WB Archive Collection: Discs On Demand!

[Ben]

I’m up to 18 titles — including all of the above — already! And I got my Looney 3 the other day, so good on those. Didn’t realise that The Strangler got a separate Shout! release and isn’t a WAC title now, though they still have the DVD. I’ll have to lump that in a future order sometime.

Just deciding now on adding some fringe titles while I’m making such a big pile, or whether to try and cut it back a bit. I did "budget" (haha) for this last fall, so am kind of combining two sales' worth here!

Argh…and yeah, after seeing the new announcements, I don’t need my WAC list getting any longer, but think I’ll have to top it out at 20 titles at least. I think that’s going a *little* nuts going over that amount…!?

[Randall]

This was my planned splurge for the spring, so I did a big order, too. It was actually 18 titles for me, which was about half my wish list. That got me Cats and Purr-Ee (Rover will have to wait), and a couple each for Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, and Lucille Ball; and Fritz Lang's western Rancho Notorious, plus a couple others. I also finally grabbed two DVDs that have sat on my list for a while: Cecil B DeMille's Madam Satan, and Green Mansions (Audrey Hepburn - my wife's fave - plays Rima the Jungle Girl). Another one not on sale but I wanted was the 2-disc V: The Final Battle, which Amazon doesn't have in stock.

Now... to watch the ones I haven't watched yet from the last few sales!

[Daniel]

Poor Rover, no respect!

[Randall]

Being so on brand makes me feel less guilty.

[Ben]

Got mine down to 18, too. I did end up at 21 at one point, but with fifty bucks postage to me it felt a little extravagant, so I lost the two extra Garbos I’d added, and one other that I’d seen but wasn’t even on my original wishlist!

So this now gets me back to 16 or so next-sale wants, though that includes a bunch (the Thin Mans, Mickey & Judy, and Jekyll & Hydes) that I still hope will get space-saving multisets down the road. I have DVDs for all but the Jekylls anyway, so not in a rush either way.

Of course, there’s at least 40 or 50 more curiosities or fringe titles that time, expense and rationality prohibit, but I’m happy to just catch those around and about.

Feels good to have wiped all my real must-haves on the WAC list…for now!

[Ben]

My confirmed order rundown: The Broadway Melody; Angel Face; Cats Don’t Dance; A Day At The Races; The Devil Doll; DuBarry Was A Lady; Father's Little Dividend; Gay Purr-ee; Goodbye Mr. Chips; The Great Ziegfeld; Hey There, It's Yogi Bear; Joe's Apartment; Neptune's Daughter; Rover Dangerfield; The Long, Long Trailer; Tarzan The Ape Man; Easter Parade and Dangerous When Wet.

Hey! Joe’s Apartment and Neptune’s Daughter should meet up!

[Randall]

Same: The Broadway Melody; Cats Don’t Dance (at last!); The Devil Doll; DuBarry Was A Lady; Gay Purr-ee; Tarzan The Ape Man

Different: A Cabin in the Sky (so happy!); Isle of the Dead (how did I hold out so long?); Rancho Notorious; The Adventures of Don Juan; The Land of the Pharaohs; The Prince and the Pauper; Without Love (missed that this came out a couple of years ago; Spencer, Kate, and Lucille Ball?!?); Wife vs. Secretary; Libeled Lady
Not on Sale: V: The Final Battle
DVD: Green Mansions, Madame Satan

I'm glad that I picked up a bunch from Amazon when on sale over the past few months, which made my selections easier this time around, though it's still a big splurge.

[Ben]

What’s the story with Cabin In The Sky? Or is A Cabin a different film? I did a search and couldn’t see another one. And I’m not being facetious! If we're talking Minnelli, I’ve always found that just so-so.

I already had Libeled Lady, now I have Wife Vs Secretary, Pharaohs, possibly Pauper on my "next" list, though many others above it. And I’d missed Without Love too! I have all the other Spence 'n' Kates, so will add this, natch.

[Randall]

Right, no "A" for Cabin. I just really like it. Interesting for being an early all-black mudical, sexy Lena Horne, great cast, great music, and I always am intrigued by afterlife morality plays.

[James]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but this thread seems like the target of the article!

"The film fans who refuse to surrender to streaming: ‘One day you’ll barter bread for our DVDs’. As more movies vanish from streaming services, cinephiles are rallying to physical media. Can they save a seemingly dying format?"

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/m ... r-our-dvds

[Randall]

Dying? Maybe. But far from dead. I see articles like this all the time nowadays. The hobby is thriving in lots of ways, with more releases than ever, from lots of both studios and boutique labels. They just don't sell in the millions anymore. But all those boutique labels do great at exploiting the catalog titles, usually in great quality. There's never been a better time to be a film collector.

[Ben]

Well the LD period was something pretty spesch! But, yeah, in terms of quality…

This made me laugh: "Instead of movies, we would watch prestige miniseries, which are like films, but padded out to eight hours by unnecessary subplots and trauma-related backstories." Uh, any of the Star Wars or Marvel series, anyone??

[Daniel]

July titles:

Northwest Passage: (1940)
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL TECHNICOLOR NEGATIVES
Vintage promotional featurette: NORTHWARD, HO!
Original Theatrical Trailer

Idiot's Delight: (1939)
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE BEST PRESERVATION ELEMENTS
Classic cartoons:
THE GOOD EGG
IT'S AN ILL WIND
Original Theatrical Trailer

Harum Scarum: (1965)
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
TOM AND JERRY CARTOONS:
The Cat's Me-Ouch
Of Feline Bondage
Original theatrical trailer

Marie: A True Story: (1985)
Original theatrical trailer

The Stars Fell on Henrietta: (1995)
NEWLY REMASTERED (2024)
Original theatrical trailer

War of the Buttons: (1994)
Original theatrical trailer

Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost/Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders: (1999-2000)
Making-of featurettes
Promotional trailers

[Randall]

Looking forward to seeing all of Idiot's Delight, having been impressed by seeing the Gable musical number on its own previously in one of the That's Entertainment films. Also, I'm likely in for Scoob, having been curious about those films forever.

[Randall]

It's a relatively huge month for animation coming up in January!

- A Cinemascope Tom and Jerry Collection - moving nicely past any so-called "objectionable" shorts and going right to the end of the run, basically; includes bonus cartoons by Hanna and Barbera: Good Will to Men, and the two Spike & Tyke cartoons! It's not exactly the Volume 2 we were hoping for, but not a bad substitute

- And more Hanna-Barebra! Frankenstein Junior and the Impossibles, scanned in 4K from the original negs! Does this mean getting the actual full episodes this time?!?

- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters seems like an odd choice, moving past the earlier well-received compilation films; but the great news is the bonus features, with seven "newer" Looney tunes titles in HD, including:
DUCK DODGERS AND THE RETURN OF THE 24th ½ CENTURY
THE DUXORCIST
LITTLE GO BEEP
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DUCK
SUPERIOR DUCK
BLOOPER BUNNY
INVASION OF THE BUNNY SNATCHERS
Or were these all already on the Platinum sets? Anyhow, handy to have them here with the feature.

George promised that 2025 would be good to animation fans, and he's delivering!