Apparently the special features have been recorded for season 2 of Freakazoid!, so we should get it next year, probably along with the rest of the first season of Tiny Toons. (Some of the artists did interviews for Tiny Toons special features that weren't used in the first box, so I'm assuming -- hoping -- they're being saved for the second.)
There are still no plans for Volume 4 of Animaniacs, which is disappointing even though most of the episodes from that season don't have a great deal of re-watch value for me. But to be honest my main worry about the '90s WB series was that we would get half the Freakazoid! episodes and not the rest; if the second and final season comes out as planned, I'll be pretty satisfied with the haul we got. Though it would be nice if they'd finish Tiny Toons, since in my opinion -- unlike with Animaniacs -- the very best episodes of that series came after the first 65 episode run. (The difference is that Tiny Toons had characters who were capable of development, especially after they'd become distinct enough from the old WB characters; Animaniacs mostly had characters who didn't have a lot of facets to their personalities or relationships -- except Pinky and the Brain, which is why they got their own show -- so there weren't really any new stories to develop for them. Hence the eventual over-reliance on parodies of movies and other TV shows.)
Monday, October 20, 2008
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7 comments:
I'm glad to see the second season of FREAKAZOID coming out too, but I'm a little surprised. I didn't see that on store shelves anywhere around here.
The present Warner Home Video marketing effort pales next to that of every other distributor, including anime and porn.
Good news! I was so happy that "Freakazoid!" came out on DVD, I was certain I'd never see it again except on my old VHS copies from the original run. I've been really lucky in that the lesser TV shows I liked ("Dinosaurs", "Sledge Hammer", etc.) have finally made it to DVD. The only 2 that haven't and probably won't are "Daria" and, of course, "WKRP".
Er, I mean that "WKRP" isn't being released in its complete form, not that there aren't some substandard DVDs available.
The main handicap of Animaniacs was that a lot of it's characters ether relied on formulas for their cartoons or on High concepts.
that made their cartoons far less driven by differing personalities and more dependent on a single idea.
(and an idea that just didn't give way for very much creative potential, unlike the Road Runner formula cartoons.)
Animaniacs made a few attempts to strive from the formula in a few Warner Sibling cartoons. King Yakko uses the "Warners bother jerk" idea, while at the same time broadening the character's personalities and increasing the possibilities of the characters.
Another problem with the first 65 episodes is that they were all made so quickly that even if someone made an attempt to broaden the characters, the others wouldn't be able to incorporate that into their cartoons of the same characters, and that's why the Warner's personalities differ a lot from writer to writer. They were all relying on the same slightly vague character description, and they all made what they wanted of them.
One 90s WB animated show I would love to see on DVD is Taz-Mania. I never watched much of that show, but what I did see was quite entertaining. I find it interesting that the first new animated TV series from Warners after their break-in with Tiny Toons was a show based on a supporting LT & MM character who had only appeared in a half-dozen shorts and was most likely getting his own show largely because of all the merchandise he was being featured on. No wonder some consider Batman: TAS to be WBA's next show after Tiny Toons. Jaime, what are your feelings on Taz-Mania? The reason I go to this blog is chiefly to hear your musings on Warner's various TV cartoons from the '90s, but you've never even mentioned Taz-Mania.
Another show I want on DVD in the foreseeable future is the Duck Dodgers series. I feel that series was a decent attempt to revive the sprit of the "Silver Age" WB cartoon comedies, with many key staff members (Tony Cervone, Chris "Spike" Brandt, Paul Dini, Tom Minton, and ever Tom Ruegger for a 2-parter) being veterans of that era. Again, I would like to hear what Jaime's feelings on that are (and if you haven't seen it yet, Jaime, you can find plenty of clips on YouTube and DailyMotion). Since it's been said that starting around the second season of Justice League that WBA switched to high-definition widescreen for all their shows, I wonder if HD widescreen versions of Duck Dodgers exist (or for that matter, Baby Looney Tunes, Loonatics Unleashed, Tom & Jerry Tales or the most recent Scooby-Doo productions). Hmmm....
I also wish they would release Road Rovers (which from what I can tell, Jaime did not care much for), since it only lasted a single 13-episode season. They could release it all in one single budget-priced two-disc set, and not have to worry about future sets.
Then there's Histeria (which Jaime didn't like at all, and I can kinda agree with him I guess, the characters on that show didn't quite grab the way the ACME Loo crew, the Warners, Slappy & Skippy and Pinky & the Brain did in their best cartoons, but I haven't taken a good, close look at show in ages. Maybe it's high time I watched some episodes on AOL Video/IN2TV.com). I don't know how they would release Histeria. Box sets would probably sell poorly, so many some smaller releases? Maybe single disc releases with the episodes organized by theme and/or the historical era in which they took place?
And lastly, they should release Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain for the sake of complicity.
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