Search - Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection on DVD

Beetle, Beetle and more Beetle!

Shredd | Edinburgh, Scotland | 01/19/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The TV version of Beetle Bailey in shorts by King Features Syndicate, aired in 1963. Shorts are 5-10 minute cartoons as opposed to the full 30-minute ones that we have now grown used to, so an episode would consist of either three or four short cartoons. This 2 disc set (complete with disc artwork but no inserts) contains the 13 30-minute episodes of Beetle Bailey. So in this set you get 50 different Beetle Bailey cartoons. I have to take Hearst and BCI's word for it that this is 'The Complete Collection' because I wasn't born 'til '74!!! If that sounds like too much Beetle for you, then you can check out the sorta first release of Beetle Bailey by Hearst and BCI - Animated All Stars, Vol. 1 - which contains 20 Beetle Bailey cartoons as well as samplings of other cartoons as well. Those 20 cartoons appear on these discs as well, of course. Slight error in the listings on the back of the box - the last cartoon in episode 5 is Cosmo's Naught and not Welsh Rabbit, while the first cartoon in episode 7 is Welsh Rabbit and not Cosmo's Naught. This is how it appears in the disc cartoon menu. Also, the episodes The Bull of the Ball and Labor Shortage have been switched.

Even though the sound at the beginning of the disc at the disc menu is a bit shaky, the audio quality is very good considering that these toons were aired in the '60s! There is of course the consequent dots and threadlike stripes in the film from time to time but I think it rather adds to the element of nostalgia. Those are things that you got accustomed to in watching shows from the 60's, 70's and even 80's. The picture on this DVD is generally crisp and clear.

There are no extras on this DVD so the Disc Menu contains only 2 options - Play All and Episodes. You can either play all cartoons from the beginning or select an 'episode'. My beef with this DVD is that you cannot really select by 'episode'. You can only select by each individual 'short' and then after it has aired it returns you to the menu to select another one. I would prefer to have it play through from where I selected so I could watch the DVD in blocks at a time. The way that it's set up, you have to manually select each next episode that you want to see. I watch DVDs on my PC (with no remote) so this is a big hassle for me. It may not be a hassle for you if you like being returned to the main menu after each short. To each his own. Also, the last 2 shorts are the only ones that do not have the Beetle Bailey theme song. I would have preferred not to hear it except at the main menu to be honest. After hearing it 48 times, it does get a bit wearing...especially if you want to view this entire DVD in just a few sittings!

BONUS: There is a bonus episode that is not listed on the back of the box. It just called 'Beetle Bailey' and is a 24 minute episode with a more modern Beetle Bailey. Here he is more wisecracking and lazy than bumbling and accident prone. The voices are also done by different actors and they are listed at the beginning. I prefer the old Bailey as he seemed more humble and good hearted who just happened to fall into trouble. This Bailey seemed to be just a little too disrespectful.

All in all, this is a great addition to your DVD library because it's good clean fun. Beetle is quite a simple, wholesome character. I didn't watch it "through the eyes of a child" so I can't say if you would think it appropriate for yours or not but it would be well worth it to the classic or cartoon adult DVD collector to allow this some shelf space in their collection."

Fall in for Fun

Gord Wilson | Bellingham, WA USA | 02/25/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"King Features' cartoons of Mort Walker's popular comic strip have long been available in a number of formats. Many were released on VHS, and about twenty were featured in the Animated All Stars Vol. One DVD set along with other Hearst properties, mainly Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. A number also made it onto a Rhino DVD along with animated specials of Betty Boop and Hagar the Horrible. Both of those specials were made in the early '60s but the Hagar special didn't air until 1989. A third show, to be titled The CBS Beetle Bailey Special was also never aired. Until now. Nothing on the box says so, but the long lost special is included in this set as a "Bonus Episode" on disc two. To select it, click Next on the disc two menu. The special includes characters from the comics at the time, like Killer, Plato, and Miss Buxley, who rarely make an appearance in the cartoons. The look and voices are different, but in some ways more resemble the comic strip.

The other good news is that this set includes all 50 cartoons, grouped in thirteen four 'toon 30 minute episodes, but you can select individual cartoons (the last two episodes only contain three 'toons each). Packaging is durable and attractive, with two single- sided discs in a two section case. At this great price, watching one a 'toon a day on weekdays, that's two months of 'toons. Mix with other great, reasonably priced sets like George of the Jungle: The Complete Series, Underdog - Ultimate Collection, Roger Ramjet - Hero of Our Nation (Deluxe Collector's Edition), Cool McCool - The Complete Series, and Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - The Complete First Season, and voila! a custom TV line-up of great classic 'toons."

Beetle Bailey

K. Fisher | united states | 04/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I cant believe that Amazon had these cartoons available to purchase! I am so happy that I can watch these cartoons from my childhood."

Three cartoons edited down

John Lund | Greenfield, MA United States | 02/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was quite happy to see all 50 of the Beetle Bailey cartoons come out on DVD. I received the box set in December 2007, about a month after it came out. I eventually watched the whole thing all the way through. Glad to see that most of the cartoons on it have their openings, closings, and title cards complete and unaltered. I was also glad to see the unaired 1989 Beetle Bailey special on there, since I had never seen it before.

However, there are a few caveats in this collection. Three of the cartoons are edited down: "The Bull of the Ball"; "Home Sweet Swampy"; and "Beetle's High Horps." Fortunately, I watched 47 of these cartoons back in the early and mid 1980's on WBZ-TV in Boston when they ran their own Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons right before the network ones. The actual ending of "The Bull of the Ball" has the handsome man (whom Bunny rejected Beetle for) and Cosmo dancing, with everyone laughing at them. "Home Sweet Swampy" and "Beetle's High Horps" are missing most of their opening title cards. I believe something like three full minutes are missing in "Beetle's High Horps." (I recall that the cartoon's actual length is over nine minutes long.) At some point in the missing footage, Sarge is about to kick Beetle, saying something like, "into that bend." The true ending of the cartoon has Bunny kissing Beetle, who blasts off into orbit and to the moon, and dancing around it. The closing music of this last scene can be heard in the collection, but dubbed in during the part where Sarge is in the rocket, sinking in the muck, which is how it ends in the collection. I'm not sure if there is anything else missing in "Home Sweet Swampy," since that, and "Go Yeast Young Man" and "Hero's Reward," are the three cartoons that WBZ-TV did not show. It's possible that the true ending of "Home Sweet Swampy" is missing in the collection, since it seems flat and unfunny the way it ends here. A fourth cartoon, "Labor Shortage," has replaced footage. During the part where Beetle says, "How about chili, Cookie?", the original footage here is replaced by footage from later in the scene, where he says, "Boy, what a brainstorm." This is probably so to hide a major glitch in the original animation, where the talking parts are not matched up to the non-talking parts. (Beetle is higher or lower when he talks than when he doesn't talk.) Perhaps they should have stretched the collection out to three discs, so that all of the cartoons can be completely uncut.

I would have given this collection a full 5 stars, but since a few of the cartoons are edited down, I subtracted a star, giving it a 4 out of 5 stars."