Just a quick intro to the week from me, I’m afraid, today. Posted at the tail end of last week as promised is my extensive take on Warners’ latest box set compendium. Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume Five offers up the standard mix of genuine cartoon classics, though the best of the best are starting to thin out as we begin to slide into very good, but not all time great shorts. There are still a few truly great cartoons no doubt being held back for future releases, but with around 300 films now on disc, I’ve a feeling future volumes will be more in demand by hard core fans rather than casual buyers.

What really works this time around is the healthy amount of Bob Clampett and Frank Tashlin cartoons, while Chuck Jones is acknowledged by way of inclusion of the feature documentary Extremes And Inbetweens, which we previously reviewed in its single disc release. While Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Five might be where certain collectors break off from the series, there’s still enough here to grab the attention, not least the debut of three of the Looney Tunes TV specials, which are a treat to see again.

Elsewhere, good ol’ Randall has posted his views on Beetle Bailey: The Complete Collection, newly released from BCI and continuing their good work in bringing animated series to disc. Rand isn’t as impressed with the collection as he has been with BCI’s packages in the past, but puts much of this down to the original (lack of) ambitions of the program itself. Still, he labels the final result “a neat little collectible, as a piece of Paramount cartoon history”.

We have reviews in the works for the trio of Walt Disney Treasures making their way to stores tomorrow, so stay tooned! – Ben.