Warner Home Video presents

Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction (2003)

“Now go up there and don't come back until you find something either phenomenal, outstanding, or unexplained.”- Daffy Duck (Joe Alaskey)

Stars: Joe Alasky, Bob Bergen, Greg Burson, Jim Cummings, Grey Delisle, June Foray, Tom Kenny, Maurice Lamarche
Director: unknown

Manufacturer: WAMO
MPAA Rating: G for nothing offensive
Run Time: 00h:42m:32s
Release Date: 2003-10-28
Genre: animation

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
D-	C+	B+	B	D+

 

DVD Review

To be truthful I have never been much of a Disney fan. The characters and creations of Walt and his friends never really did it for me. My tastes have always been geared more towards Sylvester, Bugs, and Daffy, who have delighted generations throughout the past half-century. In all honesty, my proudest moment as an uncle was when I saw my three-year-old niece get more excited over Looney Tunes than Disney. It may very well be that the kid is showing signs that she is a genius.

When it was announced that Warner Bros. would be releasing a classic collection of Looney Tunes shorts, I was ecstatic at the prospect of sitting back and relaxing in my own home, spending hours going through some of the funniest animated shorts ever created. But with pleasure also comes pain, this time in the form of Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction. This collection of nineteen "webisodes," released first on the Warner animation website, cover a wide variety of parodies, including numerous sci fi television shows such as The X-Files and Unsolved Mysteries.

While several of the included clips are rather dreadful, some do provide a few small laughs. The funniest shorts may well be Tech Suppork and Cube Wars, two pieces that place the characters in everyday situations. Others do not fare as well, including those that try to parody B-grade science fiction films and literary classics including The Taming of the Shrew.

The largest flaw with this release is the fact that several shorts toward the start of the collection offer up a common theme of parody, while those toward the end are a hodge podge of subject matter. While I do credit Warner for releasing the set in an effort to introduce a new generation of children to the classic characters, this seems more like a quick cash-in on a recent boom in popularity than anything else.

The animation is of lesser quality, which is unsurprising considering the shorts were originally released in Flash format on Internet browsers. The animation is choppy and lessens the quality of the already disappointing content.

Rating for Style: D-
Rating for Substance: C+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Each of the shorts is presented in a full frame aspect-ratio and the transfers are nearly terrific. Colors are rich and detailed with no bleeding or noise—just simply stunning from start to finish. There are some instances of aliasing that are distracting, however, and sharpness is also a problem.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: Though the mix for Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction is Dolby Digital 5.1, it may as well be Dolby Surround. There is very little activity in the split surround channels, so little in fact that I am not sure there is any at all. The center channel does much of the work, and dialogue is crisp and clear with very little distortion, unless you count Daffy's manner of speaking.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 21 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, Spanish, French with remote access
Weblink/DVD-ROM Material
Packaging: Snapper
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: Aside from the Whack an Alien game that is offered when the disc is inserted into your home computer, this release nothing in the way of special features.

Extras Grade: D+
 

Final Comments

I would like to be able to recommend Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction for the simple fact that it features some of my favorite comic creations, but this release is near the bottom of the barrel in terms of animated entertainment.

Kevin Clemons 2004-10-07