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Category:    Home > Reviews > Comedy > Animation > Animals > CGI > Spoof > Satire > Fantasy > Food > British > Hanna Barbera's Superstars 10 (1973, 1979, 1988, 1989/Huckleberry Hound/Jetsons/Flintstones/Scooby-Doo/Top Cat/Yogi Bear/Warner Archive Blu-ray Set)/Migration 4K (2023/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/

Hanna Barbera's Superstars 10 (1973, 1979, 1988, 1989/Huckleberry Hound/Jetsons/Flintstones/Scooby-Doo/Top Cat/Yogi Bear/Warner Archive Blu-ray Set)/Migration 4K (2023/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Wonka 4K (2023/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)



4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B- & C/B/X Sound: B-/B+/B+ Extras: C+/B-/C Main Programs: C+



PLEASE NOTE: The Hanna Barbera Superstars 10 Blu-ray set is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.



Now for the latest family/children-friendly releases...


Before the straight-to-home-video market showed up and before cable and satellite channels finally swamped the Big Three Networks, ABC, NBC and CBS were buying specials to go with their new TV seasons and beyond. Hanna Barbera were happy to supply them and the Hanna Barbera's Superstars 10 Blu-ray set offers 12 of them, ten from the late 1980s as part of a limited series and two earlier specials from the 1970s. This set includes...

  • Yogi's Great Escape (1987)

  • Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987)

  • The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987)

  • Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose (1987)

  • Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats (1988)

  • The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound (1988)

  • Rockin' with Judy Jetson (1988)

  • Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)

  • Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)

  • and Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears (1988)


These are mostly made for young children, but they have their amusing, charming, sweet, funny or unintentionally hilarious moments, so it is worth a look and might also be nostalgia for some. They still pretty much had all the original voice actors from the original hit TV shows under contract and here, which is a plus. Most of the titles give you an idea of pretty much of what you are going to get, but there are a few notable things to say about a few of them.


    The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones should have been an elaborate home run and big deal and though the program is amusing and has some fun moments, it is too safe and offers the most missed opportunities any Hanna-Barbera telefilm or TV special ever had to even this day. By this time, the studio was strictly catering to its youngest audience, but this would have been more amazing had it happened in the mid-1970s or so. Top Cat and his gang are highly underrated, so the fact that Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats even got made is a shock, but it is fun enough, though the original show it is based on (The Phil Silvers Show aka You'll Never Get Rich with the legendary comedian as Sgt. Bilko, a show that hardly EVER syndicated) is way too unknown for our own good.


The biggest hit of the bunch, in time for the regressive pop music of the 1980s, was Rockin' with Judy Jetson as she suddenly becomes a pop star herself (and ironically, demonstrating more talent than most of her real-life counterparts to this day) and was a big hit on the home video market. A big later success for the entire Jetsons franchise, they never did a sequel, but it is amusing, sometimes charming and holds up in interesting and weird ways as it has also aged oddly. Also, some of it is a little more relevant today than you might imagine.


No matter, fans will be happy the special are here, even if they started to be come repetitive and have overlap even then.


Extras include the oldest specials, but Warner (who owns the company) has plenty of other specials in the vault and I hope this is a success so they'll make this into a multi-volume series. Along with the complete Hanna Barbera series that have come to Blu-ray so far, it would be a great idea.



Migration 4K (2023) is the latest Illumination animated release, delivering more of the same quality work we have seen before, but no new breakthroughs visually either. The Mallard family (and they are literally mallards) are going south for the winter to Jamaica, after spending the summer in New York City, but it is just not going to be as easy as that.

Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Danny DeVito, Carol Kane and Awkwafina lead a voice cast that has enough energy and talent to stop the screenplay from sliding into formula, but not my much. In fairness, I am not the audience for this one even less than the Hanna-Barbera specials, but I still expected a little more here just the same. For children, animation fans for the most curious only.


Extras are many and include Digital Code, plus...


FLY HARD (MINI-MOVIE) - Chump sheds her tough-as-nails attitude, risking her life to fly through a blizzard and the harrowing streets of New York to return a prized possession to a kind woman from the park.

  • MOONED (MINI-MOVIE) - Following the events of DESPICABLE ME, Vector and a lost Minion are stranded on the moon, and struggle to get back to Earth.

  • MIDNIGHT MISSION (MINI-MOVIE) - The Minions will try anything to help Agnes overcome her fear of the dark, even if it involves going into outer space.

  • MICROPHONE MADNESS - A fun look behind-the-scenes as the cast record some of their silliest lines.

  • MEET THE CAST - In this series of behind-the-scenes pieces, we learn more about our favorite characters and the legendary comedic voices behind them.

  • KUMAIL NANJIANI: MACK

  • ELIZABETH BANKS: PAM

  • KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY: DELROY

  • AWKWAFINA: CHUMP

  • DANNY DEVITO: UNCLE DAN

  • CAROL KANE: ERIN

  • CASPAR JENNINGS: DAX & TRESI GAZAL: GWEN

  • TAKING FLIGHT: THE MAKING OF ''MIGRATION'' is an original script so brand-new characters and locations had to be developed, designed, and animated from scratch! Here, filmmakers and crew break down their process to show us what gives this film an entirely new look and feel.

  • THE ART OF FLIGHT - Using a series of production phases from storyboards to pre-viz, we peel back the feathers and reveal just what goes in to creating the avian heroes of the film.

  • THE SOUND OF FLIGHT - Take a closer look at the music of MIGRATION as Composer John Powell walks us through his scoring journey.

  • HOW TO DRAW

  • MACK

  • DELROY

  • CHUMP

  • GWEN

  • BUILD YOUR OWN POP-UP BOOK - Daddy duck, Mack, likes to tell his two little ducklings some... overly imaginative bedtime stories. In this fun ''How To'' we'll show you how to create a pop-up book so you can tell your very own bedtime stories!

  • CALLING ALL BIRDS - They may not have cellphones, but you can call your web-footed friends anytime you want! In this fun How To, we'll teach you how to create and customize your very own set of colorful bird whistles.

  • THE MACK QUACK

  • THE HERON HONK

  • THE CHUMP CHIRP

  • BEST NESTS - You don't have to fly south, or anywhere, to find a perfect paradise for your feathered friends. Here we'll teach you how to make the best nest for your pet ducks, or anyone flying by, including a water feeder to keep them hydrated!

  • NESTS

  • and WATER FEEDER



Paul King's Wonka 4K (2023) wan ts to be a prequel to the now-beloved Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and is a 'never-say-musical' musical prequel to the Gene Wilder classic, though they have cast Timothee Chalamet as the title character, despite the fact he only looks so much like Wilder. Anyhow, we are supposed to believe this is his origins story and how he went from nothing to becoming a legend in chocolate.


Now we did not necessarily need this tale and the screenplay is very lackluster, but Chalamet is brave enough to do this and it does not always feel or play like it is only aimed at young children, yet it also is trying to be like more current fantasy genre films of the last few decades when it did not have to be. It also is trying to be British, but like Spielberg's Hook and and some other films in the genre that are not Harry Potter or King's own Paddington films, it is just not British enough either.


Now the money is on the screen and the cast is not bad, also including Keegan-Michael Key (again), Olivia Coleman, Matt Lucas, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Patterson Joseph, Freya Parker, Calah Lane, Rufus Jones and Hugh Grant. That so much that was here was good and this still does not work like it should is unfortunate.


The screenplay is all over the place, there is not enough food or chocolate and the kind of magic the Wilder film has (and the Depp film never did) is missing too much here. A moderate hit, it managed to capitalize on post-COVID nostalgia, a love of the first film and hopes it might be better. Now you can judge for yourself.


Extras include Digital Code, plus...


Unwrapping Wonka: Paul King's Vision

  • Revered director Paul King takes you on a deep dive into his experience adapting the beloved story of Wonka.


The Whimsical Music of Wonka

  • Composer Joby Talbot and songwriter Neil Hannon take you into the studio to illuminate the craft behind the wondrous songs of the film.


Welcome to Wonka Land

  • Production designer Nathan Crowley and the rest of the ''Wonka'' crew discuss creating the magical sets that transport audiences to the worlds of the film.


Hats Off to Wonka

  • Costume designer Lindy Hemming breaks down the inspiration and intention behind each of the character's wonderful costumes.


and Wonka's Chocolatier

  • Chocolatier Gabriella Cugno provides an in-depth look at the creation of the beautiful chocolates seen in ''Wonka.''


For more Wonka feature film action, try our coverage of the following...


Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory 4K

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15938/Infinity+Train:+Book+Two+(2021/Cartoon+Networ


Charlie & The Chocolate Factory Blu-ray

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13348/Tim+Burton's+Charlie+and+The+Chocolate+Factor



Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Migration 4K is decent if not showy about its color, but the depth and definition is consistent throughout. It does not have any particular shots that stunned me, but it is a pleasant watch and as compared to the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray version, definitely has superior performance in all aspects of overall fidelity.


The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Wonka 4K has some solid color moments and definitely is trying to have a visual and color-coded connection to the Gene Wilder original, but is all digital versus 35mm film and three-strip Techniciolor on the original. The Burton/Depp film was shot on 35mm with plenty of older digital. Fans will be wondering why this is the first of the three films to be in the scope format and not flat. Who knows, but maybe to hide some Ultra HD limits? Director of Photography Chung-hoon Chung previously lensed Last Night In Soho, The Current War and the original Oldboy, so he was a good choice.


All three discs offer lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) mixes and they are pretty state of the art, yet nothing stands out in either film sonically as demo material, despite how consistent and thorough both mixes are. So don't expect any demo moments, but both could have used some standout moments and really do not have them.


Finally, the 1080p, full color, 1.33 X 1 image is more wide-ranging than expected. Most of the new specials look good and have decent color, plus the company did not get cheap like most of their competitors and finish their filmed product on old, obsolete, analog videotape, making them some of the best-looking animated TV productions of the time. Following Disney on The Rescuers Down Under, they tried out doing animation totally in the digital zone and the results were Scooby Doo! & The Reluctant Werewolf and Yogi & The Invasion Of The Space Bears that lacked any cel dust, but was a drop in definition and color range.


Sadly, all that digital work was only finalized on 1-inch analog tape and they had to upscale this for Blu-ray, which looks very fuzzy and has not aged well. If those digital cel files have somehow survived and can still be accessed, maybe they could redo these, but it might also be impossible if they actually survived and are accessible because it might take forever to try and recreate the final versions in low definition. Please note that many filmed TV movies no longer exist because they too were never saved on film and only finalized on tape, now gone forever. Wonder how many animated TV productions have suffered the same fate.


So the big surprise is that the oldest specials, here as bonus content, are the best-looking of all with great, rich color and the strongest look and definition of all 12 specials included. In 1974, they had top rate color and by 1979, it was hit or miss, but fine here.


The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mixes are pretty much as good as these shows will ever sound, monophonic for the most part, though the last shows almost sound like simple stereo. Yogi's Great Escape sadly has some harmonic distortion bordering on warping, so did something happen to the soundtrack of that particular special? The sound is also typical of the TV shows the company was making at the times of the specials, which includes a boxy sound in more than a few of the specials, a little smoother in the newer ones and slightly aged in the older ones.



To order the Hanna Barbera Superstars 10 Warner Archive Blu-ray set, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:


https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20



- Nicholas Sheffo


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