Wacky Races-Volume 2 (1968) |
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Wacky Races-Volume 2 (1968) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Animation | Main Menu Audio | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1968 | ||
| Running Time | 125:47 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4,5 | Directed By |
Joseph Barbera William Hanna Charles A. Nichols |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Larz Bourne Tom Dagenais Michael Maltese Dalton Sandifer Daws Butler Don Messick Chikao Ôtsuka John Stephenson Janet Waldo Dave Willock Paul Winchell |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $14.95 | Music | Hoyt S. Curtin |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Swedish Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.29:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.29:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English French Spanish Italian Swedish Dutch Hungarian Portuguese Greek Arabic English for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
The second volume of the Wacky Races is resoundingly similar to the first volume. The previous reviewer included an excellent summation of the series. In fact, the only difference is that there are 11 different episodes included as follows:
As a child I enjoyed this series but always found the annoyingly long intro and outro hard to take. The 11 minute run time of each episode includes at least 2 minutes of stuff which is in every episode. It used to drive me nuts, and still does. My three year old started complaining about it when we watched this disc together.
The other thing I wondered about as a child was which racer actually won the series, so because I am that sort of nutter I have compiled the following league table based upon the races included in this disc.
| Position | Racer | Point Score (3 for win, 2 for second, 1 for third) |
| 1 | Anthill Mob - Bulletproof Special | 10 |
| 2 | Gruesome Twosome - Creepy Coupe | 8 |
| 3= | Slag Brothers - Bouldermobile | 7 |
| 3= | Luke & Blubber Bear - Arkansas Chugabug | 7 |
| 3= | Peter Perfect - Turbo Terrific | 7 |
| 3= | Rufus Roughcut / Sawtooth - Buzz Wagon | 7 |
| 7= | Sarge & Migley - Army Surplus Special | 6 |
| 7= | Red Max - Crimson Haybailer | 6 |
| 9 | Penelope Pitstop - Compact Pussycat | 5 |
| 10 | Prof Pat Pending - Convertacar | 3 |
| 11 | Dick Dastardly / Muttley - 00 | 0 |
All of which goes to show that crime can pay but not dirty tricks.
The video quality is pretty average.
The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.
The picture was pretty clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. There was some grain throughout, although it was not too bad.
The colour was decent, quite colourful with no major issues.
Film artefacts and dirt were abundant with lines, hairs and specks consistent throughout all episodes.
There are subtitles in English & English for the hearing impaired plus 10 other languages. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts |  |
| Overall | |
The audio quality is fine.
This DVD contains five audio options, an English Dolby Digital 1.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s and the same in French, Spanish, Italian & Swedish.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.
The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
None, nothing, not a brass razoo.
The menu was very simple allowing for the selection of specific episodes and subtitles.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
A very sad state of affairs when looking at the similar disc available in Region 1. That release has some really good extras included in a really nicely packaged set. First and foremost, rather than just releasing a few episodes on each disc separately as is the case in Region 4, the Region 1 release spans three discs and covers all 34 episodes of the series. The Region 4 disc misses out on; The Region 1 disc misses out on; Swedish Dolby Digital 1.0 soundtrack The harsh treatment given to the Region 4 release is a real shame, since this is one of the handful of animated series from the 1960s just crying out for a properly restored and packaged set aimed fair and square at collectors. If that sounds like you it is hard to go past the Region 1 version
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output |
| Display | Sony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC). |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Bose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub) |