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April 5, 2025
Coming April 29; includes HD debut of Rabbit's Kin
With less than a month to go, and with everyone waiting patiently for details on Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Volume 1, Warner Archive's April Blu-ray releases of classic films are now finally showing up online for pre-order. Among the April titles is the Gary Cooper western-spy-thriller Springfield Rifle. Released the same year as Cooper's infinitely more iconic western role in High Noon, the Blu-ray is set for release on April 29 and is available to pre-order at all of the usual online stores such as Amazon.
Among the disc's extras are two cartoon uberclassics, Feed the Kitty and Rabbit's Kin. We've reached out to Warner Archive and were able to confirm that both titles will be in HD. Though Feed the Kitty is a Blu-ray double-dip (having first appeared on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One and then again as an extra on the Archive's Room for One More), this would mark Rabbit's Kin's debut in HD and on Blu-ray.
(Warner Archive also told us that another special feature on the Blu-ray, the Joe McDoakes comedy short So You Want to Enjoy Life, will simply be upscaled.)
Now, since we're talking about an HD Rabbit's Kin, we know which question is on everyone's mind, and unfortunately we don't know if the cartoon has been fixed or if it will credit "R8BERT McKIMSON" as on the initial HBO Max remastering. Considering how relatively quickly it was corrected for HBO Max might suggest that the go-to HD version is the corrected one, but we don't know. It could go either way, so be warned.
Springfield Rifle is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on April 29 and will retail for $21.99. Pre-order it now on Amazon.
March 17, 2025
Coming May 27
It's the movie Warner Bros. Discovery didn't want, and it's coming your way! After a solid opening-weekend debut at #5, Ketchup Entertainment has announced that The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is coming to home video. Originally planned for Max before being shelved by Warner for a tax break and then held in limbo for a while before being picked up by Ketchup, the full-length animated movie starring Daffy and Porky is set for release on both DVD and Blu-ray on May 27, and both are now available to pre-order at all of the usual online stores such as Amazon.
Since this is not a Warner release, do not expect any special features in the way of bonus cartoons, etc. In fact, the back covers of both editions that Ketchup offered online are very bare bones; just a summary and movie stills (in all fairness, it might just be temp art).
The disc's official synopsis, as posted on Amazon, reads as follows....
A brand new buddy comedy starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This richly-crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully-animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world.
Historically, this is pretty amazing. For perhaps the first time since the Turner merger (and definitely for the first time since the advent of DVD), you have an authorized Looney Tunes home video release not being produced or distributed by Warner Bros. It would be interesting to see how well this sells, since already the film's modest box office success is proving that the studio has missed out on revenue.
Having said that, keep your expectations in check about pre-ordering this title. Order it because you enjoyed the movie and want to support the movie. Please, do not think that if this specific movie sells well then we'll magically get some other Looney Tunes movie that's been buried away.
It's a pretty funny movie, and if you're able to and it's playing near you, try to go see it in the theater while you still have a chance. If not, this would still make a nice addition to one's Looney Tunes collection...and it doesn't involve basketball.
The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie will be released on May 27 and is currently available to pre-order now on Amazon. The DVD will retail for $24.98 and the Blu-ray will retail for $26.98.
March 13, 2025
Two-disc set! Release date of June 17
Hold onto your hats, folks, because here we go again! It's perhaps the biggest Looney Tunes news of the year (and yeah, that's including tomorrow's theatrical release of The Day the Earth Blew Up!), the start of a brand new series of Blu-ray compilations from Warner Archive! Picking up where the four Looney Tunes Collector's Choice volumes left off, Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Volume 1 has been announced today as a two-disc set scheduled for release on June 17.
At press time, there is no content list available, but Warner Archive promised on their Facebook page that details will come in "the near future." What has been revealed is that disc one will feature twenty-five cartoons "never before remastered on DVD or Blu-ray," while the second disc will be an additional twenty-five shorts that had been previously released on DVD but are making their Blu-ray debuts here.
This has been a model that a number of fans had suggested would be the best way for the Archive to move the Looney Tunes series forward. With so very few new-to-disc shorts left starring the likes of such heavy hitters as, say, Bugs or Porky or (good) Speedy, offering a mix of all-new titles and DVD-only titles (many of which were among the cream of the crop of the library) can make these releases attractive to more than just the diehard, gotta-catch-em-all completists.
So yes, while we will get twenty-five shorts that had been previously released on Golden Collection or Super Stars DVDs, they will nevertheless be making their first appearance in HD on this set.
As for the "never before remastered on DVD or Blu-ray" part for the other twenty-five titles, again, we don't know which shorts will be included, but just as a caveat keep in mind that George Feltenstein and Jerry Beck sometimes include in that sentiment cartoons that had previously been used as special features on other titles. But in regard to the main Looney Tunes home media line, these will all be debuts.
So let the speculation begin!
Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Volume 1 is scheduled to be released on June 17 on Blu-ray only, and a price and link to pre-order it will be posted here as soon as they become available.
March 7, 2025
Coming March 25; includes remastered debuts of Pop Goes Your Heart, Shake Your Powder Puff, and home video debut of Why Do I Dream Those Dreams
The March wave of Warner Archive Blu-ray releases is now appearing online for pre-order, while ongoing production delays have forced a street date change for at least one of the month's announced titles. One March release, however, that is still scheduled to come out as planned is 1934's Sadie McKee, a pre-Code romantic drama starring Joan Crawford and Gene Raymond. Perhaps best known for debuting the song "All I Do Is Dream of You" (itself later featured in such arguably better known films as A Night at the Opera and Singin' in the Rain), the Blu-ray is set for release on March 25 and is available to pre-order at all of the usual online stores such as Amazon.
Among the disc's extras are three Merrie Melodies from the movie's release year of 1934: Pop Goes Your Heart, Shake Your Powder Puff, and Why Do I Dream Those Dreams. All three are making their HD debuts and their remastered debuts on this disc (Powder Puff had only previously been used as an unremastered extra on DVD), but the big news in all this is that Why Do I Dream Those Dreams is making its first home video appearance ever on the Blu-ray. For fans of early Friz Freleng, fans of the black and white era of the studio, or just fans who may remember catching this one during those first couple of years of the shorts being on Nickelodeon, this may be an enticing buy.
All three shorts were remastered for HBO Max, and there are faint traces of "Photoshopped" clone-stamping at least during the opening "Warner Bros. Pictures Inc." card of the title sequences, but they seem to be otherwise unscathed. But still, giving a heads up to those who may wince at that.
Sadie McKee is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on March 25 and will retail for $21.99. Pre-order it now on Amazon.
January 28, 2025
Includes 7 modern shorts in HD
Here we go, folks! The first Looney Tunes home video of the year. Hopefully as a good sign of things to come, today marks the Blu-ray release of the 1988 feature Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, courtesy of Warner Archive. Being the first hi-def release of any of the 1970s-1980s compilation movies, the Blu-ray is now available through the Archive's official shop at Amazon and other online retailers.
(Please note, it is very possible that the continued wildfires in the Los Angeles area have affected the supply chain or order fulfillment, so please be patient if your pre-order has yet to arrive. Warner Archive has recently announced that the release of a number of other January 28 titles have been delayed, but at press time no such announcement has been made regarding Quackbusters.)
In addition to the movie itself, the disc includes as bonuses the following 1980s-1990s revival shorts, all in HD....
Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 1/2th Century (1980)
The Duxorcist (1987)
Little Go Beep (2000)
The Night of the Living Duck (1988)
Superior Duck (1996)
(blooper) Bunny! (1991)
Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (1992)
As a whole, the 1980s and 1990s material is very hit and miss, but Quackbusters is one of the brighter spots of the era, and hopefully this will lead to the other movies (and perhaps even the TV specials) to start seeing HD releases. If nothing else, the film served as the final theatrical Looney Tunes production starring Mel Blanc, so just for history's sake it's a must-own.
The Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray is now available online and retails for $21.99. Order it now on Amazon.
January 15, 2025
Coming January 28; includes 7 modern shorts in HD
With the Los Angeles area still battling raging wildfires that are affecting millions of people's lives, homes, and jobs, it would have been understandable if Warner Archive needed to delay this month's slate of Blu-ray releases. But alas, pre-orders are now appearing for its January titles, including the Blu-ray debut of the 1988 feature Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. Marking the first hi-def release of any of the 1970s-1980s compilation movies, the Blu-ray is now available to pre-order at all of the usual online stores such as Amazon.
In addition to the movie itself, the disc will include as bonuses the following 1980s-1990s revival shorts, all in HD....
Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24 1/2th Century (1980)
The Duxorcist (1987)
Little Go Beep (2000)
The Night of the Living Duck (1988)
Superior Duck (1996)
(blooper) Bunny! (1991)
Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (1992)
With Warner Archive hinting at another big year for its animation releases, starting things off with one of the more popular modern Looney Tunes productions might prove to be a nice appetizer for things to come (well, "modern" as in the last three-and-a-half decades, already...yikes!). And with the added bonus of a good chunk of the "newer" shorts, this Blu-ray serves as an essential purchase for the completist wanting things in HD.
The Daffy Duck's Quackbusters Blu-ray is scheduled to be released on January 28 and will retail for $21.99. Pre-order it now on Amazon.
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