Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three

Animation buffs will swoon with Pepe Le Pew-like rapture at this third volume of classic Warner Bros. cartoons. While Volume One and Volume Two contain the bulk of the masterpieces, that was far from all, folks. Volume Three contains many essential, historically significant, and just darn funny cartoons. In "Daffy Duck and Egghead," Daffy makes the most of his first starring role, delivering a rollicking rendition of the Looney Tunes theme, "The Merry Go Round Broke Down." "I Haven't Got a Hat" marks the screen debut of a stuttering pig named Porky, who steals the show with his rendition of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." "Odor-Able Kitty" introduces amorous skunk Pepe Le Pew (although he's revealed as a henpecked husband and, in this cartoon only, unwittingly pursues a male cat). Also debuting here is Foghorn Leghorn, in the Academy Award-winning “Walky Talky Hawky,” which—as the title suggests—was created as a launch vehicle for Henry Hawk. The second of four discs, dubbed “Hollywood Caricatures and Parodies” and focusing mainly on screen legends of the 1930s, is a particular delight. "The Coo Coo Nut Grove" features irreverent anthropomorphic incarnations of Katharine Hepburn (a horse), Harpo Marx (a bird), Mae West (a voluptuous lovebird), and Laurel and Hardy (a monkey and a pig). Bugs Bunny (TV Guide's pick for the greatest cartoon character of all time), Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, the gang is all here. All 60 cartoons in this set are presented complete and uncut, prompting a parental advisory introduction from Whoopi Goldberg that several of the cartoons contain racial and ethnic stereotypes, an unfortunate comedic practice of the day. In addition to audio commentaries by animation experts and contemporary cult fave directors and animators (among them Joe Dante and John Kricfalusi), there are tributes to Chuck Jones and Frank Tashlin, archival rarities, and a segment about Warner's wartime cartoons. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (D. Liebenson)