Cartoon Classics-Volume 6

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	None
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	71:40
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Chuck Jones Isadore Freleng Art Davis
Studio Distributor	Flashback Home Entertainment	Starring	Mel Blanc
Case	C-Button-Version 2
RPI	$9.95	Music	Carl W. Stalling

    As mentioned in previous reviews of this series, the collection of cartoons on these discs are those that are now out of copyright and in the public domain. An admission of this is on the back cover including the admission that they are not licensed or authorised by the original copyright owners. It is interesting to note that the copyright laws in the US are currently under challenge in both directions. A recent extension to the time that copyright remains is under challenge as being against the constitution and in the other direction the big copyright holders are asking for an even greater extension. In particular, the original Puff Boat Billy, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, is coming up on the current deadline.

    The material on this disc is very dated and reflects the mores of the times in which they were produced. By today's standards they are quite violent, racist and include characters smoking! On the other hand, an entire generation grew up watching hundreds of these cartoons and they mostly seem none-the-worse for the experience. Also, the so-called modern cartoons are far worse in my opinion - while there is violence in these cartoons, it is slapstick. In some cartoons I see these days, the violence is far more determined and realistic, to say nothing of rubbish like Pokemon.

    As an historical record of both early animation and of the society they reflect they are invaluable, so it is a shame that this record is not in better condition. In fact, this record is in appalling condition.

    Doggone Cats (7:06) The oldest theme in cartoons - a dog beating up some cats that then has the tables turned on him.

    The Sheepish Wolf (7:11) Just where did the expression 'A wolf in sheep's clothing' first originate? Here it is expressed in animation with the wolf at odds with the loyal but stupid sheep dog.

    Hush My Mouse (7:20) The eternal cartoon pecking order; the dog, the cat, the mouse. In this cartoon we have a gangster theme and 'mouse knuckles' are on the menu, if only they can catch that mouse.

    Meatless Flyday (6:23) Here we have two insect protagonists, a spider and his intended lunch, a fly. The battle rages until the fly is informed that it is a meatless day, a reflection of the war that was being fought outside the confines of animation.

    The Rattled Rooster (7:15) A rooster is out to get lunch, in this case a worm. Like many of these cartoons it is usually the little guy that gets the upper hand.

    Hop, Skip And A Chump (7:00) The tall crow just has to be Hardy and the short fat crow, Laurel. Yup, a cartoon version of the famous comedy duo up to their usual antics while trying to get lunch (there seems to be a theme here), in this case a smart-alec grasshopper.

    The Foxy Duckling (7:33) A fox that is not after lunch! Actually he is still after the duck, but in this case he wants the feathers for his pillow.

    Bone Sweet Bone (7:13) The protagonists do not have to be of a different species - a little dog and a big dog will do just as well.

    The Shell Shocked Egg (6:50) The trials and tribulations of a partially hatched turtle (an egg with legs) . This cartoon has some wonderful musical numbers in it.

    Bars And Stripes For Ever (7:42) Life in a prison for dogs, probably one of the worst for violence with brutality and guns in every scene.

Video

    The transfer is presented at what is probably its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    There simply is no sharpness. Every scene is a blurred mess. This style of animation doesn't generally have information in the shadows so we are saved from that artefact. There is low level noise in abundance. The whites in many scenes are completely burned out. There is also a constant variation in the overall brightness of many scenes.

    To save us hopping round the transfer I have selected, with little difficulty, a scene that contains all the problems that are outlined about. The scene is at 1:06 and consists of a dog beating on a trash can.

    The colours are very washed out and contain a lot of noise. They also bleed to an extent I have never seen before. On my large screen, the colour information is up to 3 inches to the left.

    There is a fair amount of pixelization and posterization, particularly in the background of our chosen scene. There is also posterization present on what remains of the lines in the animation. The transfer also suffers heavily from interlacing. The film masters are so many generations back from this transfer that they are only a dim memory. We have grain, flecks, marks and scratches in abundance.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Well, the (pop) soundtrack (hiss) is in (crackle) the same condition as the video.

    A single English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack graces this disc.

    The dialogue quality is barely adequate. You can understand what is said, but you need to work at it sometimes. The audio appeared in sync with the on-screen action. This is more in reference to the musical cues against the action more than anything else.

    I wonder if it is because I grew up with these cartoons that I like this music. I particularly like the excellent melding of the music and the on-screen action.

    There is no surround nor sub use.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    I was wondering just what the target market might be for these discs, even when they appear in the specials bin. I then found out when my parents turned up with Volume 7 in hand as a present for my young son. I suspect that those that are ignorant of the quality issues may make up the majority of purchasers. In their defence, they used to purchase similar quality VHS tapes and had a library at their home for use when the grandchildren descended in their hoards, and I would far rather that they watched the material on these discs than some of the offerings on TV these days.

    The video quality is appalling.

    The audio is not much better.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall