Something that I've allways wondered

[babybuggybunny]

Why does all the pre 1948 short of WB are in lower quality that the post 1948 shorts?

[Brandon Panther]

Why does all the pre 1948 short of WB are in lower quality that the post 1948 shorts?
Because WB kept better care of the post-48 cartoons.

As for the pre-48 shorts. I don't know, maybe somebody at a.a.p., or Turner ran out of toilet paper one day, and was too cheap to buy more.

What I wonder is why WB's post-48 package begins with "You Were Never Duckier", instead of "Gorilla My Dreams" which actually was the first 1948-realesed short.

[oceansoul]

Because WB kept better care of the post-48 cartoons.

As for the pre-48 shorts. I don't know, maybe somebody at a.a.p., or Turner ran out of toilet paper one day, and was too cheap to buy more.

What I wonder is why WB's post-48 package begins with "You Were Never Duckier", instead of "Gorilla My Dreams" which actually was the first 1948-realesed short.

I think theatrical seasons start in August or September, and that's when we usually see new colors for rings in LTs. Also I noticed that somehow the credits changed a lot from Haredevil Hare to YWND. The letter type seems different, and texts became capitalised.

I believe the true start of the new era was when Leon Schlesinger left in 1944. That era lasted until the shutdown, and around the 90% of the great ones had been made in this period.

[PF9]

Because WB kept better care of the post-48 cartoons.

To expand on that, the storage conditions at UA were less than ideal compared to WB.

And as for the live action productions sold to a.a.p., they went farther than the cartoons did (in terms of release date).

The cut-off dates for each part of the package (the latest release dates they could have gone to):
Cartoons: July 31, 1948 (latest-released cartoon in package was Haredevil Hare)
Live-action shorts: August 31, 1948 (latest-released in package: Let's Sing Grandfather's Favorites, 8-8-48)
Feature films: December 31, 1949 (the entire slate of features from 1949 was sold to a.a.p., except for two features merely distributed by WB).

Outside of the cutoff dates, 2 post-1949 features were also sold to a.a.p.: 1950's Chain Lightning and 1956's Moby Dick.

Also not included in the a.a.p. package were the B&W Looney Tunes, the post-Harman/Ising B&W Merrie Melodies, and Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (the first Merrie Melodie) - these all went to Sunset Productions.

[Jon Cooke]

To expand on that, the storage conditions at UA were less than ideal compared to WB.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I was always under the impression that AAP/UA/Turner never had access to any original negatives to the pre-48 WB cartoons they owned. (While the restored versions we are seeing on the LT DVDs are sourced from original negatives).

[Treadwell]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I was always under the impression that AAP/UA/Turner never had access to any original negatives to the pre-48 WB cartoons they owned. (While the restored versions we are seeing on the LT DVDs are sourced from original negatives).

That's been my impression as well. I believe Warners supplied AAP with color prints, and their syndicated offerings over the years were dupes. This is evident even after Turner started remastering them in the 80s. The were no longer the multigenerational 16mm messes that they had been before, but they still looked like Technicolor prints.

With WB now restoring from original negatives, I doubt there would be a noticable difference between the last "pre-48" and the first "post-".

[Brandon Panther]

On an additional note, one particular post-48 cartoon that certainly wasn't taken care of by WB was Art Davis' Riff Raffy Daffy.

[Mike]

On an additional note, one particular post-48 cartoon that certainly wasn't taken care of by WB was Art Davis' Riff Raffy Daffy.

I think that has less to do with WB's storage and more to do with that cartoon being made in Cinecolor, rather than Technicolor. Cinecolor was cheaper to use than Technicolor, and a few WB cartoons made around that time went with Cinecolor (they were all Davis cartoons, IIRC). I believe the Cinecolor cartoons overlapped the pre-48 and post-48 periods, too. But yeah, Riff Raffy Daffy has always stood out among the post-48s. It has always looked like it could easily have come out of the a.a.p. package.

Mike

[Matt the Y]

Cinecolor was cheaper to use than Technicolor, and a few WB cartoons made around that time went with Cinecolor (they were all Davis cartoons, IIRC).

There are a few non-Davis Cinecolor WB cartoons as well. A few I know of are "I Taw a Putty Tat" [Freleng], "The Up-Standing Sitter" [McKimson], and "Daffy Dilly" [Jones].

[Ray Pointer]

I think that has less to do with WB's storage and more to do with that cartoon being made in Cinecolor, rather than Technicolor. Cinecolor was cheaper to use than Technicolor, and a few WB cartoons made around that time went with Cinecolor (they were all Davis cartoons, IIRC). I believe the Cinecolor cartoons overlapped the pre-48 and post-48 periods, too. But yeah, Riff Raffy Daffy has always stood out among the post-48s. It has always looked like it could easily have come out of the a.a.p. package.
Mike

The decision to go with Cinecolor for that period was due more so to the waiting time for Technicolor prints. There was such a backlog of orders that Warners went to Cinecolor that year in order to maintain their release schedule.

[PF9]

there are also prints of Oily Hare and Gonzales Tamales circulating with pretty bad color fading as well

[J. B. Warner]

I've seen post-48 cartoons on TV that looked just as bad, if not worse than pre-48s. "Tweety and the Beanstalk" comes to mind (man, was I happy when that one came to DVD!).

[Matt the Y]

The decision to go with Cinecolor for that period was due more so to the waiting time for Technicolor prints. There was such a backlog of orders that Warners went to Cinecolor that year in order to maintain their release schedule.

Why was there a greater backlog of orders that year at Warners than in any years prior?

[Brandon Panther]

I've seen post-48 cartoons on TV that looked just as bad, if not worse than pre-48s. "Tweety and the Beanstalk" comes to mind (man, was I happy when that one came to DVD!).
"Dough for the Dodo", is another post-48 short that seemed to always be in crappy shape until it was released to DVD.

[Ratso]

THIS JUST IN!!!! AN ORIGINAL PRINT OF THE STUPID CUPID DISCOVERED!!!! CHECK IT OUT!!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI)
Note to PF9: You may want to fix your link. A few days ago I clicked on it and got some Japanimation. Now it links to a bad 80s pop video. Not what you intended, I'm sure (though the singer's strange fist moves are good for a chuckle).

[J. B. Warner]

Note to PF9: You may want to fix your link. A few days ago I clicked on it and got some Japanimation. Now it links to a bad 80s pop video. Not what you intended, I'm sure (though the singer's strange fist moves are good for a chuckle).

Uh-oh, somebody's never been Rickrolled before!

[Thad]

I think that has less to do with WB's storage and more to do with that cartoon being made in Cinecolor, rather than Technicolor. Cinecolor was cheaper to use than Technicolor, and a few WB cartoons made around that time went with Cinecolor (they were all Davis cartoons, IIRC). I believe the Cinecolor cartoons overlapped the pre-48 and post-48 periods, too. But yeah, Riff Raffy Daffy has always stood out among the post-48s. It has always looked like it could easily have come out of the a.a.p. package.

Mike

The 35mm elements on 'RIFF RAFFY DAFFY' were misplaced for years, so a really crummy Eastman was used as the master. But the original negatives of those shorts were all prepared for Technicolor, they were only processed in Cinecolor for faster initial releases to theaters (hence the Technicolor hues of 'DOUGH RAY ME-OW' and 'UP STANDING SITTER' on DVD). I own a lovely I.B. Tech print of 'ODOR OF THE DAY' myself. Likewise, so does a friend of the aforementioned 'RIFF RAFFY DAFFY'.

[Ratso]

Uh-oh, somebody's never been Rickrolled before!

I've been hazed? Fine!

BETTY BOOP NUDE! (http://www.ratso.net/boop_nude.jpg)

[oceansoul]

Btw. when a cinecolor cartoon such as "Dough for a Dodo" was reissued with Blue Ribbon rings, was it remade in Technicolor as well? I don't mean the LTGC restoration, but the original reissue. It says "print by Technicolor" in the intro, instead of "color by Technicolor".

[dendawg]

BETTY BOOP NUDE! (http://www.ratso.net/boop_nude.jpg)

OMG, we've been Dick Rolled! :eek:

Hopefully, this won't catch on with 4chan.

[Ray Pointer]

Why was there a greater backlog of orders that year at Warners than in any years prior?

First of all, Warner's, like every other studio using Technicolor had to run their processing and printing through Techniclor's labs. There was a huge back log of orders after World War II, and Technicolor features were taking priority with studios even though the cartoons were shorter. Disney was their biggest and most important client followed by MGM. So for the one year, Warner's opted to use Cinecolor in order to maintain their release schedule. This also eplains why Paramount used Polacolor around the same time.

[Marty26]

There are also plenty of noticeable differences in picture quality between some of the post-48 shorts too. Compare the picture quality in My Bunny Lies Over The Sea to the picture quality in Paying The Piper. You'll notice the former has much brighter colors and cleaner sound.

Oceansoul, You Were Never Duckier used red rings. I think that and A Pest In The House may be the only post-48 cartoons (before 1955) to use them. Although, it's also possible that blue ribbon reissues like Hot Cross Bunny originally used them.

[Marty26]

there are also prints of Oily Hare and Gonzales Tamales circulating with pretty bad color fading as well

Interestingly, Early To Bet actually looks more faded and "old-school" than It's Hummer Time. Even though it was released a year later.