Peter and the Wolf (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a musician I mourn the loss of music as an auditory art. But the fact remains that music videos have changed the way we listen to and learn music, so we must work with it. This video is a wonderful way to introduce children to classical music and the orchestra without them thinking that it's boring, or not worthy of their time.
Kirstie Alley plays the mother of a 12-ish boy who travels back to the home where she grew up to visit her father (Lloyd Bridges). The boy has never met his grandfather. They spend some time visiting and the topic turns to "The Story". The story is, of course, "Peter and the Wolf". Kirstie Alley narrates the story, dramatized by animation done by Chuck Jones (Bugs Bunny). The animation is wonderful, the characters are endearing and funny (with Kirstie Alley doing excellent voice-overs for the hysterically dizzy duck and the cat). The part when the duck is eaten by the wolf is handled very subtley, and, unlike the original story, has a happy ending for the duck, making it appropriate for very young kids. I teach K-8 and have shown it to all grades, who have enjoyed it. I personally have seen it about 30 times, and it remains fresh and entertaining. A nice feature for music teachers is that the animated storyline is 30 minutes long, allowing you to show just that portion of the video within a class period. I highly recommend this video for parents and teachers alike who want to introduce children to classical music. They'll be learning without them even knowing it!

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PETER AND THE WOLF - DVD Movie

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Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 4 (1938) Review

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(More customer reviews)At this yearly pase I will have to wait till about the year 2020 to have a complete Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies-collection! ;) So keep them coming! I love the favorites, but I also like and am interested in the lesser known ones!
Here's data on Golden Collection #4:
* Includes 60 episodes on a Four-Disc Set.
* Disc One: Showcase the long-eared star extraordin-hare with 15 Bugs Bunny Cartoons, including the 1958's Oscar-winning Best Cartoon Short Subject Knighty Knight Bugs.
* Disc Two: (Porky Pig) celebrates animation legend Frank Tashin, who brought a filmmaker's eye for angles, editing and style to his cartoon creations.
* Disc Three: Zips along pronto with fast-acting Speedy Gonzales and includes Tabasco Road Mexicall Shmoes and Pied Piper of Guadalupe, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards.
* Disc Four: And cats may have nine lives but they also have 15 cartoons on the fourth disc's batch of feline follies. The Fur's Gonna Fly.
* 26 Commentary Tracks on 25 Shorts (The Aristo-Cat get 2 commentary Tracks) by the likes of Paul Dini, Eric Goldberg, June Foray, Michael Barrier, Mark Kausler, Daniel Goldmark, Greg Ford, Eddie Fitzgerald, Stan Freberg, Art Leonardi, Jerry Beck and comments by the late Frank Tashlin, the late Fritz Freleng and the late Chuck Jones.
* 15 Alternate Studio Tracks (music or music and effects only tracks).
* 8 Cartoons From the Vault:
- The Goldbrick (1943 Snafu short).
- The Home Front (1943 Snafu short).
- Censored (1944 Snafu short).
- 90 Day Wounder (1956 Army reinlistment film by Chuck Jones).
- Drafty, Isn't It? (1957 Army recruitment film by Chuck Jones).
- Porky's Breakdowns.
- Sahara Hare Storyboard Reel.
- Porky's Poor Fish Storyboard Reel.
* 7 Behind the Tunes Documentaries:
- Bugs Bunny Superstar Part 1 (1976 documentary).
- Bugs Bunny Supperstar Part 2 (1976 documentary).
- Friz on Film (new documentary).
- 2 Behind The Scenes Look at Bugs Bunny Show.
* Frank Tashlin's Storyboards.
- Little Chic's Wonderful Mother.
- Tony and Clarence.
* Fifty Years of Bugs Bunny in three & one half Minutes (1989 short)
* Porky and Daffy in The William Tell Overtures!
* The Bugs Bunny Show:
- Ballpiont Puns Bridging Sequences.
- Foreign Legion Leghorn Audio Recording Sessions.
* Trailer Gallery:
- Bugs Bunny's Cartoon Carnival.
- Bugs Bunny's: All Star Revue.
* Behind the Tunes:
- Twilight in Tunes: The Music of Raymond Scott.
- Powerhouse in Pictures.
- One Hit Wonders.
- Sing-A-Song of Loonet Tune.
- The Art of the Gag!
- Wild Lines: The Art of Voice Acting.
- Looney Tunes: A Cast of Thousands.
* DISC ONE: Bugs Bunny Classics:
1. Roman Legion-Hare.
2. The Grey Hound Hare.
3. Rabbit Hood.
4. Operation Rabbit.
5. Knight-mare Hare.
6. Southern Fried Rabbit.
7. Mississippi Hare.
8. Hurdy-Gurdy Hare.
9. Forward March Hare.
10. Sahara Hare.
11. Barbary Coast Bunny.
12. To Hare is Human.
13. 8 Ball Bunny.
14. Knighty Knight Bugs.
15. Rabbit Romeo.
========================================
** DISC TWO: Frank Tashlin;
1. The Case Of The Stuttering Pig.
2. Little Pancho Vanilla.
3. Little Beau Porky.
4. Now That Summer is Gone.
5. Porky in The North Woods.
6. You're An Education.
7. Porky's Railrood.
8. Plane Daffy.
9. Porky the Fireman.
10. Cracked Ice.
11. Puss N Booty.
12. I Got Plenty Of Mutton.
13. Booby Hatched.
14. Porky's Poulty Plant
15. The Stupid Cupid.
=========================================
*** DISC THREE: Speedy Gonzales;
1. Cat-tails For Two.
2. Tabasco Road.
3. Tortilla Flaps.
4. Mexicali Schmoes.
5. Here Today, Gone Tamale.
6. West Of The Pesos.
7. Cannery Woe.
8. Pied Piper Of Guadalupe.
9. Mexican Boarders.
10. Chili Weather.
11. A Message To Gracias.
12. Nuts and Volts.
13. Panchos Hideway.
14. The Wild Chase.
15. A-Haunting We Will Go.
=======================================
**** DISC FOUR: Cats;
1. The Night Watchman.
2. Conrad The Sailor.
3. The Sour Puss.
4. The Aristo-Cat.
5. Dough Ray Me-ow!
6. Pizzicato Pussycat.
7. Kiss Me Cat?
8. Cat Feud.
9. The Unexpected Pest.
10. Go Fly A Kit.
11. Kiddin' The kitten.
12. A Peck Of Trouble.
13. Mouse And Garden.
14. Porky's Poor House.
15. Swallow the leader.

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More Looney Tunes. Your wish is our command. Because in this 4-disc set are 60 more of the most looneytic Looney Tunes ever unleashed on rabbits, pigs, mice or cats. Indeed, some have never before been on home video! Disc 1 features the tall, gray and haresome one. Disc 2 is all pig. Disc 3 is all about Speedy. And Disc 4 is the cats meow. One thing: to watch these, you must be as tall as this sign. Wrong disclaimer. Read the one in the box below. Got the idea? Now have fun

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Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)Disc One: Looney Tunes All Stars
1. Hare Trigger
2. To Duck or Not to Duck
3. Birth of a Notion
4. My Little Duckaroo
5. Crowing Pains
6. Raw! Raw! Rooster!
7. Heaven Scent
8. My Favorite Duck
9. Jumpin' Jupiter
10. Satan's Waitin'
11. Hook Line and Stinker
12. Bear Feat
13. Dog Gone South
14. A Ham in a Role
15. Often an Orphan
Disc Two: Patriotic Pals
1. Herr Meets Hare
2. Russian Rhapsody
3. Daffy the Commando
4. Bosko the Doughboy
5. Rookie Revue
6. The Draft Horse
7. Wacky Blackout
8. The Ducktators
9. The Wekaly Reporter
10. Fifth Column Mouse
11. Meet John Doughboy
12. Hollywood Canine Canteen
13. By Word of Mouse
14. Heir Conditioned
15. Yankee Dood itDisc Three: Bosko Buddie and Merrie Melodies
1. Congo Jazz
2. Smile Dam Ya, Smile!
3. The Booze Hangs High
4. One More Time
5. Bosko's Picture Show
6. You Don't Know What You're Doin'!
7. We're in the Money!
8. Ride 'em Bosko
9. Shuffle Off to Buffalo
10. Bosko in Person
11. The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
12. Buddie's Day Out
13. Buddie's Beer Garden
14. Buddie's Circus
15. A Cartoonist's Nightmare
Disc Four: Most Requested Assorted Nuts
1. Horton Hatches the Egg
2. Lights Fantastic
3. Fresh Airedale
4. Chow Hound
5. The Oily American
6. It's Hummer Time
7. Rocket Bye Baby
8. Goo Goo Goliath
9. Wild Wife
10. Much Ado About Nutting
11. The Hole idea
12. Now Hear This
13. Martian Through Georgia
14. Page Miss Glory
15. Norman Normal
PLUS fifteen other shorts yet to be announced! Although this is the last in the Golden Collection series don't despair; WB has many more on the way under different titles. My personal favorite is Punch Trunk about a miniature elephant that hitchiked in a bunch of bananas and wound up in the city and appeared virtually everywhere and blasted the skies with his tiny elephant noise, incl one man's bird bath!
Martian Through Georgia is fabulous about a lonely Martian who comes to earth searching for companionship and tries desperately to fit in but no matter what he does, people still see him as a monster and tell him to go home! Monster go home! Tearfully he does and finds love on his own planet.
Now Hear This is very surreal and is told with sound and picture a la Gerald Mc Boing Boing, just wonderful to see and hear.
Cannot WAIT until october! I already ordered it! God Bless Chuck Jones!

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We\'ve saved the best for last… more of your favorite Looney Tunes…your wish is our command. The concluding release from the Golden Collection Series is a 4-disc set with 60 more of the most looneytic Looney Tunes ever unleashed. Plus, 15 bonus shorts to make this the biggest collection of Looney Tunes ever! Indeed, some have never before been on home video!

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Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 2 (1947) Review

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(More customer reviews)For those of you who have a favorite Director you may have found categorization by character quite frustrating. Personally I don't care for a whole disc of Bugs, or a whole disc of Daffy; I want a whole disc of Chuck or a whole disc of Friz. Even the fine episode lists above, which really do hold all the information you need, are not organized according to how the episodes appear on the discs in the collection. To remedy this problem I have the following list to provide you with the episodes, organized in the order they appear on the discs, and who directed them. I hope this proves useful to someone, and will save them from having to do this all over again themselves.
Volume Two: Disc One
1.The Big Snooze (Bob Clampett)
2.Broomstick Bunny (Chuck Jones)
3.Bugs Bunny Rides Again (Friz Freleng)
4.Bunny Hugged (Chuck Jones)
5.French Rarebit (Bob Clampett)
6.Gorilla my Dreams (Robert McKimson)
7.The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (Friz Freleng)
8.Hare Conditioned (Chuck Jones)
9.The Heckling Hare (Tex Avery)
10.Little Red Riding Rabbit (Friz Freleng)
11.Tortoise Beats Hare (Tex Avery)
12.Rabbit Transit (Friz Freleng)
13.Slick Hare (Friz Freleng)
14.Baby Buggy Bunny (Chuck Jones)
15.Hyde and Hare (Friz Freleng)
Volume Two: Disc Two
1.Beep Beep (Chuck Jones)
2.Going! Going! Gosh! (Chuck Jones)
3.Zipping Along (Chuck Jones)
4.Stop! Look! And Hasten! (Chuck Jones)
5.Ready, Set, Zoom, (Chuck Jones)
6.Guided Muscle (Chuck Jones)
7.Gee Whiz-z-z (Chuck Jones)
8.There They Go-Go-Go (Chuck Jones)
9.Scrambled Aches (Chuck Jones)
10. Zoom and Bored (Chuck Jones)
11.Whoa, Be-Gone! (Chuck Jones)
12.Cheese Chasers (Chuck Jones)
13.The Dover Boys (Chuck Jones)
14.Mouse Wreckers (Chuck Jones)
15.A bear for Punishment (Chuck Jones)
Volume Two: Disc Three
1.Bad Ol' Putty Tat (Friz Freleng)
2.All Abir-r-r-d (Friz Freleng)
3.Room and Bird (Friz Freleng)
4.Tweet Tweet Tweety (Friz Freleng)
5.Gift Wrapped (Friz Freleng)
6.Ain't she Tweet (Friz Freleng)
7.A Bird in a Guilty Cage (Friz Freleng)
8.Snow Buisness (Friz Freleng)
9.Tweetie Pie (Friz Freleng)
10.Kitty Cornered (Bob Clampett)
11.Baby Bottleneck (Bob Clampett)
12.Old Glory (Chuck Jones)
13.The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Bob Clampett)
14.Duck Soup to Nuts (Friz Freleng)
15.Porky in Wackyland (Bob Clampett)
Volume Two: Disc Four
1.Back Alley Oproar (Friz Freleng)
1.Book Revue (Bob Clampett)
2.A Corny Concerto (Bob Clampett)
3.Have You Got Any Castles? (Frank Tashlin)
4.Hollywood Steps Out (Unknown)
5.I Love to Singa (Tex Avery)
6.Katnip kollege (Unknown)
7.The Hep Cat (Bob Clampett)
8.The Three Little Bops (Friz Freleng)
9.One Froggy Evening (Chuck Jones)
10.Rhapsody Rabbit (Friz Freleng)
11.Show Biz Bugs (Friz Freleng)
12.Stage Door Cartoon (Friz Freleng)
13.What's Opera, Doc (Chuck Jones)
14.You Ought to be in Pictures (Friz Freleng)

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Greetings, Looneytics! For all who rightly place Looney Tunes alongside Mom, apple pie and web-surfing at work as American institutions, this is your time to rise and shine and watch. Yes, here on 4 discs you'll find 60 more of the finest, funniest, bestest Golden Era cartoons from the feverishly bent artistic minds at Termite Terrace. Disc 1 showcases a certain wascally wabbit. The happiness of pursuit is center stage in Disc 2 and 3's respective batches of Road Runner and Sylvester/Tweety fun. Disc 4 is an all-star cavalcade of Hollywood parodies and more. All 60 toons are restored, remastered, uncut. And each disc is chock-a-block with bonus goodies. It's a 24-carrot gem of a collection. Anything less would be dethpicable.

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Looney Tunes - Golden Collection (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)Animation legend Chuck Jones had a mythic set of ground rules for his ingenious Road Runner series: the setting was always the desert, the characters never spoke, the Road Runner never left the road, the Coyote never caught the Road Runner, etc. A similar set of rules seems at work in THE GOLDEN COLLECTION introductory DVD presentation of Warner Bros. animated shorts. Here is the breakdown:
1. The majority of the fifty-six motion pictures included are artistically valuable and the collection as a whole is a sheer delight which belongs in the library of anyone who loves classic cartoons. The set includes such masterpieces and popular favorites as "Duck Amuck", "Bully for Bugs", "Deduce You Say", "Fast and Furry-ous", "Long-Haired Hare", "Rabbit of Seville", "Rabbit Fire", "Rabbit Seasoning", "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", "Wabbit Twouble" and "Duck Dodgers in the 24-1/2 Century". All the films, even the weakest, deserve preservation, restoration and DVD availability.
2. The selection of complete shorts spans two decades (1940-59), according to year of initial theatrical release. This means that the heyday of Porky Pig (1936-39) is excluded, along with the historic Harman-Ising period (1930-33) and such early characters as Bosko, Buddy and Foxy. On the other hand, the set is also free of material from the Warner cartoon studio's years of decline (1960-64) and decay (1965-69).
3. Within the 1940-59 span is an intensive focus on the six-year "middle" period 1948-53, when the Warner cartoons were at their technical zenith. Fully half of the films in the collection were released during the three peak years of 1949-51 (ten in 1950 alone). The high degree of concentration allows for appreciation of the studio output of a particular era, lent contrast and variety by the broader context.
4. The star of the show is unquestionably Bugs Bunny, with twenty-one cartoons. There is an adequate amount, for a starter set, of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Sylvester & Tweety. Key films of the Road Runner, Pepé Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn and Speedy Gonzales are duly included. Important supporting characters like Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian are well-represented, and the Tasmanian Devil makes a token appearance. The bill is rounded out with a few one-shots and curios.
5. The individual directors at Warner's animation studio are as notable as its character stars. A full twenty-five of the films (almost half) are by superstar director Chuck Jones (and written by Michael Maltese). Most of the rest are directed by Friz Freling, with several by Robert McKimson and one by Arthur Davis. Only three films are directed by the great Bob Clampett.
6. There are no films directed by the legendary Tex Avery, who departed the studio in the early 1940's, or the influential stylist Frank Tashlin.
7. Most cartoons are voiced by the amazing Mel Blanc.
8. All cartoons are scored by Music Director Carl W. Stalling or his immediate successor.
9. Most notable of the anomalies is the poor showing of the ultra-popular (and ultra-"violent") Road Runner, with only one episode (albeit his debut); while tired old Foghorn Leghorn encores with an undistinguished late episode -- rather than, say, "The High and the Flighty", his memorable pairing with Daffy Duck. In keeping with Rule #6, Avery's Oscar-nominated classic "A Wild Hare" (1940), the first "true" Bugs Bunny cartoon, is supplanted by Jones' "Elmer's Candid Camera", a rare prototype from earlier that year which features the debut of Elmer Fudd and the still-evolving Wascal Wabbit. And the extras, in their mania for completeness, include the animated excerpts from the feature films TWO GUYS FROM TEXAS and MY DREAM IS YOURS twice each, but only one version is digitally restored.
10. Not all of these Golden Era cartoons are masterpieces or true classics, but the less exceptional films included represent the high standard against which the extraordinary stand out. A technically crude quota quickie like McKimson's "Rabbit's Kin" shines because voice artist Stan Freburg's endearingly dumb Pete Puma character is memorable. A couple of genuine duds (Davis' "Porky Chops", for instance) have been thrown in for good measure, and even these serve to offset the overall excellence of the remainder.
11. Organization is minimal, with most of the Bugs Bunny material on Disc One, Daffy and Porky on Disc Two, and the others in an "All-Star" free-for-all on Discs Three and Four. The cartoons are presented in seemingly random order, but this very randomness is exactly how audiences experienced them both in theaters and on television.
12. The hours of extras are an embarrassment of riches.
13. Such beloved masterpieces as "Beanstalk Bunny", "Duck, Rabbit, Duck!", "Robin Hood Daffy", "The Singing Sword", "The Three Little Bops", the Oscar-Winning Rabbit's "Knighty-Knight Bugs", and (supremely) "One Froggy Evening" and "What's Opera, Doc?", have been withheld for future DVD editions. The set is designed to whet the appetite for more and leaves the grateful viewer with much to look forward to.
14. THE GOLDEN COLLECTION is worth more than its cost in dollars and is an infinitely better investment than the cheap alternate "Premiere Collection", which simply duplicates Discs Three and Four with no extras. The Premiere Collection is kiddie fodder for the undiscerning bargain-store shopper and is to be avoided by anyone concerned with art and popular culture. High sales of the vastly superior Golden Edition will determine future releases, so buy 'em up and give 'em to your friends.
CARTOONS ARE FOR EVERYONE!


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They're the crown princes of animation. They're the international ambassadors of cartoon comedy. They're the fabulously funny friends you grew up with! And now, 56 of the very best animated shorts starring the very wackiest Warner Bros. cartoon characters have been rounded up on DVD for the first time ever in The Looney Tunes Golden Collection! Just barely contained in four special edition discs, each specially selected short has been brilliantly restored and re-mastered to its original, uncut, anvil-dropping, laughter-inducing glory! Featuring some of the very earliest, ground-breaking on-screen appearances of many all-time Looney Tunes favorites, it's an unprecedented celebration for cartoon-lovers eager to re-live the heady, hilarious, golden age of Warner Bros. animation! Sparkling with one unforgettable, landmark animated marvel after another, there's that icon of carrot-crunching aplomb, Bugs Bunny, in a dazzling assortment of his very best classic shorts. Also highlighted in their own delightfully zany series of cartoon gems: the ever-flustered Daffy Duck and eternal straight-man Porky Pig. Plus, all the rest of the beloved Looney Tunes lineup starring in some of the most wildly imaginative cartoon shorts ever created! Including an array of exclusive bonus DVD features from expert commentaries to insights into the evolution of these classic characters, this is the ultimate animated experience for anyone who's ever thrilled to the timeless query: "Ehhh? what's up, Doc?"

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