DVD Releases of LT cartoons

[WB2001]

I'm sure this has been discused here before...but I'm new so I'll ask. Has there been any official word from Warner Bros. on releaseing any LT cartoons on DVD?

 

[grundle]

Welcome!

Hi! Welcome!

My understanding is that every year for the past few years, there was promise that DVDs would be released "next year." This has been going on since about 1997 or so.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no official plans for Warner Bros to release any DVDs.

There are some public domain Warner Bros cartoons on DVDs that were made by other labels, but they have been edited, cut up, given newly recorded audio, butchered to death, etc..

What I don't understand is why someone doesn't just copy all the public domain cartoons from the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser discs, and put them on a DVD in their original, high quality form. It seems to me that such a thing would be easy to do, and perfectly legal.

 

[happyheathen]

Re: Welcome!

Originally posted by grundle
Hi! Welcome!

My understanding is that every year for the past few years, there was promise that DVDs would be released "next year." This has been going on since about 1997 or so.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no official plans for Warner Bros to release any DVDs.

There are some public domain Warner Bros cartoons on DVDs that were made by other labels, but they have been edited, cut up, given newly recorded audio, butchered to death, etc..

What I don't understand is why someone doesn't just copy all the public domain cartoons from the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser discs, and put them on a DVD in their original, high quality form. It seems to me that such a thing would be easy to do, and perfectly legal.

two reasons:

only a few are actually PD

with people ecpecting such a product to sell for less than $20, the cost of production would exceed sales price

 

[Patrick McCart]

Yes, they have been in development for some time.

The reason why it's taking so long is because of mastering issues (In other words, they're probably looking for better sources...like the master original prints.)

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/warnerhtfchat.html

I wouldn't mind waiting for a restored cartoon DVD instead of getting the old AAP prints.

 

[grundle]

That article.....

That article is over 2 years old. Just another example of the "next year" promise.

It doesn't take 2+ years to master a DVD. They could do it in a much shorter period of time, if they wanted to.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Yeah, I'd love to spend 20 dollars on a DVD full of battered, faded, scratched AAP prints that have been used for the last 20 years.

I don't mind waiting for sparkling new transfers from the negatives...It's worth waiting for that.

WB also could get the original dialog, sound effects, and music and remix it digitally (and in stereo)

There's over 1000 cartoons...who knows how many need cleaning and restoration.

 

[rex racer]

Originally posted by Patrick McCart
Yeah, I'd love to spend 20 dollars on a DVD full of battered, faded, scratched AAP prints that have been used for the last 20 years.

I don't mind waiting for sparkling new transfers from the negatives...It's worth waiting for that.

WB also could get the original dialog, sound effects, and music and remix it digitally (and in stereo)

There's over 1000 cartoons...who knows how many need cleaning and restoration.

Let's hope this is what's really being done. If they go back to the original film elements, I think they'd find a few answers to those "bits and pieces" questions we ask, and maybe find other "lost" scenes.

"Well, We can dream can't we?"