Looney Tunes Super Stars is a series of single-disc Looney Tunes cartoon-compilations, with each DVD release entirely dedicated to a particular well-known Looney Tunes character. The series released nine different releases from its start on August 10, 2010, until its end on April 23, 2013, serving as a continuation of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection series.
In 2008, in response to declining sales of DVDs and the growing popularity of Blu-rays at the time, Warner Home Video was convinced that consumers were only interested in high-definition material on home video made and therefore made a drastic decision to cater to that market via the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD line. Upon learning that the post-1953 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons were shown in theaters cropped to 1.85:1 widescreen format while still animated in the fullscreen Academy ratio of 1.37:1 like the earlier pre-1954 cartoons, Warner Bros. decided to present the post-1953 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons in this cropped widescreen aspect ratio on their first titles of the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD line Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire and Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl.[1] On December 1, 2010, animation expert Jerry Beck explained on the Shokus Internet Radio call-in talk program, Stu's Show that Warner aimed this series, not at collectors, but at the mass market who expect it to fit on their widescreen TVs.[2]
On December 14, 2012, Jerry Beck stated on Stu's Show that he will be picking some cartoons for the future of the Looney Tunes Super Stars line.[3] However, as the budget to restore more never-before-released on DVD Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons had run out in 2014, the Looney Tunes Super Stars line came to an abrupt end, with Marsupial Mayhem being the last collection of the release, causing the other proposed character volumes to be canceled.
Controversy[]
Collectors were upset to find that all post-1953 cartoons from the first two Looney Tunes Super Stars collections (Hare Extraordinaire and Frustrated Fowl) were presented in widescreen format instead of Academy ratio. This widescreen format, which crops both the top and bottom of the image, resulted in these affected shorts having certain visual gags and other important visual elements cut off.
As a result of these complaints, later volumes presented their cartoons in both formats, similar to how Warner Home Video previously presented most of its family feature films on DVD during the previous decade[4]. However, the Porky & Friends and Sylvester & Hippety Hopper DVDs only contain fullscreen versions of the cartoons.
A Super Stars cover for a scrapped Elmer Fudd release that was used in digital services
Despite the series being scrapped at the time, a cover for a Super Stars Elmer Fudd set was used in digital releases of a collection of Elmer Fudd cartoons on iTunes Video and Amazon Prime Video.[5][6]
The Supergenius Hijinks and Marsupial Mayhem discs contain the usual content warning on the back of their cases, however they do not carry a disclaimer.
