Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

27 is the magic number.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 20, 2024

Following in the solid steps of the first three volumes, Warner Archive's fourth installment of Looney Tunes Collector's Choice offers 25 more shorts from the vault... and two more for good measure. Like those previous entries, there are no real heavy-hitters included here and the studio's most popular characters only show up about half of the time, giving WB's lesser-knowns a bit of much-needed time in the limelight. Simply put: anyone who's long since burned though all those enjoyable Platinum and Golden Collection DVDs and Blu-rays has once again come to the right place.

"Shut up and take my money!"

Again presented on a single no-frills Blu-ray (BD-50) disc, Collector's Choice Volume 4 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 rare trip back to black-and-white world.

"Along Came Daffy" (1947, dir. Friz Freleng)
This early appearance by an unnamed Yosemite Sam and his twin brother find the hungry prospectors in need of a good meal... and as luck would have it, Daffy Duck comes a-knocking to sell cookbooks.

"A Bone for a Bone" (1951, dir. Friz Freleng)
The first of four Goofy Gophers directed by Freleng, this early outing pits them against poor Geo P. Dog.

"The Cagey Canary" (1941, dir. Tex Avery and Bob Clampett)
Granny's housecat tries to catch her prize bird before the tough old lady intervenes; eventually, the pets team up.

"D' Fightin' Ones" (1961, dir. Friz Freleng)
A parody of the then-recent film The Defiant Ones, this short follows Sylvester and Hector the dog as two shackled inmates after they manage to escape from a pound-bound truck.

"Dangerous Dan McFoo" (1939, dir. Tex Avery)
Based on a 1907 poem, this one follows a dog named Dan who must defend his sweetie from a villain's advances.

"Devil's Feud Cake" (1963, dir. Friz Freleng, seen above)
Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam star in this enjoyable short where Sam, who's just robbed a bank, dies in a plane accident but gets a second chance at life... if only he can get Bugs to take his place in Hell. Damn!

"Double Chaser" (1942, dir. Friz Freleng)
This Merrie Melodies short follows a mouse seeking the protection of a bulldog to avoid a hungry cat.

"Double or Mutton" (1955, dir. Chuck Jones)
Newly-named Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog clock in for another round of Chuck Jones visual gags.

"Fox Pop" (1942, dir. Chuck Jones)
This lesser-seen uncut short follows a red-turned-silver fox who realizes he's only desired for his fur.

"Henhouse Henery" (1949, dir. Robert McKimson)
Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, and the Barnyard Dawg match wits to the tune of "Camptown Races".

"Holiday for Drumsticks" (1949, dir. Arthur Davis)
A play on "Holiday for Strings", this Merrie Melodies short finds greedy Daffy Duck gorging himself on food saved for a soon-to-be Thanksgiving turkey until he eventually becomes the next target.

"Hopalong Casualty" (1960, dir. Chuck Jones)
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner speed by for another round of Chuck Jones visual gags.

"Hyde and Go Tweet" (1960, dir. Friz Freleng, seen below)
A nostalgic favorite of yours truly, this short follows Tweety and Sylvester in and around the office of Dr. Jekyll.

"The Impatient Patient" (1942, dir. Norman McCabe, seen above)
Another mad scientist adventure of sorts (featuring "Dr. Jerkyl"), this black-and-white short was later colorized and finds Daffy seeking a cure for his hiccups... so the "good doctor" uses scare tactics.

"Leghorn Swoggled" (1951, dir. Robert McKimson)
Another outdoor battle with Foghorn, Henery, and the Barnyard Dawg, this one's got a similar plot too.

"Meatless Flyday" (1944, dir. Friz Freleng)
A hungry spider tries to catch a fly, but religious tradition might end up saving the little fella.

"Mouse-Warming" (1952, dir. Chuck Jones)
The final appearance of Claude Cat, this likeable short -- which is very similar to Tom and Jerry, for obvious reasons -- sees a young mouse fall for a neighboring girl mouse, but Claude stands in the way of true love.

"The Mouse-Merized Cat" (1946, dir. Robert McKimson)
A sequel to 1945's "Tale of Two Mice" (included on Collector's Choice Volume 1), this short continues the adventures of Babbit and Catstello in a hypnotizing way. Lots of dated pop culture references in this one.

"Muscle Tussle" (1953, dir. Robert McKimson)
Daffy heads to the beach with his girlfriend Melissa, who unfortunately falls for a muscle-bound duck.

"Muzzle Tough" (1954, dir. Friz Freleng)
The only short included here that features the holy trinity of Tweety, Sylvester, and Granny (and Hector too, because why not?), this short finds her moving into a new house before all Hell and a piano breaks loose.

"Peck Up Your Troubles" (1945, dir. Friz Freleng)
Let's rewind a bit to Hector the dog's debut, where he and Sylvester battle over the safety of a woodpecker.

"Quack Shot" (1954, dir. Robert McKimson)
This rare but welcome appearance by Elmer Fudd finds him and Daffy battling it out in a once-peaceful lake.

"Road to Andalay" (1964, dir. Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt)
Speaking of rare appearances, this one follows Speedy Gonzales as he fights off Sylvester and a falcon.

"The Sneezing Weasel" (1938, dir. Tex Avery)
A rarity from the early Termite Terrace days, this short finds a mama hen protecting her brood from a crafty weasel.

"Streamlined Greta Green" (1937, dir. Friz Freleng)
Easily the oddest short of the bunch, this one drops us into a world of anthropomorphic cars... including a young one who wants to grow up and be a taxi, much to his mother's dismay. If this one sounds familiar, it was already included on Warner Archive's excellent January Blu-ray release of The Prince and the Pauper.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anyone familiar with my coverage of all three earlier volumes of of Looney Tunes Collector's Choice (not to mention other similar Warner Bros. animated collections) might remember that these classic shorts have visually often been fairly hit-or-miss on Blu-ray; simply put, some have been admirably restored to Warner Archive's typical purist-friendly standards (i.e. preserving their original textures) while others are quite obviously taken from Warner Bros.' earlier HBO Max masters and look quite a bit more scrubbed in comparison. The latter still clearly outweighs the former by a wide margin here, with many shorts unfortunately robbed of organic film grain from start to finish but others showing a bit more texture. (Some, like the sole black-and-white short "The Impatient Patient", likely take on a softer appearance due to less-than-ideal source material more than anything else.) That said, they're at least suitably clean for the most part, while originally captured cel dirt and debris have generally been left untouched as per usual. So despite my star rating indicating a less-than-ideal presentation, what we get here is generally quite pleasing under the circumstances: many of these masters were inherited and have at least been encoded well enough, meaning that they play without any excessive compression artifacts such as banding, macro blocking, and posterization. Overall, I'm happy.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, these shorts fare about as well as possible under the circumstances; not only has each been decently restored to remove source material wear-and-tear, but there are far fewer noticeable volume variances from short to short than expected. Naturally some age-related issues still exist despite the remastering, such as mild hiss and thinness at the high end, but overall these presentations accurately showcase the original mono mixes.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all 25 shorts, but not the two extras listed below.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 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. Here's some good news, though: unlike WAC's previous three Collector's Choice sets, we actually get two more bonus cartoons this time. Based on their appearances, they look to be more in line with a typical in-house Warner Archive restoration rather than the main "inherited" shorts; i.e. more obvious signs of organic film grain with minimal amounts of noise reduction (especially the first).

• Bonus Cartoons - This pair of classic Looney Tunes shorts was directed by Friz Freleng.

• Lighter than Hare (1960, screenshot #27) - Written by Freleng as well, this enjoyable short follows Yosemite Sam as he hunts Bugs Bunny from outer space to the rugged Pacific Northwest using the latest in automated technology including the high-tech Robot ZX29B.
• Stork Naked (1955, screenshot #28) - Everyone's favorite stork goes on a celebratory drinking binge after the recent baby boom... but his attempted delivery to the house of Daffy Duck (and his rarely-seen wife Daphne), who doesn't want another mouth to feed, is met with resistance.

Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 4 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 fourth installment: a broadly enjoyable mix of 25 classic Looney Tunes cartoons, decent to good A/V merits, and even a few bonus shorts this time around. Needless to say, this is a recommended release and a bargain at their reliably low price point, so any animation lovers will want to add this to their ever-growing libraries. That said, the tempting Volume 1-4 Collection is only a little over $10 more as of this review, so anyone who doesn't own the other three or really wants to save shelf space should most definitely go that route instead.