Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

The gang's (almost) all here.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 12, 2024

Following in the solid steps of Volume 2, this welcome third installment of Looney Tunes Collector's Choice offers 25 more shorts from the vault. Like both previous entries, there are no real heavy-hitters and the studio's most popular characters only show up occasionally, giving the lesser-knowns a bit of much-needed time in the spotlight. Simply put: anyone who's long since burned though those Platinum and Golden Collection DVDs and Blu-rays has once again come to the right place... and if recent sales figures are any indication, they won't be stopping anytime soon.

Or else.

Again presented on a single no-frills Blu-ray (BD-50) disc, Collector's Choice Volume 3 serves up the following 25 classic shorts in alphabetical order, rather than chronologically or by character. There's a wide variety of characters and subject matter here, as well as a few interesting firsts and even a few rare two-strip Technicolor shorts.

EPISODE LIST

"A Feud There Was" (1938, dir. Tex Avery)
A Hatfield-and-McCoy style hillbilly rivalry that also happens to feature Elmer Fudd, first called by his full name here.

"China Jones" (1959, dir. Robert McKimson)
This laughably stereotypical but enjoyable short follows Daffy Duck (as an Irish private eye) and Porky Pig (as obvious Charlie Chan stan-in "Charlie Chung") as he tries to locate a prisoner allegedly held in a Chinese bakery.

"Cinderella Meets Fella" (1938, dir. Tex Avery)
This early Tex Avery short -- the first of several on this collection, and featuring another early Elmer Fudd appearance -- offers an amusingly skewered take on the classic children's tale more than a decade before Disney's version.

"Dumb Patrol" (1964, dir. Gerry Chiniquy)
Not to be confused with the same-named 1931 Looney Tunes short starring Bosko, this WWI-set cartoon features the always-enjoyable combo of Bugs Bunny (as the aggressor, a rarity) and Yosemite Sam.

Egghead Rides Again"" (1937, dir. Tex Avery)
Another Avery short (and the titular character's debut, despite its title), this lightweight adventure follows the wannabe cowboy from his well-deserved apartment eviction to a Wyoming ranch looking for hired hands.

"Elmer's Pet Rabbit" (1941, dir. Chuck Jones)
The formerly unnamed Bugs Bunny gets his first title card in this fun short, which features a more recognizable Elmer Fudd with a noticeably unrefined voice. As for the plot? It's Elmer vs. Bugs. What more do you need to know?

"Hobo Bobo" (1947, dir. Robert McKimson)
Baby elephant Bobo sails to America for a better life as part of a circus baseball team, and is advised by Minah Bird (better known from his appearances in the "Inki" cartoons) to paint himself pink to not attract attention.

"Honeymoon Hotel" (1934, dir. Earl Duvall)
This rare two-strip Technicolor short follows an insect couple who stay in a hotel before disaster strikes.

"Hop, Skip and a Chump" (1942, dir. Friz Freleng)
A crafty caterpillar named Hopalong Casserole tries to escape two blackbirds similar to Laurel and Hardy.

"I Only Have Eyes for You " (1937, dir. Tex Avery)
A lonely ice-delivery bird -- who's admired by a spinster on his route -- tries to woo lovely Katie Canary, a music fan who worships radio crooners, so he hires a mockingbird voice imitator to lip-sync and win her affections.

"Mexican Joyride" (1947, dir. Arthur Davis)
Daffy Duck ventures south of the border to sample the local cuisine and test his luck as a matador.

"The Mouse on 57th Street" (1961, dir. Chuck Jones)
A little mouse gets intro trouble after dining on 100-proof rum cake and stealing an oversized diamond.

"Mr. and Mrs. is the Name" (1935, dir. Friz Freleng)
Another two-strip Technicolor short, this outing features a young mer-couple investigating an old sunken ship.

"Of Rice and Hen" (1953, dir. Robert McKimson, above)
A certified Foghorn classic in which our hero rescues despondent Prissy and must dodge her amorous advances.

"Pre-Hysterical Hare" (1958, dir. Robert McKimson)
Bugs discovers ancient footage of "Elmer Fuddstone" doing battle with a certain saber-toothed wabbit.

"Punch Trunk" (1953, dir. Chuck Jones)
In a short that should be very familiar to fans of the mostly forgotten 1988 movie Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, a tiny elephant -- no, not Bobo -- causes chaos in the big city after wandering off of a banana boat.

"Quentin Quail" (1946, dir. Chuck Jones)
In an apparent one-off adventure, the titular bird tries (and repeatedly fails) to catch a worm for his daughter's dinner. There are a few good gags here, but this short's uncharacteristically bland background visuals work against it.

"Riff Raffy Daffy" (1948, dir. Arthur Davis)
Homeless vagrant Daffy attempts to outwit bullying officer Porky on a particularly cold night.

"Saddle Silly" (1941, dir. Chuck Jones)
A series of sight gags -- some clever, some not so much -- about the Pony Express riding through Indian country.

"Sheep Ahoy" (1954, dir. Chuck Jones)
The Wile E. clone "Sam" and Ralph the sheepdog battle for control of a familiar flock. Like Jones' Road Runner shorts, this one's extremely episodic and interchangeable with others in its class but still good for a few laughs.

"The Sheepish Wolf" (1942, dir. Friz Freleng)
No Sam or Ralph to be found here, but it's obvious this much earlier short laid a good bit of groundwork.

"There Auto Be a Law" (1953, dir. Robert McKimson)
An all-purpose satirical PSA, this cartoon attempts to tell the fictional history of cars, road design, and traffic.

"Tugboat Granny" (1956, dir. Friz Freleng)
Another personal favorite (even if Tweety and Sylvester shorts are usually lower down on my list), this one follows Tweety and Granny aboard a tugboat that Sylvester repeatedly tries to hijack.

"War And Pieces" (1964, dir. Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble)
Wile E. Coyote battles the Road Runner, one highlight being a tunnel that leads all the way to the Orient.

"Wet Hare" (1962, dir. Robert McKimson)
Bugs Bunny vs. the villainous "Blacque Jacque Shellacque" in a fight for water control at a newly-built dam.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anyone familiar with my coverage of both earlier volumes of Looney Tunes Collector's Choice (not to mention other similar WB animated collections) might remember that these classic shorts have visually often been fairly hit-or-miss on Blu-ray, with some of them admirably restored to Warner Archive's typical purist-friendly standards (i.e. preserving their original film grain) and others which were quite obviously taken from Warner Bros.' earlier HBO Max masters and look quite a bit more scrubbed in comparison. While the latter still clearly outweighs the former, it seems as if a slightly gentler touch was used this time around the inherent waxiness of DNR wasn't quite as distracting. (Some, like the pair of two-strip Technicolor shorts, likely take on a soft and "scrubbed" appearance due to less-than-ideal source material more than anything else.) For these reasons, I'll go out on a limb and say this is the best-looking Collector's Choice volume to date by a narrow margin, and as such it's a good sign going forward. So while this still doesn't represent a perfect effort (especially by Warner Archive standards), it's one that I'll gladly take under the circumstances.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, these shorts fare better than those seen in Volume 2 and about on par with the first collection; not only do they sound a bit more naturally restored in comparison, but there are far fewer noticeable volume variances from short to short. Naturally some age-related issues still exist, such as mild hiss and occasional thinness at the high end, but overall these are clean and faithful presentations that accurately showcase their original mono mixes.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all 25 shorts.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with collage-style cover art and no episode list or description, unlike most mainline WB-produced Looney Tunes collections of yesteryear. No extras are included either.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you've been keeping up with Warner Archive's well-received Collector's Choice Blu-ray volumes, you should know what to expect from this third installment: a broad mixture of 25 classic Looney Tunes shorts, decent to very good A/V merits, and no bonus features. Needless to say, this is a solidly recommended release and a bargain at their reliably low price point, so any lovers of animation will want to add this to their ever-growing collections.