Batman: The Brave & The Bold Humor

Came across some interesting clips of Warner Bros Animation's current Dark Knight series, Batman: The Brave & The Bold. Seems like the production team have been trying to create some humor stories that are headlined by Batmite, Batman's biggest fan who happens to be a magical imp.
First up is a story parodying the 1970's New Scooby-Doo Movies that teamed up popular TV personalities with the Mystery INC. gang. Set in 'modern' times, the short features Scooby-Doo, Batman & Weird Al Yankovic(?).

Next is a parody of Daffy Duck's classic cartoon "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" with Duck Tracy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_7vZCb_2ss&feature=related
You can see the writers were trying their best to be funny but the stories themselves fall flat with stiff animation, bad acting and a poor music score. At least they're trying.

A Look @ Looney Tunes Super Stars: Daffy Duck

Warner Home Video released a couple of new DVD releases of classic Looney Tunes earlier this month.
I already provided a look at the Bugs Bunny collection, so let's move onto that wacky webfoot wonder, Daffy Duck.Like the Bugs Bunny set, 10 out of the 15 new-to-DVD cartoons have been cropped to widescreen dimensions. CinemaScope was introduced in the 1950's so many studios took advantage of the newly-sized theater screens. Warner's developed animated shorts that could be viewed on both standard and wide screens where the actual footage could be cropped on the top and bottom of the picture. I still wish the DVD developers gave the consumer a choice to watch the cartoons cropped or not.
Let's have a look at the classic cartoons that were released in this new collection:
"Tick Tock Tuckered" (1944)
"Nasty Quacks" (1945)"Daffy Dilly" (1948)"Wise Quackers" (1949)"The Prize Pest" (1951)"Design for Leaving" (1954)"Stork Naked" (1955)"This is a Life?" (1955)"Dime to Retire" (1955)"Ducking the Devil" (1957)"People Are Bunny" (1959)"Person to Bunny" (1960)"Daffy's Inn Trouble" (1961)"The Iceman Ducketh" (1964)"Suppressed Duck" (1965)Unlike Bugs' collection, Daffy's comes with a warning on the back cover of the DVD: "Intended for the Adult Collector and May Not Be Suitable for Children" - so you know they have to be good. Pick up a copy today so all the classic Looney Tunes can be released onto home video!

Marvin the Martian Trailer (1996)

I was always under the assumption that the 1996 3D animated short was traditionally animated rather than being CG.

After reading over the description of the limited edition cel, "You Can't Escape Me, Dodgers!" from the book, "Warner Bros. Animation Art", I can see now what escaped my eyes before. The image is "culled" from the animated short.
Now I'm not so sure I want to see the final product with that bland CG animation...

Looney Tunes #185

DC Comics has recently released the newest issue of Looney Tunes on April 7th.According to the preview, "Daffy Duck has purchased all the cheese in Mexico! Now it's up to Speedy to get some in order to feed his hungry mouse brethren..."
http://dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=14555
It's a shame that modern issues only feature 1 brand new story with re-prints making up the rest of the issue. It would be kind of cool if they reprinted stories from earlier comics from the 40's - 60's...

More Looney DVDs in April

Warner Home Video is finally releasing more from the classic Looney Tunes library this spring.
"Looney Tunes Super Stars" kicks off with Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire & Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl with more releases to follow.Each disc will contain 15 restored and uncut shorts that haven't been available on DVD.
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bugs-Bunny-Looney-Tunes-Comedy-Hour-Looney-Tunes-Future-Plans/13214
Jerry Beck has even hinted that Warners may have a Blu-Ray release planned for the Tunes in the future as well. Be sure to add these new collections to your library when they become available April 27th!

Marvin's 3D Cartoon on DVD?

I wonder if the good people at Warner Home Video will ever be releasing the state-of-the-art 1996 3D short "Marvin the Martian in The 3rd Dimension" to DVD anytime soon?
It is a 13-minute, CGI-animated adventure directed by Douglas McCarthy in which Marvin mistakes Daffy Duck's cheapo space movie to be a genuine intergalactic threat.The short film was a main attraction at Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia and later moved to Six Flags Great America theme park. The film was accompanied by various special effects including water and wind which would correspond to the screen (ei: Daffy spitting while speaking).WHV has been releasing past Looney Tunes compilation films to DVD with extra animated shorts as special features. The next on the list should be "Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island" (1983). Will "Marvin the Martian in 3D" be included? Hopefully, the current trend of 3D animated films will lead the way to the short being released sometime soon.

New Looney Tunes in the Works?

Though most of the suggested are simply rumors and speculation, it seems that Warner Bros Animation is in the process of developing a brand-new television series featuring the Looney Tunes.I first spotted the news over at Golden Age Cartoons on this thread:
http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/showthread.php?t=13202
By following the link above, you can follow it too the original Daffy Duck layout drawing that's posted on cartoonist/animator Jim Smith's blog.
http://jimsmithcartoons.blogspot.com/
According to one member who happens to be a professional animation writer, the series is being written by an improv group called the Groundlings. I'm not sure if that's a good idea if it's true. Comedians writing cartoons? Sure they might know jokes, but can they time an animation gag with printed words?

Quackbusters Finally Hits DVD

According to the latest Looney Tunes DVD news on Golden Age Cartoons, the 1988 compilation video feature will be released on DVD this August!
http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com
Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is considered by many animation fans to be the best compilation film featuring both classic and modern Looney Tunes animation. The feature was both written and directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon who were the last directors to give the Looney Tunes proper treatment by keeping their shorts contempory and keeping true to the classics.Here's a link to an article about their Looney projects from 1992 that describes what work went into Quackbusters, Lunar Tunes, Blooper Bunny plus others that are still sitting in limbo.
http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/2006/06/
The upcoming DVD release will also feature 3 bonus feature animated shorts: Duck Dodgers And The Return of The 24th and 1/2 Century, Superior Duck & Little Go Beep!

Shoot the Duck

Here's a great reference of the classic Bugs & Daffy feud from the opening of a 2005 episode of the Canadian sitcom "Corner Gas".

Shoot the Duck
Uploaded by j-motion

It's nice to see the writers of this comedy series haven't forgotten about the classics. You can find this episode on the Season 3 DVD.

Looney Tunes #168

November 5th marks the release of Looney Tunes: issue #168 from DC Comics.
http://dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=10582
Daffy Duck takes on his role of Stupor Duck once again this month with art by Walter Carzon and Rubin Torreiro. This month's cover features great artwork by David Alvarez and Mike DeCarlo.
(although DC Comic's website has removed the rough artwork by Alvarez and has replaced it with a cover from a past issue, also by Alvarez.)
I'm also curious why January's issue (#170) will be a re-print of issue #136? They haven't run out of ideas already have they?

Duck Amuck: Clerks Style

Here's an homage to Chuck Jones' classic Daffy cartoon by Clerks: The Animated Series.

Clerks: Duck Amuck Tribute
Uploaded by j-motion