| Sunday, June 15, 1997 |
 Scene from the special. |
1991's " Blooper Bunny ", a previously un released Bugs Bunny cartoon was shown on " The Cartoon Network " during it's 48 hour " June Bugs " Bugs Bunny marathon. It broadcast Friday June 13, Saturday June 14, and Sunday June 15 at 8 p.m. (Eastern). The premise of the toon was a celebration of Bugs 51-1/2 birthday complete with " bloopers ". |
| Thursday, May 22, 1997 |
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The U.S. Postal Service has released the Bugs Bunny stamp on May 22, 1997. Warner Bros. has also given the US Postal Service the right to use 15 other Looney Tunes characters on postage stamps over the course of the next three years. |
| Monday, May 5, 1997 |
| Monday, April 14, 1997 |
| Saturday, March 22, 1997 |
The following was posted to alt.animation.warner-bros about WB re mastering all the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts!
Subject: Re: Remastered Looney Tunes From: scosta@ccnet.com (Steve Costa) Date: 1997/03/22 Newsgroups: alt.animation.warner-bros In article <5gqe7b$1mi$1@ccnet2.ccnet.com> , scosta@ccnet.com (Steve Costa) wrote: > I just read a post on alt.video.laserdisc that Warner Brothers is currently in > the process of remastering all of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies series. > According to the post, Warner Brothers has gone back to the old IB Technicolor > prints and have made new video masters directly from the IB prints. The > quality of the prints has gone up considerably, although this isn't as good as > going back to the original YCM Successive Exposure Negatives. According to the > post, the cartoons we view on the boxed sets were taken from mediocre quality > dupe negatives some of which were faded and lacked good color resolution. > Apparently Warner is certain that they will release these on DVD format but is > unsure about release on lasrerdisc. > > If this is true hopefully someone can confirm it, Jerry Beck are you out > there? I'm wondering if these remasters include ALL of the Warner cartoons > even the " censored 11 " etc. I would also like to know if these remasters > restore original titles and credits and finally get rid of the crappy " Blue > Ribbon " re-release titles that mislabel Looney Tunes as Merrie Melodies and > vice versa AND playing the correct musical theme for the cartoon in question. > Let's hope for the best! > > > Steve Costa > (scosta@ccnet.com) I wrote Jerry Beck regarding the above posting and he informed me of the following: To the best of his knowledge Warner Brothers IS remastering the pre-1948 Looney Tunes/ Merrie Melodies but not from the IB Technicolor prints. According to Jerry they ARE using the YCM successive exposure negatives. By doing this Warner Brothers will restore all the original titles and music to these cartoons thus finally eliminating those awful "Blue Ribbon" re-release titles that mislabel so many of the pre-1948 cartoons. HOORAH!!! Jerry believes that ALL of the Warner Brothers cartoons will be re-mastered including the black and white cartoons and "The Censored Eleven". This doesn't guarantee that they will release them, WE animation fans need to be "squeaky wheels" in this regard and keep up our lobbying efforts. Until the MGM/UA-Turner release contract is concluded Warner Brothers can only release a third of the pre-1948 material, they cannot release Turner's cartoons at whim. I believe by 2000 the rights will completely revert to Warner Brothers including Warner Home Video, The Cartoon Network, and The WB Network. Hopefully the fact that Warner Brothers is re-mastering these cartoons bodes well for us collectors, the fact that they would invest the time and money to do this speaks for itself. I think they intend to digitalize these re-mastered cartoons for use on DVD. Jerry said that they intend to initially release two DVD cartoon releases, one a tribute to Chuck Jones and the other a sampler of different character cartoons consisting of tweleve cartoons per disc. Wouldn't it be great if Warners released their ENTIRE cartoon library on laserdisc and/or DVD. The DVD medium offers potential..whether it takes off as a viable format only time will tell. Let's cross our fingers! Steve Costa (scosta@ccnet.com)
| Tuesday, March 4, 1997 |
The following message was posted in rec.arts.animation by Joe Alaskey (the voice of Plucky Duck on " Tiny Toon Adventures " and the current voices of Daffy Duck, Sylvester, and Tweety).
It looks like some bad news for new Chuck Jones cartoons, folks:
Hi, I'm Joe Alaskey. And I'm not really a duck. I just play a few on TV...
I'm going to ask you all a small favor on behalf of Chuck Jones
Productions.
Recent cutbacks at Warners have led to discussions between WB and CJP
regarding future financing. No one really wants to see the Chuck Jones
shorts program brought to a halt. Negotiations are going on now with some
success.
What can YOU do to help Chuck Jones Productions survive?
You can SEND SNAILMAIL (a postcard or letter ONLY - NO E-MAIL, PLEASE!)
to the Warners executives whose decision this will be. You can give your
vote of confidence in Chuck's vision, your vote of trust in his artistic
integrity, and of faith in his guidance in keeping the classic cartoons
structures and characters alive.
Corny, ain't it? But I mean it. This is your chance to show Chuck that you
believe in his work - past, present and future.
I'm a VA. I was hired to do Sylvester for one short, FATHER OF THE BIRD,
and it was an honor and career highlight for me. But I'm not asking for
myself...
... Well, not just for myself... %}))
Seriously, Chuck's hand-picked animation team is at it day and night,
trying their damnedest to deliver quality - and everyone there feels the
quality is improving with each effort. There are plans for more cartoons -
damn funny ones, from the storyboards I've seen - starring other classic
WB characters - cartoons just waiting for the green light. In November
'96, CJP wanted to release 6 a year starting in '97. Now they're
discussing the possibility of even fewer releases.
If you've supported Chuck's work in the past - anything from buying a cel
all the way up to a belly-laugh, please help.
The bottom line:
Wouldn't you rather have more Chuck Jones cartoons than not?
Write (SNAILMAIL ONLY, PLEASE!) to:
Bob Daly or Terry Semel (or both!)
Warner Bros.
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522
and/or to:
Gerry Levin
Time-Warner Inc.
75 Rockefeller Plaza
N.Y.C., NY 10019
| Wednesday, February 19, 1997 |
According to Keeper's Cartoon Files Page, that " Animaniacs " writers Paul Rugg and John McCann now are slated to begin work on a new series starring Daffy Duck (new
cartoons -- not to be confused with The Daffy Duck Show). No details have been determined yet.
| Friday, February 7, 1997 |
The pre-1948 library of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons which were formerly owned by Turner Entertainment, are airing for the first time ever
along side the Warner Bros.-owned post-1948 cartoons on The WB's " The Daffy Duck Show ". This all takes place after the merger of Time-Warner and Turner.
| January ??, 1997 |
Rumor has it that a new Bugs Bunny film is in the works at Warner Bros., titled " What's Up Bugs ".
| January ??, 1997 |
Warner Bros. and Turner Entertainment have merged. As quoted from Warner Bros. Animation:
