HTF Chat with Warner TV/Animation: April 5th

[Dogbert]

Okay, who was foolish enough to say his name three times?

<JonnyM>: Please release the remaining seasons of Ed Edd n Eddy on DVD! When is Johnny Bravo Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5 going to be released on DVD and are they scheduled? Can they release Samurai Jack Feature Length Movie on DVD? Did Samurai Jack Seasons 1-4 sell very well?

<WarnerBros>: We already answered your Johnny Bravo question tonight. We also received your email 20 minutes ago regarding Ed, Edd n Eddy. There aren't plans for E, E & E at this time. Samurai Jack Seasons 1-4 did well on DVD and we'll look into the feature length movie. Done.

*** JonnyM was kicked by ParkerClack (ParkerClack)

"We already answered your... question tonight. We also received your email 20 minutes ago... Done." CLASSIC!

 

[Peter Paltridge]

<ShawnE>: Any plains for taz-mania on dvd? done
<WarnerBros>: no plans at this time in the US. done.

"In the US"? Hmm.

 

[Nexonius]

Hey, did anyone ask about Marine Boy or Dimension Zero yet? I couldn't answer anymore.

 

[Dogbert]

"In the US"? Hmm.

First thing I did when I read that was to check Amazon's Canada website for a listing. None at the moment...

An oddly worded response to be sure. Could there be something preventing a U.S. release? Did they mean no U.S. release, or no North American / Region 1 release?

Or maybe they just decided to mix up their wording instead of just saying "no plans..."...

 

[SpongeJosh]

I would like to know about Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and X-Men: Evolution Season 4. I know that last one is a long shot but I am eagerly waiting for WB to release these.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is available.

Courage the Cowardly Dog: July 20th. Buy it and we'll hopefully see more.

Woot! Finally, I was getting sick of Australia having this among many other Cartoon Cartoons we don't have. I can rest easier now.

Also, that new CGI Popeye movie HAS to get made so we can get the rest of his Paramount shorts.

Some sacrifices just have to be made.

 

[dtemplar]

I asked if there are any plans for Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle to have a DVD box set. Warner told me there are no plans for a stand alone Tarzan DVD at this time.

 

[Brandon Pierce]

Well, at least they admitted their error.

<MichaelF>: I was told it was mentioned earlier that Season 2, Part 1 of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" is in stores, but that has to be a mistake because it's not listed anywhere. Also, will Captain Planet ever be released?
<RonEpstein>: Lot of late people arriving. Repeated questions
<WarnerBros>: sorry about that...our mistake. You are correct. Captain Planet is being evaluated for release, we answered this a bit ago. done.

 

[dtemplar]

I also heard there are plans to bring the 60s Superboy cartoons to DVD, lets hope we see the 60s Batman cartoons and the rest of the 60s Superman cartoons as well.

 

[Barroll Roll]

did anybody adress what Nick did with Amazon and the DVD-Rs for shows that dont sell as well? That seems like a concept that benefits both the consumer (getting the shows they want) and the network (releasing products with little money put into it, not sending to stores, not dealing with excess copies to sell for 10 bucks like they many of the satam shows for WB are currently going through)

 

[Ioz]

They pretty much shot down all animation release questions except they are looking into Captain Planet and Yogi Bear will probably get some sort of release around the time of its movie (surprise).

 

[Spike Mcdougal]

Hopefully they'll get around to The Big Game eventually...

Okay I like this but is that even possible and if it is how would they do it, especially Tom and Jerry?

There aren't plans for E, E & E at this time

 

[Peter Paltridge]

did anybody adress what Nick did with Amazon and the DVD-Rs for shows that dont sell as well? That seems like a concept that benefits both the consumer (getting the shows they want) and the network (releasing products with little money put into it, not sending to stores, not dealing with excess copies to sell for 10 bucks like they many of the satam shows for WB are currently going through)

Someone asked about that possibility. WB does have something like that running right now (the WB Archive Series) but right now all they use it for is to sell trashy 80's TV-movies starring Phoebe Cates.

Their response was the same as everything else. Either "We'll look into it" or "No plans at this time."

 

[speedy fast]

Also, it was noted before the chat began that those people have no controll over the Warner Archives collection.

 

[Trevor]

and X-Men: Evolution Season 4. I know that last one is a long shot but I am eagerly waiting for WB to release these.

Did they mention anything about X-Men Evolution Season 4 on DVD? Or has Warner Brothers lost the rights to the series?

I'm just looking at the Chat Transcript (http://www.hometheaterforum.com/wiki/htf-chat-warner-television-and-animation-4-5-10) for the chat last night and I see that Warner Brothers is looking into putting Babylon 5 on Blu-ray, but they do acknowlegde that there are difficulties with the CGI in the show. Just for those who don't know, when Warner Brothers made the original DVD's and "high-definition" masters for broadcast, the people who created those masters were unable to find the original computer files in order to expand the CGI shots from their original 4:3 format to 16:9, as had been the original intention in the 1990's. So what the DVD producers did was to take the standard definition masters and they cropped the 4:3 CGI shots on those masters into 16:9, so you ended up with shots where people's heads were cut off, the CGI also featured tons of aliasing and rainbowing, even when it is upconverted to 1080i/p, plus there were even a few shots where the shots didn't feature CGI, but the original prints were maybe damaged or for some reason the DVD producers couldn't use the original film stock for that shot, so they cropped the shots from the standard masters (such as on all the "Previously on Babylon 5" parts). Gord Lacey over at tvshowsondvd.com reviewed the set and included some photos for people to view so that they can see what he was talking about: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/reviews/Babylon-5-Complete-1st-Season/1412 (look under the "Video" sub-heading).

 

[Craig Crumpton]

They're gonna get grilled over the stuff they've abandoned, and I have a feeling every other answer is going to be "We have no plans to continue (blank) at this time."

This is exactly why I didn't bother to join the chat this year. It's become the same old song with them for far too long. (Hey, I made a rhyme!)

I also tire of the constant interjections of product plugs of various stuff that's already been released. Like people who join the chat don't know about those titles already?

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is available.

But there's zero bonus content, and it's an un-remastered print with standard audio:

The transfer for this DVD is average, if not a little below. The movie has a fair amount of dust and scratches, compression, and even goes soft in a few instances. It's a pretty poor transfer, seemingly done from a VHS master copy. Both the widescreen and full screen options seem to come from the same original print.

On note of the widescreen, it is a matted a widescreen. However, the movie was created with widescreen in mind, meaning the framing is better than the fullscreen option. The audio for this release is standard.

There's just so much more they could offer as a special edition. If WHV was too cheap to produce a new featurette with interviews, maybe they'd at least consider recording a commentary track with Burnett, Timm, Dini and Conroy. I'd also like an isolated music track.

<JonnyM>: Can they release Samurai Jack Feature Length Movie on DVD? Did Samurai Jack Seasons 1-4 sell very well?

<WarnerBros>: Samurai Jack Seasons 1-4 did well on DVD and we'll look into the feature length movie. Done.

I'm confused. The only Samurai Jack "feature-length movie" I know of is the series' premiere (because the theatrical film is still in development), and the series' premiere has been released on DVD twice.

 

[veemonjosh]

I'm confused. The only Samurai Jack "feature-length movie" I know of is the series' premiere (because the theatrical film is still in development), and the series' premiere has been released on DVD twice.

I think "JonnyM" was asking if WHV would be releasing the DVD of the theatrical film (and possible series conclusion) that Frederator Studios has been producing when it comes out.

Which I'm not even sure why he was asking about a DVD release of that, because we haven't heard anything about the film itself outside of being on Frederator's active projects list.

 

[Dogbert]

I think "JonnyM" was asking if WHV would be releasing the DVD of the theatrical film (and possible series conclusion) that Frederator Studios has been producing when it comes out.

Which I'm not even sure why he was asking about a DVD release of that, because we haven't heard anything about the film itself outside of being on Frederator's active projects list.

Asking about things repeatedly and extremely prematurely is simply his modus operandi. And, yes, I'd have to agree that is probably what he was asking about...

 

[Jon Cooke]

"In the US"? Hmm.

I recall reading about WB doing some special Looney Tunes discs to help support saving the real tasmanian devils in Australia. It's possible Taz-Mania may have been included (or being considered) for those.

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if we finally see a Duck Dodgers DVD next year to tie-in with the release of the live-action Marvin the Martain movie.

 

[Barroll Roll]

Someone asked about that possibility. WB does have something like that running right now (the WB Archive Series) but right now all they use it for is to sell trashy 80's TV-movies starring Phoebe Cates.

Their response was the same as everything else. Either "We'll look into it" or "No plans at this time."

Typical. At least its a step in the right direction

 

[Trevor]

Unfortunately for those of us who would like to see Seasons 2-4 of the live-action Superboy series Warner's response was the typical "Due to low sales" argument which seems to still be based on the Season 1's sales from 2006. I picked up Season 1 back just before Christmas, and considering that I had never seen the show before, sure it wasn't as good in the half-hour format as the George Reeves' [i}Adventures of Superman[/i] series, but still it is a series that I'd like to see the rest of on DVD, since I doubt that its going to re-enter the syndication market anytime soon, and I wasn't old enough to watch or understand the show when it was originally on.