Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Even more bang for your buck.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 5, 2025

Continuing their recent run of Looney Tunes shorts compiled in a series of four Collector's Choice volumes (which were fittingly later offered as one handy package), Warner Archive merrily rolls along with this very welcome new Collector's Vault: Volume 1, which is essentially a two-disc set that serves up 50 newly restored or even new-to-disc shorts from WB's massive library. These colorful classics have earned the royal treatment at a bargain price, which means strong fan support will translate to even more volumes in the future... and while several hundred shorts have arrived on Blu-ray between various WAC releases and WB's three Platinum Collections, they've still got a ways to go.

Slow and steady wins the race, as they say, but WAC still earns an easy victory by essentially doubling the amount of included shorts while keeping a one-disc price point. As with the previous Collector's Choice volumes, neither of these discs are character-focused or chronologically sorted by their original collective release dates of 1936-1962; instead, each one arranges these shorts alphabetically for maximum variance. That's a fine enough solution and fittingly works with Looney Tunes' solid variety-show approach to cartoon comedy, and if nothing else reminds us just how many characters, animators, and directors have been a part of the franchise during these original years.

The number of cartoons included here prevent individual synopses, which are either readily available in countless fan-maintained resources or well-known to faithful franchise followers. Plain and simple, Collector's Vault: Volume 1 offers a little something for everyone by featuring all of the well-known characters pictured on its cover as well as a handful of lesser-knowns just for good measure. It may be a long time until we ever get the truly deep cuts (such as the infamous "Censored 11", which may likely never happen), but most will be happy with this accessible mix of shorts.

Personal highlights include one of Tex Avery's first WB shorts ("I'd Love to Take Orders From You", from 1936), the Steinbeck send-up "Of Fox and Hounds" (one of several new-to-disc cartoons), a triumphant debut for Henery Hawk ("The Squawkin' Hawk", which also doubles as the first of many collaborations between Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese), an encounter with a Peter Lorre look-alike ("Birth of a Notion"), the first and decidedly different appearance of Speedy Gonzalez ("Cat-Tails for Two"), an early stand-in for Miss Prissy fawning over radio crooner Mr. Bingo ("Let It Be Me"), a rare crossover with the wonderful world of Dr. Seuss ("Horton Hatches the Egg", from 1942), modern Speedy's first and only heel turn ("Gonzales' Tamales"), a highly quotable Thanksgiving adventure ("Tom Turk and Daffy"), Bugs' big boxing bout ("Rabbit Punch"), and of course Daffy Duck's very first appearance ("Porky's Duck Hunt", a black-and-white classic from 1938). As expected, all are presented in their original uncut form, as implied by an "Adult Collector" tag that appears on the packaging and discs. (Thankfully, we don't have to sit through any disclaimers.)

Neatly divided into 25 shorts per disc with a handy "Play All" option, Volume 1 includes the following cartoons:

DISC ONE

"Bars & Stripes Forever" (1939), "Beauty & the Beast" (1934), "A Day at the Zoo" (1939), "Dixie Fryer" (1960), "Double or Mutton" (1955), "Each Dawn I Crow" (1949), "Easy Peckin's" (1953), "Feather Dusted" (1955), "A Fox in a Fix" (1951), "Good Night Elmer" (1940), "The Goofy Gophers" (1947), "I'd Love to Take Orders from You" (1936), "A Kiddie's Kitty" (1955), "Let It Be Me" (1936), "Of Fox and Hounds" (1940), "Quackodile Tears" (1962), "Ready, Woolen & Able" (1960), "Robin Hood Makes Good" (1939), "The Squawkin' Hawk" (1942), "Terrier-Stricken" (1952), "Tweet & Lovely" (1959), "Tweety's Circus" (1955), "Two's a Crowd" (1950), "Wild About Hurry" (1959), and "Zip 'n Snort" (1961).

DISC TWO

"Ain't She Tweet" (1952), "Banty Raids" (1963), "Birth of a Notion" (1947), "Bye, Bye Bluebeard" (1949), "Cat-Tails for Two" (1953), "Daffy Dilly" (1948), "Daffy Duck & Egghead" (1938), "Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z" (1956), "Gonzales' Tamales" (1957), "Hare Conditioned" (1945), "Hare Trigger" (1945), "Hare Trimmed" (1953), "Horton Hatches the Egg" (1942), "Little Boy Boo" (1954), "Much Ado About Nutting" (1953), "Odor-able Kitty" (1945), "Past Perfumance" (1955), "Porky's Duck Hunt" (1937), "Rabbit Punch" (1948), "Red Riding Hoodwinked" ('55), "Rhapsody Rabbit" (1946), "Snow Business" (1953), "Tom Turk & Daffy" (1944), "Two Crows from Tacos" (1956), and "Zoom & Bored" (1957).

Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

If you've kept up with Warner Archive's Collector's Choice volumes, you should know what to expect from this two-disc collection as it sits on the upper end of their established track record. Much like volumes #1 and 4, this Collector's Vault offers a mix of source materials: most of 'em stem from masters undertaken by Warner Bros. earlier this decade, while a portion of these shorts was completed more recently by Warner Archive from start to finish. As far as I know, they're all the result of 4K scans from their original negatives (many of them nitrate) and have been manually cleaned up -- while retaining most if not all of the more organic "damage" like occasional cel dirt -- with additional color correction when needed. The key difference between these sources is in their varying levels of film grain: WB's masters were all given an additional amount of "management" during the initial restoration process, whereas those shorts restored entirely by Warner Archive retain a more organic level of texture that most purists will prefer.

The great news is that while a handful of shorts that have been smoothed over a bit too excessively in my opinion, these are countered by a slightly larger handful of WAC-handled shorts that look absolutely beautiful. In the middle lie the majority of WB's masters; these sport an average level of grain (which incidentally differs depending on the source material already) that I can certainly live with. Much like their respective span of counterparts in the Collector's Choice volumes, you'll immediately know which is which and likely settle on a preference pretty quickly, but overall I'm happy with the level of consistency achieved during most of these cartoons. As seen in these 40 direct-from-disc screenshots (which almost covers all of them), the end result is overwhelmingly solid and the best that all of these classic shorts have ever looked. Disc encoding looks good as well; there's roughly three hours of material on each dual-layered Blu-ray, and it's all presented at a supportive bit rate with no obvious compression-related issues on display.

Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Also like previous collections, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mixes do a capable job of rendering the original mono mix in a two-channel container, standing decently tall as a solid improvement over previous home video versions. Dialogue, sparse as it can be it certain shorts, is consistently clean and crisp, with familiar sound effects mixed nicely and plenty of room left over for the always on-point orchestral scores. While occasional fidelity differences and volume variances can be heard between shorts (mostly due to their chronologically random order), it's nothing that an occasional slight adjustment can't fix. Overall, I'm happy with the results achieved here and consider it a sturdy 4/5 effort.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all 50 shorts.

Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc set ships in a keepcase with attractive cover art. No inserts are included, but a complete episode list (repurposed above) is printed on the back cover. No extras either, but given the price it's tough to complain.

Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Warner Archive's Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 boldly continues the noble campaign begun with their four-volume Collector's Choice series, doubling the number of included shorts while keeping the price point very affordable for even the most budget-conscious buyers. That alone is the reason why this two-disc release beats its already-great ratings average, which includes solid A/V merits, to earn a sky-high recommendation indeed. Simply put, it belongs on the shelf of even Looney Tunes' most casual fans, as there's roughly six hours of classic cartoon entertainment here for the price of a boring old blockbuster. What are your waiting for? Buy it already to keep 'em coming.