My Wall Street Journal piece about Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes Golden Collection is in print, as of this morning. Here’s a snippet:
“What an ultramaroon.” “You’re…dethpicable.” “Hmm. Pronoun trouble.” “Of course you know this means war.”
Ring any bells? No? Well, try this one on for size: “Ehh, what’s up, doc?”
If that phrase doesn’t make you feel like gnawing a carrot, you’re probably not a likely buyer of “Looney Tunes Golden Collection,” a four-DVD set containing 56 of the finest Warner Bros. cartoons from the golden age of big-studio animation. Otherwise, get ready to laugh yourself silly.
The Warner animated shorts of the ’40s and ’50s have long been a gaping hole in the fast-growing DVD catalogue. No more. Now you can revel in crisp, clear prints of such classic cartoons as “Rabbit of Seville” and “Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century,” plus a full set of the bells and whistles without which no self-respecting DVD set is complete….
The future of animation belongs to the wizards of Pixar, and the day will surely come when they triumph over their computer-enhanced technique instead of being swamped by it. But when the last ink bottle is empty and the last paint brush has been put away for good, Bugs and Daffy will still be with us, one sly, the other spluttering, just as Wile E. Coyote will never stop chasing the Road Runner. They are as obsolete as a silent movie by Buster Keaton–and as imperishable.
There’s lots more where that came from. Read the whole thing here.
If for some inexplicable and unacceptable reason you haven’t yet purchased Looney Tunes Golden Collection, purge yourself by clicking here.
Don’t be an ultramaroon–do it now.
P.S. If that’s not enough to hold you for one day, 2 Blowhards has a really smart post on Looney Tunes: Back in Action.