Search - Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s Vol. 2 on DVD

Jenn T. from FAIR OAKS, CA
Reviewed on 3/25/2010...

This is a fun DVD although not as many familiar cartoons as I thought there would be. Very original though.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

This includes 1960's cartoons that repeated in the 1970's. A

Paul J. Mular | San Carlos, CA USA | 10/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Semi-restored, disclaimer says some elements no longer exist in pristine condition. No restoration attempts were made for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, that is from an ancient 2" video tape with occasional glitches & break-up. I know the show was quickly cut up into half-hours in the mid '70s, but some film segment elements should still survive. Another Disappointment is the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, it is the short-run Prime Time half-hour version that ran in the summer of 1976 on CBS, not the hour long saturday morning version.

NOTE: Authoring error: if you chose 'Play All' The Living Island cartoon from Shazzan will not play! You must select this individually.

Disc 1
HELP! IT'S THE HAIR BEAR BUNCH (1971): Keep Your Keeper
NEW ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN (1974): Off Limits
SEA LAB 2020 (1972): Deep Threat
AMAZING CHAN AND THE CHAN CLAN (1972): The Mardi Gras Caper (Episode 12)
SHAZZAN (1967): The Living Island / Master of the Thieves ***watch 'Thieves' first, it has the open titles, then 'Island' second, it has the end credits.***
YOGI'S GANG (1973): Mr. Bigot

Disc 2
BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW (1976): For Scent-Imental Reasons/Stop, Look and Hasten, Hare-Way to the Stars/Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS (1974): Forbidden Fruit
TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE SHOW (1976): Ep.#1 - No Way Stowaway / That Was No Idol, That Was My Ape / The Ski Bunny / The All American Ape / Stay Awake Or Else
BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR (1968): Joning the Knights/The littlest Musketeer/"Danger Island"
INCH HIGH PRIVATE EYE (1973): Diamonds are a Crook's Best Friend
NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN (1977): Sweet Joke on Gotham City

---O.K., few real classics here. But if you grew up on Saturday Morning cartoons in the 1970's this sampling will bring a smile to your face.

HELP IT'S THE HAIR BEAR BUNCH stands out from the rest of the comedies, it is kind of like an updated Yogi Bear cartoon now set in a zoo. There is even a zoo keeper who reminds me of the old park ranger. The stories are a bit more flushed out to fit the half hour format, and frankly I think it is better than Yogi Bear.

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF GILLIGAN is also much better that you would expect, but the story line of the episode selected for inclusion here is a remake of the original live action series: The Howell's create their own exclusive country club on the island. I have not seen much of this series since it first aired, so I wonder how many episodes were just remakes?

SEALAB 2020, THE AMAZING CHAN & THE CHAN CLAN, & VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS are probably the highlights here for me. These reminded me of my favorite Saturday Morning adventure cartoons of the late 1960's & seemed to be a refuge from the ultra-silly cartoons of the 1970's that required laughtracks to remind you that it is funny. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy comedy cartoons, but some of the 1970's comedy cartoons were pitiful. Just compare THE PEBBLES & BAMM BAMM SHOW to the classic FLINTSTONES of the 1960's.

One thing that puzzles me is the inclusion of some 1960's cartoons. I don't remember SHAZZAN (1967) ever airing on Saturday Mornings in the 1970's. Maybe somebody confused it with 1974's SHAZAM, a totally different show spelled with one "Z" and a "M". THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR (1968) did technically run until the end of summer 1970 and then went into syndication, even though only one season was produced. THE BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW started as an hour show in 1968, but this is the CBS summer of 1976 PRIME TIME half-hour version.

Unlike THE BUGS BUNNY/ROAD RUNNER SHOW, the TOM & JERRY/GRAPE APE SHOW will not feature classic theatrical cartoons, these will be the cheaply made Hanna Barbera TV cartoons from the 1970's. This show is probably the weakest in the bunch, and it is the full hour version! I dare you to sit through the entire show without pushing the fast-forward button.

It is great to finally see THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR again in its hour format, but this sampling will just leave you wanting more as some of the stories are serialized. The glitches in the picture indicate it is probably taken from an air-check tape recorded off of the original broadcast. This leads me to guess that the original negatives were cut up for the half-hour syndication package.

INCH HIGH PRIVATE EYE is still fun to watch, but NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN does not hold up to today's BATMAN cartoons."

Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show and Banana Splits have arrived!

Corgi Kid | Florida, USA | 11/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just purchased the second volume from the Saturday Morning Cartoons 70's collection. Let me just say that I am quite pleased with this collection. I watched many of these cartoons during the 70's and it brings back many happy memories from childhood. The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show and the Banana Splits were the primary reasons of my purchase. The bridging sequences including the introduction to both Bugs Bunny/Road Runner and Banana Splits were not restored. However, I can't complain too much. I am unable to get the Cartoon Network Boomerang channel where I live and have been wanting to watch many of these cartoons for such a long time. I hope Warner Brothers continues to release more collections in the near feature. More Bugs Bunny/Road Runner and Banana Splits please! Also, would like to see the New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with Michael Shea (Huck) and Lu Ann Haslam (Becky Thatcher); really campy but from part of the Banana Splits series. Thanks again Amazon!"

Definite "A" for effort but some cleaning up to do.

KAB | 01/11/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I loved this collection, mostly for its variety. The '70s version of Tom & Jerry provided a counter balance for the MGM shorts and I would, honestly, not recommend it to diehard fans of the original but it provided a nice counter balance in characters just the same.

Many of the cartoons in this and the '60s collections were on Cartoon Network perioically during its heyday of airing actual classics and can now occassionally be seen on Boomerang by a much more limited audience, so this collection provides a great trip into the past for these cartoons; some of which have seen DVD releases (Batman), some who have earned DVD releases (Bannana Splits, Shazzan, Sealab 2020, etc.) and some which, quite frankly, might never be heard from again for obvious reasons (Gilligan, HB T&J, etc.)

Again, Warner Brothers gets an A for effort in this compilation. Unfortunately, before some of these 'toons get their individually packaged DVD releases, some clean up must be done. The Gilligan episode is almost watchable save for a very brief clip where the soundtrack is sped up, putting Gilligan on par, verbally, with the Chipmunks (I think he says "YouknowthatnewalarmsystemwebuiltforMr.Howelltokeepouttheintruders?" but I'm not positive). Later, the "Arabian Knights" and "3 Musketeers" segments of the Bannana Splits Adventure Hour are, regrettably, barely watchable beneath the tracking lines. This is unfortunate as the Bannana Splits have stood the test of time to earn their own DVD if the studios would find suitable production material (these shows are still aired on Boomerang quite often, so I know that, with additional effort, Warners could have found episodes in better condition). Also, Shazaan is missing its classic opening though the closing credits and the between episode bumper are still intact.

Again, this was a worthy second attempt by Warner and I hope to see more in the future. But the quality of the material found fell rather short of the first attempt by Warner."