Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection, Vol. 2 [Blu-ray]

Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Vol. 2 (Blu-ray)

Look whose back with more gags, more laughs and more signature showcases! Make way for Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 with 50 animated theatrical shorts remastered in stellar hi-def Blu-ray(TM) in all their stellar silliness. Disc One's selections focus on the core characters, such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester, Pepé Le Pew and Foghorn Leghorn. While Disc Two offers one-shot classics, the complete escapades of Cecil Turtle, the all-purpose adversary Nasty Canasta, bashful little Beaky Buzzard and the hilariously hungry A. Flea. Saving the best for last, Disc Three serves up great fun and insider info with its wild array of bonus programs saluting legendary animators and historical gems. Not to mention a fan-selected favorite that will be sure to satisfy even the most discerning cartoon connoisseur. So grab a chair, a comedy cohort and a carrot 'cause it's always "wabbit" season when this must-own collection comes home!

]]> Favorite Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Elmer Fudd offer plenty of laughs in this second volume of Looney Tunes fun, as do a handful of lesser-known, but equally endearing characters like Cecil Turtle, Nasty Canasta, Beaky Buzzard, and A. Flea. Favorite classic episodes include Bugs Bunny's first Academy Award winner "A Wild Hare"; "Back Alley Oproar," in which Sylvester the cat keeps Elmer Fudd awake all night; Foghorn Leghorn's efforts to prove that he's a chicken and not a schnook in "The Foghorn Leghorn"; the live-action animation piece "You Ought to Be in Pictures"; and Speedy Gonzales's attempt to get his inebriated mouse friends home safely in "Tabasco Road." The Nasty Canasta cartoons are fun parodies on the then-popular western genre; Cecil Turtle puts a whole new spin on the fairy tale "The Tortoise and the Hare"; the bashful, lackadaisical Beaky Buzzard wins hearts in a quartet of episodes; and two A. Flea episodes leave you itching for more. The gags, humor, and nonstop action throughout these cartoons are plenty entertaining. But what's really great about this collection is that it's absolutely bursting with special features that explore everything from the animators, producers, and directors, to the history of how Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies first got started, and even Warner Brothers' wartime partnership with the army. Collectors will love the segments about directors Tex Avery, Isadore "Friz" Freleng, and Bob Clampett and how each man changed and shaped the world of cartoon animation in general and Warner Brothers' characters in specific, as well as a featurette about producer Leon Schlesinger and his hands-off, profit-seeking style of leadership. The special collection of wartime Private Snafu shorts--cartoons used in military training during World War II which were not released for public viewing until many years later--offers an interesting look at what was a very practical use of a popular art form. Also included are collections of Avery's and Freleng's cartoons produced after the men left Warner Brothers for MGM, as well as a trio of Mr. Hook cartoons that were written for the navy to encourage the purchase of war bonds. Add in hours of individual cartoon commentaries and plenty of interview footage with animators, directors, producers, and animation historians, and there's plenty to keep everyone--from the nostalgic cartoon fan reliving his or her childhood to cartoon connoisseur and animation historian--intrigued and entertained for days. These cartoons are no longer considered suitable for child viewing due to excessive cartoon violence, sexual innuendo, and racial and ethnic stereotyping. --Tami Horiuchi