Jon Cooke sent me this link to a TVShowsonDVD (which has an accuracy rating rivaling Wikipedia) page announcing the contents of the Looney Tunes Superstar Road Runner & Coyote release coming in May, and I had to agree with him that it’s the worst line-up from that series possible. Actually, it sounded like something a cyber-prankster (i.e. me) would come up with. I asked Jerry Beck, and he confirmed that the announcement is accurate.
We all know Warner Home Video’s definition of “classic”, as used for their animation library, is nebulous at best, but it’s obscene to pass off three 3-minute Flash cartoons the Kids WB website put online eight years ago as the genuine article. But this is also a chance for them to air out some of those absolutely charming Road Runner cartoons farmed out to Rudy Larriva at Format Films; unlike the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerry cartoons, which if interpreted correctly may explain certain aspects of the schizophrenic experience, these home-made in the U.S.A. cartoons are kind of the equivalent of taking the formula for a chocolate malt and turning it into a stimulant for syphilis and marketing it to school children.
Yes, these releases are intended for the Wal-Mart and Target crowd (well, I think they are, even though I’ve never encountered these Super Star releases in any actual store). But the original Chuck Jones entries were probably my favorite cartoons as a kid (and in some ways still are), and I definitely knew my time was wasted when one of these imposters aired on Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon. I tell you, if I got a collection like this when I was seven, I’d be pretty disappointed.
