Cartoon Classics-Volume 9 (1942)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1942
Running Time	70:38
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Various
Studio Distributor	Flashback Home Entertainment	Starring	Daffy Duck Porky Pig Elmer Fudd Mel Blanc
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$9.95	Music	Carl W. Stalling

    Cartoon Classics - Volume 9 (CC for the rest of this review) is a DVD of Public Domain cartoons from the 1940s (the original copyright owners no longer have them licensed). This is the sort of collection that you could find a few years ago selling for a dollar or two at your local discount warehouse or market stall. Now that they have moved to DVD they cost a bit more than they used to on VHS. The question arises - are they worth the cost?

    Well, I won't keep you waiting, the answer is a definite maybe. The definite part comes from the fact that the picture is generally better than on the Public Domain VHS tapes I have seen (sometimes only just). The maybe part is added depending upon the price you can get them for. I would not pay more than about $5 for this sort of thing, unless your kids love them, when you might want to stretch to $10.

    The CC disc under review (Volume 9) contains 10 Looney Tunes cartoons from Warner Brothers, all of them starring Daffy Duck. So, if you are a fan of the daft duck then you will be in 10th heaven. If not, I would steer well clear. The two youngest in my family are fans, so they loved the collection. Some other Warner friends such as Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd feature occasionally. Vocal talent is provided by the ever-amazing Mel Blanc.

    The cartoons on the disc all run for 7-8 minutes, and here for your viewing pleasure are:

•     Plane Daffy: Our hero battles the evil Hatta Mari to foil a Nazi plot.
•     Draftee Daffy: A little less heroic this time, Daffy is trying to dodge the draft.
•     Tick Tock Tuckered: Daffy and Porky are late for work, and getting enough sleep is harder than they can imagine.
•     Daffy Duck Slept Here: Porky is forced to share a hotel room with a very strange Daffy.
•     Yankee Doodle Daffy: Talent agent Daffy tries to sell Porky on his new star Sleepy Lagoon.
•     What Makes Daffy Duck: Duck hunting season, and you know who is the target.
•     The Wise Quacking Duck: Mr Meek's wife wants duck for dinner.
•     Daffy - The Commando: More World War II hijinks.
•     To Duck Or Not To Duck: Hunting season again. Elmer Fudd wants the duck.
•     The Stupid Cupid: Cupid is after Daffy.

    While the Looney Tunes cartoons have been held in high regard for many years, the ones in this collection are mildly humorous at best. Many of them have dated badly though they do raise a smile now and again, and the occasional chuckle.

Video

     The video transfer on this disc is poor. Given the age and the Public Domain source this is probably about what you would expect, and the kids in the family were happy to watch in spite of all the problems.

    The aspect ratio of this transfer is 1.33:1, not 16x9 enhanced, which is the original release ratio of the cartoons. Strangely, many of the opening and closing credits are placed in a 1.33:1 box within the frame, letterboxed and pillarboxed. Also, the left and bottom edges of the frame are occasionally lost from the picture.

    The picture is fairly fuzzy throughout, with a very soft focus at the best of times. Shadow detail is generally poor (see 52:46 for one bad example). There is a lot of low level noise.

    The colours have faded fairly badly, and frequently vary in intensity from frame to frame to give a fluctuating effect (see 44:02 and 62:56 for examples). At times light colours are washed out - in the 8th cartoon (Daffy - The Commando), key writing on a poster at 54:52 is impossible to read.

    There is some posterization apparent, along with frequent minor artefacts, both positive and negative, with scratches too common to note any particular instance. They are usually small enough that you can still watch the action without too much annoyance. Telecine wobble occurs in most of the credits before and after each cartoon, and reel change marks are found at the end of most.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single-layered disc and so no layer change is present.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The only audio track on the disc is an undistinguished Dolby Digital 2.0 mono transfer.

    The dialogue is reasonably clear, as are the sound effects (which is important in a cartoon). As far as one can judge from the duck's bill, audio sync is acceptable.

    The music in all of the cartoons is by Carl W. Stalling. It is the typical Looney Tunes mix of bouncy tunes and action specific tootling. The level matches the dialogue and effects nicely.

    Surround presence is non-existent, though at least the mono sound is located nicely around the centre speaker.

    The subwoofer was only engaged for the occasional bass accompaniment to music or particularly loud actions, where its contribution was minimal.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    No, sorry.

Menu

    Static. 12 Scene Selections: the 10 cartoons and brief Introductory and Closing credits.

    This particular compilation does not appear to be available in Region 1. I suppose that makes the Region 4 your best (if only) choice.

    A reasonable collection for the Daffy Duck fans in the audience, or for the younger members of the family. I don't think anyone else will really find much worth viewing here. I suppose this disc does what you would expect it to do, at a price where you are pretty much getting what you pay for. Fans of the Duck should add half a star.

    The video quality is fairly poor.

    The audio quality is adequate.

    There are no extras (but then you really didn't expect any, did you?).

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall