Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection

[Jeff]

For Schreck, from The Digital Bits

Also, Warner has announced a number of new DVD releases today including...Tex Avery's Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection

Due on May 15.

[Lino]

Right, now I'm drooling big time. What a fantastic year 2007 is shaping up to be!

[HerrSchreck]

Fabulous, but what about the rest? (Also assuming this will be sans UNCLE TOM'S CABANA?)

I always love Droopy, but still in all, Avery's best were always the LITTLE 'TINKER, SLAP HAPPY LION, WHAT'S BUZZIN BUZZARD, MAGICAL MAESTRO-type one-shots.

[Max von Mayerling]

Well, last year they said "the tex avery cartoons all require a full restoration which will be VERY VERY expensive. For us to release them, in any substandard form would obviously not make you folks happy. We are trying to find the financing within the various divisions of the company to justify this undertaking."

I imagine that those making the financing decisions thought that Droopy sounded marketable, justifying the undertaking. Hopefully this will sell well & they'll somehow be convinced that restoring & releasing the remainder of Tex's masterpieces will be worth it to their bottom line.

[Gregor Samsa]

According to Jerry Beck that situation is currently the case:

There will be a complete Avery set... IF the Droopy set sells well.

[Cinephrenic]

What other works of Avery is in question? Is it his 30's Looney Tunes films or other works. Sorry, not too familiar with his works other than Droopy and early Looney Tunes.

[HerrSchreck]

the LITTLE 'TINKER, SLAP HAPPY LION, WHAT'S BUZZIN BUZZARD, MAGICAL MAESTRO-type one-shots

of which there were dozens & dozens.

These are his forties MGM cartoons where he was given complete freedom and where his genius reached it's full bloom. Thus masterpieces like CUCKOO CLOCK, THE CAT THAT HATED PEOPLE, WHO KILLED WHO?, BAD LUCK BLACKIE, ROCK A BYE BEAR, SYMPHONY IN SLANG, and so so so many more. Like the non-droopy Wolfies... LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD is an automatic sore throat maker from phlegm tossing roaring laughter.

[Max von Mayerling]

Ah, The Cat Who Hated People. And let's not forget to specifically mention King Size Canary, one of my favorites. I'm definitely a fan of many of the WB cartoons that he directed, and the Droopy series has some great stuff, but the MGM one-shots are, as says Schreck, as good as it gets.

I noticed that in the thread linked to above, Jerry Beck says that if WB puts together an Avery set, which they'll likely do only if Droopy sells, they'll put all the Droopy cartoons in the Avery set. So it's a catch-22. You have to buy Droopy to improve our chances of seeing an Avery set, but we'll be forced to double-dip.

Oh well. An Avery set is probably on my top-5 things I want to see on dvd, so it looks like they've got me where they want me.

[HerrSchreck]

Me too.

And KING SIZE CANARY is sublime. I love the self-referential ending. Tex was always calling attention to the fact that we were watching a cartoon.

"Technicolor Ends Here" signs etc. LUCKY DUCKY for example.

[Kinsayder]

Another quote from Jerry Beck:

WHV is aware of the edited cartoons (DROOPY'S GOOD DEED, etc.) and are checking those especially for completeness. It is intended that these cartoons be uncut on this set.

Oh, goody!

I introduced my Italian nieces (8 & 10) to Tex Avery over Christmas. They were unimpressed by Droopy ("boring"), but loved Screwy Squirrel, and the priapic wolf in the 'Hood cartoons. The ones they kept asking to see over and over again were the "Of Tomorrow" cartoons, which I always thought were some of the weaker Averys. I think they liked the corny puns.

[Max von Mayerling]

Amazon has it up. It is a two-disc set retailing at $26.98.

[HerrSchreck]

Anyone know if the above quote means banned stuff like UNCLE TOM'S CABANA will be on deck?

[Cinephrenic]

Digital Bits:

The 2-disc set will include 24 re-mastered and unedited animated shorts, including Dumb-Hounded, The Shooting of Dan McGoo, Wild and Woolfy, Northwest Hounded Police, Señor Droopy, Wags to Riches, Out-Foxed, The Chump Champ, Daredevil Droopy, Droopy's Good Deed, Droopy's "Double Trouble", Caballero Droopy, The Three Little Pups, Drag-a-Long Droopy, Homesteader Droopy, Dixieland Droopy and Deputy Droopy. The set will also include 7 Cinemascope shorts in anamorphic widescreen, including Millionaire Droopy, Grin and Share It, Blackboard Jumble, One Droopy Knight, Sheep Wrecked, Mutts About Racing and Droopy Leprechaun. Extras on the set will include the Droopy and Friends: A Laugh Back documentary and the Doggone Gags montage.

[Lino]

Specs and cover art

[Max von Mayerling]

Pathetically, I don't think I've ever seen any of these in cinemascope. Very exciting, even if it means cinemascope on my tv.

[Kinsayder]

Was Tex Avery even involved in those Cinemascope Droopys?

[Max von Mayerling]

Good point. Based on a quick review, it looks like the only Droopy cinemascope that he directed was Millionaire Droopy.

[HerrSchreck]

Yeah, some of this stuff like LEPRECHAUN and the one where he's the knight boinging his little sword on the dragon were post-Tex (and it shows.. though me & my brothers usedta always pull our cheeks out & imitate droop going "h-ya know h-wat? I'm gonna slay you" & make like we were doinging a sword on the dragons scales)...

and note no UNCLE TOMS CABANA. Fuckin pussy ass idiots, Warner are. In this day & age w kids playing Grand Theft Auto shit, they're scared to release this shit.

[Jeff]

Here is a very well-informed early review. The good news is that the shorts are uncut. The bad news: massive DVNR.

[MichaelB]

My copy turned up today - and I can confirm that despite the Region 1 logo on the back of the box, the discs play fine on my Region 2-only MacBook.

Sadly, I can also confirm that the DVNR warning wasn't an exaggeration - though fortunately these cartoons move so fast that it's less of an issue than it might otherwise be.

[foggy eyes]

Beaver review.

[Lino]

No subtitles at all? Strange. I hope the upcoming Complete Avery does include them. Cheap move, Warners.

[patrick]

I love this set. The quality on the early shorts is definitely nowhere close to perfect (several are very dull looking) but the Cinemascope shorts look fantastic. Despite all of this, these were probably my most wanted cartoons and I'm overjoyed to have them on DVD. Relaxing at home and watching "Dixieland Droopy" is a pleasure.

Is there any info about the forthcoming Complete Tex Avery set anywhere?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Good point. Based on a quick review, it looks like the only Droopy cinemascope that he directed was Millionaire Droopy.

Even that wasn't really directed by him. What they did was get the old characters from an other Droopy short (I'm trying to remember the title), and placed them in a Cinemascopified, modern style background. Nothing much else. I'm not too big a fan of the Cinemascope ones. The cartoony characters don't fit the background style, I feel, and a lot of the gags are ones Tex Avery used long ago.

Well, I can't wait for more Tex Avery, mostly to see Symphony in Slang, his best, yet least animated cartoon.

[Jeff]

What they did was get the old characters from an other Droopy short (I'm trying to remember the title)

That would be Wags to Riches.