Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (November 19, 2024)
The fourth package in a series, Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 4 provides a collection of 25 cartoons “intended for the adult collector and may not be suitable for children”. Previously that appeared to act as code for “shorts that come with potentially controversial elements you might not want the kids to see”.
In this case, not so much – at least not by my observation. Whereas in the past, I could usually pinpoint possibly objectionable stereotypes or whatnot, V4 largely seemed free from these elements.
I tried to pick out these issues with the first three sets but I abandoned that trend for V4. I just couldn’t nail down “problems” enough of the time – and the concept might’ve just been all in my imagination anyway!
I’ll look at the cartoons in the alphabetical order presented here. I’ll provide my plot synopses from IMDB as well as quick thoughts and ratings on a 1-10 scale.
Along Came Daffy (1947): “Yosemite Sam and his brother are starving in their desolate snow-bound cabin. When Daffy shows up as a salesman he finds himself as their target for dinner.”
This short offers the usual “Daffy tries to avoid murder” motif, but it does so with cleverness. We get a bright and fun effort here. 8/10.
A Bone for a Bone (1958): “The goofy gophers mind their own business until a dog wants to bury his bone in their home.”
Not sure why the characters get called “goofy” since they’re much more sophisticated and polite than the average Looney Tunes characters. This makes them unusual in the WB domain and their oddly effete vibe adds amusement to this largely solid short. 8/10.
The Cagey Canary (1941): “A cat tries to capture a little canary bird and not get caught by protective Granny.”
Despite what one might infer from that synopsis, the animals depicted here most definitely are not Sylvester and Tweety. Neither debuted until later.
Nonetheless, Canary clearly provides a precursor to those characters’ adventures, and it becomes a pretty good one. Indeed, I prefer this version of the bird because he lacks Tweety’s cloying cuteness. 7/10.
D’ Fightin’ Ones (1964): “Sylvester and Hector the bulldog are handcuffed together on the way to the pound. They break loose but they're stuck together with cuffs.”
Here comes actual Sylvester, but we find no signs of Tweety – thankfully. Ones does force Sylvester and Hector to work together for the most part, a theme that differentiates it from most of its siblings.
Of course, Ones still comes with the usual violent shenanigans. Nonetheless, I like its twist on the standard “one animal chases/attacks another” concept and it comes with some clever moments. 8/10.
Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939): “Canine Dan McFoo fights for the love of his girlfriend Sue.”
If Dan’s voice sounds familiar, it’s because it offers Arthur Q. Bryan’s first stab at what would become his signature role of Elmer Fudd. Dan sounds exactly like Elmer, though the characters enjoy no other obvious similarities.
Beyond this historical element, Dangerous works well due to its basic wackiness. The short follows a lot of nutty paths. 9/10.
Devil’s Feud Cake (1963): “Yosemite Sam is given three chances to gain his own freedom by bringing Bugs Bunny to Hell.”
Well, that sounds like a dark concept! Cake becomes unusual because it shows the death of a character via the usual cartoon violence that usually leaves no lasting impact.
This becomes one of a few twists in the highly unusual Cake. Weird and wild, it works. 9/10.
Double Chaser (1942): “A mouse sticks close to a bulldog in order to repel a cat, but the cat is determined and the bulldog is an unreliable ally.”
This feels like a role for Sylvester, but that character didn’t emerge until three years later. This leaves us with a fairly anonymous non-speaking feline.
And Chaser offers a somewhat anonymous short. Though it sports some enjoyably weird moments, it doesn’t quite click. 6/10.
Double or Mutton (1955): “Ralph Wolf wants to steal sheep. Sam Sheepdog wants to stop him.”
Ralph exists as a riff on Wile E. Coyote. While Mutton and other Ralph/Sam shorts sport superficial differences when compared to the Road Runner cartoons, these seem minor. Given my disdain for Road Runner, that means Mutton leaves me cold. 3/10.
Fox Pop (1942): “Hearing that silver foxes are all the rage in high society, a fox paints himself silver and gets himself trapped, finding out too late that it's only his fur anyone is interested in.”
This becomes an intriguing concept for a short, and “Pop” explores it pretty well. While not a classic, it nonetheless works. 7/10.
Henhouse Henery (1949): “Little Henery the Chicken Hawk goes hunting chickens with a hammer and clunks Foghorn Leghorn on the noggin. Foghorn sends Henery after the barnyard dog by misleading him into thinking the dog is a chicken.”
While I never loved Foghorn, I did always enjoy Henery. He creates a quirky and unusual version of the predators we normally see in Looney Tunes, and Henhouse uses him well. 7/10.
Holiday for Drumsticks (1949): “The patriarch of a family of farming hillbillies fattens a turkey to slaughter for Thanksgiving Day dinner and does via a veritable feast. A jealous Daffy Duck wants to have all the food for himself.”
Of course, we know this will backfire and Daffy will become the target of the Thanksgiving feast. Nonetheless, the short finds some clever avenues and entertains. 7/10.
Hopalong Casualty (1960): “Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner using a dynamite stick on a fishing pole, a Christmas present wrapping machine, and ACME Earthquake pills.”
My long-time antipathy toward Road Runner shorts doesn’t change here. Honestly, it you’ve seen one, you’ve essentially seen them all, and Casualty does nothing to reinvigorate the formula. 3/10.
Hyde and Go Tweet (1960): “Sylvester sleeps on the ledge outside the office of Dr. Jekyll, who drinks the potion that turns him into a monster. Sylvester chases Tweety as he flies by and Tweety ends up in the Hyde formula that turns him into a giant.”
As noted earlier, Tweety never worked for me, but at least Hyde manages to alter the standard trend in some creative ways. This becomes a well above-average short within the Tweety and Sylvester domain. 7/10.
The Impatient Patient (1942): “Telegram deliverer Daffy Duck is in a swamp with a message for someone named Chloe when he starts to hiccup. Unable to stop his hiccups, Daffy decides to seek medical help, in a old house belonging to a Dr. Jerkyl.”
Another Jekyll/Hyde short so soon? Given that this set presents the cartoons in alphabetical order, the juxtaposition of Tweet and Patient seems coincidental.
A rare black and white short from this one’s era, Patient lacks the crazed inventiveness of Tweet. However, I find Daffy vastly more entertaining than Tweety and his antics carry the day. 7/10.
Leghorn Swoggled (1951): “Henery Hawk does favors for different denizens of the barnyard in order to catch Foghorn Leghorn.”
Another Foghorn/Henery adventure, and this one follows the standard motif to some degree. It forces Henery to obtain a variety of objects to achieve his goals and these bring some mirth, though the short never quite excels. 6/10.
Meatless Flyday (1944): “A hungry spider tries to catch a fly for dinner.”
In other words, we find a fairly typical predator/prey scenario but painted with unusual characters. I like the change of pace and we get some clever moments but the spider character becomes too annoying to allow this short to prosper. 5/10.
Mouse-Warming (1952): “A teen-aged boy mouse falls in love with the girl mouse who lives in the hole across the room. Claude Cat literally comes between them and also tries to stir up a feud between their two families.”
This becomes less “Romeo and Juliet With Rodents” and more your standard battle of wills between a cat and a mouse. Still, the variation on the theme makes it likable. 7/10.
The Mouse-Merized Cat (1946): “Despite his efforts to resist, Babbit hypnotizes Catstello.”
I admit I never loved Abbott and Costello so a version of that duo in animated animal form becomes even less compelling to me. Babbit and Catstello don’t exist as my least favorite Warner characters but they just leave me cold.
The pair only appeared in four shorts, with this one as their final go-round. The folks at Warner couldn’t even decide what species to make them, as they were cats, mice and dogs dependent on the demands of the cartoon.
Here we get them as mice, and the result fares a bit better than usual for B&C, mainly because the hypnotism side offers some creativity. Still, don’t expect much from this mediocre short. 5/10.
Muscle Tussle (1953): “When Daffy’s girl leaves him for a muscle-bound mallard, he takes a tonic that supposedly builds bulk.”
After B&C, we come back with arguably my favorite Warner cartoon character. Tussle follows some semi-predictable paths, but Daffy’s overconfidence makes it enjoyable. 7/10.
Muzzle Tough (1954): “Sylvester the cat tries to capture and eat Tweety Bird.”
There’s a new concept, he said sarcastically. Well, at least the involvement of dialogue makes the one-note plots of Tweety/Sylvester shorts more creative than Road Runner reels. Tough doesn’t quite overcome the drawbacks of the limited concept but it finds some clever twists at times. 6/10.
Peck Up Your Troubles (1945): “Sylvester is determined to get a woodpecker that just moved in to high on a tree.”
If nothing else, it seems nice to see Sylvester pursue a bird other than Tweety. Even though Peck lacks dialogue, this change of pace gives it a jolt of energy, especially since the woodpecker creates new challenges. 7/10.
Quack Shot (1954): “Elmer Fudd goes duck-hunting on a pond, where Daffy Duck proclaims himself guardian of all his web-footed cousins and retaliates against Elmer by using various types of explosives.”
After two Sylvester shorts, we return to the superior shenanigans of Daffy. While we get the usual battles between Daffy and Elmer, Shot comes up with plenty of cleverness. 8/10.
Road to Andalay (1964): “Sylvester uses hunting bird Malcolm Falcon in another unsuccessful attempt to catch Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in Mexico.”
Back to Sylvester, though the involvement of Speedy and the shift to a desert setting gives Andalay a jolt. While the short’s location occasionally means it feels more like Road Runner, it comes with enough creativity to work. 7/10.
The Sneezing Weasel (1938): “Mama hen takes her chicks out to breakfast, but little Wilbur can't get any worms.”
One of the BD’s oldest cartoons, Weasel offers an effort that feels more cutesy than funny. Add to that an annoying antagonist and this one leaves me cold. 4/10.
Streamlined Greta Green (1937): “In a world of anthropomorphic vehicles, Junior wants to grow up to be a taxi, but mom wants him to be a nice, respectable touring car.”
V4 concludes with the oldest of its 25 reels. I like that it presaged 2006’s Cars and that film’s universe, but unsurprisingly, it leans toward the cute side of the street ala the prior short. While mildly amusing, it doesn’t quite click. 5/10.
