Tex Avery Screwball Classics

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Tex Avery Screwball Classics is a series of single-disc

laserdiscs
in the 1990s, with many of the shorts having been previously unreleased on DVD or Blu-ray.

Volume 1 was released on Blu-ray on February 18, 2020, and on DVD on December 1 with 19 shorts, all presented uncut and digitally restored.[1][2] Volume 2 was released on both Blu-ray as well as on DVD on December 15, 2020, with 21 shorts.[3][4] Volume 3 was released on October 5, 2021, with 20 shorts.[5][6]

Background

Tex Avery worked at Leon Schlesinger Productions directing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for Warner Bros. between 1936 and 1941. Here, Avery had developed the Looney Tunes signature style of cartoon humor and was essential in the creation and/or development of many of the studio's star characters, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and most notably Bugs Bunny. In 1941, after a dispute with Schlesinger over the ending of the Bugs Bunny cartoon The Heckling Hare, Avery was "suspended" from the studio.[7][8]

After spending a few months at

Golden Age of American Animation. Five of Avery's MGM cartoons, Red Hot Riding Hood, King-Size Canary, Bad Luck Blackie, Little Rural Riding Hood and Northwest Hounded Police, were included in The 50 Greatest Cartoons book in 1994 as selected by 1,000 animation professionals.[9] In addition, Blitz Wolf and Little Johnny Jet were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1942 and 1952 respectively,[10][11] and Magical Maestro was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically important" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1993.[12][13]

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, MGM and Turner Entertainment released VHS and Laserdisc collections of Avery's work, such as the Tex Avery Screwball Classics sub-series of Cartoon Moviestars VHS tapes, and The Compleat Tex Avery laserdisc collection in 1993.[14]

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Tex Avery's MGM cartoons were notably absent on DVD and Blu-ray. According to animation historian

Digital Noise Reduction. The set was made to "test the waters" and see if there was a potential market for future releases of Tex Avery cartoons on DVD; however, poor fan reception and low sales forced any of these plans to be scrapped.[14]

In January 2020, as part of a Warner company-wide initiative to restore and preserve its film library,[14] Warner Archive Collection announced they were releasing Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 a single-disc Blu-ray that collected 19 Tex Avery MGM cartoons. Unlike the previous releases, these cartoons were digitally restored using color reversal internegatives, separation masters and other second-generation film elements that were made when the cartoons were being re-issued in the 1950s,[14] resulting in much a much more clean and pristine image quality. However, some of the second-generation material to certain cartoons are also missing, hence why the shorts are arranged in a "best of" fashion rather than in chronological order.[14] Currently, Warner Bros. is conducting a worldwide search for the best available film elements of Tex Avery's MGM cartoons.[14] In March 2020 due to the high sales of Volume 1, Warner Archive announced they were working on Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2,[15] which was released in December 2020 containing 21 restored and uncut shorts as well as Tex Avery: The King of Cartoons, an archival documentary as a special feature.[16]

According to Jerry Beck production on Volume 2 started in March 2020 with an entirely different selection of cartoons and was intended for a release date of June 2020. However, due to the outbreak of the

Photoshop
.

The next volume was delayed and at one point was put on hiatus due to numerous layoffs at Warner Bros. in January 2021, including George Feltenstein. As a result, most of the volume's production was done without his oversight and plans for using original 35mm film print for "The Shooting of Dan McGoo" courtesy of animator Mark Kausler, and a documentary about the original titles to MGM cartoons featuring the original titles for "Wild and Woolfy" had to be cut. However, George was able to return in August of that year and has since taken back his role at Warner Archive.[18] Volume 3 was released on October 5, 2021.[6]

As of 2023, 60 of Avery's 67 MGM cartoons have been released, with the 7 remaining unreleased cartoons being

Cat’s Me-Ow
(1957) — the latter two being CinemaScope remakes of Wags to Riches and The Ventriloquist Cat respectively — made after Avery's departure.

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release dates
February 18, 2020 on Blu-ray and December 1, 2020 on DVD (United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1 was released on Blu-ray on February 18, 2020, and on DVD on December 1 with 19 shorts. All shorts are presented uncut (with a warning stating that the cartoons shown are products of their time and may contain jokes that, by today's standards, are considered racially insensitive) and digitally restored. The shorts are arranged in the following sections:[1][2]

Tex Avery Screwball Classics

Screwy Squirrel

George and Junior

Droopy

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release dates
December 15, 2020 on both Blu-ray and DVD (United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2 was released on both Blu-ray and DVD on December 15, 2020, with 21 shorts. All shorts are presented uncut (with a warning stating that the cartoons shown are products of their time and may contain jokes that, by today's standards, are considered racially insensitive). The shorts are arranged in the following sections:[3][4][19]

Tex Avery Screwball Classics

Droopy

Spike

Cartoons of Tomorrow

Special features

  • Tex Avery: The King of Cartoons, a 1988 British documentary about the life and career of Tex Avery featuring rare artwork and interviews from
    Heck Allen, Ed Love and Michael Lah.[3]

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
(Studio Distribution Services)
Release dates
October 5, 2021 on both Blu-ray and DVD (United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3 was released on both Blu-ray and DVD on October 5, 2021, with 20 shorts. All shorts are presented uncut (with a warning stating that the cartoons shown are products of their time and may contain jokes that, by today's standards, are considered racially insensitive).[20] It is the final issue of Tex Avery Screwball Classics.[21] The shorts are presented in the following order:[18]

Special features

  • The Crackpot Quail (1941): a Merrie Melodies short directed by Avery whilst at Warner Bros., featuring its original 1941 soundtrack.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Warner Archive Collection Announces "Tex Avery Screwball Classics" on Blu-ray". Animation Scoop. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  2. ^ a b "The Tex Avery Blu-ray Will Be Out February 18. Here's What's On It". Cartoon Brew. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c "Warner Archive". Warner Archive. Archived from the original on 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  4. ^ a b "Warner Archive Is Releasing A Second Volume Of Tex Avery Shorts". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  5. ^ @dawnofthediscs (September 2, 2021). "***NEW TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT*** Coming to Blu-ray in October from @WarnerArchive Tex Avery Screwball Classics Volume…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b "Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3 Blu-ray (Warner Archive Collection)" – via www.blu-ray.com.
  7. ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press.
  8. Warner Home Video. 2012.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  9. ISBN 978-1878685490
    .
  10. ^ "The 15th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
  11. ^ "The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  12. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  13. ^ "Librarian Announces National Film Registry Selections (March 7, 1994), Library of Congress Information Bulletin". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "Warner Archive Podcast: Tex Avery Talk with Jerry Beck (2/11/20)". Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. February 11, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  15. ^ "Warner Archive Podcast: Happy 11th Birthday to Us (3/24/20)". Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  16. ^ "Warner Archive Podcast:No Auld Discs Shall Be Forgot (12/08/20)". Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. December 8, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Stu's Show: Program 583 (12/23/20)". Stu Shostak. December 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c Beck, Jerry (September 7, 2021). "Some Advance Notes on "Tex Avery Screwball Classics" Volume 3". Cartoon Research. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  19. ^ "Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 2 Blu-ray". Blu-Ray.com. December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  20. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Opening to Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 3 2021 Blu-ray". YouTube.
  21. ^ Looney Tunes Collectors Choice Vol. 1
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tex_Avery_Screwball_Classics&oldid=1219938365"