8.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The characters of Looney Tunes get themselves into crazy situations.
Starring: Mel Blanc, Bill Roberts (I), June Foray, Arthur Q. Bryan, Bea BenaderetAnimation | 100% |
Family | 94% |
Comedy | 63% |
Short | 26% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1, 1.75:1
English: Dolby Digital Mono
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Quick: name three classic cartoon mice. If you rattled off Mickey, Mighty and Jerry, you're not alone. Far from it. If Sniffles or Hubie and Bertie came to mind, though, count yourself among a very small (but very lucky) group of animation connoisseurs well-acquainted with some of legendary animator Chuck Jones' early, more obscure Warner Bros. toons; once-beloved characters that, one day, not too far in the future, might just scurry out of their holes and find a world that has forgotten them altogether. When the vast majority of you were children, there weren't sixteen different kids' channels waiting for you when you got home from school. There was no Cartoon Network, no Boomerang. Before 1979, there was no Nickelodeon. Before 1983, there was no Disney Channel. There certainly wasn't a block of sixty-three Nickelodeons, divided by average audience ages no less, or ninety-two Disney Channels, designed to breed two-thousand pop star hopefuls per hour. There weren't even DVRs capable of recording anything and everything an impressionable tot could ever want to watch. Children of the '80s and '90s weren't just weened on Transformers and Ninja Turtles; they grew up watching and cherishing the same classic cartoons their parents and grandparents watched when they were young. Kids today are inundated with countless cartoons and series, all vying for their affection and merchandised dollar. They don't have access to the Greats as you and I did.
It's for that reason that the importance of releases like the Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles can't be overstated. They're not just for the "Adult Collector," as the back of the Chuck Jones Collection and others like it insist. They're for collectors and a whole new generation of kids who, if not for the intervention of their nostalgic parents, might never know the joys of watching these Golden Age Warner Bros. animated shorts.
Disc One: Sniffles
1. Naughty but Mice (1939)
2. Little Brother Rat (1939)
3. Sniffles and Bookworm (1939)
4. Sniffles Takes a Trip (1940)
5. The Egg Collector (1940)
6. Bedtime for Sniffles (1940)
7. Sniffles Bells the Cat (1941)
8. Toy Trouble (1941)
9. The Brave Little Bat (1941)
10. The Unbearable Bear (1943)
11. Lost and Foundling (1944)
12. Hush My Mouse (1946)
Disc Two: Hubie and Bertie
1. The Aristo-Cat (1943)
2. Trap Happy Porky (1945)
3. Roughly Squeaking (1946)
4. House Hunting Mice (1947)
5. Mouse Wreckers (1949)
6. The Hypo-Chondri-Cat (1950)
7. Cheese Chasers (1951)
Could Warner's remastering efforts and subsequent 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation look much better? That depends on your definition of better. Flickering, telecine wobble, print blemishes and other inherent inconsistencies are prevalent, particularly in the earliest Sniffles shorts, and black levels are a touch heavy, although perhaps just to my eye. Still, most, if not all of these issues trace back to the source, making the resulting transfer a tussle between faithfulness and what would have been a more invasive overhaul. Purists, collectors and videophiles will appreciate Warner's dedication to the original appearance and texture of the shorts. More casual viewers may lament the sometimes aggressive grain, intermittent nicks and scratches, and several other anomalies; eyesores many other studios would have eliminated without a second thought. But as far as I'm concerned, there's very, very little to complain about. A hyper-polished presentation wouldn't satisfy those with an affinity for Jones' early work anyway, and such drastic cleanup work would only risk tarnishing the very animation being rejuvenated. I applaud Warner's continued devotion to the source above all, be it a collection starring Tom and Jerry, the Looney Tunes bunch, or more obscure characters like Sniffles, Hubie and Bertie.
Everyone, though, will agree that the early Jones shorts have never looked better than they do here. Colors are vibrant and playful, especially once Hubie and Bertie enter the fray, and contrast and clarity are striking. Line art is clean and smooth, painted backgrounds and inserts are lovely, and eagle-eyed animation aficionados will even be able to spot the ever so slight variations in the coloring of animated elements. Grain is also crisp and nicely preserved, as are the mis-strokes and mistakes -- ahem... personal touches -- in the original hand-drawn animation. I did notice some slight banding on occasion (let me stress slight) and a few errant artifacts that snuck their way into the grain field. None of it is cause for any serious concern, thankfully, and nothing else should raise any red flags. Even with three seventy-three-year-old shorts in tow, The Chuck Jones Collection doesn't disappoint. Is it a perfect restoration? No. A strong remaster? Absolutely.
The low point of The Chuck Jones Collection is undoubtedly its 192kbps Dolby Digital single-channel mono track. While a DTS-HD MA mix would have probably only offered a marginal improvement, it would have been lossless and, for all intents and purposes, ideal. That's not to suggest such a mix would have resolved all of the shorts' issues -- some feature crisp, clear voices and bright, eager sound effects; others suffer at the hands of a dull, listless soundscape -- but if paired with a more thorough audio restoration, the results would have presumably been worth the time and investment. As is, dialogue is generally intelligible and peppy (despite some muffled exchanges here and there), mouse-trap snaps and prowling cat rowrs are effective on the whole, and the shorts' orchestral music isn't too canned or bottled up. (Too.) All in all, it's a serviceable track, which isn't saying a whole lot.
If you have any fondness for Sniffles or Hubie and Bertie, or nostalgia for the early work of Chuck Jones, Mouse Chronicles is for you. If you've never heard of Sniffles, Hubie or Bertie, well, Mouse Chronicles is for you too. Blu-ray releases like The Chuck Jones Collection preserve classic shorts that might otherwise fall into complete obscurity, making this an excellent opportunity to discover or rediscover a trio of animated mice you might not remember so well, if at all. Light on extras and saddled with lossy audio, it isn't a perfect release. But its excellent video presentation, not to mention the nineteen classic theatrical shorts it offers, more than make up for it. Pair this one with a pre-order of Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection, Vol. 2 and Tom & Jerry: Golden Collection, Vol. 2 and you'll be all set.
1930-1969
Ultimate Collector's Edition
1930-1969
Volume One
1930-1969
1930-1969
1930-1969
Limited Edition / Limited to 30,000 Copies
1930-1969
Warner Archive Collection
1930-1969
Warner Archive Collection
1930-1969
Warner Archive Collection
1930-1969
Warner Archive Collection
1930-1969
1930-1969
Warner Archive Collection
1940-1967
Peanuts Collection / + It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
1965
Peanuts Collection / + Mayflower Voyagers
1973
1933-1942
1999
1993-1998
1964-1980
2015
1960-1966
Special Edition
2017
1989-2008
2007-2012
2021
2017
1990-1991
1987-1990
+ It's Magic, Charlie Brown / Charlie Brown's All-Stars
1966
Donkey's Caroling Christmas-tacular
2010
The Signature Collection
1961
1969-1978