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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Cartoon Classics-Volume 4 (1942)

Cartoon Classics-Volume 4 (1942)

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Released

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Animation None
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1942
Running Time 75:38
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Art Davis
Robert McKimson
Charles M. Jones
Isadore Freleng
Studio
Distributor

Flashback Home Entertainment
Starring Mel Blanc
Case C-Button-Version 2
RPI $9.95 Music Carl W. Stalling


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.37:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement Yes, yet more ACME.
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    The previous Cartoon Classics disc I looked at contained very little in the way of recognisable content. This disc, however, resolves that problem. In addition to adventures with both Porky Pig and the great Daffy Duck, we get no less than seven Bugs Bunny cartoons. Watching these, it's rather obvious why Bugs is the biggest success to come out of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies stable - Bugs Bunny cartoons are just that little more interesting than the others (well, apart from good old Daffy), and he is certainly more accessible. One other thing to note is that these very early incarnations of Bugs feature him in a considerably less sympathetic light - in fact quite often he seems to be bordering on being maniacally evil. At least we now know his secret.

    The cartoons featured on this disc are:

    This collection of cartoons is easily worth the (very little) cost, regardless of the quality (fortunately too, as the quality is still poor). The inclusion of A Wild Hare makes this a worthwhile purchase.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer presented for this collection of cartoons is a little better than the previous entry in this series that I looked at. Having said that, it's still not very good, being barely watchable.

    Presented at 1.33:1, this transfer is not 16x9 enhanced. This ratio is correct for the cartoons as produced.

    For the most part, sharpness is poor, although it is quite a bit better than in the previous release of this series. There are still many instances where the colour alignment is out and the edges are not lined up, such as at 3:58 or 33:30. There are really only two blurry cartoons in this collection (unfortunately, one is The Wild Hare). There are still problems with chroma noise (such as on the grass at 16:28), although once again this volume has fewer problems than the previous one. The blooming and flaring of whites is still a problem (most prevalent during The Wabbit Who Came To Supper), and serve to reduce the clarity of the image markedly. Once again, there is no real call for shadow detail, although the "darker" portions of the film really aren't all that dark. Consider the frame at 0:25 - it should be black, but instead it is a light grey as if the brightness has been raised (it may well have been in an attempt to make the images easier to see - albeit an ill-advised attempt), and it is shot through with so much false colour information that it is like looking through a kaleidoscope. With this kind of low level noise, it is obvious these transfers don't have a chance from the start.

    Colours are, once again, poor. There is more oversaturation, and the problems with blooming, while reduced on this volume, are still present. This is illustrated most effectively on the shots of writing that are supposed to be legible, and that are instead completely illegible, and only identifiable as writing by the context of the scene (such as on the letter from Elmer's uncle at 39:57). Additionally, the colours are still not the vibrant mixture that they should be, looking more like a pale reflection of their former glory.

    There are few compression artefacts, consisting of some minor pixelization. This volume suffers more from film-to-video artefacts than the previous one. Aliasing is markedly increased, although this is likely due to the increased sharpness, with more than a few instances (such as on the oven at 20:59). Telecine wobble, such as at 41:35, is visible on more than one occasion. As with the previous volume, there are surprisingly few film artefacts, although some, such as those at 68:00 are quite visible, and the reel-change markings are still present (such as at 37:14, 52:58, etc).

    There are no subtitles on this disc, and it is single-layered, presenting no layer change.

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

Audio

    Unlike the video, the audio quality has dropped between Cartoon Classics releases.

    This disc contains a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack (at 192 Kbps).

    Dialogue is reasonably clear throughout the transfer. The background hiss on this volume is louder and more obvious than on the previous volume, and it can be quite annoying at times. There are also more pops, including a rather obvious one at 67:54. Audio sync, as much as can be determined for this type of cartoon, is alright.

    The music is again credited to Carl W. Stalling and is the standard Merrie Melodies fare, being bright and bold orchestral re-workings of classical pieces.

    There is, obviously, no surround activity at all. The subwoofer does get some information, although it is entirely from the score.

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

Extras

    None whatsoever.

Menu

    Not 16x9 enhanced, static and silent - it is nice and colourful.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    There is no equivalent of this disc in Region 1. If the rumoured Warner Bros. versions of Merrie Melodies appear next year, then this disc will mostly likely be superseded.

Summary

    This is an historical collection of cartoons, made all the more important for the inclusion of The Wild Hare - Bugs Bunny's first cartoon outing.

    The video quality is very poor.

    The audio quality is also poor.

    There are absolutely no extras whatsoever.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Nick Jardine (My bio, it's short - read it anyway)
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using Component output
DisplayLoewe Xelos 5381ZW. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-DS787, THX Select
SpeakersAll matching Vifa Drivers: centre 2x6.5" + 1" tweeter (d'appolito); fronts and rears 6.5" + 1" tweeter; centre rear 5" + 1" tweeter; sub 10" (150WRMS)

Other Reviews NONE