Will Ruby Spears cartoons such as "Alvin & The Chipmunks" & "Mr T" ever be released ?

[loveboomerang]

The title says it all.

Anybody have any info on these 2 cartoons, and their chances of release ?

 

[Zorak Masaki]

The ruby spears chipmunks had too much copyrighted music to be released, and Mr. T probably doesnt have much of a demand.

 

[Nexonius]

Well, Warner Bros. owns both shows, and they're considering a release of Alvin & The Chipmunks very soon. Mr.T: I don't know.

 

[Goldstar!]

I heard that there may be a DVD release of the 1960s The Alvin Show (no release date has been announced as of yet), but the 80s Alvin and the Chipmunks will never see the light of day again, unless Ruby-Spears and Warner Bros. can find some way around the copyrighted music issue.

As for the Mr T. cartoon, I just don't think that there's a high enough demand for it right now.

 

[Old School Joe]

Not Entirely true on Alvin. There have been several DVD's released of the Ruby series in holiday type settings with 5 or 6 episodes on each.

 

[Doyng]

Since Hanna-Barbera now owns the majority of the early RS library, here's what Should be released (note: it'll most likely be under the Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection)

Thundarr
The Puppy's New/Further Adventures
Scruffy
Miss Switch specials
Goldie Gold and Action Jack
Centurions
Saturday Supercade (I know due to licensing of the characters,it'll be impossible, but I can hope, can I?)
Superman '88
The Horse That Played Centerfield
The Puppy's specials
Cabbage Patch Kids First Christmas
Rubik, The Amazing Cube (again, licensing due to Menudo's vocals of the opening title and the character, itself, but can I hope?)
Plastic Man
Fangface
Heathcliff and Dingbat/Marmaduke
Mr. T
Dragon's Lair
Alvin and the Chipmunks

 

[Hypestyle]

great list.. I'd buy the Mr. T stuff.. he's probably available to do commentary..

 

[Tobias]

Not Entirely true on Alvin. There have been several DVD's released of the Ruby series in holiday type settings with 5 or 6 episodes on each.

If I remember correctly, the holiday episodes (With the exception of maybe the first Valentine's and Mother's Day special) were all DIC produced, and even then, the prime time specials had original music.

 

[Nexonius]

Since Hanna-Barbera now owns the majority of the early RS library, here's what Should be released (note: it'll most likely be under the Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection)

Thundarr

Maybe, until WB gets done with Hanna Barbera, they still have a long way to go.

The Puppy's New/Further Adventures [/quote]
They may release this with Scooby Doo.

Scruffy [/quote]
They'll release it. Someday.

Miss Switch specials [/quote]
WB doesn't own this.

Goldie Gold and Action Jack [/quote]
Well, I can wait on this WB release.

Centurions [/quote]
Maybe WB will release this with Captain Planet.

Saturday Supercade (I know due to licensing of the characters,it'll be impossible, but I can hope, can I?) [/quote]
Only the Space Ace segments is owned by WB.

Superman '88 [/quote]
A couple episodes were on DVD.

The Horse That Played Centerfield [/quote]
I don't think WB has this. Disney (ABC) may have this.

The Puppy's specials [/quote]
WB will probably release all of them under one package.

Cabbage Patch Kids First Christmas [/quote]
Probably until Christmas.

Rubik, The Amazing Cube (again, licensing due to Menudo's vocals of the opening title and the character, itself, but can I hope?) [/quote]
Does WB even own this show?

Plastic Man [/quote]
Big maybe on this show.

Fangface [/quote]
They'll probably release this soon.

Heathcliff and Dingbat/Marmaduke [/quote]
The DiC season(s) is out on DVD, so WB should release these also.

Mr. T [/quote]
like I said, not high demand.

Dragon's Lair [/quote]
I think WB doesn't even own this show.

Alvin and the Chipmunks[/quote]
Like I said, WB is in strong considerations about this show.

 

[Old School Joe]

Ask and ye shall recieve....

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Alvin-Chipmunks-DVDs/8945

 

[Nexonius]

Actually, those are post-1987 episodes, now called The Chipmunks in 1988. WB has the Ruby-Spears seasons (1983-1987) and 11 episodes from the DiC season (1988).

 

[Leviathan]

Did Ruby-Spears do the Chuck Norris cartoon? I'd love to se that released. If only for the sheer notoreity of it.

 

[Nexonius]

Did Ruby-Spears do the Chuck Norris cartoon? I'd love to se that released. If only for the sheer notoreity of it.

Yes.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Actually, didnt the chipmunks series just do parodies of popular songs, rather than licensed music? I remember the charlies angels spoof (with the chippettes as the angels) had a parody version of "eye of the tiger". If they did stuff like that it may be possible to release as parody of public figures is protected by law.

 

[Silverstar]

Actually, didnt the chipmunks series just do parodies of popular songs, rather than licensed music? I remember the charlies angels spoof (with the chippettes as the angels) had a parody version of "eye of the tiger". If they did stuff like that it may be possible to release as parody of public figures is protected by law.

I'm not sure about the schematics, but I think a song only counts as a parody if the lyrics and subject matter are changed (i.e., the stuff that 'Weird Al' Yankovic does). Otherwise, I think it's just considered a cover. But don't quote me on that.

I do that the 60's Alvin Show songs are safe since most of them are public domain or were written by Dave Seville himself (e.g. "The Witch Doctor").

 

[DrTooth]

I'm not sure about the schematics, but I think a song only counts as a parody if the lyrics and subject matter are changed (i.e., the stuff that 'Weird Al' Yankovic does). Otherwise, I think it's just considered a cover. But don't quote me on that.

It's complicated if you give an ultralitteral translation of the word "Parody." To me, you can legally get away with it if you change the lyrics and the music to be soundalikes. Either way, Weird Al isn't really a good example to use, as he actually has to get permission to use the real tunes in his parodies (as examples, I bring up John Melloncamp not giving him permission to satirize Jack and Dianne for "Buckingham Blues," And the miscommunication between him and a representitive of Coolio's vis a vis "Amish Paradise).

Which is why Sesame Street never came under fire for These Two albums (which feature mostly soundalike song parodies, and never had to ask for permission either.

So episodes that use original music should be fine. Like the Chipettes episode where they don;t use the real "We got the Beat" song. So if they have at least one season full of soundalike songs, they can release it.

 

[dth1971]

Did Ruby-Spears do the Chuck Norris cartoon? I'd love to se that released. If only for the sheer notoreity of it.

The last time the Chuck Norris cartoon miniseries was shown was a few years ago on April Fool's Day 2006 (I think) during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

 

[Silverstar]

The last time the Chuck Norris cartoon miniseries was shown was a few years ago on April Fool's Day 2006 (I think) during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

'Kay, but what does that have to do with the question of Mr. T and Alvin & The Chipmunks coming to DVD?

 

[Knightmare]

Actually, didnt the chipmunks series just do parodies of popular songs, rather than licensed music? I remember the charlies angels spoof (with the chippettes as the angels) had a parody version of "eye of the tiger". If they did stuff like that it may be possible to release as parody of public figures is protected by law.

Most of the time the episodes from Alvin & the Chipmunks featured cover versions of popular songs, while they wouldn't have the headache that a series like WKRP in Cincinnati had; they would still have to get the rights to some of the songs. More then likely what will happen with the Ruby-Spears Chipmunk series is that it'll be released in best of collections similar to what has been done with the DiC series. That way they'd only have to work on getting the rights to certain songs.

 

[Tobias]

It's complicated if you give an ultralitteral translation of the word "Parody." To me, you can legally get away with it if you change the lyrics and the music to be soundalikes. Either way, Weird Al isn't really a good example to use, as he actually has to get permission to use the real tunes in his parodies (as examples, I bring up John Melloncamp not giving him permission to satirize Jack and Dianne for "Buckingham Blues," And the miscommunication between him and a representitive of Coolio's vis a vis "Amish Paradise).

Weird Al doesn't have to get permission to parody any of the songs he does, he only does so out of courtesy because he doesn't want to burn any bridges or make any enemies. He could have easily done parodies of Mellencamp's and Prince's songs and they wouldn't be able to touch him, he's just being respectful of their wishes.

Back on topic, I don't remember ever seeing the original Christmas special from 81 that was mentioned. They added the Mother's Day and Valentine's Day prime time specials to the syndicated package, so why not that one?