This is news that fans have been waiting for.
Many of you know that about 20 years ago, the first season of The Huckleberry Hound Show came out on DVD. Sales weren’t as good as expected, and that partially weighed into a decision not to release the remaining three seasons. There were also issues finding elements of the half-hour series but, more importantly, there were money problems trying to get the rights to use the Jack Shaindlin and Bill Loose cues as they had returned to the composers’ heirs.
This, evidently, has been worked out. The Huck show, in its entirety, will be available on Blu-ray next month.
The Warner Archive news release contains the following:
To faithfully present these episodes as originally aired, you’ll be able to enjoy each show containing original bumpers and bridges, as well as rarely seen vintage commercials featuring the characters from the series.
This means all the Huck, Pixie and Dixie, Yogi and Hokey Wolf cartoons that appeared on the show (Yogi, of course, was spun off and some of his cartoons appeared exclusively on his show). You can read more in this release.
Will you update your screenshots? I can help if needed?
ReplyDeleteIt finally has happened. I can't believe it. What a time to live in. All of Huck on Blu-Ray. I know you're also incredibly happy hearing this news, Yowp. I am too!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQF0SqyY5ss
DeleteThank goodness.
ReplyDeleteThis is great news! Thanks to MeTV Toons for paying for the show to be fully restored as it originally aired and in HD quality. If the Blu-ray is like the show presentation on MeTV Toons, we will have the Rooster opening theme song in full color. It looks gorgeous. Hopefully THE YOGI BEAR SHOW will also be released soon. Jerry Beck mentioned at cartoonresearch.com that WB is working on getting the music rights cleared for QUICK DRAW McGRAW and restoration has begun on that series. The Holy Grail H-B shows on home video and as they originally aired. Unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteGreg, it is great to see you here. I hope you're doing well.
DeleteI know George wants to do Ruff and Reddy but there's still material missing. And there may be a debate whether to include the live action, though I don't see a need to complicate it.
A set of credits would be great, too; whether HB kept such a thing I don't know.
"Quick Draw McGraw" may be problematic because of the inevitable objection to Baba Looie (as notorious cartoon dialect goes, "Queeks Draw" is right up there--or down there, depending how you look at it--with "Mister Magloo").
DeleteI doubt that lol. Especially when Judo Jack has been restored (twice).
DeleteDaws is doing his version of Desi Arnaz. "I Love Lucy" is still on TV somewhere, and now has phoney colour.
DeleteVelly true about Judo Jack, prease. But he's a one-off character in a single cartoon rather than a primary character of an entire series, so he's probably not as well known. "I Love Lucy" is too unassailable a pop culture institution (those colorized episodes are hideous) to run afoul of the dialect police.
DeletePeople tend to judge cartoons more harshly for these things anyway. Speaking of "Mister Magloo," I recently saw Magoo cartoons on YouTube where Charlie's voice is redubbed. And when was the last time you saw the Frito Bandido?
But both your points are well considered, and maybe there will be no issue if only because these are midcentury limited 2D animation TV cartoons not likely to get much attention from generations brought up on CGI. There will probably be the standard "These are a product of their time" disclaimer on the DVDs anyway.
Warner Brothers has released four later episodes of QUICK DRAW McGRAW on DVD with no issues with Baba Looey. Baba was also in THE GOOD, THE BAD and HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and that got released by Warner Archive on Blu-ray last year. MeTV Toons and Warner Archive are anxious to get QDM on the air and on Blu-ray. All music and restoration issues have been cleared. Warner Brothers has a legal team and they have to clear every Archive release. The music licensing was the only legal hiccup.
DeleteHans, please just let the subject go. You’ve stated this millions of times over and over again. Nobody really cares.
DeleteJust discuss the cartoons themselves. Not constantly bring up this sort of stuff.
Anyone know if it will come out on regular DVD as well as Blu Ray?
ReplyDeleteI'm Anon 2 and nope, this is strictly Blu-ray sadly. But the cost of this is $70 so...
DeleteAnon 2, thanks.
DeleteAnytime Anon 1 :)
DeleteThis is fantastic news. We've all been waiting for this for a long time. A definite purchase. I glad the music cue legal woes were finally settled. Plus, I have always been a big fan of the bumpers that originally aired.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants to know why Ruff and Reddy hasn't been done yet, all except a few shows have been done in 16mm.
ReplyDeleteThis is incredible news! I just heard about it yesterday. I watched all of these on a black and white TV when they were first shown on WGN with interference from Midway Airport. Huckleberry Hound was my favorite show. Now I'll get to enjoy my first childhood again in living Blu-ray color!
ReplyDeleteThis is great news! I wish The Ruff and Reddy Show could next.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, most Ruff and Reddy programs were shot on 16mm as HB was just starting out as a cartoon business and they needed to do all sorts of things to save money. Heard it from a podcast discussing the Huck blu-ray from George F.
DeleteYou can thank Kelloggs for sponsorship. In the budget for Huck, Quick Draw, etc. was money for two 35mm versions of the show that Leo Burnett had in its possession, according to papers Earl Kress had. Ruff and Reddy didn't have that luxury.
DeleteYeah, it's a shame RnR couldn't have 35mm. :/
DeleteI'm also hoping to see Ruff and Reddy on Blu ray. I know it's only 16mm but I'm hoping that Warner Archive can make an exception in this case. I only saw those occasionally when I was a kid.
ReplyDelete6:30pm on Wednesday night was convenient for me to watch Huckleberry when I was 3 or 4 years old! Yogi was on the show at that point.
I think restoring old shows properly are really fascinating because we can look at them in a better eye than a shoddy film print or a used up vcr quality tape. I'm excited for this one because I'm a newer fan of these shows and I would like to see them if people would think about how these shows would look as good if they are properly restored. I hope we can get the other series like The Ruff And Ready Show, Quick Draw Mcgraw Show, and their later 90s H-B cartoon series like 2 Stupid Dogs to have their own complete series DVD.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that they finally have a bluray version of the Huckleberry Hound show! I wish it would be brought back and released in Vietnam! I'm also Vietnamese and have watched a lot of Hanna Babera's shows since 2017 when I learned about the creator of Tom and Jerry, since then I've loved Hanna Babera's shows. I've also watched a lot of Hanna Babera's shows from VHS tapes to DVDs (including Kellog product commercials), I really like shows like Augie Doggie, Yogi Bear, Tom and Jerry, Snagglepuss,....... Although all of those shows are in English, I often have to wake up very early at 4:50 am to be able to watch 2 shows The Yogi Bear Show and The Huckleberry Show on METVToon at 5:00 am and 5:30 am [Vietnam time]. In short, I really like all the shows, but I also regret that those shows have never been broadcast or very few people know about HB shows! I also want to own a DVD or a stuffed animal like yogi bear, Top cat, mr.jinks..... , but it seems that they are not available in Vietnam and can only be bought on eBay at an extremely expensive price for me. I just hope that my wish to have a bluray disc of The Huckleberry Show will come true.
ReplyDeleteDon, I am so glad to see that your blog is still going strong. It is definitely something to Yowp about. I know Earl Kress said that the Huck DVD set did not sell well but George F. with Warner Archive says that was not true. He said it sold very well but it was because of the music rights issue that the other seasons were not released. My question to you, Don, is whether it is the same music rights issues with Huck that has prevented Quick Draw McGraw being released on home video? In other words, are Huck's music rights issues the same or different for Quick Draw McGraw? You have done a lot of research on the music for these shows and I have not done that and I would like to be educated. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI am not going to doubt Earl's word.
DeleteAbout the music, he told me clearance was a problem with Quick Draw, though it used more of Phil Green's music than Huck and I gather there were no clearance problems with it. He said the biggest problems were the Langlois and Loose-Seely cues, same as Huck.
I hope everyone saw this update on QUICK DRAW McGRAW that Jerry Beck posted in May:
ReplyDeletehttps://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/lost-1960s-tv-cartoons/