one highlight of this exercise in blandness is the voice work of Daws Butler, Don Messick, and Mel Blanc, but since the endless stream of talk is all there is to it, it gets boring in a hurry. When Peter (not to mention the audience!) has had enough, he dispatches his tormenters with his "Hippo Hurricane Holler". Translation: he screams loud enough that it literally blows everyone away. Supporting segments include "Breezly and Sneezly", a polar bear and a seal who have nothing better to do than annoy the soldiers at a military outpost in the Arctic, and "Yippie, Yappie and Yahooey", three dogs who serve as inept guards to a fussy Medieval king. It's hard to imagine anyone getting excited about any of these goofball critters, and though they have their moments, they pale in comparison to earlier H-B efforts and will probably bore kids and adults alike. The show's original opening and closing are included, and are in pretty rough shape, but the cartoons themselves look fine. Once Peter and pals get the blandness out of their systems, we get an episode of "The Road Runner Show". I was really looking forward to this, and was very disappointed with the results! The original opening, closing, a rarely-seen animated bumper segments are included, as are the title cards created exclusively for this iconic package of Warner classics. The bumper segments are not to be missed: director Robert McKimson created these after the departure of Chuck Jones from the Warner Bros. animation studio, and while low-budget, they are extremely funny. Where the folks at Warner compiling this DVD collection went wrong, though, is evident in the cartoons themselves. Whereas the "Bugs Bunny" and "Porky Pig" shows mixed the old, worn-out TV bridging footage with nice, clean copies of the actual cartoons, the "Road Runner Show" gets a little TOO "authentic", using copies of the cartoons from the same old TV masters as the bridging animation. The results look terrible, especially the opening short, "Zip N' Snort", which looks so bad that Chuck Jones is probably turning in his grave over it. The other two cartoons included, Sylvester and Tweety in "The Jet Cage" and Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and Speedy Gonzales' race-off "The Wild Chase", look just as awful, and there is absolutely no excuse for that. They are faded, scratchy and blurred. Why would you drink spoiled milk when you have a fresh, unopened carton in the same fridge? Maybe I've been spoiled by the wonderful restorations Warner released on the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection" DVD series, but these cartoons look worse than I've ever seen them, and including them in this manner is disgraceful. Next comes "Atom Ant", another Hanna-Barbera series about a little ant with super powers. The title character is a snooze, but the supporting segments, "Precious Pupp" and "Hillbilly Bears", prove more entertaining. "Precious" isn't particularly funny, but he is an ancestor of one of H-B's most memorable and entertaining creations, Muttley. Precious shares Muttley's mumbling voice and wheezy laugh, but instead of Muttley's villainous master, Dastardly, Precious' companion is a sweet little old lady. The segment is not particularly clever or funny, but it's a nice try. "Hillbilly Bears" is easily the best segment, and should have received top billing over Atom. It's about a family of (what else? Hillbilly bears!) voiced by Henry Corden (Paw) Jean Vander Pyl (Maw, Flora) and Don Messick (Shag). Corden's mumbling, grumbling, almost unintelligible voice for Paw is absolutely hilarious. Irreverent, politically incorrect and violent (Paw has an itchy trigger finger to match his big black-powder gun), it's a miracle that a cartoon this funny managed to spring up out of the bland mire of this later H-B material. Skip Atom and Precious and watch the Bears! In terms of physical quality, everything looks and sounds fine here. "The Tom and Jerry Show" is interesting only for some linking segments animated by Chuck Jones, which have not been seen in years. They're not in very good shape, but they're fun to see for the first time. The rest of the show is classic MGM cartoons: Tom and Jerry in "Salt Water Tabby", Droopy in "Mutts About Racing" and Tom, Jerry and Little Quacker in "Just Ducky". These are nothing new if you already own the Tom and Jerry "Spotlight" sets and the "Tex Avery's Droopy" DVD, the only difference is that the MGM Lion openings and credits are replaced with made-for-TV title cards. The set comes to a close with "Magilla Gorilla". Some fans of this series complained that the stand-alone series DVD set didn't include the theme song, and it has been included here. Magilla Gorilla is fondly remembered, but really doesn't have a whole lot going for him except a catchy theme song and a likeable personality. A bonus documentary pretty much agrees with me. As with "Atom Ant", the supporting segments are more entertaining, but not by much. "Punkin Puss and Mushmouse" are a sort of talkative, Ozark hillbilly Tom and Jerry, and probably never caught on with audiences due to their derivative premise. There are only so many variations that can be done on the "cat vs. mouse" cartoon, and by the time these guys came along, they were one variation too many. "Ricochet Rabbit", a segment sometimes seen on "Peter Potamus" as well, is a lot of fun. A rabbit sheriff named Ricochet (Don Messick) and his deputy, Droop-Along Coyote (Mel Blanc), try to keep law and order in the Wild West. It's got some wit to it, and the characters are instantly likeable, but the influence of earlier Western plots in "Huckleberry Hound" and "Quick Draw McGraw" is painfully clear. In summary, this DVD is a fun way to spend a lazy day off, and nostalgia hounds will get a kick out of it. Unfortunately, it's a mixed bag in terms of content and image quality. It does offer a lot of material for not a lot of money, so it's well worth checking out as long as you're not expecting perfection. And doooon't you forget it!
(Corgi Kid, 2009-11-03) This is a cool blast from the past (1960's) that will be enjoyed by anyone who loves the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I just wish it had a collector's booklet or episode guide so you read more about the cartoons and summaries. I hope Warner will release more in this series.
(Dragon57, 2009-10-31) The notes stated that there were going to be some good cartoons here. SAVE YOUR 20 BUCKS. No Herculoids and Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles could not be found. Think I will have to go back to my first plan and simply wait for a studio to release these two titles separately like they did with Space Ghost and Bird Man. Please wake me when the studios release what I want and not just what they want to waste my time with.
(Paul J. Mular, 2009-10-21) **NOTE: Amazon's description has the wrong titles** From the Warner press release (which has the correct titles): Disc 1 Quick Draw McGraw: Mine Your Manners/Vacation Tripped/Person To Prison Space Kidettes/Young Samson & Goliath: Show # 5 - Space Heroes / The SSX-19 Bugs Bunny Show: #23 - Big House Bunny/Canned Feud/Home Tweet Home The Porky Pig Show: #3 - Scaredy Cat/Baton Bunny/Feather Dusted Adventures of Young Gulliver: Dangerous Journey The Wally Gator Show (with Lippy the Lion and Touche Turtle): Droopy Dragon/Whale of a Tale/Sea-Saw The Jetsons: Elroy's Mob Disc 2 Quick Draw McGraw: The Mark of El Kabong/Party Pooper Pop/Chily Chiller Peter Potamus Show (with Breezly and Sneezly and Yippie, Yappie, Yahooey): Wagon Train Strain / Missle Fizzle / Black Bart The Road Runner Show: #1 - Zip and Snort/The Jet Cage/The Wild Chase Atom Ant Show (with Precious Pupp and Hillbilly Bears): Atom Ant Meets Karate Ant / Bowling Pinned / Picnic Panicked Tom & Jerry Show (MGM-TV): Saltwater Tabby/Mutts About Racing/Just Ducky Magilla Gorilla / Punkin Puss / Ricochet Rabbit: Show #3 - Private Magilla / Army Nervy Game / TV Show I must admit that I am disappointed not to get any more Herculoids or Impossibles super-hero cartoons, which is why I give it only four stars. The inclusion of two more Quick Draw McGraw cartoon shows is most likely to make up for the cancellation of his complete series DVD box set last year. Magilla Gorilla & The Jetsons are a double dip here but the rest is mostly new to DVD. A highlight for Looney Tunes fans is the inclusion of three different shows that feature some new-to-DVD Warner Brothers cartoons (not all are new). Again this is making up for the cancellation of the Golden collections of DVDs.