Public Domain videos still produced?

Daniel P

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Are PD videos still produced often? Most compilations I see in stores are from the 80's/early 90's, nothing recent (except for the DVD's from Image and Bosko Video).
 

TServo2049

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I used to have a video from Just For Kids (who actually mostly did official, licensed videos of (mostly little-known) animation/etc.), called "Favorite Cartoon Classics," which is from 1996 or 1997! Furthermore, it's in a clamshell tape, it's on not-particularly-cheap tape, it runs upwards of 2 hours, it's in SP!

But the cartoons (and the prints) do suck...mostly crappy, faded NTA prints of Famous toons...
 

Brent

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dacp3 said:
Are PD videos still produced often? Most compilations I see in stores are from the 80's/early 90's, nothing recent (except for the DVD's from Image and Bosko Video).

The films might be PD, but the studios still retain Trademark rights. Over the past 10 years, the studios have enforced those rights.

It's awful tough for Cheap Video Bargain Inc. to sell PD Bugs Bunny cartoons, if the use of Bugs' likeness or name on the packaging will have Warners' legal staff all over you like a cheap suit.
 

Matthew Hunter

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Well, those video companies also used to advertise the video as featuring a character and then have, maybe, one cartoon with the character and 5 other cartoons starring characters from completely different studios that had nothing to do with the title character on the box. If I were a WB executive I'd be mad too, to see Tweety essentially selling bad prints of Little Audrey cartoons. Likewise, if I were King Features I wouldn't want to see a Popeye video full of badly redrawn Porky Pig cartoons. :p
-Matthew
 

Patrick McCart

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Madacy seems to still be operating...they're releasing some serials soon (of course, some that are already on DVD with some sort of quality control)

When WB starts releasing Looney Tunes, I bet they'll release their own $5 wonders.
 

Howard

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At our local Strawberries, they had some DVD's of PD cartoons under the title "Cartoons R Fun", and Good Times Home Video seems to have repackaged some of the "Cartoon Crazys" DVDs (Superman, Popeye, Betty Boop, and Felix the Cat. I got both of the Popeye DVDs for $5.88 as a set at Wal-Mart yesterday. Very poor image and sound quality, but it's nice to have a copy of "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor", which has always been my favorite Popeye cartoon, and the other two Fleisher Popeye two-reelers....) But I'm sure Warner Bros. has cracked down on all of those cheapo Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig VHS tapes, which would explain why they're not seen on DVD often.
 

Geezil

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Matthew Hunter said:
[...]Likewise, if I were King Features I wouldn't want to see a Popeye video full of badly redrawn Porky Pig cartoons. :p
-Matthew

OT: Of course, King Features was curiously detached when that TV package full of very badly redrawn Popeye shorts came to be, but then Bob's El Cheapo Video Inc. is no Ted Turner. :rolleyes:
 

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