Remember when you could turn to Cartoon Network on a weekend morning for a healthy dose of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd? The Looney Tunes have vanished from my cable box. They aren’t even on Boomerang. What’s an overgrown man-child to watch while eating his bowl of Frankenberry? Who can really digest to morning news shows? Why hasn’t Congress formed a sub-committee to investigate the disappearance of Sylvester the Cat? Thankfully Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Volume 6 has arrived in time to brighten up your waking hours.
Don’t confuse this set with Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Volume 6. While both contain many of the same restored shorts, Spotlight has only 38 cartoons and none of the bonus features. The two-disc set is geared towards younger viewers since the selection doesn’t contain any of the controversial titles featured on the Golden Collection. Spotlight is pure fun without having to explain blackface to the kiddies.
“Often an Orphan” introduced the concept of “the picnic” to viewers. A dog named Charlie finds himself without an owner. He decides to adopt a farmer played by Porky Pig. However this is not an easy merging of owner and pet. Charlie returns in “Dog Gone South.” He finds a new potential owner that’s a classic Kentucky Colonel with a huge plantation and a freakish bulldog. Charlie sabotages the relationship between the Colonel and his pet. “By Word of Mouse” explains common economic principles through rodents. This makes more business sense than 95% of the experts interviewed on CNBC. The free market lecture is interrupted by Sylvester wanting a lunch break.
“Baby Buggy Bunny” is where the Wayans brothers stole the idea for Little Man. A diminutive bank robber disguises himself as a baby to hide out at Bugs Bunny’s house. Bugs realizes that there’s something wrong with the abandoned newborn when he peeks into the bathroom. The baby smokes a cigar, shaves and has a tattoo. The image was completely lifted by the Wayans brothers. They refused to give credit to Chuck Jones. You’re better off enjoying the six minute animated film than their feature length CGI snore. “Satan’s Waitin'” is my favorite Sylvester and Tweety chase. This time Sylvester’s pursuit has a harsh reality. He actually dies when his death defying stunts go wrong. Satan is played by the bulldog. Sylvester’s only reprieve is he has to use up all 9 of his lives before he needs to get his mail forwarded to hell. Buy can he stop after 8 failures?
Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Volume 6 is perfect for the older fans of the cartoons who wants to share the fun with younger relatives. It’s just pure cartoons with a lower price than the Golden Collection. If you are a animation enthusist, you’ll want the larger set. If you merely want four hours of cartoon insanity to mix with your bowl of Cap’n Crunch, Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Volume 6 will hit the spot.
The Shorts
“Baby Buggy Bunny,” “Broom-stick Bunny,” “To Duck…or Not to Duck,” “Birth of a Notion,” “Crowing Pains,” “Raw! Raw! Rooster,” “My Favorite Duck,” “Jumpin’ Jupiter,” “Satan’s Waitin’,” “Hook, Line and Stinker,” “A Ham in a Role,” “Heaven Scent,” “Often an Orphan,” “Dog Gone South,” “Rocket-Bye Baby,” “Fresh Airedale,” “It’s Hummer Time,” “Much Ado About Nutting,” “Goo Goo Goliath,” “The Draft Horse,” “Lights Fantastic,” “Rookie Revue,” “The Weakly Reporter,” “Wild Wife,” “The Hole Idea,” “Page Miss Glory,” “Now Hear This,” “Norman Normal” and “A Cartoonist’s Nightmare.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers of the main cartoons are stunning compared to what you last saw on the Cartoon Network. They’ve cleaned them up and tweaked the colors. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. They sound better than if you saw them in the theater without any pops. The cartoons are subtitled in English.
Bonus Cartoons include “Sleepy Time Possum,” “Punch Trunk,” “Wild Wild World,” “Bartholomew versus the Wheel,” “By Word of Mouse,” “Hair-Conditioned,” “Rabbit Rampage,” “Sniffles Takes a Trip” and “Yankee Dood It.” These cartoons haven’t been restored to the same standards as the main shorts. There’s occasionally slight futz on the frame. But they still look better than the versions that are sent out to TV stations.
Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Volume 6 is a great way to introduce the joys of Warner Brothers cartoons to a generation of kids suffer through Saturday morning cartoons with educational content. Here’s all the joyful nonsense provided by Bugs, Daffy and Porky. There’s still great violence when they play it smart like in “By Word of Mouse.”
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Warner Home Video presents Looney Tunes: Spotlight Collection, Volume 6. Starring Mel Blanc. Boxset Contents: 38 cartoons on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: October 21, 2008. Available at Amazon.
