The cartoon fan could hardly go wrong with this set.
"Birds Anonymous" (1957) made it look like Friz Freleng and WB had taken over the driver's seat., this time with Tweety and Sylvester. The cat goes to "Birds Anonymous" to kick his bird habit and devises a new motto: "Birds is for the birds." Tweety has other plans.
"Knighty Knight Bugs" (1958) finds Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., and Bugs Bunny winning the Oscar. I suppose it was about time Bugs got his due. He plays a court jester in King Arthur's court, a poor fellow whom the king orders on a quest to take back the Singing Sword from the Black Knight (Yosemite Sam). Some funny stuff.
"The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" (1959), directed by Friz Freleng and Maurice Noble for MGM, was also the end of the line for WB's and MGM's string of cartoon Oscar winners. But at least they went out swinging. Read by Robert Morley, it's one of the most imaginative animations in the group, concerning a straight line that falls for a dot. Only the dot loves a free-spirited squiggle. Oh, dear.
Discs two and three contain the Oscar nominees. See if you don't recognize some of the titles on disc two: "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Cat," "Peace on Earth," "A Wild Hare," "Puss Gets the Boot," "Superman," "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt," "Rhapsody in Rivets," "The Night Before Christmas," ""Blitz Wolf," "Pigs in a Polka," "Swooner Crooner," "Walky Talky Hawky," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse," and "Mouse Wreckers."
And on disc three: "Hatch Up Your Troubles," "Jerry's Cousin," "Little Johnny Jet," "Touché, Pussy Cat!," "From A to Z-Z-Z-Z," "Sandy Claws," "Good Will to Men," "Tabasco Road," "One Droopy Knight," "High Note," "Nelly's Folly," and "Now Hear This."
Video:
The Warner Bros. video engineers have restored the color to good effect. The hues stand out brightly and vividly in almost every animation. However, there is a varying degree of grain that accompanies the films, and a varying number of age marks. None of it is severe, though, and it should not impede one's appreciation of the artwork.
Audio:
There's not much to say about the sound. It's in Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural, clear, clean, and quiet in the midrange but not too wide in frequency response. Nevertheless, there is a decent dynamic range and impact when needed.
Extras:
The best thing here is the new documentary, "Drawn for Glory: Animation's Triumph at the Oscars." It's one of the best such documentaries I've seen, about an hour long, with animators, authors, and filmmakers providing a history of the animated film from silent days to the present. In addition, the discs provide over a dozen audio commentaries on select cartoons by various animators, directors, filmmakers, and historians, while one may play back other cartoons with music-only tracks. Then, there's a bonus short, "What's Cookin' Doc?," with Bugs spoofing the Oscars; individual access to each cartoon as well as a "Play All" feature; theatrical trailers for other cartoon favorites and, oddly, for the fortieth-anniversary edition of "Bonnie and Clyde"; English as the only spoken language; English captions for the hearing impaired; a foldout Digipak container that also lists the contents of each disc; and a beautifully embossed slipcover.
Parting Thoughts:
The cartoon fan could hardly go wrong with this set, considering the subject matter is a collection of Academy Award-winning animated films. Maybe the Tom and Jerry cartoons dominate a bit too much, but that's the way the Oscars go. If you like Tom and Jerry, you get the best of them. If you don't, it hardly matters because there are enough other goodies in the package to delight anyone.
"Knighty Knight Bugs" (1958) finds Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., and Bugs Bunny winning the Oscar. I suppose it was about time Bugs got his due. He plays a court jester in King Arthur's court, a poor fellow whom the king orders on a quest to take back the Singing Sword from the Black Knight (Yosemite Sam). Some funny stuff.
"The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" (1959), directed by Friz Freleng and Maurice Noble for MGM, was also the end of the line for WB's and MGM's string of cartoon Oscar winners. But at least they went out swinging. Read by Robert Morley, it's one of the most imaginative animations in the group, concerning a straight line that falls for a dot. Only the dot loves a free-spirited squiggle. Oh, dear.
Discs two and three contain the Oscar nominees. See if you don't recognize some of the titles on disc two: "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Cat," "Peace on Earth," "A Wild Hare," "Puss Gets the Boot," "Superman," "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt," "Rhapsody in Rivets," "The Night Before Christmas," ""Blitz Wolf," "Pigs in a Polka," "Swooner Crooner," "Walky Talky Hawky," "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse," and "Mouse Wreckers."
And on disc three: "Hatch Up Your Troubles," "Jerry's Cousin," "Little Johnny Jet," "Touché, Pussy Cat!," "From A to Z-Z-Z-Z," "Sandy Claws," "Good Will to Men," "Tabasco Road," "One Droopy Knight," "High Note," "Nelly's Folly," and "Now Hear This."
Video:
The Warner Bros. video engineers have restored the color to good effect. The hues stand out brightly and vividly in almost every animation. However, there is a varying degree of grain that accompanies the films, and a varying number of age marks. None of it is severe, though, and it should not impede one's appreciation of the artwork.
Audio:
There's not much to say about the sound. It's in Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural, clear, clean, and quiet in the midrange but not too wide in frequency response. Nevertheless, there is a decent dynamic range and impact when needed.
Extras:
The best thing here is the new documentary, "Drawn for Glory: Animation's Triumph at the Oscars." It's one of the best such documentaries I've seen, about an hour long, with animators, authors, and filmmakers providing a history of the animated film from silent days to the present. In addition, the discs provide over a dozen audio commentaries on select cartoons by various animators, directors, filmmakers, and historians, while one may play back other cartoons with music-only tracks. Then, there's a bonus short, "What's Cookin' Doc?," with Bugs spoofing the Oscars; individual access to each cartoon as well as a "Play All" feature; theatrical trailers for other cartoon favorites and, oddly, for the fortieth-anniversary edition of "Bonnie and Clyde"; English as the only spoken language; English captions for the hearing impaired; a foldout Digipak container that also lists the contents of each disc; and a beautifully embossed slipcover.
Parting Thoughts:
The cartoon fan could hardly go wrong with this set, considering the subject matter is a collection of Academy Award-winning animated films. Maybe the Tom and Jerry cartoons dominate a bit too much, but that's the way the Oscars go. If you like Tom and Jerry, you get the best of them. If you don't, it hardly matters because there are enough other goodies in the package to delight anyone.
![Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The [TV Show]](/images/displaymedia.php?id=24781&sizew=70&cat=3)
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