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User:Tholden28/Golden Collection

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The Looney Tunes Golden Collection was an annual series of nine four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Bros.' home video unit Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts. The series began in October 2003 and ended breifly in October 2008 before returning in November 2012 and ending in October 2014.

Overview

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The Golden Collection series was launched in the aftermath of the success of the Walt Disney Treasures series that itself collected archived Disney material.

These collections were made possible after the merger of Time Warner (which owned the color cartoons released from 8/1/1948 onward, as well as the black-and-white Looney Tunes, the post-Harman/Ising black-and-white Merrie Melodies, and the first H/I Merrie Melodies entry: Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) and Turner Broadcasting System (which owned the color cartoons released prior to 8/1/1948, and the remaining Harman/Ising Merrie Melodies; most of these cartoons had been released as part of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc series), along with the subsequent transfer of video rights to the Turner library from MGM Home Entertainment to Warner Home Video.

The cartoons included on the set are uncut, unedited, and digitally restored and remastered from the original successive Technicolor film negatives (or, in the case of the black and white shorts, the original black and white negatives). However, some of the cartoons in these collections are derived from the "Blue Ribbon" reissues (altered from their original versions with their revised front-and-end credit sequences), as the original titles for these cartoons are presumably lost. Where the original titles, instead of the "Blue Ribbon" titles, still exist, Warner has taken the "Blue Ribbon" titles out.

A handful of cartoons in the first two collections and the bonus cartoons on vol 6. have digital video noise reduction (or DVNR) artifacting. The noise reduction process sometimes unintentionally erases or blurs some of the picture on certain scenes of the cartoons, which has caused controversy among some Looney Tunes fans. The most recent collections, however, lack such artifacting. Since August 2007, Warner Bros. Home Video has been quietly reissuing copies of the fourth disc of Volume 2 that lacks artifacting and interlacing, because of numerous complaints by consumers.

Beginning with Volume 3, a warning was printed on the packaging explaining that the collection is intended for adults and the content may not be suitable for children. This goes along with Whoopi Goldberg's filmed introduction in Volume 3 that explains the history of ethnic imagery that frequently appears in cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s. Beginning with Volume 4, a singular disclaimer text card similar to Goldberg's spoken disclaimer precedes each disc's main menu.

The DVDs also feature several special features including interviews/documentaries of the people behind the cartoons such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Carl Stalling, and Mel Blanc, pencil tests, and audio commentaries by animation historians Jerry Beck, Michael Barrier, and Greg Ford, as well as current animators Paul Dini, Eric Goldberg, and John Kricfalusi.

In some regions, such as Region 2 & 4, each disc in each volume is packaged (or re-packaged) separately.

Releases

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Volume 1

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Volume 1 (released on October 28, 2003) contains 56 cartoons (all in color) mostly from the 1950s with a smaller selection of shorts from the 1940s. Popular shorts include:

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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Statistics

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Volume 2

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Volume 2 (released on November 2, 2004) contains a broader selection of cartoons from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s including

This was the first volume to have 60 cartoons. From then on, this would be the number of cartoons in each volume.

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one, as in the first edition, contains all Bugs Bunny cartoons.
  • Disc two has 11 Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts, along with two Hubie and Berties, 1 starring a group called the dover boys, and 1 with the Three Bears.
  • Disc three contains 9 Sylvester/Tweety shorts, along with 6 cartoons starring Daffy Duck and/or Porky Pig (most of which are directed by Tweety creator Bob Clampett, along with one from Sylvester creator Friz Freleng, and one from Chuck Jones - who paired Sylvester and Porky in a series of shorts in spooky settings, though the Jones cartoon on this disc is Old Glory). One in the latter set of cartoons actually stars a version of Sylvester.
  • Disc four is an all-stars disc, though there is some co-relation between each cartoon on the disc: they are either musicals (with lots of singing), Hollywood parodies, set on a stage, or incorporate other forms of show-business.

Statistics

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  • 31 of the color cartoons on the set were in WB's own television packages (released August 1, 1948 or later), while the amount of a.a.p.-owned color cartoons (released before August 1, 1948) tripled from the last set to 27. The remaining two cartoons are the first from the Sunset Productions package (all black-and-white cartoons except the Harman-Ising Merrie Melodies from Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! onward) to be released on one of the sets.
  • Bugs Bunny, despite appearing in fewer cartoons in this set, still has the most representation, with 20 cartoons.
  • This volume was the first to contain creditless Blue Ribbons released as such - in other words, their original credits were not found.
  • Despite that, four Blue Ribboned cartoons did get restored to their original form on this set: Baby Bottleneck, Back Alley Oproar, Book Revue (reissued as Book Review), and I Love to Singa. In addition, although its opening wasn't found, Old Glory does have its original ending restored. Similarly, although it is still a Blue Ribbon, Have You Got Any Castles has previously-excised footage featuring a caricature of Alexander Woollcott restored.
  • The number of one-shots on the set is 7, up from 1 on the last set.
  • This set has the first restored cartoons from the following directors: Tex Avery, Cal Howard/Cal Dalton, and Frank Tashlin.
  • Chuck Jones defends his title as most-represented director on an LTGC set, having 22 cartoons. Friz Freleng is a close second with 21 cartoons. Combined, they have 43 cartoons on this set, nearly 3/4 of all cartoons on this set.
  • Two character debuts are on the set: One Froggy Evening (Michigan J. Frog, considered a one-shot in the classic era) and Tortoise Beats Hare (Cecil Turtle).
  • The number of restored Oscar-winners goes up to 3, as Tweetie Pie (1947) joins the list.
  • Four public domain cartoons have been restored for this set: A Corny Concerto, The Dover Boys, Have You Got Any Castles?, and Hollywood Steps Out.

Volume 3

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Volume 3 (released on October 25, 2005) contains a selection of cartoons (52 in color, 8 in black-and-white) mostly from the 30s and 40s, but with some from the 50s and 60s including such popular shorts as

Additional features include three Private Snafu cartoons, a 1963 television show pilot entitled Philbert, and two Harman-Ising era shorts:

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one, as with previous volumes, is all Bugs Bunny.
  • Disc two features Hollywood caricatures and parodies.
  • Disc three mainly concerns Porky Pig, with a few other pig-related cartoons thrown in.
  • Disc four is the all-stars disc.

Statistics

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Volume 4

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Volume 4 (released on November 14, 2006) contains selections (51 in color and 9 in black and white) ranging from 1936 to 1966 (the latest Looney Tunes cartoon yet), including such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one continues the tradition of the all-Bugs Bunny disc.
  • Disc two is dedicated to director Frank Tashlin.
  • Disc three contains only Speedy Gonzales cartoons.
  • Disc four consists of cartoons starring obscure cats, with a few Sylvester cartoons thrown in for good measure.

Statistics

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  • 40 of the color cartoons on this set (2/3 of the selection) were in WB's own television packages. The remaining color cartoons were in a.a.p. package. All 9 black-and-white cartoons were in the Sunset Productions package.
  • Bugs Bunny keeps his title as the most-represented character, though his number of cartoons is down to 15, and now he shares the title with Speedy Gonzales.
  • Frank Tashlin, with help from his own disc, is the most-represented director on this set, breaking a three-year streak from Chuck Jones - who, along with Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson, each have 14 cartoons. The remainder are directed by either Bob Clampett or Arthur Davis.
  • The last Oscar-winner to be restored is Knighty Knight Bugs, the only Bugs Bunny cartoon ever to win an Oscar.
  • Three character debuts are on this set: The Aristo-Cat (Claude Cat and Hubie and Bertie), Cat-Tails for Two (Speedy Gonzales) and Mississippi Hare (Colonel Shuffle).
  • The number of one-shots is now at 11.
  • The Night Watchman is the only cartoon on this set with its original titles restored after years of existing only as a Blue Ribbon reissue.
  • Two public domain cartoons have been restored for this set: Porky's Railroad and Puss n' Booty.
  • This set features the first three cartoons with the "Abstract WB" titles to be restored: A-Haunting We Will Go, Pancho's Hideaway, and The Wild Chase. These are also the first three cartoons from the DePatie-Freleng era to be restored.

Volume 5

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Volume 5 (released on October 30, 2007) is the next-to-last volume to be released, with 41 color cartoons and 19 black-and-white cartoons (the most of any set thus far), including such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. This is the first time that the first disc is not entirely dedicated to Bugs Bunny, now sharing the spotlight with Daffy Duck.
  • Disc two contains parodies of fairy tale stories.
  • Disc three honors the work of director Bob Clampett.
  • Disc four features Porky Pig and other early classics - all in black-and-white (the first such disc in the LTGC).

Special features includes the 2000 PBS documentary Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens, a Life in Animation, and the director's cut ending from Hare Ribbin'.

Statistics

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Volume 6

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Volume 6 (released on October 21, 2008) concludes the entire series of the Golden Collection. The ratio of color to black-and-white cartoons (41 to 19) is the same as the previous volume. This volume contains such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one is an all-star disc comprising cartoons from various characters.
  • Disc two (Patriotic Pals) is a war-themed disc, primarily featuring shorts released during World War II.
  • Disc three, which is all black-and-white, focuses on the early days of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, and features many shorts with Bosko and Buddy.
  • The fourth and final disc is filled with the most requested shorts (all one-shots), including Horton Hatches the Egg and Norman Normal.

In addition, there are 20 bonus cartoons, including various Warner Bros. shorts and several shorts directed by Friz Freleng for MGM in the late 1930s.

Statistics

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Volume 7

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Volume 7 (released November 17, 2012) contains 60 selections ranging from 1930 to 1965 (45 in color and 15 in black and white). This volume contains such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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Statistics

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Volume 8

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Volume 8 (released November 17, 2012) contains 60 selections ranging from 1936 to 1965 (all but 1 in color). This volume contains such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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Statistics

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  • Among restored cartoons: 41 cartoons were in WB's television packages, 17 cartoons were in the a.a.p. package, and 2 cartoons were in the Sunset Productions package.
  • With 15 cartoons, Foghorn Leghorn is the most-represented character on the set, followed by Daffy Duck, with 11.
  • Robert McKimson is the most-represented director, having directed 25 cartoons on the set, with his closest competition, Friz Freleng, trailing behind him with 17 cartoons.
  • One character debut is on this set: Lovelorn Leghorn (Miss Prissy).
  • Two cartoons from the public domain have been restored for this release: Fresh Hare, and The Haunted Mouse.

Volume 9

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Volume 9 (released October 26, 2013) now includes 60 regular selections ranging from 1932 to 1969 (52 in color and 8 in black and white), including such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
  • Disc two is dedicated to director Tex Avery.
  • Disc three has eight Pepé Le Pew cartoons, with the remaining six cartoons directed by Pepé Le Pew creator Chuck Jones.
  • Disc four focuses on cartoons related to sports.

Statistics

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Volume 10

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Volume 10 (released October 21, 2014) concludes the Golden Collection series. It contains now 80 regular selections (all but one in color) ranging from 1933 to 1966, and 15 of which are bonus features. This volume contains such popular shorts as

Disc-by-disc breakdown

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  • Disc one is an super-sized all-star disc comprising cartoons from various characters.
  • Disc two is a space and technology-themed disc, primarily featuring shorts released during the Space Race.
  • Disc three contains mostly Hippety Hopper cartoons, with the remaining cartoons either directed by Hippety Hopper creator Robert McKimson or starring Sylvester.
  • Disc four features cartoons starring obscure and lesser known dogs such as Charlie and Spike and Chester.

Statistics

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See also

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