WB Archive Collection: Discs On Demand!

[Daniel]

Warner shared some preview clips:




Nice! Lookin' real good.

[Randall]

From The Digital Bits:

Complicating matters here is the fact that almost everyone from the Warner Archive has recently been pink-slipped by AT&T and Warner Media.

WA also announced that their March "4 for 44 sale" will be their last one.

However, there are reports that WA is NOT closing down. So, what does it all mean, exactly...?

[Daniel]

From the sounds of it, it's the last sale for the WBShop and there are no plans for Archive to close up shop.

[Randall]

But what about everyone at WA being laid off? Hard to run a label with no employees. I wonder if the Bits got it wrong.

[Daniel]

I'm thinking they did. It's likely the employees at WBShop that were laid off.

[Ben]

Also donut forget that WB and Universal signed that joint catalog collaboration thingy, so it could be that Archives continues under that deal. The label might just become a catalog brand under that and get regular distribution as Uni's MOD discs already do.

WBShop is closing, that’s confirmed. Archives will continue: how, we donut yet know for sure, but I'm fairly certain the 4-4-44 sales are over, though maybe the overall SRP may drop to a more reasonable 9.99 or 14.99 anyway under the Uni deal.

The only thing we can really do is...wait and see, but either way stacking up in this "last" sale is the way to go.

[Daniel]

Definitely. Although there isn't much left that I really want.

[Daniel]

Coming soon - "Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space":

NEW 2020 1080p HD masters
JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS IN OUTER SPACE
Run Time 352:00
Subtitles English SDH
Audio Specs DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English
Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 4x3 FULL FRAME
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration 2 BD 50
Rock stars Josie and the Pussycats are out of this world...literally! When the bumbling Alexandra accidentally launches Josie and the gang into outer space, they travel through the galaxy searching for a path back to Earth. Along the way, they meet cat people, robot monsters, evil dictators, space pirates and plenty of strange creatures, including their new companion Bleep, voiced by Hanna-Barbera legend Don Messick. Fortunately, everyone’s a fan of Josie and the Pussycats, including aliens! Rocket through the universe with your favorite superstars as they save the day, sing some songs and have a hip-happenin’ good time in a 2-disc, 16-episode Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space complete series collection that hits all the right notes!

[EricJ]

I'll say it: Melody was the CUTEST dumb-blonde in history. She seemed to have fun, and was always enjoying it.

[droosan]

I'll admit a fondness for Melody, as well .. but I enjoyed her a tiny bit more in the comic books, where ♪ her dialogue always had l'il music notes! ♫

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space was among the earliest H-B 'SatAM' series to be made available via MOD-DVD on Warner Archive .. I suppose it's fitting its Blu-ray reissue may be among the last.

Come to think of it, the same can be said for Thundarr the Barbarian.

Though -- I do hope WA continues, in some form.

And that a 'Tex Avery volume 3' BD set is still in the works ..


I'm currently planning to scoop up the remaining 'SatAM' series that I'd never bothered to purchase -- Funky Phantom, Goober And The Ghost Chasers, and a few others -- if/when the last '4 for 44' sale begins.

[Randall]

Okay, I'm in for Josie, too. Selling my H-B DVDs on eBay has been surprisingly profitable, which makes upgrading worthwhile. And comments online seem to indicate that the HD remasters look great for these, for the most part.

Melody is sweet and fun as a cartoon character... but she would drive me crazy in real life. I'm more of a Valerie man. I like the smart ones.

Warner Archive's entire list of announcements today was very strong, especially if you like musicals, as I do. I do surely hope that they do continue. I have to assume that Bill at the Bits got his wires crossed. The Warner Shop IS closing, but I assume that Warner will still want to sell product somewhere. (Reportedly, more in-house, and going along with their Universal agreement, but we'll see what happens.)

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=28248

https://deadline.com/2020/01/universal- ... 202831261/

[EricJ]

They know the online Archive fans are keeping the Hanna-Barbera brand alive, especially the hard-to-sell 70's titles.

The attempts to make Blue Falcon and Wacky Races a "mainstream" house brand again doesn't quite seem to be taking hold with the mass audiences (since WB did such a good job of convincing them why they should laugh at Scooby and the Superfriends), they're not going to kill the Archive's one golden goose quite yet, in one form or another.

[droosan]

Melody is sweet and fun as a cartoon character... but she would drive me crazy in real life. I'm more of a Valerie man. I like the smart ones.

All three Pussycats are pretty darn awesome.

It was Alexandra you had to watch out for.

[Randall]

Bill Hunt did have this to say today:

Also in announcement news today, the Warner Archive has just revealed a slate of new catalog titles coming to Blu-ray in April... A few of you will no doubt wonder how this is compatible with my comment from last week that a lot of the Warner Archive team was recently let go by AT&T and Warner Media. And it’s because most of Warner Archive’s release slate is programmed a solid year in advance. The day to day operation of the brand is now just being handled by the regular Warner Bros. Home Entertainment team (those few who have survived the company’s many rounds of layoffs at least). We still don’t know what impact this might have on Warner Archive releases at some point down the line.

[Ben]

Still sayin' that Universal pact will come into play on all of this...