Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6 (2008)
Looney Tunes Golden
Collection DVDs
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Fifteen cartoons dating from World War II give Volume 6 of the
Looney Tunes Golden Collection more focus than previous sets.
Many of the 1940's cartoons remain very funny. Bugs Bunny dresses up
as Brunnhilda and rides in to the strains of "Tannhauser" in "Herr
Meets Hare" (1945), a gag Chuck Jones re-used to greater effect in
"What's Opera, Doc" a dozen years later. In "Russian Rhapsody"
(1940) some of the gremlins who sabotage Hitler's bomber are
caricatures of the Warner Bros. artists. Chuck Jones appears as a
chunky, pinkish-tan homunculus swinging a mallet; Friz Freleng is a
little green man with a saw-like nose. Younger viewers may find the
references to wartime shortages puzzling--or fail to recognize the
caricatures of Hermann Goering, Hideki Tojo and Joseph Stalin. Some
of the other cartoons can still bring down the house, including
"Satan's Waitin'" (1954), in which Sylvester manages to lose all
nine of his lives in pursuit of Tweety, and "Bear Feat" (1949),
another exercise in futility for Jones' Three Bears. The early
musicals featuring Bosko, Foxy (or Freddy Fox) and Buddy have not
aged well. Created by Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, these characters
were modeled on Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, but lack charm and
personality. Some more recent films reveal how social attitudes have
changed. "Wild Wife," a spoof of a suburban housewife's
tribulations, may have seemed hilarious in 1954; today, it's just a
laundry list of sexist gags. Like the previous installments,
Volume 6 comes loaded with extras. The rarest are five shorts
Friz Freleng directed at MGM in 1938. Producer Fred Quimby lured
Freleng away from Warner Bros.--only to insist he adapt the comic
strip "The Captain and the Kids," Rudolph Dirks' version of "The
Katzenjammer Kids." Freleng correctly predicted the films would flop
as the characters were "the meanest little bastards in the world,"
and soon returned to Warners. (Unrated, suitable for ages 6 and
older: cartoon violence, ethnic stereotypes, mild risqué humor,
alcohol & tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
(1. Hare Trigger, 2. To Duck or Not to Duck, 3. Birth of a
Notion, 4. My Little Duckaroo, 5. Crowing Pains, 6. Raw! Raw!
Rooster! 7. Heaven Scent, 8. My Favorite Duck, 9. Jumpin' Jupiter,
10. Satan's Waitin', 11. Hook Line and Stinker, 12. Bear Feat, 13.
Dog Gone South, 14. A Ham in a Role, 15. Often an Orphan, 16. Herr
Meets Hare, 17. Russian Rhapsody, 18. Daffy the Commando, 19. Bosko
the Doughboy, 20. Rookie Revue, 21. The Draft Horse, 22. Wacky
Blackout, 23. The Ducktators, 24. The Weakly Reporter, 25. Fifth
Column Mouse, 26. Meet John Doughboy, 27. Hollywood Canine Canteen,
28. By Word of Mouse, 29. Heir Conditioned, 30. Yankee Dood It, 31.
Congo Jazz, 32. Smile Dam Ya, Smile! 33. The Booze Hangs High, 34.
One More Time, 35. Bosko's Picture Show, 36. You Don't Know What
You're Doin'! 37. We're in the Money! 38. Ride 'em Bosko, 39.
Shuffle Off to Buffalo, 40. Bosko in Person, 41. The Dish Ran Away
with the Spoon, 42. Buddie's Day Out, 43. Buddie's Beer Garden. 44.
Buddie's Circus, 45. A Cartoonist's Nightmare, 46. Horton Hatches
the Egg, 47. Lights Fantastic, 48. Fresh Airedale, 49. Chow Hound,
50. The Oily American, 51. It's Hummer Time, 52. Rocket Bye Baby,
53. Goo Goo Goliath, 54. Wild Wife, 55. Much Ado About Nutting, 56.
The Hole idea, 57. Now Hear This, 58. Martian Through Georgia, 59.
Page Miss Glory. 60. Norman Normal)
