WB Archive Collection: Discs On Demand!

[Ben]

$75! Yeah, a wait for the $30-40 standard is definitely happening here. So much for the disc sales, though. When will WB learn that people generally don’t like these Funko things...especially when they look as creepy as Funko Bunny there...

[Daniel]

I think the Pop looks kinda cute, but not enough to justify the price.

[EricJ]

$75! Yeah, a wait for the $30-40 standard is definitely happening here.
especially when they look as creepy as Funko Bunny there...

Eek. Bugs-dayo.
No fan in the WORLD is going to put that in their bedroom collection.

Back when we got the "$600 Bookshelf" edition of the 6-Movie Tolkien set, I was starting to tinfoil whether this is all consciously on Warner's part:
1) If they think they can, quote-fingers, "only" sell retail physical discs of core fan-franchise titles to SDCC fanboys by bearing plastic gifts, soak 'em to see how much you can get, and/or
2) If, surprise, you reach the point where you HAVE priced yourself out of the market, turn to the other studios and say "Well, we tried, but you just can't satisfy them!...Told you you're better off with the mass digital audience!"

Only 60 7 min shorts for $70? So the 6 disk is bull. And yes looks like the other dvd set is not part of this. Unless you want to funko pop just wait for the single release.

If you hear "Warner" + "Anniversary" + "Collection" - "Complete", and there's a Plastic Tchotchke included for mass retail, you know it's a condescending best-of, so that they don't have to remaster new titles for those ungrateful fanboys.

Now I've got to check the lists against my current Blu's and Golden DVD's (have they released "His Hare-Raising Tale" or "Horatio Hareblower"?), to see whether I can safely avoid this until the Archive takes up the slack. Ohh, WTH, I may end up having to get it anyway for "No Parking Hare". ("I hear ya knockin', but ya can't come in!")
That's the problem with releasing this in such close proximity to the Complete Flintstones set.

[Ben]

What, the $600 Middle Earth set that is already obsolete due to the upcoming 4Ks...!?

[droosan]

I was actually kinda hoping this would be an equivalent of the Porky 101 set .. a chronological collection of Bugs' shorts, with the cartoons missing from the LTGC DVD sets filled-in. Oh, well.

[Randall]

Yeah, a bit of a missed opportunity.

[EricJ]

I was actually kinda hoping this would be an equivalent of the Porky 101 set .. a chronological collection of Bugs' shorts, with the cartoons missing from the LTGC DVD sets filled-in. Oh, well.

That's Warner Archive, the little back-office that cares, and who gets to do what they want because nobody in the corporation cares about them. They're the Termite Terrace of Blu-ray.

The "Bugs anniversary" set is WB Home Entertainment, that believes they can only sell a handful of whatever three or four franchise brands are propping up the studio at the moment, and then only if they sell us something BESIDES the disk, otherwise we wouldn't see it on shelves.
They're the ones that don't like to put too much effort in what you buy, just so long as they can prove the house brand still sells in retail. But they stuck on Space Jam, just in case.

Still, I'm guessing most of the "Rarities" have just been remastered, since when I looked up HBOMax, they didn't have a complete listing of the Classic Looneys, but they did have most of the previously unreleased second-disc titles for streaming.
It'd been a long time since I'd seen "Hot Cross Bunny", "Piker's Peak" or "Fair-Haired Hare" anywhere other than YouTube, so it's nice to know those are back in the remastered-toon ether along with the usual mainstream-brand-marketable Chuck Jones suspects.

[Ben]

Take out the overlapped already Platinum available shorts, and that’s maybe just around 45 new to HD cartoons. Not great for $75 — and even that's at discount!

If they couldn’t do a full chronological retrospective for whatever reason, this should and could have easily been a three/four-disc set of 80 (geddit?) new to disc cartoons and extras, which would have been about right for that cost.

Though as a non-Funko fan generally, I’d have still waited for a $30-40 edition. And it’s aN ugly Funko too! You’re paying double for half the value! Sad thing is, this won’t sell as much and the argument will be that these things don’t sell, when the truth is that these things would sell *through the roof* if they didn’t keep trying to sell us extraneous stuff we don’t want to buy!

[Ben]

Preorder up for the UK at Zavvi, surprisingly, as I didn’t think we’d get that over here immediately if at all. Contents listed below — better reasonably at just under £55, though still too expensive for a twenty five or thirty pound set of discs.

Doesn’t say what is HD or not, a little concerned that some seem branched from other featurettes, so could just be standard def extras...? Definitely waiting for reviews, at least, and more than likely just the disc set on its own. Contents:


Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray & Funko Pop! Vinyl Zavvi Exclusive

Bugs Bunny first hopped onto the screen in 1940 and he’s been a pop-culture icon ever since. More than eight generations have enjoyed the timeless antics of the carrot-munching wise guy who always outsmarts his rivals. Cartoons, movies, TV, comics, music, sports and more – this wascally wabbit has done it all. Clever pranks and one-liners are here, along with interviews with today’s most renowned animators, historians and superstars. Enjoy the full range of his silly and smart-alecky personality with 60 theatrical shorts restored and remastered to the original 4x3 aspect ratio on Blu-ray for the first time. It's just what the doctor – er, doc – ordered.​

Features:

FULL-SIZED Bugs Bunny glitter Funko
Bugs Bunny’s 80th What’s Up, Doc-umentary!
10 Looney Tunes Cartoons
Introductory Letter from Animation Historian, Jerry Beck
Special Features:

Commentaries [selection only; the following 15x selections should have a Play All button] Commentary
Elmer's Candid Camera Commentary by Jerry Beck Commentary
A Wild Hare Commentary by Greg Ford Commentary
Hold the Lion, Please Commentary by Greg Ford-[New] Commentary
Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid Commentary by Michael Barrier with Bob Clampett Commentary
Super-Rabbit Commentary by Paul Dini Commentary
What's Cookin' Doc? Commentary by Jerry Beck-[New] Commentary
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears Commentary by Stan Freberg Commentary
Hare Ribbin’ Commentary by Constantine Nasr-[New] Commentary
The Old Grey Hare Commentary by Greg Ford Commentary
Baseball Bugs Commentary by Eric Goldberg Commentary
Hair Raising Hare Commentary by Greg Ford and Michael Barrier with Lloyd Turner Commentary
Bugs Bunny Rides Again Commentary by Greg Ford Commentary
Haredevil Hare Commentary by Michael Barrier with Pete Alvarado Commentary
What's Up Doc? Commentary by Greg Ford Commentary
8 Ball Bunny Commentary by Jerry Beck Commentary
Bugs Bunny’s 80th What’s Up, Doc-umentary!-[all-new documentary]When Bugs Bunny burst on the scene back in 1940, he was the unexpected phenomenon that literally blew the competition out of the water (just ask Yosemite Sam). His attitude, spunk, high energy and smarts were exactly what the doc ordered, and he became an instant success. New Featurette
Behind the Tunes [selection only; the following 4x selections should have a Play All button] Featurette
Hare Ribbin’ Director's Cut-[icon link to Hare Ribbin’] Featurette
Forever Befuddled-[icon link to The Old Grey Hare] Featurette
Bugs: A Rabbit for All Seasonings-[icon link to Hair Raising Hare] Featurette
Mars Attacks! Life on the Red Planet with My Favorite Martian-[icon link to Haredevil Hare] Featurette
The Rabbit of Seville Commentary by Eric Goldberg Commentary
Commentaries [selection only; the following 8x selections should have a Play All button] Commentary
Rabbit Fire Commentary by Greg Ford with Chuck Jones Commentary
Rabbit Every Monday Commentary by Greg Ford-[new] Commentary
The Fair Haired Hare Commentary by Constantine Nasr-[new] Commentary
Rabbit Fire Music Only Track Audio Only
Baby Buggy Bunny Music and Effects Track Audio Only
Lumber Jack-Rabbit Commentary by Jerry Beck-[new] Commentary
Baby Buggy Bunny Commentary by Constantine Nasr-[new Commentary
What's Opera, Doc? Commentary by Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese and Maurice Noble Commentary
What's Opera, Doc? Commentary by Daniel Goldmark Commentary
A Hunting We Will Go: Chuck Jones' Wabbit Season Twilogy-[icon link to Rabbit Fire] Featurette
Alternate Audio Programs [selection only; the following 4x selections should have a Play All button] Audio Only
Bugs Bunny: Ain't He a Stinker-[icon link to This Is a Life?] Featurette
What's Opera, Doc? Music Only Track Audio Only
What's Opera, Doc? Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan Vocal Track Audio Only
Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes All Star 50th Anniversary Featurette
Behind the Tunes [selection only; the following 3x selections should have a Play All button] Featurette
Wagnerian Wabbit: The Making of What's Opera, Doc?-[icon link to What’s Opera, Doc?] Featurette
Commentaries [selection only; the following 6x selections should have a Play All button] Commentary
Show Biz Bugs Commentary by Greg Ford with Pre-Score Music Commentary
Knighty Knight Bugs Commentary by Jerry Beck-[new] Commentary
Rabbit’s Feat Commentary by Greg Ford-[new Commentary
From Hare to Heir Commentary by Greg Ford-[new] Commentary
False Hare Commentary by Jerry Beck-[new] Commentary
Blooper Bunny: Bugs Bunny's 51 1/2 Anniversary Commentary by Greg Ford Commentary
Behind the Tunes [selection only; the following 3x selections should have a Play All button] Featurette
Hard Luck Duck-[icon link to Show Biz Bugs] Featurette
Short Fuse Shootout: The Small Tale of Yosemite Sam-[icon link to Knighty Knight Bugs Featurette
Fifty Years of Bugs Bunny in 3½ Minutes-[icon link to Blooper Bunny Featurette
Bonus Looney Tunes Cartoons [selection only; the following 10x selections should have a Play All button] Cartoon
"Harm Wrestling" Cartoon
"Pest Coaster" Cartoon
"Siberian Sam" Cartoon
"Big League Beast" Cartoon
"Buzzard School" Cartoon
"Pool Bunny" Cartoon
"Grilled Rabbit" Cartoon
"Vincent Van Fudd" Cartoon
"Hare Restoration" Cartoon
"Plunger/Fishing Pole/Bees/Mini Elmer" Cartoon

[Daniel]

This is what the Golden Carrot Collection should have been. Still a bit of a gyp, but quite a few shorts that have never been released on DVD or Blu-ray.

[EricJ]

That's just the commentary/extras--
The full 3-disk toon list was just posted on Digital Bits:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edtu0oPUwAA ... name=small

The Anniversary roster isn't complete, obviously, but seems to be in chronological order, ending with some of the lame late-50's TV toons, and even a crappy 90's-revival toon as epilogue.
Okay, so now we have "From Hare to Heir" and "Shiskabugs" into the mix? That does it--Gotta have my Hassenpfeffer.

(Besides, it's probably the only 3-disk rarities collection we are going to get from Warner for another 5-10 years until the next "anniversary", so if we boycott the set because of Chucky-Bugs and hold out for some imagined disk-only downgrade, it ain't coming:
Warner will immediately grab the wrong end of the sales-numbers stick, beat the industry over the head with it saying "See, we told you they'd forgotten the Looneys!", and not only rush Space Jam 2 into production but start a Lola Bunny spinoff series for CN.
For the cause of preventing THAT calamity, I can afford to throw $40 of ugly plastic into the trash. Consider the rest a Kickstarter.)

[Ben]

I really hope you didn’t just call Blooper Bunny, an ingenious, terrifically animated modern short with many old-style touches that predated Pixar's end-credit outtake shtick by half a decade, "a crappy 90's-revival toon"...!?

[Daniel]

Cut! Cut! Cut!

[EricJ]

I really hope you didn’t just call Blooper Bunny, an ingenious, terrifically animated modern short with many old-style touches that predated Pixar's end-credit outtake shtick by half a decade, "a crappy 90's-revival toon"...!?

We're lucky, it could have been "Carrotblanca"...
(I was going to say "Superior Duck", but this is a Bugs collection.)

[Daniel]

That's probably my favorite of the 90s. Tweety as Peter Lorre is gold! And Penelope Pussycat is finally given a proper voice. Fun homage.