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Werewolf by Night wrote:This is how they should have done these releases YEARS ago. I expect this will probably be on pressed DVDs for the initial run.

Either this way or chronologically. WB really screwed up releasing the Looney Tunes catalog during the prime of the DVD era.

I put up an Imgur album of screencaps. Mostly the cartoons exclusive to this set, but a few of the previously released ones for comparison.
https://imgur.com/a/JqocI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd compare this to the Walt Disney Treasures sets Mickey Mouse in B&W Vol. 2 or More Silly Symphonies. No extensive restoration on the new-to-disc cartoons, but they're high quality transfers . Some seem to have the opening titles lifted from an older video master, with the body taken from a new transfer.

The set is indeed DVDR for the curious.

Er, are you sure/did you or someone you know not get pressed discs? Everyone on Blu-ray's forums who ordered it from WB thus far seem to still be getting pressed discs.

I ordered from Amazon which might be the cause of the difference.

I had read elsewhere that pre-orders from Amazon would be fulfilled with pressed discs. I pre-ordered and got DVD-Rs. Not happy.

I ordered from WB & received pressed dvds.

If you want pressed DVDs, the best way to ensure that is to either order from WB or Deep Discount, who apparently fulfills orders for WB. In the past, I don't believe Amazon has ever gotten pressed DVD editions of Warner Archive releases.

Feego wrote:I don't believe Amazon has ever gotten pressed DVD editions of Warner Archive releases.

I ordered the James Whale Show Boat from amazon.com and received a pressed version about six months ago.

Got mine from WBShop and the discs are definitely pressed. That was the only reason I used them honestly.

I've only just cracked open the set but I absolutely love seeing these chronologically.

Amazon burns their own versions of Warner Archive releases, so if it's initially pressed, you won't be getting that copy unless you order from literally any other retailer

"Fish Tales" is one bizarre, disturbing cartoon, with the dream sequence of the grinning fish preparing to cook and eat Porky. Surprising to me that it was directed by Jack King; I like a lot of his Disney work but none of it approaches the weirdness here, which is kind of Clampett-ish but without the breakneck pacing so it just seems... grim. Fascinating though.

I might return my Amazon copy then, if other places have pressed versions. I should add that the first disc made my family room blu-ray player, a cheapo Seiki model, completely lock up to the point that I had to unplug the player to get the disc out.

Feego wrote:If you want pressed DVDs, the best way to ensure that is to either order from WB or Deep Discount, who apparently fulfills orders for WB.

Got pressed Porky Pig DVDs from DDs sibling-storefront DVDPacific. Thank you for the heads-up!

This set is a real treasure so far. I bought all those Looney Tunes collections in the early-2000s and assumed that we'd never get more. It's also a real treat to see them contextualized chronologically instead of a theme as you see how Porky Pig led the evolution of the Warner style. Half-way through the first disc, you begin to see how antiquated the Jack King cartoons are with their rubbery, bouncing characters with pie-eyes when compared to Frank Tashlin's Porky in the North Woods, with its endless energy and quick shots or the modernist gags of Tex Avery's The Village Smithy that remind you that the lunacy of his MGM shorts were there from the start. The addition of Carl Stalling makes a considerable difference. The early scores sound rather generic, but suddenly when Carl Stalling starts throwing cue after cue from the Warner music catalog that matches the increasing strangeness of the cartoons, it makes an astronomical difference. I'm barely a little over a disc in and I can't be any happier with this purchase. I'm willing to live with Betacam, 16mm or beat-up dupe quality prints on some of these cartoons if it means we're just able to see them at all.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:when compared to Frank Tashlin's Porky in the North Woods, with its endless energy and quick shots or the modernist gags of Tex Avery's The Village Smithy that remind you that the lunacy of his MGM shorts were there from the start.

Completely agree with all of your post. The addition of Tash and Avery made such a visible difference, and it's been fascinating so far to watch the progression chronologically. One of the biggest laughs in my house so far came surprisingly early, though, at the impeccable punchline of "Gold Diggers of '49."

More Looney Tunes sets like this -- and a definitive Tex Avery at MGM compilation -- would be wonderful.

I don't think he's covered much in this set, but it is also interesting to watch Friz Freleng's evolution. He started off as a Disney animator and was one of the first animators turned director at Termite Terrace after the exodus of Harman and Ising. At first he stayed fairly within the lines of what they set up, but always matched pace with the new talent. Avery, Tashlin, and others ascendance really caused him a work out that is wonderful to see.

I guess the Blu-rays for the Platinum Collection are falling out-of-print. Maybe even the DVD's, which are listed as "backorder" in a lot of places, but at least they still list them. Vol. 3 can still be found on BD, so if you were thinking of getting it, I'd get it soon.

I already got Vol. 1 & 3 but I ended up ordering from Grooves in Germany for Vol. 2 - it was the ONLY retailer I can find who stocked it. The artwork's all in German, but the contents are supposed to be identical, and the price is about $20 shipped, which is actually pretty good.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see them reappear via the Archives range as they did with the Tom and Jerry set relatively recently (especially for the first set which was a digibook like most of their rereleases and could easily so with being collapsed down). Perfectly possible it won’t happen but WB has been pretty good about keeping the titles they’ve actually released around.

Ribs wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:37 am I wouldn’t be surprised to see them reappear via the Archives range as they did with the Tom and Jerry set relatively recently (especially for the first set which was a digibook like most of their rereleases and could easily so with being collapsed down). Perfectly possible it won’t happen but WB has been pretty good about keeping the titles they’ve actually released around.

Good point - I hope that's the case, but I'm glad I got all three now without paying more than $20 for any of them.

Does anyone know why cartoons were cut out of Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 4 when it was released in the UK?

Gregory wrote:Without warning, Warner Discovery just removed half of the previously available 511 Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies shorts from HBO Max.
Vol. 2 of the Platinum Collection Blu-rays, which Warner released a decade ago, has been out of print for years and selling for high prices. I have all three volumes, but each contains 50 shorts in hi-def (150 total), which doesn't come close to matching even the very incomplete coverage of the 511 shorts that were available on HBO Max.

Twitterers are still screaming bloody murder about this, but all of these cartoons are still available on Boomerang, a streamer also owned by WBD, for less than $4 a month (annual), just as they were before HBO Max existed. From the reaction you’d think they were burning the negatives, but who would even have expected that an expanded HBO service would also contain hundreds of classic cartoons?

I didn't see the screaming Twitterers, so I can't address that at all. Who would have expected that HBO Max would have so many classic cartoons? I did, I suppose, when I signed up. And don't get me wrong, I never assumed or felt entitled to any kind of permanence with streaming platforms like this, far from it. That's why physical media still have their place, which is why the context of my original post was about how Warner has never done right by this keystone of their company's legacy even in those formats. And I know that by talking about streaming and disc releases I'm talking about different parts of Warner Bros. and don't mean to conflate them.
According to Jerry Beck, the Platinum Collection ended (approaching a decade ago) partly because WHV didn't ensure a budget for remastering further shorts. Couldn't they at least keep what they've remastered already in print on disc? Even on DVD, as with Porky Pig 101? (At least in the past several years they've given us the predictably incomplete Tex Avery discs. That's not nothing.)
It's not that subscribing to Boomerang would be cost-prohibitive but it's more a matter of just how many streaming services one can reasonably expect to pay for at once. But won't complain further here about streaming, as this makes me feel as old as I am. This development seemed worth noting but maybe I was the only person here disappointed by another setback on this front.

You're not alone at all, especially since I was very late switching to BD for various reasons and never got to pick up the Platinum Collections. I hadn't taken advantage of the streaming offerings but at least their being out there was a sign that someone at the company still cared a little bit; I should learn never to expect that when it comes to classic animation. It's still completely nuts to me that the DePatie-Freleng library is more comprehensive on Blu-ray, by far, than either the Warner or Disney catalogs.

Coming June 17th, Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Vol 1

COMING ON JUNE 17th from THE WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION!
LOONEY TUNES COLLECTOR'S VAULT Volume 1-
The new collection will feature 50 animated shorts across 2 BD-50 discs.
Disc One will contain 25 shorts never before remastered on DVD or Blu-ray!
Disc Two will contain 25 shorts never before on Blu-ray!
In the near future, we will announce further details of this collection including the titles of the 50 classic shorts which will be included.

I'm really surprised they are doing this as Discovery management (Zaslav) has been trying to kill Looney Tunes at every corner. They killed Coyote vs Acme, almost killed the new Porky and Daffy film premiering this weekend, which so far has 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and they quietly cancelled the Looney Tunes comic book, which had been DC Comics longest continuing running series dating to it's first issue in 1994. My only gripe with the BD set is the same as always, there's no rhyme or reason on what cartoons are in each set. Don't understand why they don't release them in chronological order and be done with it.