WB Archive Collection: Discs On Demand!

[Ben]

You know how they think, Rand...if it's a TV cartoon it must be HB, eh?

[GeorgeC]

At some point in time, I guess you just have to stop caring. Honestly.

Tom & Jerry gets identified with Hanna and Barbera because they created the series but it was NOT a production of Hanna-Barbera in its theatrical years.

People still went to see the Karate Kid re-make in spite of the fact Smith, Jr. was being instructed in Kung Fu! Hey, it doesn't matter what they call the film as long as people see it, right???

(And no, I really DON'T believe those sentiments. I'm still a bit put off by the re-make film's title...)

[EricJ]

Tom & Jerry gets identified with Hanna and Barbera because they created the series but it was NOT a production of Hanna-Barbera in its theatrical years.
People still went to see the Karate Kid re-make in spite of the fact Smith, Jr. was being instructed in Kung Fu! Hey, it doesn't matter what they call the film as long as people see it, right???

(Okay, in trying to figure out WHAT the foggy-blue-Hill that had to do with anything in an 80's-HB/RS thread, you had to make me go and remember the Saturday-morning "Karate Kid" cartoon. Lesser men have died for that. )

[Ben]

I still don't get why they just didn't call it The Kung Fu Kid. Same kind of branding, but it doesn't tread on the old movie's toes and is more factually correct.

Meh, Hollywood. Bah!

[GeorgeC]

WB Store says Thundarr is available now... I didn't see it at Wally World when I went this Wednesday...

Nonetheless, there's a preview of the video quality here --
http://www.wbshop.com/Thundarr-The-Barb ... ID=3821628

Click on the link on this page where it tells you to preview.

FYI, there was no restoration done for DVD. Presentation is as is from the master tapes.

All things considered, the show's intro animation and narration really hold up well after 30 years!

It was definitely one of the more memorable series from the 1980s for me. It wasn't my favorite series -- that honor still goes to Robotech -- but it was one of Ruby-Spears' better series.

[droosan]

I received the Thundarr The Barbarian DVD set in the mail, yesterday .. and just finished watching the first disc.

The video quality is excellent, actually .. as-good or better than what is shown on Boomerang. Nothing in the way of extras -- or even menus (there's simply a generic "play all/select episode" screen upon inserting the disc), but that's okay with me.

The Hanna-Barbera logo has been tacked onto the end of each episode (although the Ruby-Spears branding remains on the opening titles). They probably do this on Boomerang, too .. and I just hadn't noticed it, before.

The packaging is quite nice .. one would never suspect that this was a 'WB Archive' title, at a casual glance. The discs' 'art' side is solid black with the show's title logo and a listing of the episodes contained therein (six on the first disc, and five each on the other three).

All-in-all, this has proved to be an excellent delivery system for a (somewhat) obscure Saturday-morning cartoon. I'm hoping to see many more H-B cartoons released in this fashion.

[Randall]

My review copy is on the way, and it's nice to hear that another fan is already pleased. I have very fond memories of that show. That year, it was one of the few that I really liked.

With more titles already announced or otherwise mentioned as coming, this Archive program is indeed very promising.

[droosan]

Indeed.

I just noticed this morning that Night Court: season 4 is now available from Warner Archive. If that's the only way Night Court can continue on DVD, then I'm more than happy to pay the slightly-higher price.

[Randall]

Absolutely. I'm fully behind these made-to-order programs. After all, if it were financially viable to the studios, they'd prefer to do a mass market release. This is a win-win situation for them because they at least get a sale without expensive production, distribution, and marketing; and the fans get what they want too.

[EricJ]

Absolutely. I'm fully behind these made-to-order programs. After all, if it were financially viable to the studios, they'd prefer to do a mass market release. This is a win-win situation for them because they at least get a sale without expensive production, distribution, and marketing; and the fans get what they want too.

EVERY studio now--even Columbia-- is jumping on the Studio Archive bandwagon, since the entire DVD industry is dead enough in the water for new releases, let alone catalog.
By now, it's safe to assume that if it's a non-AFI 100 movie before 1987 released at all from now on, it'll be Archive.

I'm all for it too, since I don't expect to see a Blu-ray of Doc Savage or The Power any time in the near future--
At this point, I'd just be trying to home-burn my old VHS's anyway to save them; might as well let a professional do all the work.

[Randall]

And the latest:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Legend ... nced/14525

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Funky- ... ries/14524

I figured on The Funky Phantom coming at some point, but Legends of thre Superheroes?!? Wow! I do actually have it on VHS, and would love to upgrade it. It must be seen to be believed!

[EricJ]

And the latest:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Legend ... nced/14525
I figured on The funky Phantom coming at some point, but Legends of the Superheroes?!? Wow! I do actually have it on VHS, and would love to upgrade it. It must be seen to be believed!

And apart from having Superman and Wonder Woman absent due to prior copyright commitments, EVERY great owner of bootleg VHS had one copy of this in their collection.
It's either an admirable effort by 70's standards, or H-B's Superfriends taken to the next Saturday-morning level, but we never expected to see this one in any form. Like, ever.

(It's the H-B/DC equivalent of the Star Wars Holiday Special, both revered and giggled at by its core audience.)

[GeorgeC]

Absolutely. I'm fully behind these made-to-order programs. After all, if it were financially viable to the studios, they'd prefer to do a mass market release. This is a win-win situation for them because they at least get a sale without expensive production, distribution, and marketing; and the fans get what they want too.

My main concern is NOT the lack of extras -- I can live without them as long as the video and audio quality are acceptable.

My concern is how well the Archive DVD holds up.

Are these factory-pressed DVDs, or DVD-Rs?

DVD-Rs have a horrible reputation. They just don't hold up well over time and rot faster than pressed DVDs.

Don't buy the hype about DVD-R's. They inevitably fail. Worst failure rate of all available consumer optical media....

That's one area I've been interested in as far as Blu ray is concerned. BD-R doesn't use dye media for recording and is supposed to be far more durable over the long run than DVD-R. Supposed to be better for video/audio back-up, period. I wouldn't mind putting whole seasons of shows on BD-R even if they're "only" standard-def! Beats counting on DVD-R to archive things or getting stuck carrying around hard drives.

Best durability, however, is still magnetic media and that's where a faster hard drive or even an external HD can be useful. The only problem with using HD's as media back-up is the concern about what hardware connection standards could be even 10 years now.

I think USB will still be around, and USB-3 (due within the next year or so) will support USB-2 and USB-1. The question is what will happen to the Serial ATA and other faster data transmission standards. Remember that SCSI is hardly supported nowadays beyond current expensive card adaptors and legacy card adaptors which or may not work on future PC's.

[Ben]

I was an early champion of the WBAC program, and I still support the format for bringing out some really obscure titles, shorts collections and other content that wouldn't find a mass audience.

I'm also really good about having no extras, though trailers are always welcome and indeed do sometimes make the cut. Even the packaging has gotten away from the standard uniform look to use original poster art (frustrating now since they went back and have updated some of their better sellers in this fashion that I already bought).

BUT...I know they use the disclaimer that they use the "best available video masters", but there should be a quality threshold, especially on bigger titles that they know have been demanded. Case in point is The Power, which was at one point announced as a commercial mainstream title, then for the Warner Archive, and then upgraded to a Remastered Edition WBAC title, which meant they'd done some cleanup or were using a new master but just going the WBAC route instead of the whole mass produced way.

However, the resulting disc is awful, with light print marks and scratches running throughout, and background noise hiss on the soundtrack that must simply be worse than was acceptable even on VHS or LaserDisc. That we have the 2.35:1 framing (as opposed to my TCM pan-and-scan recording) is one thing, but for a title that has been continually requested, and deserves more recognition, I'm worried that some titles are just being dumped into this line without consideration.

Here's our Atlantis/Power review:
http://animatedviews.com/2010/warner-ar ... the-power/


Interesting that Columbia have jumped on the bandwagon, though it's amusing to see that many of the titles in these MOD programs are actually available on proper discs - some with extras - here in the UK. Universal's Gambit (excellent film) and Columbia's 10 Rillington Place (chillingly brilliant) both have wide releases here, with Place having a commentary and interview documentary. Now, with that already accessible, why not make things like that available on these MOD versions?

[EricJ]

Case in point is The Power, which was at one point announced as a commercial mainstream title, then for the Warner Archive, and then upgraded to a Remastered Edition WBAC title, which meant they'd done some cleanup or were using a new master but just going the WBAC route instead of the whole mass produced way.

Got a "remastered" title from one of the other studios--And while "remastering" doesn't always mean a cleanup (those things cost money), it does mean that most of these movies haven't seen the light of day since widescreen TV was invented, and the original film has to be newly scanned into an anamorphic source instead of just uploading their existing 4:3 VHS/TV print.
Which is nice, as the studio at least takes a fresh look at the print, and if it takes too much money (and too much sales justification) for Warner to restore "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" as a commercial title, at this point, I'd take it as an Archive if they could de-letterbox it.