‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 4’ Blu-ray (review)

Warner Archive

As I wrote in my review of the previous volume of this series, “it’s one of the rare instances where regardless of when they were made, are as fresh today as they ever were.”

This release, Looney Tunes Collectors Choice: Volume 4, once again collects 25 remastered shorts which both look and sound fantastic.

With contributions from such iconic directors Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson, and others, this collection is a testament to the studio’s commitment to preserving their animation history.

If the rumors are true that this is the last volume of the Collector’s Choice series, it truly will be a disappointment, as these shorts are an integral part of American pop culture.

Looney Tunes continues to be one of the rare instances where regardless of when they were made, are as fresh today to audiences as they ever were.

The shorts include:

• “Along Came Daffy” (1947, dir. Friz Freleng)
  This early appearance by an unnamed Yosemite Sam and his twin brother find the hungry prospectors in need of a good meal… and as luck would have it, Daffy Duck comes a-knocking to sell cookbooks.
• “A Bone for a Bone” (1951, dir. Friz Freleng)
  The first of four Goofy Gophers directed by Freleng, this early outing pits them against poor Geo P. Dog.
• “The Cagey Canary” (1941, dir. Tex Avery and Bob Clampett)
  Granny’s housecat tries to catch her prize bird before the tough old lady intervenes; eventually, the pets team up.
• “D’ Fightin’ Ones” (1961, dir. Friz Freleng)
 A parody of the then-recent film The Defiant Ones, this short follows Sylvester and Hector the dog as two shackled inmates after they manage to escape from a pound-bound truck.
• “Dangerous Dan McFoo” (1939, dir. Tex Avery)
  Based on a 1907 poem, this one follows a dog named Dan who must defend his sweetie from a villain’s advances.
• “Devil’s Feud Cake” (1963, dir. Friz Freleng)
  Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam star in this enjoyable short where Sam, who’s just robbed a bank, dies in a plane accident but gets a second chance at life… if only he can get Bugs to take his place in Hell. Damn!
• “Double Chaser” (1942, dir. Friz Freleng)
  This Merrie Melodies short follows a mouse seeking the protection of a bulldog to avoid a hungry cat.
• “Double or Mutton” (1955, dir. Chuck Jones)
  Newly-named Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog clock in for another round of Chuck Jones visual gags.
• “Fox Pop” (1942, dir. Chuck Jones)
  This lesser-seen uncut short follows a red-turned-silver fox who realizes he’s only desired for his fur.
• “Henhouse Henery” (1949, dir. Robert McKimson)
  Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, and the Barnyard Dawg match wits to the tune of “Camptown Races”.
• “Holiday for Drumsticks” (1949, dir. Arthur Davis)
  A play on “Holiday for Strings”, this Merrie Melodies short finds greedy Daffy Duck gorging himself on food saved for a soon-to-be Thanksgiving turkey until he eventually becomes the next target.
• “Hopalong Casualty” (1960, dir. Chuck Jones)
  Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner speed by for another round of Chuck Jones visual gags.
• “Hyde and Go Tweet” (1960, dir. Friz Freleng)
  A nostalgic favorite of yours truly, this short follows Tweety and Sylvester in and around the office of Dr. Jekyll.
• “The Impatient Patient” (1942, dir. Norman McCabe)
  Another mad scientist adventure of sorts, “Dr. Jerkyl”), this black-and-white short was later colorized and finds Daffy seeking a cure for his hiccups… so the “good doctor” uses scare tactics.
• “Leghorn Swoggled” (1951, dir. Robert McKimson)
  Another outdoor battle with Foghorn, Henery, and the Barnyard Dawg, this one’s got a similar plot too.
• “Meatless Flyday” (1944, dir. Friz Freleng)
 A hungry spider tries to catch a fly, but religious tradition might end up saving the little fella.
• “Mouse-Warming” (1952, dir. Chuck Jones)
  The final appearance of Claude Cat, this likeable short sees a young mouse fall for a neighboring girl mouse, but Claude stands in the way of true love.
• “The Mouse-Merized Cat” (1946, dir. Robert McKimson)
  A sequel to 1945’s “Tale of Two Mice”, this short continues the adventures of Babbit and Catstello in a hypnotizing way. Lots of dated pop culture references in this one.
• “Muscle Tussle” (1953, dir. Robert McKimson)
  Daffy heads to the beach with his girlfriend Melissa, who unfortunately falls for a muscle-bound duck.
• “Muzzle Tough” (1954, dir. Friz Freleng)
  The only short included here that features the holy trinity of Tweety, Sylvester, and Granny (and Hector), this short finds her moving into a new house before all Hell and a piano breaks loose.
• “Peck Up Your Troubles” (1945, dir. Friz Freleng)
  Let’s rewind a bit to Hector the dog’s debut, where he and Sylvester battle over the safety of a woodpecker.
• “Quack Shot” (1954, dir. Robert McKimson)
  This rare but welcome appearance by Elmer Fudd finds him and Daffy battling it out in a once-peaceful lake.
• “Road to Andalay” (1964, dir. Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt)
  Speaking of rare appearances, this one follows Speedy Gonzales as he fights off Sylvester and a falcon.
• “The Sneezing Weasel” (1938, dir. Tex Avery)
  A rarity from the early Termite Terrace days, this short finds a mama hen protecting her brood from a crafty weasel.
• “Streamlined Greta Green” (1937, dir. Friz Freleng)
  Easily the oddest short of the bunch, this one drops us into a world of anthropomorphic cars… including a young one who wants to grow up and be a taxi, much to his mother’s dismay.

Extras are non-existent, but instead includes two additional shorts:

• “Lighter Than Hare” (1960, dir. Friz Freleng)
  Yosemite Sam is an outer space alien who sends a series of robots to capture Bugs Bunny, a typical earth creature in this Merrie Melodies short.
• “Stork Naked” (1955, dir. Friz Freleng)
  In this Merrie Melodies short, a drunken stork comes to the home of Mr. And Mrs. Daffy Duck with a bundle of joy, but Daffy wants no more children and takes extreme measures to keep the stork away.

Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 4 is a wonderful release and the ongoing commitment from the Warner Archive to restore and preserve the availability of these shorts is notable as physical media and Saturday morning cartoons have been replaced by unreliable streaming quality and availability.

Highly Recommended.