Warner Bros.' library of Oscar-nominated cartoons were made available in a 3-disc DVD set released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in 2008. It included their own Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, as well as Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and other classic MGM cartoons, together with entries from Max Fleischer's Popeye and Superman series (both originally released by Paramount Pictures). All cartoons selected for this release were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, with the exception of the film So Much for So Little, which won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. A total of 41 cartoons (completely uncut and unedited) were chosen for this set, 15 of them being Oscar winners.
Many of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts featured on this collection have also been released on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets, but this set includes a handful of others. The cartoons A Wild Hare and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt, which were previously reissued as Blue Ribbons, have their full original titles restored, the latter having its original titles first restored on the 1995 Turner print. The cartoon From A to Z-Z-Z-Z, previously released as a Blue Ribbon but retaining its full slate of credits, is shown here in its original format. All the Tom and Jerry shorts have been previously released on the Spotlight Collections, but most of them here are presented restored and remastered, previous copies, as for Mouse Trouble and Quiet Please!, being poor transfers of Turner broadcast TV prints. Three MGM cartoons, Touché, Pussy Cat!, Good Will to Men, and One Droopy Knight, are presented in their original Cinemascope aspect ratios.
To this day, this is Warner's only DVD release of classic animation to feature a variety of different cartoon studios. Warner has also released each of the discs separately.
Disc 1 All 15 cartoons on this disc won Academy Awards
# Title Studio Star(s) Year Director(s) 1 The Milky Way MGM 1940 Rudolf Ising 2 The Yankee Doodle Mouse MGM Tom and Jerry 1943 William HannaJoseph Barbera 3 Mouse Trouble MGM Tom and Jerry 1944 William HannaJoseph Barbera 4 Quiet Please! MGM Tom and Jerry, Spike 1945 William HannaJoseph Barbera 5 The Cat Concerto MGM Tom and Jerry 1947 William HannaJoseph Barbera 6 Tweetie Pie Warner Bros. Sylvester, Tweety 1947 Friz Freleng 7 The Little Orphan MGM Tom and Jerry, Tuffy 1949 William HannaJoseph Barbera 8 Duck Amuck Warner Bros. Daffy Duck 1953 Chuck Jones 9 Rabbit Fire "Rabbit Seasoning" "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" Warner Bros. 1951, 1952, 1953 Chuck Jones Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd 10 The Two Mouseketeers MGM Tom and Jerry, Tuffy 1952 William HannaJoseph Barbera 11 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century Warner Bros. Daffy Duck Porky Pig Marvin the Martian 1953 Chuck Jones 12 Speedy Gonzales Warner Bros. Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester 1955 Friz Freleng 13 Birds Anonymous Warner Bros. Sylvester, Tweety, Clarence Cat 1957 Friz Freleng 14 What's Opera Doc? Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd 1957 Friz Freleng 15 The Dot and the Line MGM 1965 Chuck JonesMaurice Noble (co-director)
Special features
Audio bonuses Music-only tracks Speedy Gonzales The Dot and the Line Audio Commentaries Mark Kausler on Quiet Please! Eric Goldberg on The Cat Concerto and The Dot and the Line Greg Ford on Duck Amuck Jerry Beck on Duck Amuck
Disc 2 All 14 cartoons on this disc were nominated for Academy Awards, but did not win
# Title Studio Star(s) Year Director(s) 1 Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor FleischerParamount Popeye, Olive, Wimpy, Bluto 1936 Dave Fleischer 2 Peace on Earth MGM 1939 Hugh Harman 3 A Wild Hare* Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny (debut), Elmer Fudd 1940 Tex Avery 4 Puss Gets the Boot MGM Jasper, Jinx 1940 William HannaJoseph Barbera 5 Superman FleischerParamount Superman, Lois 1941 Dave Fleischer 6 Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny, Hiawatha 1941 Friz Freleng 7 Rhapsody in Rivets Warner Bros. 1941 Friz Freleng 8 The Night Before Christmas MGM Tom and Jerry 1941 William HannaJoseph Barbera 9 Blitz Wolf MGM 1942 Tex Avery 10 Pigs in a Polka Warner Bros. 1943 Friz Freleng 11 Swooner Crooner Warner Bros. Porky Pig 1944 Frank Tashlin 12 Walky Talky Hawky Warner Bros. Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, Barnyard Dawg 1946 Robert McKimson 13 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse MGM Tom and Jerry 1947 William HannaJoseph Barbera 14 Mouse Wreckers Warner Bros. Hubie and Bertie, Claude Cat, Hector the Bulldog 1949 Chuck Jones
(*): Original opening title card restored for this release, as the releases in The Golden Age of Looney Tunes and Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 borrowed the opening title card for A Gander at Mother Goose
Special features Audio bonuses Audio commentaries Jerry Beck, Leslie Cabarga, Ray Pointer and Bob Jaques on Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor Greg Ford on Peace on Earth and A Wild Hare Mark Kausler on Puss Gets the Boot Paul Dini on Superman Eric Goldberg on Blitz Wolf Jerry Beck on Walky Talky Hawky
Disc 3 All 12 cartoons on this disc were nominated for Academy Awards, but did not win
# Title Studio Star(s) Year Director(s) 1 Hatch Up Your Troubles MGM Tom and Jerry 1949 William HannaJoseph Barbera 2 Jerry's Cousin MGM Tom and Jerry 1951 William HannaJoseph Barbera 3 Little Johnny Jet MGM 1953 Tex Avery 4 Touché, Pussy Cat! MGM Tom and Jerry, Tuffy 1954 William HannaJoseph Barbera 5 From A to Z-Z-Z-Z Warner Bros. Ralph Phillips 1954 Chuck Jones 6 Sandy Claws Warner Bros. Sylvester, Tweety, Granny 1955 Friz Freleng 7 Good Will to Men MGM 1955 William HannaJoseph Barbera 8 Tabasco Road Warner Bros. Speedy Gonzales 1957 Robert McKimson 9 One Droopy Knight MGM Droopy, Butch Bulldog 1957 Michael Lah 10 High Note Warner Bros. 1960 Chuck Jones 11 Nelly's Folly Warner Bros. 1961 Chuck JonesMaurice Noble (co-director)Abe Levitow (co-director) 12 Now Hear This Warner Bros. 1963 Chuck JonesMaurice Noble (co-director)
Special features
Audio bonuses Music-only tracks Little Johnny Jet Touché, Pussy Cat! Tabasco Road One Droopy Knight Vocal Chorus section isolated audio track hosted by Greg Ford Good Will to Men Audio commentaries Amid Amidi on From A to Z-Z-Z-Z and Now Hear This
Bonus cartoon What's Cookin' Doc? (USA Turner print)
Documentary Drawn for Glory: Animation's Triumph at the Oscars
Omitted nominees These are eleven classic theatrical cartoons in the Warner Bros./Turner Entertainment library that were nominated for Best Animated Short, but were not included in this DVD collection for unknown reasons. Some had been released on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs, while others turned up on later sets. The following missing nominated shorts are:
# Title Studio Star(s) Year Director(s) Notes1It's Got Me Again!Warner Bros.1932Rudolf IsingLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 (DVD, 2005) (extra, unrestored) Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 (Blu-Ray, 2012) (extra, unrestored)2The Calico DragonMGM1935Rudolf Ising Roberta (DVD 2006) (extra, unrestored)3The Old Mill PondMGMJazz Frogs1936Hugh HarmanBorn to Dance (DVD 2008) (extra, unrestored and censored)4Detouring AmericaWarner Bros.1939Tex AveryEach Dawn I Die (DVD 2006) (extra, unrestored) Each Dawn I Die (Blu-Ray 2021) (extra, unrestored)5The Rookie BearMGMBarney Bear1941Rudolf IsingLady Be Good (DVD 2008) (extra, unrestored)6A Tale of Two KittiesWarner Bros.Tweety (debut) Babbit and Catstello (debut) 1943Friz FrelengAction in the North Atlantic (DVD 2006) (extra, unrestored) Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 2 (Blu-Ray) (restored)7Life with FeathersWarner Bros.Sylvester the Cat (debut)1945Friz FrelengLooney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 (Blu-Ray/DVD 2014) (restored)8Mexicali ShmoesWarner Bros.Speedy Gonzales1959Friz FrelengLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 (DVD 2006) (restored) Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 (Blu-Ray/DVD 2012) (restored)9Mouse and GardenWarner Bros.Sylvester the Cat1960Friz FrelengLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 (DVD 2006) (restored) Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 (Blu-Ray/DVD 2014) (restored)10Beep PreparedWarner Bros.Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner1961Chuck JonesMaurice Noble (co-director)Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 (Blu-Ray/DVD 2014) (restored)11The Pied Piper of GuadalupeWarner Bros.Speedy GonzalesSylvester the Cat1961Friz FrelengHawley Pratt (co-director)Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4 (DVD 2006) (restored) Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3 (Blu-Ray/DVD 2014) (restored)
References