Looney Tunes Platinum Collection to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray October 16th; Beware The Batman to premiere in 2013

 

Welcome to the Warner edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report. Here’s what’s topping today!

 

 

For those of you who first bought the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection on DVD, the same collection will be released on Blu-Ray for the first time! What does this DVD and Blu-Ray have here Angie?

 

Angie Angelfish-BURBANK, CA., (August 1, 2012) – What’s up doc? More classic Looney Tunes greats on Blu-ray™ & DVD! Get set for another fun-filled installment of Warner Home Video’s (WHV) Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, which is set for release October 16, 2012. Titled Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2, this compilation will showcase 50 all-time favorite cartoon shorts which have been digitally remastered and restored. Available just in time for the holiday gift giving season, Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 will be sold on Blu-ray which retails for $44.98 SRP and on standard DVD, which retails for $26.99 SRP. The Blu-ray includes a cartoon guide with rare images compiled by animation historian Jerry Beck and a disc comprised entirely of bonus material.

Some of the best and most enduring theatrical shorts from the Looney Tunes franchise are featured on the highly-anticipated release of Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2. That wascally wabbit and the rest of the gang are back in an all-star collection that features 50 of some of the franchise’s greatest shorts. The selection contains a variety of memorable works, by some of the most renowned animators in cartoon history including Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson, Friz Freleng and others.Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 is aimed at adult collectors of animation.

Disc one offers a collection of 25 signature cartoon shorts featuring an all-star line-up of some of the best-known Looney Tunes characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn , Speedy Gonzales and others. Three featured cartoons, A Wild Hare, Tabasco Road and Mexicali Shmoes are Academy Award® nominated shorts (Best Short Subject, Cartoons, 1941, 1958 and 1960). The Blu-ray disc is loaded with bonus featurettes, commentaries by animation experts and alternative audio tracks.

Disc two is comprised of 25 shorts, including a collection of memorable one-shot classics such as Hollywood Steps Out, which features cartoon versions of such legendary actors as Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart, Bing Crosby, Clark Gable and many others. Also included is the war-themed Russian Rhapsody and Rocket-Bye Baby, a Chuck Jones-directed short about a Martian baby who’s accidentally sent to Earth. Featured also are the complete collections of cartoons starring some of Looney Tunes notable but seldom seen characters such as Nasty Canasta, Cecil Turtle, Beaky Buzzard, A. Flea and others. This disc also includes the complete collection of Chuck Jones’ hunting trilogy, a set of three cartoons which star Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd (Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!). This disc presents a special favorite selected by cartoon fans in an online poll: Bugs Bunny in Wabbit Twouble. The Blu-ray disc is packed with bonus featurettes, commentaries by animation experts and alternative audio tracks.

Disc three, which is only available in the Blu-ray of the release is devoted entirely to special content and rarities from the vault. Hours and hours of extras include several documentaries with expert commentary and behind-the-scenes information from popular animators, famous directors, animation historians and celebrated devotees. Lost cartoons from the World War II era, including Private Snafu and Seaman Hook, rare Leon Schlesinger staff Christmas Party films, documentaries covering Friz Freleng and Tex Avery with bonus Freleng Captain and the Kids cartoons and a selection of Tex Avery’s best cartoons from MGM are also included.

“Looney Tunes cartoons have been entertaining consumers for generations with popular, enduring characters that continue to capture the hearts of viewers”said Mary Ellen Thomas, Vice President Family & Animation Marketing and Partner Brands. She added, “We think Looney Tunes fans will be really pleased with the variety of selections we’ve included on this compilation, which range from highly-popular favorites to some lesser seen gems. This release has something for everyone. It’s a must-own title for animation lovers.”

 

Remember the Colorado movie shooting 3 weeks ago? Well, we found another series that was supposed to premiere on Cartoon Network this year: Beware the Batman. Fans of the cartoon series won’t see it as a result of the tragedy as Perch Perkins found out while we were busy digesting the  recently breaking news story:

 

Perch Perkins (via Variety)- Heightened sensitivity over violent imagery at Warner Bros. in the wake of the tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado., is extending to another iteration of the “Batman” franchise.
Multiple sources divulged that Warner Bros. Animation ordered a review earlier this week of “Beware the Batman,” an animated series the unit is producing for Cartoon Network.

A Warner Bros. spokesman declined comment.

Producers of the series were asked by WB Animation executive VP Sam Register to scrutinize depictions of weapons on the program, which isn’t expected to debut on the cable network until next year.

An unspecified number of alterations were made to some designs and situations on the series to minimize the amount of weapon imagery deemed too realistic.

The review process, which isn’t expected to be cheap, will be as detailed as changing the shape of gun barrels from round to square for the purpose of rendering the weapons in a more stylized manner reminiscent of sci-fi fare.

Like WB Animation and its production partner on “Beware,” DC Entertainment, Cartoon is also owned by Time Warner. The network first announced the series as part of its slate at its March upfront presentation.

Sources added that Register, who is listed as executive producer of the series, did not make the changes at the behest of higher ranking execs at the conglom, but did so proactively on his own.

Warner Bros. has been treading carefully in the days since “The Dark Night Rises” provided unfortunate backdrop to the shooting in Aurora, which claimed 12 lives and injured dozens of others.

WB postponed the release of another of its films, “Gangster Squad,” for reshoots in light of a scene depicting a shooting at a movie theater.

Utilizing cutting-edge CGI, “Beware” was intended to offer Batman fans an animated version of the franchise in keeping with the more serious tone of “Dark Knight.” The series will bypass some of the more well-known villains depicted in the films for more obscure arch enemies derived from the comics like Anarky, Professor Pig and Mister Toad.

Because the series was produced for Cartoon Network — whose target would be boys and teens — the content guidelines would already be considerably less graphic than the live-action films.

Further cashing in on the Batman brand, WB will also release an animated feature in the fall adapted from the Frank Miller graphic novel “The Dark Knight Returns.” Those films tend to be more adult in tone and traditionally carry a PG-13 rating.

 

Our day of reckoning is almost here as the Penguin tally is almost tallied up. As of Monday, 76 fans have signed on off a recently new episode that aired Sunday which featured the return of the blue hen as Skipper performed the P.E.L.T. test or the Physicial Endurance Leadership Test exam on his own. Now that the leader has his endurance, he and his team are ready for their next mission.

 

We enter August with plenty of DVD and Blu-Rays’ to buy and watch as summer prepares to come to a close after 2 months and 30+ days of news and gossip. Here’s what to look and see this month:

 

8/7/2012
Marley
Bel Ami
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
Blue Like Jazz
Girlfriend
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
8/14/2012
The Snowtown Murders
The Raid: Redemption
Kill List
Tonight You’re Mine
Hick

8/18/2012
The Hunger Games

8/21/2012
The Dictator
Payback
Chimpanzee
Hide Away
Virginia
Bernie
A Separation
Weekend

8/28/2012
Think Like a Man
The Five-Year Engagement
Darling Companion
Apartment 143
Battleship
The Lucky One
Lovely Molly
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Citizen Gangster
L!fe Happens
Headhunters
Monsieur Lazhar
The Moth Diaries

 

This month will be filled with the last of this summer’s greatest surprises until the kids head back too school next month. Be sure to find me in my box office report to see if The Dark Knight can stay on his 3rd week in the top spot to see if the movie’s earnings increase its lead. Until next time, will see you on another edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report.