At the Animation Show forum, Ironhorse asks Stephen Worth if he's checked out the new Woody Woodpecker DVD, and if so, if it's worth buying. Worth replies:
I got a copy of the Woody set. I'm going to do some frame grabs and return it to the store. I'll post on it tomorrow.
Am01ne takes offense to this:
No offense to Steve, (with whom I happen to agree in most cases pertaining to digital restorations of most animated releases)... but he seems to put more energy into criticizing and complaining about landmark events (Imagine Universal actually releasing official licensed sets of uncut Lantz material?!) than appreciating the classic films that are sop deserving! These are some of the greatest cartoons from the golden age of Hollywood's studios. Never have they been compiled and collected uncut and in better condition for public consumption before. Overall the set does have some minor faults. Most DVD's do (with the exception of the upcoming Popeye set, I can think of no piece of classic animation released to DVD yet that was not in some way flawed). But all on all, this is a release to be celebrated and enjoyed!
Brandon seems a bit confused by Worth's comments:
You're.... you're gonna BUY a copy... make screengrabs..... then return your copy to the store....???
What is the point...??? I'd frickin keep my copy!!!
Worth's comments must have really struck a nerve for Am01ne, because he comes back later in the thread:
Anyone who buys this just to take screen grabs and return it the next day... well I have to question how much you actually ENJOY watching the cartoons or whether it's become about something else. It's like people working in record stores. I see the same thing all the time. Guys who supposedly love and are passionate about music but spend all day long trashing it! They've put themselves on these high pedestals where they look down upon everything with a snooty attitude if it doesn't fall into their constantly demoded elitist hipster code. Same thing has happened with DVD. Cinephiles turned dorky videophiles that have forgotten the purpose of why we buy movies in the first place... THE FILMS THEMSELVES!
I love these cartoons and this is the only way we're going to get them (and hopefully more if the sales prove a profitable venutre for the studio) and truth be told, they look damn acceptable.
Stephen Worth responds:
The problem I have is with "reviewers" who say that we should buy a DVD set, whether or not it is a quality product, in the hopes that it will encourage the studio to release more. This approach just hasn't worked. Transfers were more accurate and artifact free back in the laserdisc era- plus there were more complete sets than you could shake a stick at. Where are all those cartoons now? Telecine technology today is much better, so why aren't the transfers better? The reason is that the studios think we'll accept whatever they dish out to us.
There's only one way to encourage the studios to improve the quality of their product. And that's to shine a light on their mistakes. If there's digital artifacting, don't make excuses for it. Point it out. Post a frame grab so everyone can see if it's something that they can't live with. Don't make that determination for them.
