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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 8

Cartoon Classics-Volume 8

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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 ?
Running Time 72:40
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Chuck Jones
Isadore Freleng
Leon Schlesinger
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 No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    After reading other reviews on this site that gave some of the Cartoon Classics series such a bad rap, I was thinking "C'mon guys, it cannot be that bad! If nothing else, at least the cartoons themselves would be enjoyable!"

    After school, I would always switch on Channel 9 and watch the Bugs Bunny Show. Having seen most of the cartoons numerous times before, I still enjoyed the characters like Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Foghorn Leghorn and was under the impression that Cartoon Classics would at least be an shoddily transferred collection of some of these great cartoons. Wrong!

    What we have here a a collection of B-Grade cartoon characters that have no presence, and no comic value whatsoever. Even the cartoons which feature Bugs Bunny, Tweety and Sylvester are a non event — let alone the comic talents of Conrad Cat or the Pony Express. You really could not pay me enough to watch this disc again.

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Track Listing

1. Saddle Silly
2. Rhapsody Rabbit
3. The Bird Came C.O.D
4. Ghost Wanted
5. Fox Pop
6. Snowtime For Comedy
7. Dog Tired
8. The Weakly Reporter
9. I Taw A Putty Tat
10. A Horsefly Fleas

Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer of these cartoons is a joke. Most video artefacts are available for your pleasure on this disc without you having to look too hard. For the most part, the picture is covered with grain, noise, scratches, and hair. It also has differing levels of colour.

    The picture is presented in a ratio of 1.33:1, but usually looks cropped and uncomfortable with characters heads being chopped off or action happening out of frame. A good example is at 24:04.

    The sharpness of this transfer is marred by a large amount of grain and noise. Almost every shot that has some sort of darkened area has plenty of low level noise, but the best place to notice this is during the cartoon Ghost Wanted. Chroma noise is also noticeable throughout, with plenty of examples. During Rhapsody Rabbit, notice the red parts of the stage curtains, as well as 10:41, 17:46 and 23:47.

    The colours are washed out and pale for most of the disc. Often shots appear so over-exposed that the whites blur over their lines, giving an appearance much like over-modulation. Probably the best examples of this are at 18:04, with other good examples at 11:35-12:00 and 14:40-15:25. Colour bleed happens from time to time, especially with reds and blues, but it can be a little hard to see.

    There are no MPEG artefacts, but plenty of film artefacts for the entire feature. Hairs, scratches, marks, dust and dirt are all peppered throughout the film — to be honest, it is probably more enjoyable to try and make shapes out of these marks than to watch the cartoons themselves! Don't think for a minute that film-to-video artefacts are left out of this video artefacts bonanza —  they get included in the fun as well! There is some major telecine wobble at 24:51, a touch of aliasing at 60:40, and frequent interlacing. If you pause on any frame on this DVD, you will see usually two, and sometimes three frames on screen at once. The best example of this is as the ghost runs from left to right at 24:56.

    There are no subtitles recorded on this disc.

    This is a single layered disc.

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

Audio

    This is an equally unappealing audio transfer.

    There is but one audio track recorded here, with it being an English Dolby Stereo soundtrack running at 192kb/s.

    What dialogue there is is clear enough to understand, but the audio synch is out by about a quarter of a second for the whole DVD! You cannot be too hard on the synchronisation of the characters mouths, but every time someone gets bonked on the head with a mallet, blown up by another stick of dynamite, or gets a door slammed in their face, the accompanying sound effect follows a little while later.

    The usual type of musical fare applies here. It resonates from the left and right channels and does not do much to inspire.

    The surrounds and the subwoofer do not get used at all.

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

Extras

    There are no extras to sweeten the deal either.

R4 vs R1

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

    Much to the chagrin of Australians, the Americans have not been exposed to this yet.

Summary

    I had honestly thought that Tony, Nick, and Terry, had been a little harsh on these discs, and had thought that being a long time fan of Looney Tunes, this disc would be at least watchable. Sadly, with the most sorry collection of lame characters, and two atrocious transfers, this disc is one for the scrap heap.
 
    The video transfer is shocking beyond belief.

    The audio transfer is not much better.

    The extras are the best thing about this disc because I did not have to watch them!

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Hugh Fotheringham (what the hell is going on in bio??)
Saturday, November 30, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-S525, using Component output
DisplayLoewe Xelos (81cm) 16:9. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationOnkyo TX-DS797- THX Select
SpeakersJamo X550 Left and Right, Jamo X5CEN Centre, Jamo X510 Surround

Other Reviews NONE