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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Full Frame
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • German: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, English - Hearing Impaired, Italian - Hearing Impaired, German - Hearing Impaired
  Extras
  • Animated menus
  • 2 Interviews
  • 6 Outtakes
Looney Tunes - Reality Check
Warner Bros./Warner Home Video . R4 . COLOR . 53 mins . G . PAL

  Feature
Contract

In one way it's good to see the old Looney Tunes favourites still alive and in work -- though without Mel Blanc's solo spin at voice-overs, the cast list seems to have expanded out of sight.

But the new Looney Tunes seems to owe more to the old Mad Magazine than to the great Looney Tunes tradition of the 1940s and 1950s, when Bugs, Daffy and co. were at their absolute peak. This DVD features takeoffs of various television shows in the style of Mad Magazine -- it's Looney Tunes in one sense, but in another sense, it just isn't.

There are some good things here -- Tweety's beloved Granny makes for a first-rate Judge Judy in this Judge Granny. The takeoff of the survival/castaway style show in the Toon Marooned sketches is pretty accurate -- but the real thing is probably even more silly than the cartoon.

We have cooking contests in Aluminum Chefs and the worst excesses of sports shows are parodied in Sports Blab. In all, there are 20 separate shorts in this 53-minute disc. The tradition continues, but it's just not what it was.

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

The transfer is as clear as you would expect computer-generated animation to be. Fullscreen, with Surround sound emphasising dialogue with some explosive effects.

The extras are pretty paltry. Two minute-long interviews with Toon Marooned participants Porky Pig and Taz, and some very drab pseudo-outtakes running for three minutes.

A big prize though should go to whoever devised the animated menus. These are

fast and frenetic, and a whole lot funnier than the cartoons themselves.

This one is strictly for the kids, and for pretty undiscriminating kids at that.


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  •   And I quote...
    "The Looney Tunes gang invades modern-era television with mixed results."
    - Anthony Clarke
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DVD 655A
    • TV:
          Loewe Profil Plus 3272 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Denon AVR-3801
    • Speakers:
          Neat Acoustics PETITE
    • Centre Speaker:
          Neat Acoustics PETITE
    • Surrounds:
          Celestian (50W)
    • Subwoofer:
          B&W ASW-500
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