Eh, I don't know about "just like him"...
Are you referring to the shutdown of 1963, or that of 1969?
Do you have a source for this?
“Happy Rabbit” wasn't an official name for the prototype version of the character. IIRC, it was only used by Mel Blanc in a 1970s interview.
"A Wild Hare" is considered the character's official debut, so the powers that be go with that. Although that didn't stop "Elmer's Candid Camera" from being used in The Essential Bugs Bunny and Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection (perhaps because it's the debut of Elmer Fudd?), so...
All right, I guess that settles it, then.
Okay. I thought it might have been that, except half of it has already been released on modern home video. And it seems to be more often called "The Twelve Missing Hares".
What exactly is "the dirty dozen"?
As for the Buddy cartoons, there have been a few released on Blu-ray in recent years, FWIW.
I did?
That's good to know about your conversation, at any rate.
I don't think it's so much "we can't trust me saying something he told me because I am not a historian". It's that communication from emails aren't reliable for verification. Suppose another animation historian were editing on here, and that person said something here based on an email they got from Jerry Beck. That still wouldn't qualify for the above reason.
"I think sales are the most important thing"
Sure, but we're talking about getting all 1,000 or so golden age WB cartoons out there. That has yet to be written off as hopeless, even if things like the Censored 11 are clearly low priority.
"nobody will buy Buddy"
Okay, maybe you don't mean literally nobody, but...we've already had a few DVD/Blu-ray releases containing Buddy cartoons up to now, accumulating to one sixth or so of the character's filmography. I don't think sales of those releases were hampered much due to that. I also don't see many such releases if the "sprinkling" approach is used, seeing how Buddy was only in 24 cartoons.
In some cases, a cartoon bonus release from WB is the only way* to get a particular LT/MM on modern home video (or at least it was for a long time). The first such ones date back to 2003, the same year the Golden Collection and Spotlight Collection series premiered. I think it's a good idea for the sake of getting even more out there, FWIW.
BTW, according to the Bugs Bunny Video Guide, there are two other releases (The Man I Love and Mr. & Mrs. Smith) with bonus cartoons (Roughly Squeaking and Slick Hare/The Cat's Tale and Sport Chumpions) that were slated for June 18...all have been pushed back a week (June 25).
http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/news/
*The same also applies for other cartoon series owned by WB, Happy Harmonies being a good example.
I don't think personal emails can qualify as sources since there doesn't seem to be a way to verify them (i.e. they're just between two people).
FYI, there was a Looney Tunes animator named Jim/James Davis (1901-1982). While that J.D. also worked in comics, he does not appear to have any relation to the creator of Garfield (take it from me, a major Garfield fan).
I've also just now realized/remembered that we somehow have two articles on that animator here (with either of his first names)...
I wasn't trying to suggest "The Best of Buddy". I meant more like having those cartoons sprinkled about in some (not many) LT releases (CC or otherwise, and again under the expectation that a lot more shorts are under the belt). Or the aforementioned movie bonuses from Warner Archive that star Bosko or Buddy. That kind of approach is actually so we don't need such "best of" collections.
I believe it's for that reason that those characters not only got a Golden Collection disc, but waited until the last volume for it (had the series run longer, the can probably would have been kicked further down the road).
Yes, the prime sort of Looney Tunes are higher priority, quite hard to argue against that. And there doesn't seem to be much focus on black and white cartoons in Collector's Choice so far (just Daffy's Southern Exposure on Volume 2, IIRC). But as Daffyduck100976 pointed out, they are still crucial for those interested in history and/or a complete collection of golden age Looney Tunes, whether one enjoys them or not.
The article in question was deleted.
To clarify, the above sentiment is why I've felt such cartoons would show up on (potential) much later volumes, if at all (leaving aside other options). Many fans aren't thrilled with them, and I get why. But with the shrinking amount of golden age WB cartoons left to release on modern home video, especially the more revered ones from 1936-1964*, well...
*There are plenty of those left currently, so I wouldn't worry on that end. Bugs is almost finished, though.
Dumb Patrol and The Booze Hangs High were both released as movie extras last year, the former having previously premiered on the RIDE service.
I had thought it'd be during an eight or ninth volume that the series might release such cartoons. Although, that was before Vol. 3 was announced to have Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name; since then, I'm not quite so sure. At any rate, seeing how it's called Collector's Choice, it'd probably include more laudable (remaining) cartoons with either character.
It's also worth pointing out that both Bosko and Buddy have had cartoons recently released in HD as movie bonuses, even if they're mostly ones previously restored for the last Golden Collection set. So there's another option if that's what interests you.
I'd say it's a good thing, like it or not, if the powers that be get more of those cartoons (and ones with Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse, for that matter) out on modern home video in some fashion. The logic being that they don't make up so much of the last classic-era WB cartoons to be released.
Do you see the small "2" at the end of Plot? That's meant to connect it to the source in question. It's how references are done on wikis.