The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

SOLD!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III April 6, 2025

A fun mid-1960s animated series that also included Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long and Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, Hanna-Barbera's The Magilla Gorilla Show has been lovingly restored on Blu-ray from Warner Archive. Not surprisingly, it aims to totally replace Warner Bros.' 2006 DVD set (and a later Diamond Collection set) that could best be described as "woefully incomplete". Sourced from fresh 4K scans of the original camera negatives for all 23 multi-part episodes, this three-disc set also admirably attempts to recreate the original broadcast experience by reconstructing long-ignored supplementary elements of the show including its unforgettable opening theme, bumpers, the "curtain call" sequence, and more -- even the post-credits "Screen Gems" tag. Simply put, this is a love letter to nostalgic fans of the series and, much like Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, one of the most thoughtful animated releases of the year.

As for the show itself, it's about as straightforward and simplistic as most H-B productions from this era and beyond, emphasizing sturdy visuals and strong voice actors more than compelling, complex plots. (In fact, you could probably summarize each of The Magilla Gorilla Show's three main parts in two or three sentences apiece, but that doesn't make them any less charming.) Each 23 half-hour episode leads off with a seven-minute adventure starring our lovable title character (memorably portrayed by Allan Melvin, who began his vocal career with Beetle Bailey and The Flintstones but would remain with H-B for several decades), an anthropomorphic ape who hangs out in Peebles Pet Shop. Store owner Melvin Peebles (Howard Morris) tries his hardest to sell Magilla, who's eating him out of business, but every potential owner -- most of which have ulterior motives -- returns him immediately after things don't work out. The only one who really wants Magilla for a pet is sweet little Ogee (Jean Vander Pyl), who never seems to have enough cash.

Up next is Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long, which follows the Wild West adventures of dutiful Sheriff Bing! Bing! Bing! himself (Don Messick) and his trusty but molasses-slow coyote sidekick (Mel Blanc) as they keep the peace in Hoop N' Holler. Facing off against a motley crew of outlaws and other colorful characters (some of which are also voiced by Mel Blanc, doing a subtle variant of Yosemite Sam), Ricochet Rabbit uses all manner of tricks -- including his built-in super speed -- to get the job done. Droop-a-Long? Well, he's pretty good at getting coffee. It's not quite as enjoyable as your average Magilla outing, but these equally brisk adventures aren't a bad way to spend seven minutes.

Finally we've got Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, a distant third in my book. This short runs about the same length as the others and follows the Hatfield-and-McCoy feud of its title characters, a shotgun-wielding orange cat (Allan Melvin) and a cute li'l mouse (Howard Morris) whose deceptively buff cousin Megaton (Daws Butler) sometimes stops by to lend a paw. While a few of these show-closing shorts stand out, as a whole Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse is really just a thinly-veiled Tom and Jerry clone. It ain't terrible, but I wish the other two shorts were 12 minutes each instead.

Even so, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that also extends to how The Magilla Gorilla Show has been reconstructed for this Blu-ray collection, as Warner Archive has outdone themselves digging up the scattered elements of these half-hour shows -- the opening that touts its "Ideal Toys" sponsorship, several bumper segments, that "curtain call", a plug for The Peter Potamus Show, and more -- which means that die-hard fans of the series will be seeing these episodes more or less how they originally aired for the first time in more than 60 years. (The closing credits run faster and with an alternate shorter music cue, but this is only because acceptable surviving elements for the original "slower" credits were not able to be found.) It's fantastic work overall and warrants a high recommendation, as anyone who hasn't seen The Magilla Gorilla Show in years will be thrilled with how it's been lovingly preserved here.

The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Ideal" is right. These 23 multi-part episodes have absolutely never looked better -- not on DVD, not on TV, and probably not even in a studio screening room back in the mid-1960s. Simply put, The Magilla Gorilla Show has been lovingly polished to a showroom shine on this three-disc Blu-ray set, whose new and exclusive 1080p transfers have been sourced from new 4K scans of the original camera negatives*. As usual, a generous amount of careful manual cleanup has been applied here, though film grain remains intact and occasional "natural" defects like cel dirt have been left undisturbed. Fine detail and color representation are both exceptional from start to finish, as the classic H-B house style really gets a chance to shine in all its sturdy but simplistic glory. Disc encoding is very good as well: the bit rate doesn't run quite as high as most of Warner Archive's catalog film releases but, given the show's flat color palette and 1.33:1 aspect ratio, it's more than enough and I wasn't able to spot any obvious compression-related issues such as banding, posterization, or macro blocking. For these reasons and more, Magilla earn a full five stars as the boutique label continues to set a high bar for what classic animation should look like on Blu-ray.

* - There are two exceptions. "That Was the Geek That Was" (the Magilla short from episode #18), whose original 35mm negative was severely deteriorated due to chemical damage, is instead sourced from an internegative. Seen in screenshot #34, this segment looks a bit rougher in terms of fine detail and color value but, under the circumstances, really couldn't be improved upon. Likewise, the newly re-inserted "curtain call" near the end of each episode (seen in screenshot #10) was taken from a slightly faded 16mm source as the original negative could not be located.

The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Magilla Gorilla Show's enjoyably straightforward one-channel presentation has been capably preserved by Warner Archive's lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track, which repurposes the show's original mono mix in a split container. This of course marks an upgrade from the previous DVD sets' Dolby Digital tracks, with further sonic detail presumably squeezed out of the new source material restoration; while these differences may not be night and day, what we have here is simply as clean and trouble-free a presentation as we're likely to get on home video. No extraneous defects (either source-related or damage-related) could be heard along the way, save for a tiny bit of thinness on the upper end of music cues, but that's perfectly in line with material from this era. Overall, more great work here.

Optional English SDH subtitles are included during all 23 episodes only, not the bonus features listed below.

The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This three-disc release ships in a hinged keepcase with familiar cover artwork. No insert is included, but all episode segment names are helpfully printed on each of the three discs and are also selectable via the menu interface.

A handful of new-to-disc and DVD-era bonus features can be found on Disc 3.

• Here Comes a Star (25:11) - Magilla Gorilla layout artist Jerry Eisenberg introduces this short featurette, which isn't a retrospective look back but rather a black-and-white 1963 promotional piece made by Hanna-Barbera to introduce the show and its star to TV audiences before its premiere. This is a great little piece of animation history and well worth watching if you haven't seen it already.

• Magilla Theme Song Live and Unplugged (1:44) - Jerry Eisenberg returns to introduce a more recent clip: a short live performance of William Hanna and composer Hoyt Curtin performing the show's theme song.

• Mr. Peebles Pet Shop (13:58) - Jerry Eisenberg, animation historian Jerry Beck, and Allan Melvin (voice of Magilla) provide short interview clips during this multi-part retrospective featurette that talks about the show, its characters, favorite moments, the cast and crew, and other little nuggets of H-B history.

• NEW! Bonus Cartoons (8 clips, 7:05 each) - Eight bonus Magilla Gorilla shorts originally produced by H-B to be mixed in with syndicated reruns of other segments featuring Magilla as well as the supporting players. These rarities were not included on either WB DVD set and are presented here à la carte -- they're basically identical to the "original" episodes in tone and execution and have been lovingly restored to match.

• Camp Scamps
• Deep Sea Doodle
• High Fly Guy
• Magilla Mix-Up
• Love at First Fight
• Makin' With the Magilla
• Pet Bet
• The Purple Mask

The Magilla Gorilla Show: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Take my money", as they say. Warner Archive's outstanding treatment of The Magilla Gorilla Show sets a dangerously high bar for classic TV animation on Blu-ray; not only for the boutique label's rock-solid A/V restoration, but for the way these episodes have been carefully reconstructed to mimic the original broadcast presentation for the first time in more than 60 years. Add in several DVD-era extras and a handful of rare bonus Magilla shorts produced later in the show's lifespan and you've got an essential purchase for Hanna-Barbera fans. Highly Recommended.