‘Looney Tunes’ Collector’s Choice: Volume 3 Blu-Ray Review – A Reliable Source Of Fun

They say the third time’s the charm, to which we’ll add THREE times the fun and 300 times the laughs! Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 3 provides 25 classic Warner Bros. cartoons, here for the first time on Blu-ray and spanning 30 years (1934-1964), the Golden Age of animation! And with rarities featuring Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, and Tweety & Sylvester – directed by Warner Bros. cartoon geniuses Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery and Robert McKimson-this collection is one for the ages. Highlights include some of the first and last original Bugs Bunny shorts; landmark early appearances by Egghead and Elmer, hilarious rarities with Bobo the Elephant and Quentin Quail; and the first color Merrie Melodies short “Honeymoon Hotel”.

• A Feud There Was (1938) Elmer Fudd/Egghead – Directed by Tex Avery

• A Hop, Skip and a Chump (1942) – Directed by Friz Freleng

• China Jones (1959) Daffy Duck & Porky Pig – Directed by Robert McKimson

• Cinderella Meets Fella (1938) Egghead – Directed by Tex Avery

• Dumb Patrol (1964) Bugs Bunny – Directed by Gerry Chiniquy

• Egghead Rides Again (1937) Egghead – Directed by Tex Avery

• Elmer’s Pet Rabbit (1941) Bugs Bunny & Elmer Fudd – Directed by Chuck Jones

• Hobo Bobo (1947) Bobo the Elephant – Directed by Robert McKimson

• Honeymoon Hotel (1934) – Directed by Earl Duvall

• I Only Have Eyes For You (1937) – Directed by Tex Avery

• Mexican Joyride (1947) Daffy Duck – Directed by Arthur Davis

• Mr.and Mrs. Is The Name (1935) – Directed by Friz Freleng

• Of Rice and Hen (1953) Foghorn Leghorn – Directed by Robert McKimson

• Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958) Bugs Bunny – Directed by Robert McKimson

• Punch Trunk (1953) – Directed by Chuck Jones

• Quentin Quail (1946) Quentin Quail- Directed by Chuck Jones

• Riff Raffy Daffy (1948) Daffy Duck & Porky Pig – Directed by Arthur Davis

• Saddle Silly (1941) – Directed by Chuck Jones

• Sheep Ahoy (1954) Ralph Wolf & Sam Sheepdog – Directed by Chuck Jones

• The Mouse on 57th Street, The (1961) – Directed by Chuck Jones

• The Sheepish Wolf (1942) – Directed by Friz Freleng

• There Auto Be a Law (1953) – Directed by Robert McKimson

• Tugboat Granny (1956) Tweety & Sylvester – Directed by Friz Freleng

• War And Pieces (1964) Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner  – Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble

• Wet Hare (1962) Bugs Bunny – Directed by Robert McKimson

For thoughts on Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 3, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

Video Quality

Warner Archive keeps up a notable level of care with this presentation of the third volume of the Collector’s Choice series on Blu-Ray while still falling slightly short of the usual quality from the premiere label. As with the first two volumes, this would appear to be due to this release utilizing a mixture of masters that were created for Max a few years ago and newer remasters conducted by the team at Warner Archive. While these masters are largely lovely, there are small issues that keep this from being your typical slam-dunk release from Warner Archive. 

The elephant in the room with these releases is the light amount of DNR applied to some shorts, but never to the degree that impacts some of the worst offenders. In fact, this may be the set that looks the best even when you can see there has been some manipulation. The other drawback is that some of the title cards have been altered from their original aspect ratio to provide a more uniform appearance across the disc. While these are unfortunate anomalies we do not normally experience from Warner Archive, we hope you will not find them to be a dealbreaker for what is a great set overall.

At its best, there is a sterling amount of film grain intact which helps preserve some of the discrete details of the animation. While a good portion of the masters do not seem to have been created by the Warner Archive division, you can at least rest easy knowing they provide a healthy encode that allows these masters to look the best they possibly can. The new disc is filled with dazzling colors that really capture the classic animation. There are no egregious signs of color bleed, compression artifacts or any other digital anomalies. On the whole, these shorts have never looked better on a home entertainment platform. Even with some hiccups, animation fans will still be thrilled to have these looking so good. 

Audio Quality

The audio quality of the Blu-Ray disc is a bit more consistent with what we expect from the label as it delivers a fine collection of DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono) tracks. This presentation may showcase a touch more age-related wear and tear than we hope to hear, but everything appears to be working harmoniously to give you the best listening experience possible. There is a bit of inconsistency in terms of quality, as some sound virtually perfect while others seem to be suffering more age-related strain. Everything is more pleasant than when we have heard in the past, but some sound closer to the DVD quality of the Golden Collection sets as opposed to a brand-new audio experience. This disc also includes optional English (SDH) and French subtitles during all 25 shorts. 

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc. 

Final Thoughts

Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 3 is another fantastic collection of classic shorts that brings out some fan favorites along with some under-the-radar gems we were not sure would ever make it to the HD space. No matter how popular, Looney Tunes is always premium entertainment. We will keep opening our arms wide for this invaluable series. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. We cannot wait for the next installment. Essential 

Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice: Volume 3 is currently available to purchase directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author