The result: There are no bonus extras, no audio commentaries, no frills to this simple disc release. Why wasn’t a Leslie Cabarga, Ray Pointer, Greg Ford, Leonard Maltin or Steve Stanchfield asked for their input? It’s rare when a distributor of classic films (of any kind) doesn’t enlist the services of a knowledgeable historian or consultant. I’d been quite vocal in my suspicions about this release. Olive Films – a sub-distributor of studio product – announced plans to release a Betty Boop collection about a year ago. We’ve been waiting almost 20 years for the studio (Republic’s holdings are now in Paramount’s hands) to do these right on DVD. The collection was beset by technical problems, not the least of which was the DVNR process.
This was conceived originally by the studio to be an exclusive Laser Disc release – thus I designed the collection to fit by theme onto fifteen disc sides. The films aren’t lost – they’re just buried in a vault by their owners who believe there is no financial incentive to make these classics available.įull disclosure: I was involved as curator on the last large-scale effort to liberate Betty Boop cartoons from the vaults: Betty Boop: The Definitive Collection (Republic Home Entertainment) in 1996. The fact that the Fleischer library (non-Popeye, non-Superman) sits unrestored, and largely unavailable to the public, is a cinematic crime-of-the-century. But how can I argue against these Fleischer cartoons – finally – being released to DVD (and blu-ray). Are these the cartoons I would have selected for an initial “essential” collection – not exactly. Is this what I would have done if I had any say so – No. That doesn’t mean I don’t have reservations and a few nits to pick regarding the final product.
I’ll start at the top with the bottom line: The transfers of these twelve classic Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoons are very good and I recommend you purchase this collection.
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