Craig
Before The Creek
(2023/Cartoon Network/Warner DVD)/Looney
Tunes Collector's Choice, Vol. 3
(1934 - 1964*)/Scooby
Doo On Zombie Island
(1998) + Scooby
Doo! Return To Zombie Island
(2019/*all
Warner Archive Blu-rays)
Picture:
C+/B/B Sound: C+/B-/B- Extras: C/D/C- Main Programs:
C+/B/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Looney
Tunes
and Scooby
Doo
Blu-rays are now only available from Warner Bros. through their
Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a new block of children's animation...
Craig
Before The Creek
(2023) is a telefilm of the ongoing animated action comedy series
from Cartoon Network that is five seasons long and continuing. This
time, the title character just wants to go back home to his friends,
but when it turns out something priceless might be in a nearby creek,
he starts to get a little less nostalgic and anxious to see if this
is actually the case. Twists and turns may follow.
Not
having hardly seen the series, this is more of what most action/quest
comedy animated shows have been offering for kids, albeit a little
too loud and repetitive. I do not think I needed to see that actual
series to know what is going on, but was surprised these characters
have enough of a following and high enough ratings to be around for
so long. That means this is yet another 'for fans only' release that
will maybe make them happy, but not offer enough to the rest of us.
At least it is professional throughout, but may not be for the
youngest children out there.
A
poster is the only extra.
Looney
Tunes Collector's Choice, Vol. 3
(1934 - 1964) continues to live up to offering some odd and unusual
choices with some howlers, shows some characters that did not work
out and others that almost did along with some other shorts worth
revisiting. We covered the previous two volumes elsewhere on this
site in addition to the many other releases on home video of the most
successful series of animated shorts in cinema history.
The
classic shorts included this time are...
1934
Honeymoon
Hotel
1935
Mr.
and Mrs. Is the Name
1937
I
Only Have Eyes For You
Egghead Rides Again
1938
Cinderella
Meets Fella
A Feud There Was
1941
Elmer's
Pet Rabbit
Saddle Silly
1942
Hop,
Skip and a Chump
The Sheepish Wolf
1946
Quentin
Quail
1947
Hobo
Bobo
Mexican Joyride
1948
Riff
Raffy Daffy
1953
There
Auto Be a Law
Of Rice and Hen
Punch Trunk
1954
Sheep
Ahoy
1956
Tugboat
Granny
1958
Pre-Hysterical
Hare
1959
China
Jones
1961
The
Mouse on 57th Street
1962
Wet
Hare
1964
Dumb
Patrol
War and Pieces
Sheep
Ahoy
is an early draft for what became the 'Sam & Ralph' series, while
other shorts here have not been shown as much because of their racist
or otherwise problematic content like China
Jones.
All the shorts still have legitimately funny moments and great
artwork, so some of this is more for adults. The ones starting in
1948 were shown all the time in Saturday Morning cartoon packages.
The
one to especially make comment on is the Bugs Bunny short Wet
Hare,
where he keeps taking a shower in a waterfall, but the water keeps
getting cut off by an angry French guy (hilariously voiced by Mel
Blanc, doing all the voices, at this point) and Bugs has to keep
getting those dams to fail. The timing is also great and it has a
fun ending.
There
is one big problem for some and it is the song that Bugs is singing
while getting cleaned up. 'April Showers' was a big hit for Al
Jolson, who helped put Warner on the map with his 1927 megahit The
Jazz Singer
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) that was the first big hit movie
with sound and unfortunately, Jolson in blackface. Bugs is wearing
nothing on his face though he is impersonating Jolson's voice, and
without knowing its origins, you would never know the songs'
connection with something so extremely racist. Its a perfect song
for the ongoing gag here otherwise.
Much
funnier with zero problems and something you can only appreciate
seeing this on this Blu-ray disc in high definition or if you've been
lucky enough to see it on a full color film print (preferably
Technicolor) is the water we see on screen. Every time Blacque
Jacque Shellacque gets smashed by the water that also destroys his
various dams, it is hilarious, but in a great example of what the
Warner animators did in their color theatrical cartoon shorts, they
have taken the water and made it a thick aqua green. Thus, when you
see the color like that, it look much more like Shellacque is really
being hit by a strong force and it is not only funnier, but he is
getting punished by his own arrogance and for being mean to Bugs. In
low def on old TVs or older video formats (DVD, VHS, Beta, etc.) it
is not as impactful or funny.
I
could do an entire essay or documentary on how they would use color
this way in so many of their shorts, but this example shows how
trying this kind of thing pays off. The whole set is worth your time
and we look forward to more volumes.
There
are sadly, however, no extras.
Next
are a double feature of two straight-to-video semi-feature length
releases that happened further apart than usual: Scooby
Doo On Zombie Island
(1998) and Scooby
Doo! Return To Zombie Island
(2019) which we previously reviewed at the following links on DVD:
Zombie
Island
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6626/Scooby+Doo+Double+Feature:+Alien+Invaders/Zo
Return
To Zombie Island
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15564/Lost+City+Of+The+Jungle+(1946/Universal/MVD/V
Still
as obvious as ever, they might be curios at best, but not much more.
Since they made the atrocious live action films, the franchise and
characters have just been extremely repetitive and have had few new
moments offering anything truly fun or entertaining. To say these
are for fans only is an understatement, but this is now the best way
to at least see them. More on the tech performance below.
Trailer
previews for both releases are the only extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition
image transfers on Looney
Tunes
are usually in three-strip Technicolor, but a few are two-strip
Technicolor or in lesser Cinecolor, but these rarely show their age
and some hard work went into saving these. The Technicolor shorts
are a solid representation
of a dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor 35mm or 16mm print of the
films at their best. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless
mixes are also pretty good, though some hold up better than others.
Overall, these play very well.
The
1080p 1.33 on the first film and 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition
image transfers in the Scooby
set look as good as these releases ever will, with decent color, if
not up with the best early episodes that introduced the cast of
characters in the first place and an improvement on the previous
DVDs. However, the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix on the first film
and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the second are
slightly harsh and off throughout, so be careful of volume switching
and high volume playback. They were a bit disappointing and why they
were handled like
this is odd.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Craig
is new and has some nice, consistent color range and good definition
for its simpler animation style, while the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
sound mix is fine but a little harsh, though I bet it would sound
better lossless. The combination is good for the old format.
To
order either of the Warner Archive Blu-rays, Looney
Tunes
or Scooby
Doo,
go to this link for them 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
