Rating: 
Summary: Not the best of, but certainly representative
Review: The wait is finally over, and it was worth it! Like I say in my title, this is not the best of Looney Tunes, but this selection of cartoons scanning the 1940's - 1950's is so wide and covers so many directorial styles and characters that complaints about content are moot - all the major characters of the studio are represented in this collection, and while the selections made don't always represent THE best of the best, there's not a dog in the set. As one critic said, "The amazing thing about Warner Brothers cartoons is the good ones are classics, and the bad ones aren't a total loss," and that holds true for this collection. Just as it wouldn't make sense for the studio to release all of the best on one package, there are a good number of "one shot" cartoons - like "Fair and Worm-er", that have no classic characters but are hilarious nonetheless - that would go unseen if not packaged with more recognizable cartoons. The extras are uniformly excellent and informative, from the commentaries to the featurettes to the documentaries, and as an added bonus, docs like THE BOYS FROM TERMITE TERRACE feature clips from unrestored cartoons that make you appreciate just how much work was put into this excellent collection. Are there other cartoons I would like to have seen in this set? Of course. But the very fact that Warner's (and the others, such as Jerry Beck, Stan Frieburg and Michael Barrier, to name only a few) put the amazing amount of work into this collection that they did proves that they respect not only the cartoons themselves but the expectations of the fans. It's very much appreciated and well worth the asking price.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth owning, but...
Review: First, let me say that I really do like this collection. The documentary featurettes are interesting and enjoyable. The cartoons themselves are glorious. But, like so many others, I'm mystified by Warner Brothers' choice of content. The omissions are as egregious as the inclusions are warranted. How can you pretend to a definitive Bugs Bunny collection without "Knighty Knight, Bugs," which, after all, made him that Oscar-winning rabbit? How could you omit "Robin Hood Daffy" from the Daffy/Porky canon? Why leave out one third of the "Rabbit Fire/Rabbit Seasoning/Duck, Rabbit, Duck" trilogy? What a maroon!
Obviously, if you're a fan of the old Warner cartoons, there is much here to treasure and enjoy. I only hope the marvelous works left out of this collection will soon find their rightful place on DVD in a subsequent release.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelieveable!
Review: This set is outstanding! The people working with the restoration really had their work cut out for them, but they really did a great job. I can't imagine them looking better, even when they were originally in theaters. Sure, the collection is a fairly random grab bag and some of the most popular cartoons were left out, but expect to see them in future sets. As for chronilogical sets, that would probably be the most unwise decision they could make. The general public is not going to be interested in an entire set of black and white cartoons from the early 30s. And as for frequency, once a year is all they can manage at the current moment. The restoration is a long and painstaking process that takes months for each short. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT START
Review: ... great collection. The problem is that it seems for every great cartoon that made it to the collection, I can think of two more that didn't make it to the collection. Then I realized that there are simply too many great cartoons for one set. Even for a 4 disk set. Therefore there must be a LOONY TUNES - THE GOLDEN COLLECTION PART 2 in the future, and I'll be first in line to puchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Not "The Greatest"
Review: I snatched this DVD up as soon as I saw it and while the cartoons on the 4 disc collection are among the best, they left out some true classics that exclude it from being THE best. How can "What's Opera Doc' (possibly the greatest animated short ever) be left off the inaugural collection. Missing also was "Robin Hood Daffy" and some truly great Roadrunner shorts. instead there were some shorts that left a lot to be desired, such as "Porky Chops".
I realize WB needs to hold onto some of the Greats as bait for their next collection but this "Golden Collection" was at least slightly tarnished. Perhaps WB should have produced their colelctions instead by era.
Rating:
Summary: Wow - simply an incredible set done very well indeed!
Review: OK, let me get one thing out of the way: this set is not going to include every great Warner Brother's cartoon. Short of a ten-DVD set that is not going to happen. I would have liked to see a number of changes in this one, such as the inclusion of a more earlier cartoons, such as some of the utterly psychotic black and white Daffy Duck cartoons, or a more generous selection of Bob Clampett's contribution to the Bugs Bunny series, which were of a completely different tone than those made after he left Warners. But that would be nit picking. What we have is an incredibly generous collection of cartoons on DVDs that are literally stuffed with extra features, including a host of commentaries, featurettes, and alternative ways of viewing the cartoons, such as some with the voice overs and effect sounds deleted, and only the music (anyone underestimating the brilliance of the music of these cartoons should access this feature immediately). The amount of stuff crammed into these four DVDs is nothing short of miraculous. I have always been amazed that anyone took the MGM or Disney cartoons with any degree of the seriousness that I take the Warner Brothers cartoons. To be honest, apart from Tex Avery's work at MGM, I to this day never crack a smile watching old Disney or MGM cartoons. Tom and Jerry bores me, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck irritate me, and most of the rest completely fails to capture the tiniest degree of my interest. But despite having seen many of the Warner Brothers cartoons a few dozen times, I still watch these cartoons over and over with enormous pleasure and interest. Essays could--and have--been written on a cartoon as brilliant as the Keatonesque (that's Buster Keaton) "Duck Amuck," recently voted the second greatest cartoon ever made (followed only by Bugs and Elmer's remake of Wagner, "What's Opera Doc"--though I would definitely put the former ahead of the latter, and by a wide margin). C. S. Lewis said that we should judge a work of art by the kinds of thought and reflection that it can inspire. A great work of art, he claimed, was something that was susceptible to be reading in a great way. In my mind, you can get to the end of any Disney or MGM cartoon in one viewing, but in a host of these Warner Brothers cartoons, you can think and ponder and reflect on them for hours, and if Lewis is right (and I think he is), that is a sign of their greatness. Excepting Tex Avery (who left, of course, Warners after creating some of the key characters included in this collection, including Bugs Bunny, though others would undertake most of his development), the one thing that strikes anyone watching the MGM or Disney cartoons, and then these, is there outrageous zaniness (Avery always retained that Warner Brothers wackiness he helped to establish). For instance, there is a moment in a great 1941 Bob Clampett Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Wabbit Twouble," that could never have appeared in any other studio (except, of course, for Tex Avery). Elmer is on vacation in Jellystone National Park, and Bugs is, of course, doing one horrible thing after another to him. While leading Elmer to the edge of a canyon (into which he will fall, of course), Bugs suddenly turns his head to the audience and says of his antics, "I keep doing things like this to him all through the picture." It is absolutely impossible to imagine any Disney character saying anything like this, yet easy to imagine many of the Warner Brothers characters doing so. A word about the violence: Yes, these are some extremely violent cartoons, and my ex-wife and I argued about whether to let our daughter watch them growing up. She felt that to do so would be to teach her that violence was OK. I felt that they would have no effect on her attitudes towards violence (I think kids recognize cartoons as cartoons), but was scared of her not having the imaginative stimulation that they would provide, and that she wouldn't laugh as much. I'm sure this debate has continued in many households. My daughter today, I'm happy to report, is a sixteen-year-old spectacularly nonviolent, pacifistic child. With, I might add, a very highly developed sense of humor. I think Bugs and Co. had something to do with that. The only negative thing I have to say about this set is an anticipatory one: it will reek if this is the last one that they intend to do. I hope to god that they do five or six or seven more. I would love to see hundreds of Warner Brothers cartoons available on DVD. And with luck, maybe we will get them.
Rating:
Summary: Nearly Perfect!
Review: I love the DVD. While I'm bummed a few of my favorites are here, I realize that they can't include everything in the first collection. I would have given it 5 starts, but the volume on the DVDs seems low. I have to turn up the TV much more than normal. Other than that, this is a must-have for any Looney Tunes fan.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest cartoons ever made in an amazing DVD collection
Review: Hats off to Warner Brothers for a truly magnificent presentation of the beloved LOONEY TUNES. I grew up with these cartoons on TV (was too young to have ever seen them on the BIG screen), and then rejoiced when they became available on videocassette. The excitement continued when laserdisc boxed sets hit the scene, but now with DVD, we get a bountiful assortment of these animated masterworks with picture and sound quality that is astounding. Each cartoon has been lovingly restored, as originally seen in theaters, without any digital "clean-up" that gives a sense of inauthenticity. We see the clarity of the original, authentic animation, and can revel in the wit, humor, and madness that was LOONEY TUNES. This set was obviously a labor of love put together by many of the more renowned scholars of classic animation. There are hours and hours of entertaining and intelligent supplements that are sure to please the true cartoon buff. After reading his great books for years (and loving them!) it was great to see the esteemed Mr. Jerry Beck among the many people interviewed in the new documentaries on this set. Mr. Beck has done much great work on behalf of cartoon lovers everywhere, and it's obvious that his involvement has had a lot to do with why this is such a superb collection. I also loved the commentaries from Michael Barrier, and Greg Ford. One of the semi-hidden gems on this collection is Mr. Ford's rarely-seen short BLOOPER BUNNY. Although I usually eschew any recent animation projects involving these beloved classic characters, Mr. Ford obviously gets what they are about and loves them. His BLOOPER BUNNY can be viewed with or without a commentary, and that short alone is worth the price of this great collection. Then there are the vintage cartoons themselves. Eye-popping TECHNICOLOR images now replace the faded pinks and purples we were saddled with before! Virtually every great WB character is represented here, with obvious emphasis (thankfully) on the wascally wabbit Bugs Bunny (my favorite cartoon character). Each and every one is well-chosen, and a fine representation of WB animation at its zenith. I'm certain that this is only the beginning of what will be a wonderful series of DVD sets to treasure. I'll be watching this GOLDEN COLLECTION over and over again, eagerly awaiting Volume 2,
Volume 3, Volume 4, and many more!
Rating:
Summary: too many favorites missing
Review: I would have given an extra star if they had included"One froggy Evening".
Rating:
Summary: Who's complain', doc?
Review: OK - its not authoritative, it leaves out many great shorts, it doesn't follow either chronologically or by director, its has some slag (some of the shorts on Disc 4 are lackluster - "Broken Leghorn" and the Gambling Bug - never two of my favorites), and maybe Warners has a nefarious marketing plan to string us all along for the next 15 years. You know what? It just doesn't matter. For the most part, these shorts are well-chosen, beautifully restored, and a delight to look at. Purists and cinema scholars will inevitably be disappointed but its such a delight to see and have "Duck Amuck", "Baseball Bugs", "The Rabbit of Seville", "Bugs and Thugs" and 50 others that I can wait 3 years for "What's Opera, Doc?" and others, if need be. Get this set.
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