It’s the second to last week of the semester here at CCS. The break is quite welcomed here, and I’m looking forward to the better part of a month working on Thunderbean projects.
A few of the current Thunderbean projects have been full of what I usually call ‘heavy lifting’, while others are much more simple in terms of what is required to accomplish completion. The biggest factor currently is *what* actually makes a project complete. There’s a plethora of materials that exist on many of them, but using the best materials is of course the most work since it involves scanning material that also *isn’t* the best, and hunting down material that either doesn’t have masters or has incomplete masters. This has been the case in *every* Thunderbean project so far. But it won’t always be.
From the materials I’ve looked through so far, it appears that both the second half of the Rainbow Parades *and* all the Iwerks Comi-Color shorts are all complete, with original titles and complete soundtracks. Some are scanned. Moreover, it’s pretty clear what the best materials are at the moment, save any nitrate deterioration. Even if some of the material is deteriorated, there are backup materials on all that are usable. Since everything is already in one place, the scanning should also be easier. While I had hoped to get all these projects well under way or finished by the end of the year, I’m happy that so many of the projects are moving forward well, and with increased sales, more things are getting scanned each week. The bigger strategy for the company is working, albeit slowly, and new possibilities continue to pop up, although we’re not diving into them too much until we’re a little more caught up. The small team is a little overwhelmed in trying to get things out the door, but working hard at it!
Even as things are whirling, it doesn’t mean I don’t have a ‘wish’ list still, and I know you do too. Mine has gotten more specific over the years, but I really enjoy thinking about the possibilities. Here’s my top seven wants, produced by Thunderbean or not, with the top three left out to avoid the industrial sabotage that happened when I once posted a still from a project (plus, they all are in the process of maybe coming to fruition). My list tends to be the odder things that are less likely, but in looking back at the lists from years past, a lot of things on them have or are actually happening, so the dream is real.
My list:
Raggedy Ann and Andy (1977) Someone, somehow needs to break the secret code that would somehow allow the three entities that own this particular film and rights to work together long enough to get a version of this film released. An additional issue is that the owner doesn’t know where the master material is. It’s not at Fox or in the CBS vaults where it should be. Thunderbean’s efforts haven’t worked so far.
Hansel and Gretel (1954) I get asked about this film pretty frequently still; Michael Myerberg’s stop-motion animated feature has never been available in excellent quality in any format; a somewhat muddy VHS release in the 80’s was bootlegged and is the current version offered on Amazon. The film still belongs to the family, and our efforts to bring this great little film to Blu-ray have so far not happened.
The Scrappy Cartoon Series (1931-1940) Scrappy remains my single favorite character. Columbia owns all the films in the series and their master materials. These, minus some deterioration of original titles, are intact and otherwise complete.
The Thief and the Cobbler (unfinished). A proper release of Dick William’s film in Blu-ray quality, containing shots completed by his studio cut into the workprint would be excellent. For now, we can just wish.
Linus the Lionhearted (1964-65). Ed Grahm Production’s fun little TV series is a favorite for many reasons among the cartoon people- and its a shame it has never found a more official release. Let’s hope this actually happens sooner than later. I do think this one is the most possible sooner than later on this list. In 2016, Mark Kausler wrote a wonderful article about the series here.
A film frame from the Linus cartoon, “Shadow Thief”
Mr Bug Goes to Town (1941). Once can still dream. This is one that *almost* happened once already, and could again, I think…
Black and White Terrytoons (1930 and up). It would be just dandy to strike a deal for these someday— since there literally isn’t *anyone* else that would…
Now, it’s *your turn, again! Now, keep it to *seven*— and have a great week all!
Steve Stanchfield is an animator, educator and film archivist. He runs Thunderbean Animation, an animation studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has compiled over a dozen archival animation DVD collections devoted to such subjects at Private Snafu, The Little King and the infamous Cubby Bear. Steve is also a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
If these releases happen, then R.I.P. My Wallet…
But in all seriousness though, I’ve came up with an Blu-Ray wish list of any animated media that I came up with. (Especially the obscure choices)
Better transfers of Universal’s pre-Curious George animated movies
The entire Walter Lantz library
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
The Zagreb Film library
David Hand’s Animaland cartoons
Rembrandt Films cartoons
HD/4K transfers of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoons
Does it have to be specifically Blu-ray? Anyways, here’s my top 7 in no particular order:
1. The Bugs Bunny Show (complete series reconstructed as originally aired as possible
2. Mighty Mouse
3. Quick Draw McGraw
4. Linus the Lionhearted
5. Calvin and the Colonel (yeah, I know there are grey market releases, but I mean a really good release, all in color)
6. For Blu-ray: Rocky and Bullwinkle (reconstructed with their original titles using the best films possible)
7. A tie for Blu-ray but basically the same thing: A Bugs Bunny and a Tom and Jerry ULTIMATE COLLECTION (I know they can’t do all of them thanks to the legal department, but still, those would be great Blu-rays since they got away with one missing episode on The New Scooby-Doo Movies Blu-ray.
I do a countdown:
7. The complete Flip the Frog collection (Thunderbean, counting on you!).
6. The complete theatrical Donald Duck collection (Disney, not sure if I can count on you…)
5. The complete Fox & Crow Cartoons.(Columbia, is it thinkable to count on you?)
4. The complete Little Lulu shorts.(who can I count on?)
3. The complete Deutsche Zeichenfilm GmbH films (Nazi-era Germany) (never count on Nazis!)
2. The complete Felix the Cat 1919-1930) (Dan Oriolo, can I count on you?
1. The complete (compleat & uncut) MGM Tex Avery.(WB, not sure if I can count on you anymore…)
If this happens, then I have seen everything (*shoots himself*)
I don’t think there will ever be a complete set of Felix shorts, anywhere. Too many are still lost.
Tommy: I’m counting on you, too 🙂
But I would very much welcome a BR set of Felix films that are out there.The restored short that Steve has posted the other week on Thunderbean Thursday blew me away.
Hey, maybe I *can* count on WB? (WB Archive, that is…)
In the spirit of not repeating others:
1 Carefully curated collection of Columbia’s best cartoons.
2 The rest of Betty Boop that Olive Films dropped the ball on.
3 Screen Songs
4 Fischerkoesen collection
5 Thoroughly cleaned up, best prints of Fleischer Color Classics.
Where’s the Puppetoons already?
All of Jiri Trnka’s films but most particularly A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
All of Kihachiro Kawamoto’s films
All of George Pal’s Puppetoons
The Harman-Ising MGM cartoons and really all of the non Tom and Jerry MGM’s
Garrett Gilchrist (who was behind the Recobbled Cut of Thief and the Cobbler) has six 35mm prints of Raggedy Ann, so it’s there at least if the rights issue is ever solved.
More info: https://orangecow.org/board/viewtopic.php?p=10196#p10196
Let’s see:
1.) Fleischer’s Animated Antics & Stone Age series. Even lesser Fleischer is still Fleischer. Getting these in a restored edition would be at the top of my list
2.) Fleischer’s “The Raven” – I know a nice print of this exists. Been hoping for a release on some collection somewhere to replace the all-red, all the time versions currently available.
3.) Puppetoons – Here’s hoping Arnold Leibovit continues his labor of love and gets Pal’s entire catalog of shorts restored
4.) Color Rhapsodies – Can’t say I’m really a fan of either Scrappy or Krazy Kat (the cartoon one, not Herriman’s), but I find these interesting.
5.) The Complete Terrytoons’ Mighty Mouse – I know there’s not much interest in all the Terrytoons, but could we at least get a complete set of their biggest star (and their best cartoons, IMO)?
6.) Popeye: The 50s – Yes, these are not as good as the Fleischer years of the 1940s’ Famous cartoons, but they still are lightyears ahead of anything done with Popeye in animation since.
7.) The Complete Black & White Warners Cartoons – Do I really have to tell you why?
A completely restored copy of ‘The Raven’ exists. I know because Jerry showed it at Cinecon in 2018, and I was there. It totally changes your mind about the cartoon. (for the better).
Screen Songs and Fleischer Color Classics.
‘Nuff said.
Oh and network prints of the first two Charlie Brown specials from their first airing.
All great suggestions!
I definitely second and third all the calls for the Puppetoons. I pre-ordered Volume 2 and am waiting patiently for that.
I would like to see Crusader Rabbit get a decent release. Rhino put out two nice VHS volumes but there hasn’t been anything official since.
I’d like to see more Oskar Fischinger and Mary Ellen Bute. There are a few films scattered on some large box sets of Avant-Garde films.
I’d also like to see Alexieff’s pinscreen films in High Def.
In no particular order:
1) The complete (or as near to as possible) Screen Gems “Phantasy” series
2) The complete (or as near to as possible) Screen Gems “Fables” series
3) A Terrytoons box set.. just all of it, for godssake
4) The original Ward/Alexander Crusader Rabbit series
5) The final late-60s Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes
6) The complete Lantz Oswalds
7) The complete Winkler Oswalds (that link is still broken, btw)
Here’s ten ( if you count most of them as sets) probably mainly in the order I’d most want them – with number ten been the most wanted – couldn’t whittle them down more :
1 The 1920s Soviet The New Gulliver
2 The complete b & w Felix the Cat,
3 The complete Astronut
4 The complete Mighty Mouse
5 The complete Out Of The Inkwell/Inkwell Imps,
6 ( in agreement with Robert Forman above : )
Trnka remastered, with English subs, to the same level as the recent-ish issue of Old Czech Legends;
especially A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the widescreen version & with the Richard Burton narration, plus Trnka’s
Prince Bayaya &
Good Soldier Svejk
7 A Karel Zeman set including:
Treasure Of Bird Island/Sinbad ( with English subs of course plus the English dubbed version of Sinbad)
plus his complete short films including all obscuritys eg ‘Black Diamond’/ ‘Magic Lantern 2′ etc
& why not 4K full restorations (like those recently done for his 3 most famous films) of
A Jester’s Tale The Stolen Airship/Krabat/ Tale Of John And Mary
(plus I don’t think the forthcoming Criterion release of Baron Prasil (Munchausen) will include the English dubbed soundtrack – so that dubbed version too if it doesn’t!
Plus the longer edit of Munchausen if not on the Criterion – see mention of that edit on webpages of Dvdfreak)
8 The surviving Smallfilms (Oliver Postgate/Peter Firmin,
UK) unreleased films ie.
the complete b& w Ivor The Engine,
Pinny’s House,
Little Watha (with the sound re-reconstructed/re-narrated as apparently the sound is missing)
plus
The Journey Of Master Ho,
Little Laura,
What-A-Mess (if these last 3 still exist, which they may not; though I’ve never heard completely definitively – as of yet – that they don’t)
plus anything else surviving which is as yet unreleased that I may have left out from the legendary Smallfilms.
9 (Smallfilms’ )
the complete ‘Pogles Wood’
Series One & Two
fully restored on blu ray
(& also the earlier ‘The Pogles’, but I’d most want ‘Pogles Wood’) –
They’re all out on DVD (mainly not in order, over 4 DVDs) – so they are all available including some which are quite nicely restored – though my favourite episode of all; ‘Umbrellas’ hasn’t been restored & is sadly in quite poor condition.
I’d love a fully restored blu of all 26 ‘Pogles Wood’ episodes (1966 – 1968), probably because it is my all-time favourite animated series from small or big screen (it was made for TV on a very small but effectively used budget & is a mixture of stop-motion with many seemingly realistic settings plus some actual real settings and live-action bits too).
However, because of the small market for it (the last DVD collection of it was crowdfunded a few years back) the person who supervised the DVD releases – Loaf of the Dragons Friendly Society, who worked with full authorization by the Smallfilms creators ie. Postgate & Firmin (& now presumably with their families as they are both sadly no longer with us) has indicated it’s rather unlikely – although I don’t think it’s been ruled out completely – that there will be any future ‘Pogles Wood’/’The Pogles’ restoratìons/releases.
10 ‘Pisnicka Pro Sklicka’
(aka Kaleidoscope)
– this is the truly magnificent, beautiful & psychedelic too
ten minute Czech animation short by Vaclav Bedrich (director) & Radek Pilar (designer) & is my all-time favourite animation short that’s not part of a series
(& why not throw in the best of V.B’s other work eg. The Little Chimney Sweep for good measure).
Have raved about this one at least once before, a while back, in the Thunderbean Thursday comments & probably will again!
•Looney Tunes new Box set with only pre 1944 cartoons
•from the negative Superman cartoons
•Tex Avery MGM
•A proper Fleicher Color Classsics 35mm collection
Animalympics
Animalympics, and
Animalympics
Calling on Brad Bird to help make it happen someday someway. And a remastered soundtrack release from Graham Gouldman / 10cc would be, to quote Dean Wilson, appreciated “fer sure”.
Animalympics IS on Blu-ray — in Germany: https://www.amazon.de/Dschungel-Olympiade-Blu-ray-Kitty-Mambo/dp/B07NN37WKM/ True HD, 24 fps, English audio included.
To be honest, I can’t imagine that getting THIS film on Blu-ray is something Brad Bird would put effort into. I’d guess he would be more interested in pushing for a Blu-ray release of the original “Family Dog”, if anything.
The rest of Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies
The work of Ladlislav Starevich
The work of Lotte Reineger
The Complete Scrappy Cartoons
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
The Disney Treasures Collection
Gumby, the original series
Complete MGM Tex Avery
Every Fleischer cartoon, restored as much and as accurately as possible.
Cartoons from the dawn of film until 1915-20. I’m wondering what was around to inspire early cartoonists who went on to help establish Disney/MGM/Warner etc.
I don’t remember the year, but a cartoon that won an Academy Award from England called “Great” sometime in the late 1960’s to late 1970’s.
Maybe these exist but I haven’t seen or heard of their existence: The original Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as developed by Disney, before he was DISNEY. When Disney traded to get the rights back I really thought they would do SOMETHING with the character.
Great won the Oscar for animated short for 1975. A Blu-ray was recently issued but the link in the announcement doesn’t seem to work. The Facebook page gives the e-mail address of his grandkids Tom and Jack Lowe: bobgodfreycollection@gmail.com.
https://www.awn.com/blog/bob-godfrey-collection-announces-release-bob-godfrey-s-great-15-discount-my-readers
“When Disney traded to get the rights back I really thought they would do SOMETHING with the character.”
And they did SOMETHING with the character. They did a fairly successful video game entitled EPIC MICKEY (as well as a sequel which flopped). Perhaps more importantly to classic cartoon fans, they did a Treasures DVD set with restored versions of all the Disney Oswalds they had found at the time. I agree a Blu-ray set would be nice.
Bruno Bozzetto: “West and Soda” and other features. From most-distressed, beat-up prints available.
I want so many listed above, and will add 2 of my own:
The Gerald McBoing Boing Show
Gene Deitch’s Terrytoons (really, all Terrytoons, but I try to keep my dreams within reason)
— The director’s belated complete version of “Mr. Wonderbird”, aka “The King and the Chimney Sweep”, aka whatever else.
— Richard Williams’s Christmas Carol
— Those animation festivals that were released on VHS, but realistically the rights on all those individual shorts would be a nightmare.
— The Hoffnung shorts and Ruddigore from Halas and Batchelor
— Rock Odyssey!
— The Disneyland / Walt Disney Presents / World of Color episodes that linked theatrical shorts with pretty respectable new animation and framing stories. Especially the original “From All of Us to All of You” and the Ludwig Von Drake episodes.
— The Tom and Jerry Festival of Fun
— The Saturday Superstar Movies, that weird collection of pilots and one-offs from HB, Filmation, Rankin Bass and probably others.
— A good, curated collection of vintage intermission animations.
— At least a sampling of the 60s Marvel cartoons: Spider-Man, HB’s The Fantastic Four, and the crazy cheap ones with the catchy theme songs.
— The complete original Banana Splits, and maybe the live-action serial from Skatebirds (all I know is that it had the robot from Lost in Space).
— Those oddball filler shorts / music videos Cartoon Network did in the early days: spaghetti western Quick Draw McGraw, the Jonny Quest board game, Josie and the Pussycats zipping through pop music history, Droopy as a coffee barista, etc.
— I Go Pogo, with the TV special as an extra (I know they aren’t true Walt Kelly, but I’m a completist)
— That 60s TV special about comic strips hosted by Carl Reiner.
— The animated bits from the old Tracy Ullman show. Not just the proto-Simpsons, but the genuinely odd M.K. Brown bits.
— Jay Ward commercials
Here are mine :
The Amazing Three – Osamu Tezuka’s 60s tv series. Supposedly all the English dubs were destroyed in a fire.
Space Ace -60s anime series from Tatsunoko (Speed Racer, Gatchaman, Robotech). I remember watching a few episodes when I was 6.
Princess Knight – Another Tezuka series from the 60s. A few episodes were released on home video back in the 80s.
Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert – The original 1969 tv special.
Goldilocks & The 3 Bears – The 1970 DePatie-Freleng tv special.
The New Treasure Island – Tezuka’s 1970 tv special of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story. Very simlar to Toei’s Animal Treasure Island which was released the following year.
How about a complete set of Jay Ward Quaker Oats commercials? Bonus disc of other commercials (General Mills, Dentyne, whatever else) from the Bullwinkle Show
Excellent suggestions all. I would add The Beatle’s 1960s cartoon series and Disney’s “It’s Tough to Be a Bird.” If they have been done on Blu-ray, I would also add the 1960s Casper and Felix the Cat series, The Mighty Heroes, and Hoppity Hooper.
Leaving out things I know to be in progress one way or another via Thunderbean/CoF:
Complete Fleischer Color Classics
Complete Talkartoons
The Masters of Russian Animation series in HD
Complete Color Rhapsodies
Massive Czech stop motion boxed set (not Trnka, whose stuff is already restored, or Svankmajer, who’s remastered his own works, or Zeman, who’s enjoying a rediscovery, but the more obscure names like Ivan Renc)
Complete Screen Songs
Complete works of John and Faith Hubley
Oh, yes! “Hansel and Gretel” is a treasure! Its production design is exquisite. Its music is lovely. And its charm is genuine.
If These Realeses Happen Then Im Gonna Go Broke
1- Blu-Ray Box Set For TerryToons 1930-1931 ( The Found Cartoons Restored) 4K
2- Blu-Ray And DVD Combo For The Complete Found Barney Google Series (I Know It’s Lost But Try To Find Some)
3-Blu-Ray OF The Whole Box Set Of All The Krazy Kat Shorts 1929 – 1940
4- Cartoon Roots: Forgotten Titian’s (With Marty The Monk Simon The Monk Cy Young Cartoons And Goofy Gus)
I’d say the Happy Harmonies,
And all the other Silly Symphonies clones,
For their great animation and colour,
And the manner in which they were shown.
We should be seeing these in all their glory,
Not on YouTube all colourless and muddy.
They looked fantastic when first premiering.
Now they look faded and shoddy.
The Color Rhapsodies, the Merrie Melodies,
The Happy Harmonies and Color Classics:
These would look magnificent.
Their Blu-rays would be classics.
1. All the non-Tom & Jerry/non-Tex Avery MGM stuff
2. The remaining Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies
3. The remaining Walter Lantz library
4.Talkartoons
5. Screen Songs
6. An update to the Disney Oswald set with all the recently discovered shorts.
7. All the Noveltoons
1. Proper DVD/Bluray releases of Universal’s half of the Rankin/Bass library with better bonus content and Rick Goldschmidt’s involvement.
2. A restored 35 mm print (if they find one) of Rankin/Bass’ The Little Drummer Boy with the correct soundtrack.
3. Disney’s The Black Cauldron DVD/Bluray. same Disney plus remaster with bonus content like: deleted scenes that Katzenberg and his cronies cut. and glimpses into early development into the making of the film. and a short documentary on the making of the film.
4. a restored 35mm print of Rankin/Bass’ The Hobbit (1977) with correct audio
5. Halas and Batchlor’s Ruddigore 1967
6. Mr. Bug Goes to Town
7. DVD and Bluray Collections of Walt Disney’s People and Places 1950’s and early 60’s travelouges.
Well, I’m afraid that my list would mirror a lot of what has already been mentioned, but here goes:
1. a “complete” set of MGM cartoons in proper chronological order, so people can see how styles developed from the HAPPY HARMONIES on up through the Chuck Jones last days of the theatrical cartoon. If that truly is not possible, then I’d gladly take each period having its own carefully researched set, especially after again enjoying the ACADEMY AWARD-WINNERS AND NOMINEES set that came out a number of years back,which begins with “THE MILKY WAY”. I wondered why the shorts, “IT’S GOT ME AGAIN” and “CALICO DRAGON” were not included in the original since I read somewhere a while back that those two cartoons were either nominees or actual winners.
2. As complete a run as possible of “THE FUNNY COMPANY” which was apparently created by the same studio that had given us “THE ROGER RAMJET SHOW”. Both are polar opposites, but lately I’ve been amused by representations of “FUNNY COMPANY” that I’d found on You Tube.
3. The complete “HOPPITY HOOPER”, even if it does not include the already previously released Jay Ward cartoons that were reintroduced within the half hours of this show. While this cartoon seems to be aimed at kids, it occasionally jabs at familiar icons and political figures of the day. We even need commentaries to identify some of the familiar personalities, although I’ve pointed out one or two in previous comments elsewhere. Hey, it’s Jay Ward and it would still be a fun ride, along with long programs of classic Ward commercials and rareties as special feature.
4. Of course, if rights can be secured from General Mills, the absolute original “ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS” and “BULLWINKLE SHOW” series with original credits and themes to each segment of these shows.
5. Both “TIME FOR BEANY” and “THE BEANY AND CECIL SHOW”. I know I’ve said this too many times, but I just can’t understand anyone amid those handling the Clampett estate who would become obstacles to wanting this entire series out there for future audiences to enjoy. It certainly has been discussed within articles on this site so many times that you would think there would be an underground within Hollywood, already striving to make this happen!
6. And I’d love to see a “LINUS THE LION-HEARTED” restoration, even containing the commercials that proved the show’s downfall as nothing more than a shill for Post sugary cereals. There is too much notable talent behind this show to merely be ignored.
7. The complete early run of LOONEY TUNES and MERRIE MELODIES, just so I can own and listen to pristine copies of those BUDDY cartoons and those bizarre MERRIE MELODIES of the period. We already have the PORKY PIG black and white, but blu-ray reissues can possibly mean corrections on misrepresented titles and such? I leave that up to Warner Brothers, but it is an idea, and in both cases here, a goodly portion of the cartoons are already restored as well as possible.
8. At this point, I’d take even two anthologies similar to the WOODY WOODPECKER AND FRIENDS volumes, of TERRYTOONS cartoons. There is so much there that I doubt we’d ever see a full and complete restoration of them all, but with more and more showing up on public forums, linked from You Tube, I am so interested in owning good copies of many of these, minus the severely edited original titles and closings.
9. And, finally, if Joe Clokey wanted to further the GUMBY legacy and that of Art Clokey, how about one volume that features that first season of 1950’s shorts as two chapter episodes. I know that, in some cases, those halves contained similar bits and pieces, but around these is sometimes connecting bits of animation that hasn’t been seen in years. It would be a nice addition to what is already out there.
10. And I know I’d be alone in this, but I remember “DANGERMOUSE” rather fondly. I remember when the animated series was broadcast on Nickelodeon and it became a guilty pleasure, and then I had the opportunity to rent a VHS tape and realized that there were bits and pieces that were never broadcast on American television before. A&E Home Video released this series years ago, but that set is long out of print. Let’s see a re-released with full and complete restoration.
I’m sorry I couldn’t be more original, but those are my desires at this point, along with possible quality upgrades of the complete original 1960’s “ASTRO BOY” if significant discoveries of better prints have surfaced since the two wonderful Right Stuff boxes around the show and its history.
Oh, my #1 request for some time now has been a restored, HD set of Silly Symphonies.
I second the call for Astro Boy.
Those are really my only requests, although I buy (and mostly enjoy) every vintage cartoon release by Thunderbean, Warners, or anybody else. I own so many I could never watch them all before death comes for me, and I watch, oh, at least five or six vintage cartoons a week.
Two things:
1.A complete Beany and Cecil set.
2. A Terrytoons set.
1. I’d love to see the rest of the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons released. Yeah the 50s cartoons aren’t as good but i’d love to see at least “Popeye The Ace of Space”, “Gym Jam”, and “How Green is My Spinach” restored.
2. Anything Fleischer’s
3. Columbia Screen Gems cartoons.
4. Unreleased Lantz cartoons.
5. Screen Songs/ Kartunes
6. Beany and Cecil
Oh my. Well I have a nice list of 7 myself. And for me, some of this doesn’t entirely matter, I’ll take it any way I can get it.
1) Muppet Babies: The Complete Original Series. This has been way too long in coming. My working theory right now as to WHY this hasn’t come out is Disney probably realizes that they need to do a massive restoration on the level of what Paramount had to do for Star Trek: The Next Generation and they don’t want to do that AND still have to share the profits on this release with the other studio interests involved (because they’d have to make their money back), so thus why this is still staying in whatever remains of the Disney Vault.
2) The Compleat Tex Avery at MGM Collection (THIS one is a stumper as to why it’s not out yet. This would do GANGBUSTERS, and yet… maybe if those Jetsons Blu-Rays did well enough…)
3) This is truly an out-of-left-field idea/request but I think that this could work: Disney really should bring back their Exclusive Archive Collection stamp from the LaserDisc days and apply it to some films that… let’s just say haven’t gotten the same love since their release on the original EAC collection, or worse never made it to the original EAC. Films like Three Caballeros / Saludos Amigos (which DID have an Exclusive Archive Collection release and ONE bonus feature from it has made its way to subsequent releases), or Make Mine Music / Melody Time (which would be the first time they’d be uncensored in what seems like forever), Who Framed Roger Rabbit, that kind of thing. The possibilities for films that haven’t gotten rereleased to death are endless. This line definitely needs to include a wealth of bonus features too because just releasing a Disney Movie Club exclusive collection with zero bonus features is lazy at best.
4) New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Seriously, the fact that Disney hasn’t released this much at all other than some scattered VHS releases and one or two episodes on DVD is nearly unforgivable.
5) This is one I have to echo from above because it’s too good not to have on this list: The Disneyland / Walt Disney Presents / World of Color episodes that linked theatrical shorts with pretty respectable new animation and framing stories. Especially the original “From All of Us to All of You” and the Ludwig Von Drake episodes.
6) The Complete Betty Boop Collection. Yes, some are PD, but having them all in chronological order would be absolutely fantastic.
7) The original Tartakovsky Star Wars: Clone Wars micro series from 2002-2005, complete and in one set.
BJ
The late 60s Hot Wheels t.v. series. I believe there was two seasons before it was declared as a 30 minute commercial and was cancelled.
I’d settle for a DVD of the 1959 Universal English language version of Soyuzmultfilm’s The Snow Queen that is at least completely audible and in focus without chunks missing.
There are DVDs of the original Russian version and the “Stories From My Chidhood” redub, but the one with Sandra Dee and Tommy Kirk (and the corny live-action prololgue with Art Linkletter) is something I’ve spent years searching for.
This past September when I was listening to a Warner Archive Collection podcast, “Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s Volume Three” was one of the releases they were talking about and when they were talking about it one of the things they said was:
Thankfully due to the Herculean efforts of their preservation team they are getting amazing protection for all of Popeye and frankly a lot of their animation is getting the protection they deserve! Which means a lot more releases will be coming our way in the future!
I was really excited to hear that!!!
I really hope Warner Archive can release uncut and remastered onto both DVD and Blu-Ray:
1. The Tex Avery MGM cartoons!!! That is what I am really hoping for the most!!!
2. The Harman-Ising Happy Harmonies cartoons!!!
3. The Barney Bear MGM cartoons
4. The Harman-Ising MGM one shot cartoons!!!
5. The MGM cartoons from Hanna-Barbera (one shots, Spike and Tyke), George Gordon, and Chuck Jones!!!
6. The 1950s Famous Studios color Popeye cartoons!!!
7. Since next year (2020) will mark the 90th anniversary of the Looney Tunes franchise and the 80th anniversary of Bugs Bunny, I also really hope Warner Archive can give us single disc DVD and Blu-Ray compilations of uncut, remastered, and new to disc Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons!!!
I’d love to see the old MIGHTY MOUSE cartoons restored and released, as well as MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN. I’m with Steve on hoping that the Columbia SCRAPPY cartoons could someday get an official release. They are often weird and strange, but definitely worth seeing!
I’m hoping the POPEYE Famous Studio color cartoons will keep coming from Warner Archives!
The sets that I would buy in a heartbeat would be every Harman and Ising Looney Tune and Merry Melody in chronological order, another set with all other 30s looney tunes and merry melodies, Happy Harmonies, and all uncensored MGM Tex Avery Cartoons as well! I would be super happy if any of these were made!
1. 15 Mil Dibujos, “lost” Chilean animated feature. A few clips are on YouTube.
2. all Columbia shorts of 1940s (especially “He Can’t Make It Stick”)
3. the Daffy Ditties series
4. add my vote to the Linus the Lion-Hearted
I would literally buy a Blu-Ray player to see these.
The 1950s Famous Studios Popeye cartoons
The 1960’s Hanna Barbera Fantastic Four
The MGM Tex Avery’s
The rest of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies
Complete Betty Boop
Complete Felix The Cat
Re Linus the Lion-Hearted, since those characters were mascots for Post Cereals, it occurs to me that there may be some kind of trademark issues with whoever currently owns Post Cereals.
Here’s my list:
• All of the Public Domain Betty Boop cartoons
• The black-and-white Daffy Duck shorts that still have yet to be released (officially)
• A properly restored transfer of the Chuck Jones’ “Hell-Bent for Election” (1944)
• More Andy Panda cartoons (Universal’s Woody Woodpecker DVDs contain only ten Andy installments)
• The Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry films (yes, I’m aware that Warner released those on DVD, but they’re cropped to widescreen)
• A complete Happy Harmonies set
• Fleischer’s Color Classics.
I am hyper amazed at all these lists, and quickly calculate that I have only ever seen roughly 1% of the listed shorts!
I’m delighted that even a bit of my stuff made it onto at least one of the many lists, and also take comfort that whatever
I did of any value at all, I wasn’t directly copying any of it. It’s now perfectly clear what is missing from any of my stuff!
Top of my list:
ALL of the Warner Bros. theatrical cartoons. Even the later 1960s garbage from De-Patie-Freleng. Properly restored, with original titles, etc.
Then –
2. Every surviving Felix cartoon
3. Every surviving Betty Boop cartoon – public domain or not
Just noticed from Amazon that there will be a new Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon DVD coming out in February 2020: “Parodies.” Includes some cartoons that have never been released on DVD before (some Bugs Bunny stuff!). It’s not Blu-Ray, but hey, I’ll take what I can get!