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Classic Media and Sony's recent Harveytoons: The Complete Collection may not be perfect (or even "complete"), but it sure beats the alternative: having these classic theatrical cartoons sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust and unreleased. That, as many cartoon collectors know, is the position much of the material of the so-called "lesser" animation studios is currently in (Lantz, Terry, Columbia). So, I have to admit that I admire Classic Media's good intentions to release the bulk of the classic animated films and shows that they control the rights to.

Before we get too far, a brief history lesson: The cartoons that fall under the "Harveytoons" umbrella were originally made by Paramount's Famous Studios during the 1950s and early 1960s. They were having success introducing a number of recurring characters including dimwitted, overgrown duckling Baby Huey; Herman and Katnip, the cat and mouse team who took cartoon violence to new levels; daydreaming Little Audrey; wiseguy Buzzy the Crow; and, of course, Casper the Friendly Ghost. While none of these guys were exactly A-list cartoon stars they were able to develop enough popularity to be featured in merchandise and comic books. This is where Harvey Publishing comes in. The company had been licensing the characters from Paramount for a few years and had created a much-loved comic book universe for the Casper character in particular (introducing such memorable characters as Cousin Spooky and Wendy the Good Little Witch). Paramount, seeing little value in their backlog of animated cartoons (nobody ever predicted these cartoons would still be in circulation in 2006!), sold off the rights to the characters and cartoons to Harvey in the early '60s. Harvey got the rights to all the theatrical Paramount cartoons from 1950's "Casper's Spree Under the Sea" to 1962's "Funderful Suburbia" (for a total of 223 Paramount cartoon shorts). Harvey retitled the cartoons "Harveytoons" and animated a new opening featuring a variation of the jack-in-the-box who used to open the Paramount Noveltoons. And the rest is history. Eventually the company called Classic Media bought out the Harvey library a few years back and this brings us up to the present day.

As I said earlier, Classic Media has its heart in the right place. However, they also have an annoying habit of quickly packaging up whatever version of the cartoons is the most easily accessible instead of spending a little extra time to rummage through the vaults. In this case, what we got is a release of The Harveytoons Show, the most recent syndication package from the late 1990s (which had cartoons with no opening or closing credits packaged into half hour "episodes"). 65 half-hour shows were initially compiled by animation historian Jerry Beck, each containing three full length cartoons and one "Harvey Toon Take" (an excerpt, usually ranging from 1 to 4 minutes in length, used to fill the remaining time in the half-hour timeslot). 13 additional half-hours were later compiled (mostly made up of later made-for-television Casper and 1990s Richie Rich shorts --- which didn't make it onto this particular DVD set) for syndication purposes on cable TV's Boomerang network.

After a few delays and much confusion and misinformation (an initial press release from Classic Media about the set promised an amazing 312 cartoons!) the set was finally released in the fall of 2006. What we actually did get were 52 half-hours worth of cartoons on four double-sided DVDs. However, while the source of all the cartoons WAS from The Harveytoons Show some of the elements were rearranged in what seems like an effort to avoid repeating cartoons (some shorts were included multiple times in the original configurations). Out of the 223 theatrical Famous Studios cartoon shorts made from 1950 through 1962 in the Harvey library, 165 of them are here as full length cartoons (166 if you count "Party Smarty" which is on Disc 2b and somehow got repeated again on Disc 4b). 42 other cartoons are presented as excerpts only (the "Harvey Toon Takes"). A total of 16 cartoons were left off entirely either due to objectionable content or just plain old oversight.

No matter how you slice it, that is still a huge chunk of Famous Studio's output at a great price (less than $30 at most retailers). It is a shame that whoever compiled the set didn't seem to realize that the "Toon Takes" weren't actually the full length versions of the cartoons (as a result, a number of fine shorts like "Cat Carson Rides Again", "Winner By a Hare", "Northwest Mousie", and "By Leaps and Hounds" are only available here as clips). Yet I still have to praise the folks who restored the original soundtracks to the Buzzy the Crow cartoons (which have been distributed since the late 1980s with redubbed soundtracks to make Buzzy's Eddie "Rochester" Anderson-inspired vocals more "politically correct"). In fact, every cartoon on this set features the original soundtracks which is something to be thankful for (sharp-eared listeners should keep an ear open for composer Winston Sharples' uses of existing tunes from the Paramount music library).

There is a LOT of material to devour here (almost 19 hours worth!) and I am sure that any cartoon buff will find many cartoons worthwhile. While the Famous Studios cartoons aren't as great as the Warner and MGM shorts of the same era they are still enjoyable for what they are. Some of the series were obviously aimed towards the younger audiences (Casper, Little Audrey) and are probably best viewed in moderation. The cartoons of the early 1950s feature wonderful full animation that can still be appreciated even when the plots get a tad repetitive.

Many of the most enjoyable shorts on the set are the various one-shots from the Noveltoons and Modern Madcaps series (all lumped under the "Modern Madcaps" umbrella on this set). It is fun to view such oddball obscurities like "Fido Beta Kappa", "Jolly the Clown", "Sir Irving and Jeames", "L'Amour the Merrier", "Mr. Money Gags", "Grateful Gus", and the cult classic "La Petite Parade".

One of my favorite periods of Famous' history are the cartoons of the mid-1950s where they seemed to be making an effort to freshen up the plots of the existing series (and saw many of the one-shots I mentioned above). Many of the best Casper shorts were released around this time (such as "Boo Bop", "Fright From Wrong", "Heir Restorer", "Which is Witch?" and "Peek-a-Boo") and the shorts featured rather angular character designs that made for a batch of rather attractive looking cartoons. Sadly, this was the beginning of the end for Famous... the budgets got smaller and smaller and the cartoons began to look and feel cheaper and cheaper as the years went on. It is pretty obvious when you are watching a later era Famous short.

Anyone who is familiar with these cartoons knows that in addition to the many gentle Casper cartoons, many of these shorts are filled with over-the-top slapstick violence and mayhem (usually in the Herman & Katnip and Baby Huey shorts). So, expect to see plenty of shootings, explosions, electrocutions, characters being crushed by heavy objects, sliced and diced. It's all in fun, though. Many of the later Modern Madcaps also feature more adult orientated storylines, such as spoofing married life, dating, gambling, etc., and often featuring rather dated jokes that may be lost on today's audiences. Many of these later cartoons fall flat for me, but I am still glad to see them included here.

Be warned that there is NO LISTING OF CARTOONS anywhere on this set. Heading into this collection without any sort of roadmap may be a little overwhelming. Be sure to take a look at this thread on the GAC Forums for a full listing of contents (plus, even more discussion and details) before you pop in a disc. (Also, be careful handling these discs --- the only thing worse than double-sided discs is overlapping double-sided discs. The way the discs are packed make them very easy to get scratches or finger prints on).

Yes, it's really annoying the set isn't complete and there are no extras... but, in the end, the sheer amount of material and the very affordable price tag make this a must-own for classic cartoon fans. You get hours of rarely seen animation with very good picture and sound throughout. You may even uncover a few overlooked gems.

And maybe one day we'll see a complete Harveytoons collection that truly is complete...

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