kstublen

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bul...e-Series/14515

Awesome news for those of us that held off. Not so good news for those that didn't. No announcement for Season 5's standalone release, but I'm sure it'll be released around the same time as well.

Pizza

Why would you release something like this right after the holidays? I'd imagine a lot of people would like this as a Christmas gift.
Also, wasn't there some kind of issue with these releases? An icon or logo on the screen or something? I'd like to know before I jump in.

milo bloom

Some of the releases had logo's on the screen as a form of watermark. To me they simply acted as a giant "don't buy" sign. There was a thread in the last couple of months where we were discussing it.

Pizza

Exactly right. I thought there was a reason I wasn't buying these sets. Wonder if they'll remaster them? Nah. Silly thought. Too bad as I would love to own the series.

kstublen

Update: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bul...e-Series/14531

The 18-Disc Set will be released on January 11, 2011 and will retail with an MSRP of $99.98

milo bloom

Nice price correction. Let's see what they do about those onscreen logos.

kstublen

I highly doubt the discs on this set are going to be any different than the discs previously released. It sucks that some of the episodes have watermarks on them from whatever channel it was that broadcast them or some production company or whatever, but I'm not going to let something like that prevent me from owning one of my favourite childhood shows.

I get that it isn't the way the release should be treated and I know I'd rather have a logo-free release, but at least we're finally getting the entire series and I can suffer through a few seconds of watermarks at the start of the episode if it means enjoying the show once again. In fact, I'm sure whenever I watched it there was such a tag on the show anyway.

If this is a sticking point for you, then so be it. I just can't imagine refusing to get one of the greatest animated programs of all time simply because of a few seconds of a logo at the start. Personally, I'd rather have the show.

Just like how I didn't boycott the Daria release because of all the music changes, it would have been pointless and I'd have missed out on revisiting a great show. It isn't as though years from now there's suddenly going to be a Daria set with all of the music intact. Along those same lines, it isn't as though suddenly we're going to get a re-release of the Complete Rocky & Bullwinkle and have it free of the logos.

milo bloom

I don't have a problem with music replacements. I've learned over the years that I rarely remember specific songs in shows and it doesn't bother me. I picked up the Mission Hill DVD set a while back, and didn't realize it had music replacements until I read it on Wikipedia. I guess it's different because the sound is more of a background thing, and when replaced, they at least try to match the tone and feel of the original music.

With an onscreen logo, it's right there. It's not a replacement, it's an addition that has nothing to do with the series.

This still shows up in syndication from time to time, and honestly as good as it was, a little Bullwinkle goes a long way. If I don't get this, it won't be the end of the world.

obscurelabel

I really looked forward to the first season when it was announced, and bought it even with though it:

-Omitted the original season one Frank Comstock music (casualty of a lawsuit)
-Used the second season credits (likely because the music didn't match). No shooting gallery!
-Had a number of (admittedly well done) edits in the intros to eliminate references to General Mills

That being said, I agree with milo bloom, a little goes a long way. I stopped with the first season, the first part of which is actually quite different from the rest of the series, and more fascinating to watch as the series took a while to settle into its later familiar style. The cold war and outer space vibe of the early episodes is very cool also.

RevengeFan

I really hope that season 5 comes out separately since I have the other seasons. I hope I don't have to buy it all over again like with the Pink Panther.

mr Articulate

Any reviews of this set?

MovieMassacre

They damn well better! I hate when companies pull that crap. But it dose seam like a lot of companies do eventually release the last season by itself. We might just have to wait a little. Kinda like we did with the last season of Fraggle Rock.

rmw650

They need to also release S5 for those that have been collecting these in seasonal order as this would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Ish Kabbible

I'm with you

Chauncygardener

I received this set yesterday and,I hate the way they have placed the DVDs!

This is the kind of way none of us like, where the discs just slip into a cardboard pocket. Its tough to try and grab the disc out and also, as is always the case when DVDs are placed this way, there is a lot of scuffs and scratches on the DVDs. And then there is the problem of trying to put the DVD back into the pocket. At the price they are charging for this, you would think they would have perhaps put the single season sets into this box or, used hubs to hold the discs so they would not get scratched and scuffed.

The box itself is nice the way it opens up, and inside is a book titled "FROSTBITE FALLS FIELD GUIDE" by Keith Scott. There is a page at the start written by Kimberly Ward. The book has photos and is filled with info on how the show was started and nice interesting stuff. and then there is An episode guide for each DVD of whats on each.

There is also a lite yellow envelope with a flaplock and inside is a ribbon award that says on it "Exceptional adequacy award for helping promote public apathy toward the Bullwinkle show".On it also is a pin button with Bullwinkle on it.


As to the DVDs again. They are in a book like holder when you open it, to the left are discs 1 and 2 and as I had mentioned, they are hard to get out and to place back in. to the right are discs 3 and 4 and so on as you turn the pages. Each page has arrows with lines so you know what disc has the Rocky Bullwinkle serial that it is talking about.

I am hoping any of you who also has this set can give a more detailed review.

I did watch the first disc last night and enjoyed it very much. Of course the
"R&B" logo shows up.

Hope my review helped a little.

MovieMassacre

Lets hope they offer replacements for the scratched discs. So... A. Hold on to your receipt, and B. give them a call or at the very least send an email explaining the problem you had with scratches caused by the poor package design.

milo bloom

Sure did. These are a definite "not buy". I might Netflix them or something, but as I said a couple of months ago, a little Bullwinkle goes a long way.

thanks for posting Chauncygardener

thetao

I have yet to buy any Rocky & Bullwinkle on DVD and am still confused about what was changed. I understand the watermarks and I understand they're using one unified title sequence for all seasons. Right? (I visited YouTube earlier tonight and watched the original titles for seasons 1 and 2, which I've certainly never seen before.) So there's never a "Bullwinkle Show" title with him dancing? Perhaps included as an extra?

But about the music... Has all the music for every season been changed, just that for season 1, etc.? Of the individual story segments, have these been left completely intact (excluding perhaps season 1)? A blog http://tiahblog.blogspot.com/2010/08...inkle-and.html suggests music changes, even to season 4. Is this because Comstock was still the composer? I want to buy some R&B material eventually, but like to know what I'm getting ahead of time, and am finding the details scattered among different web sites.

obscurelabel

The most informative and authoritative post I have seen about the music is this one. There used to be an actual copy of the lawsuit that Comstock (or his estate) filed against Disney (Buena Vista) about the music online somewhere, but I can't find it now. Comstock only did the music for season one (1959-1960, the "Rocky and his Friends" version) so I'm pretty sure that the original music for the later "The Bullwinkle Show" (1961-1964) by Fred Steiner and others is intact. One point of confusion may be that Comstock's music was used for various different edited and syndicated versions of the show on TV and VHS over the years, so people may be familiar with seeing material from the 1961-1964 versions of the show with the Comstock music, when in fact that wasn't the way it originally appeared. (I think that may have been part of the lawsuit: that Comstock was only paid for season one episodes, yet his music was used for material from different seasons of the show on Buena Vistas VHS editions).

(Please note that I am not an R&B scholar; this is just what I remember off the top of my head and may contain errors).

I have the season one set and I think the changes are well done (except maybe the new title card with the William Conrad impersonation). If one weren't familiar with the show beforehand, I don't think they would be noticeable. The music usually didn't appear within the story segments, just the intros and bumpers; the only thing I noticed was a fanfare in either an "Aesop and Son" or Mr. Peabody segment that you could tell had been edited in from the Steiner version, as it must have originally been a snippet of the Comstock music.

As I've said, I really enjoyed the season one set, as much because the early animation style and first story are so different from the rest of the series as anything. But that was enough for me; by the end of the first season the style settled into the more familiar version seen later on and it became less interesting, and the repetition wore thin. I did miss the familiar Comstock music and the "shooting gallery" end credits, but I picked up a copy of one of the VHS collections, and check it out occasionally.

thetao

Thanks for the extra info and the link! That thread has the most detail I've seen in one place on how R&B episodes have changed since they first aired. While I'm still a little down on the changes (they even removed the laugh track??), knowing that some alterations were made as far back as the 1960's helps put things in perspective. I'm not feeling as much in a "Paramount" mood anymore, if you get my meaning.

Oh, and now I have just gotta see "Stokey the Bear"!

rmw650

I still say the studio needs to release S5 for those that started collecting them individually; othwerwise, this is just awful news for those that went out and bought them one by one. Hoping they lower the price some on this box set down the road.

RevKarl

TVShowsonDVD is reporting that Season 5 is getting a stand-alone release on March 29, 2011.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bul...Season-5/14898

rmw650

At least the company woke up and knew this was the right thing to do for the individual collectors of the season sets. SO the whole series will be coming out this year then.