Looney Tunes Platinum Collection

Looney Tunes Platinum Collection is an annual set of Blu-ray Disc box sets with 3 discs and 2-disc DVD's. Disc 3 is special features and exclusive to the Blu-ray set. Each release for both formats contain 50 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts. The first volume was announced for Blu-ray in July 2011, and released on November 15, 2011 (while the DVD version was released on July 3, 2012). Volume 2 was announced August 1, 2012, with a release date of October 16, 2012 for both formats. Volume 1 came in either as a collector's EDition set or just a stand-alone digibook for the Blu-ray release. The DVD versions of the Platinum Collections only replicates the first 2 discs of the Blu-ray counterpart, but doesn't contain extras or special features.

Releases

Volume 1

Notable cartoons include:

  • What's Opera, Doc?
  • Duck Amuck
  • A Tale of Two Kitties
  • Tweetie Pie
  • For Scent-imental Reasons
  • Speedy Gonzales
  • I Love to Singa
  • Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
  • Feed the Kitty
  • From A to Z-Z-Z-Z

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • Disc one features 25 classic cartoons starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and others
  • Disc two features 6 one-shots and complete collections of cartoons featuring Marvin the Martian, Tasmanian Devil, Witch Hazel, Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot, and Ralph Phillips.
  • Disc three (exclusive to the Blu-ray release) is dedicated to Chuck Jones filled with 7 educational animated cartoons and his 2 one-shots from MGM and documentaries (plus bonus cartoons of other characters like Marvin the Martian and Bugs Bunny and the The Door).

Statistics

  • 35 cartoons on this collection were released no earlier than August 1, 1948 and thus have been part of WB's own television packages. The remaining 15 cartoons were released prior to that date and thus were part of the Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) television package later owned by Turner (including the latest-released cartoon in this package, Haredevil Hare, as coincidentally did the first volume of the Golden Collection).
  • 44 cartoons in this collection have already been released on DVD either through the Golden Collections, the Super Stars, or animated compilations like the Warner Bros. Academy Awards Animation Collection. The remaining 6 cartoons are new for both Blu-ray and DVD.
  • 4 of the cartoons are from the first wave of Looney Tunes Super Stars releases that were presented in a matted widescreen format. This release marks the first time that 4 of the cartoons are presented in their original full screen formats.
  • There are no restored titles or rings for Blue Ribbons reissues (Tweetie Pie for example) on this set.
  • Bugs Bunny is the most represented character on this set with 20 cartoons.
  • 9 character debuts are on this set: Fast and Furry-ous (Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner), A Tale of Two Kitties (Tweety), For Scent-imental Reasons (Penelope Pussycat), Haredevil Hare (Marvin the Martian), Devil May Hare (Tasmanian Devil), Bewitched Bunny (Witch Hazel), Feed the Kitty (Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot), From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (Ralph Phillips), and One Froggy Evening (Michigan J. Frog, considered a one-shot in the classic era).
  • Chuck Jones is the most represented director on this set with 29 cartoons.
  • The Door, which was not a Looney Tunes, nor a Merrie Melodie, nor a Special Cartoon, but a cartoon that was merely only distributed by Warner Bros. is restored for the Blu-ray version of the release.
  • The number of one-shots on the set is 6.
  • 3 Oscar winners and 1 nominee have been restored for Blu-ray.
  • A Tale of Two Kitties is the only cartoon from the public domain in this collection to be restored for the Blu-ray release.
  • A-Haunting We Will Go is both the first cartoon with the "Abstract WB" titles and the first from the DePatie-Freleng era to be restored for Blu-ray.

Volume 2

Notable cartoons include:

  • A Wild Hare
  • Porky in Wackyland
  • You Ought to Be in Pictures
  • Ali Baba Bunny
  • Going! Going! Gosh!
  • Wabbit Twouble
  • Rabbit Fire
  • Hare-um Scare-um
  • Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid
  • Tortoise Beats Hare

Disc-by-disc breakdown

  • As does the first release, disc one features 25 classic cartoons starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and others
  • Disc two features 5 one-shots, Chuck Jones' Hunting Trilogy, and complete collections of cartoons featuring Nasty Canasta, Cecil Turtle, Beaky Buzzard, A. Flea, and prototype-Bugs (which helped paved the way for Bugs Bunny)
  • Disc three (exclusive to the Blu-ray release) is dedicated to directors Tex Avery and Friz Freleng, featuring documentaries and their works at their time at MGM (including The Captain's Christmas and Red Hot Riding Hood). Also included is 8 Private Snafu cartoons and all 3 Mr. Hook cartoons made by Leon Schlesinger Productions.

Statistics

  • 25 of the color cartoons on the set were in WB's own television packages (released August 1, 1948 or later), while the amount of a.a.p.-owned color cartoons (released before August 1, 1948) is now at 21 (6 more cartoons than in the previous set). The remaining 4 cartoons are from the Sunset Productions package (all black-and-white cartoons except the Harman-Ising Merrie Melodies from Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! onward).
  • Much like the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 for DVD, this release marks the first time that black-and-white cartoons have been restored for Blu-ray.
  • 40 cartoons in this collection have already been released on DVD either through the Golden Collections, the Super Stars, or animated compilations. The remaining 10 cartoons are new for both Blu-ray and DVD (that's 4 more than the previous release).
  • The number of one-shots on the set is 5, down from 1 on the last set.
  • Wabbit Twouble on disc two was selected by fans on Facebook to be one of the cartoons on this release.
  • Bugs Bunny, despite appearing in fewer cartoons in this set, still has the most representation, with 14 cartoons (18 if you count his prototype). Daffy comes close by at least 1 cartoon down.
  • Chuck Jones is once again the most represented director this set with 15 cartoons this time.
  • There are 7 character debuts on this set: A Wild Hare (Bugs Bunny), Drip-Along Daffy (Nasty Canasta), Tortoise Beats Hare (Cecil Turtle), Porky's Hare Hunt (prototype-Bugs), Elmer's Candid Camera (Elmer Fudd), Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (Beaky Buzzard), and An Itch in Time (A. Flea).
  • This release marks the first time in its history that Hare-um Scare-um's original ending has been restored which was removed before its premiere.
  • 3 public domain cartoons are restored for the Blu-ray release: Hollywood Steps Out, Page Miss Glory, and Prest-O Change-O (the latter also the first public domain cartoon to be restored for DVD since 2008). In addition, the original release version of Itch in Time was released without copyright protection, but for the Blue Ribbon version, a copyright was filed, and still stands to this day.
  • 2 Oscar-nominated cartoons are restored for this release: A Wild Hare and Tabasco Road.
  • A Horsefly Fleas is the only creditless Blue Ribbon cartoon in this release and the first one in the Platinum Collection line to have its original titles restored.

See also

  • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1960–1969)
    • Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1970–present and miscellaneous)
  • The Golden Age of Looney Tunes - Laserdisc/VHS predecessor series, first collectors series
  • Looney Tunes Super Stars - the predecessor series of DVDs dedicated to one star of the series per DVD
  • Looney Tunes Golden Collection - the predecessor series of DVDs