HANNA-BARBERA'S SUPERSTARS 10 - THE COMPLETE FILM COLLECTION (1987-1988)
In 1987, Hanna-Barbera created a series of ten feature-length animation films for television to celebrate the studios most popular cartoon characters. Those ten original toons are assembled here on this ten-disc set for the first time in HD, restored by the Warner Archive. Many of the iconic Saturday morning cartoons feature the original voice actors to re-create their roles for these films, among them the legendary voice talents of Daws Butler, Don Messick, Mel Blanc, and the original voice casts of The Jetsons, and Scooby-Doo gang, including Casey Kasem as Shaggy.
Most of these I did not see when they initially aired from 1987-1988, at which point I was a teenager, and while I was still a toon-fan (and I always will be), I was just at that age were hanging with friends, going to the movies, and listening to metal (and crushing on the girls at school) took up a lot of my time. I would eventually catch up with the Scooby-Doo flicks through the years in syndication though, Scooby-Doo is what I consider one of my gateways to horror as a kid. Between Scooby's monstrous mystery adventures and reruns of the original Universal Monster flicks, atom-age sci-fi creature features, and Hammer horror matinees that's what flipped the monster-kid switch in my brain for sure.
Honestly, as a kid I was never much into Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound or Yogi all that much, I thought they were a tad to goofy, though I was an avid fan of both The Jetsons and The Flintstones, who get an awesome stone-age/atom-age crossover here, and Judy Jetson gets a solo film!
These 10 films are available as one complete 10-disc set or as individually released titles. I personally prefer the compact 10-disc set but admit it would be cool to have these on 10 separate releases with unique artwork, so it's nice to have options.
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Daws Butler, Don Messick
Synopsis: One of Hanna-Barbera’s most beloved characters stands up for law and order in this fast, funny and furryous feature-length animated adventure. It may be the height of the gold rush but all Huckleberry Hound plans to do is settle down at a quaint country farm and raise pigs and goats. But while passing through the small Western town of Two-Bit, California, Huckleberry has his horse stolen by the outlaw Dalton Brothers and he sticks around to win it back in a poker game. After his victory, Huckleberry is on a roll. He is appointed the town’s new sheriff, wrestles a chipmunk, proposes marriage to an Indian chief’s daughter, disguises himself as a ghost, and if that isn’t enough…you might as well just watch the movie. There’s more fun in The Good, the Bad and the Huckleberry Hound than there is gold in them thar hills!
THE JETSONS MEET THE FLINTSTONES (1987)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: George O'Hanlon, Penny Singleton, Mel Blanc
Synopsis: It’s the wackiest animated adventure of all space-time when the world’s favorite Modern Stone Age Family comes face to face with the First Family of the Future in a matchup that only Hanna-Barbera Studios can delightfully make possible! Thanks to Elroy’s malfunctioning tie machine, the Flintstones and Rubbles are zapped into the robot-run future while the Jetsons suddenly find themselves in the dinosaur-filed past. Can our fearless families adapt? And more importantly, will they ever get back home? Find out – in a time-hopping animated feature-length romp packed with all the gags, gadgets and nonstop fun unleashed when The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.
ROCKIN' WITH JUDY JETSON (1988)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Janet Waldo, George O'Hanlon, Penny Singleton
Synopsis: Despite father George’s disapproval, Judy Jetson is totally into Sky Rocker, the biggest intergalactic rock star around. When the teen icon announces a surprise concert, Judy writes a super awesome song and sends it to him. And – oops – the song is accidentally switched with an evil magic message from music-hating witch Felonia Funk. Bummer for Judy! Then Felonia goes one diabolical step further: she kidnaps Sky Rocker. What a buzz kill – but don’t freak out yet! Judy and her friends – along with brother Elroy, family dog Astro and music-loving aliens named Zoomies – set out to save Sky themselves. Is Judy Jetson the coolest Space Age teenage cartoon star ever? With songs like Gleep Gorp, Jupiter Jump, Rockin’ Round the Galaxy, Shootin’ Star and Surfin’ in Space, the feature-length animated Rockin’ with Judy Jetson is a tunefully fun blast not to be surpassed!\
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE GHOUL SCHOOL (1988)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Glynis Johns
Synopsis: When Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy are hired as coaches at Miss Grimwood's Finishing School, they soon discover to their horror that they're not teaching at a girls' school ... they're teaching at a ghouls' school--home to the daughters of rich and famous monsters, like Winnie the Werewolf, Elsa Frankenteen, Sibella Dracula and the Mummy's daughter. But the Scooby gang doesn't let a few monsters stop them from their task. They train the ghouls for a big sports tournament against the boys at a nearby military academy. And the ghouls win! But danger strikes at a Halloween celebration and it's Scooby and pals to the rescue!
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF (1988)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Hamilton Camp
Synopsis: When Dracula's venerable old werewolf retires to Florida, the vampire decides Shaggy will make the perfect replacement. Dracula locks Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy and Shaggy's girlfriend, Googie, in his scary castle, where they are forced to dine on everything from frog fudge to spider soufflé. And Shaggy becomes "shaggier" than ever when Dracula turns him into a werewolf! To become his old self, Shaggy must win the Monster Rally car race. But obstacles lurk around every bend: dangerous cliffs, lava pits, even vampire bees! And it will take everything Scooby and the gang can do to help Shaggy win.
Special Features:
- Scooby Goes Hollywood (1979) (49:37)
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SCOOBY-DOO MEETS THE BOO BROTHERS (1987)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes 10 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Don Messick, Casey Kasem, Sorrell Booke
Synopsis: When Shaggy takes Scooby and Scrappy-Doo to the Southern plantation he's inherited from his Uncle Beauregard, they find a creepy manservant, a collection of ghostly tenants, and a fortune in family jewels hidden somewhere on the estate! Terrified, Scooby and Shaggy call in the services of the Boo Brothers--Freako, Streako and Meako--a team of barely scary ghosts. But as ghosts chase ghosts, they all chase Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy from one end of the estate to the other, through trap doors and secret tunnels, onto runaway contraptions and into dangerous booby traps, with hairbreadth escapes at every turn!
TOP CAT AND THE BEVERLY HILLS CATS (1988)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Charles Nichols
Cast: Arnold Stang, Marvin Kaplan, Leo deLyon
Synopsis: How did alley cats Top Cat, Choo-Choo, Brain, Fancy-Fancy and Benny the Ball end up in the swanky mansion of Gertrude Vandergelt? What's Benny doing in a dog pound? And why are the conniving butler Snerdly and his mad wolfhound Rasputin out to get Benny? Get the breathless answers to these and other nutty questions in the fabulous feature-length animated caper Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats. What starts off as another ordinary day in Hoagie Alley’s turns into an adventurous romp through Beverly Hills, with Top Cat and the gang riding in limos, attending lavish costume parties and saving the heir to the Vandergelt fortune! Original Top Cat series voice actors Arnold Stang (T.C.), Marvin Kaplan (Choo-Choo), Leo De Lyon (Spook and Brain) and John Stephenson (Fancy-Fancy) memorably reprise their roles.
YOGI AND THE INVASION OF THE SPACE BEARS (1988)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Don Lusk, Ray Patterson
Cast: Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett
Synopsis: Jellystone Park is on high alert: Tourists are flocking to Jellystone’s Picnic Rock and aliens are close behind them! In a rollicking feature-length adventure, Yogi and Boo-Boo are beamed up on a spaceship, and alien invaders send clones of our two heroes called Duploids, back to Earth in their place. And although hard to believe possible, the Duploids cause more trouble that the real deals. Hopefully, Yogi and Boo Boo can make it off the ship and back in time to save Jellystone and the unsuspected picnickers from Duploid destruction. For fantastic family fun, let Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears take over your house!
Special Features:
- Yogi's Ark Lark (1982) (42:49)
YOGI BEAR AND THE MAGICAL FLIGHT OF THE SPRUCE GOOSE (1987)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD (1.33:1)
Director: Ray Patterson
Cast: Daws Butler, Don Messick, Dave Coulier
Synopsis: Yogi Bear and his friends take an amazing, airborne adventure around the world aboard the legendary Spruce Goose in Yogi And The Magical Flight Of The Spruce Goose. Yogi, Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, Auggie Doggie and more take a trip from Jellystone Park to see the Spruce Goose, the largest aircraft ever built. While touring the airplane, the ever-curious Yogi wanders into an off-limits area and accidentally launches the plane. Now, as this intrepid group travels around the world trying to return the Spruce Goose to its hanger, they fly into amazing adventures: saving a band of animals adrift at sea, thwarting the Dread Baron and frightening away a pair of alien invaders.
YOGI'S GREAT ESCAPE (1987)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 Minutes 7 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Bob Goe, Paul Sommer
Cast: Daws Butler, Don Messick
Synopsis: Spring is here and Yogi and Boo Boo wake up from hibernation only to find that some major changes have taken place while they slept the winter away. Jellystone Park is closing down! No more Jellystone Park means no more tourists, and that means no more picnic baskets to pilfer! Yogi, Boo Boo and their new friends, the bear cup triplets, take off in Yogi’s homemade getaway mobile – the supercar – in search of a new home. All the while Ranger Tim and his hound dog Yapper are hot on their trail! Some familiar cartoon faces make an appearance on this cross-country trip filled with fun, friends and famous American landmarks!
Audio/Video: The Superstars 10 made-for-TV films overall look fantastic on Blu-ray, presented here in 1080p HD in the original broadcast 1.37:1 aspect ratios. The first eight films were restored from film preservation elements and have strong colors and sharp looking animation lines. Far superior to any version I have ever seen on TV or DVD previously, these are joyful looking toons, and while they do not reach the creative and visual heights of the theatrically released Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! due to budget limitations they are still quite pleasing. There's very light layer of grain visible, colors are bright and vivid, and the sources are clean and remarkably free of blemish. The final two films are less pleasing, both Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf and Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears utilized a form of digital ink and were finished off to a 1" tape master with no film preservation elements having been created, though efforts were made by WAC to improve the quality as best they could. These have been upconverted from an SD source and they look the worst of the ten toon-flicks with artifacting and video anomalies that affect the smoothness of the animation lines, looking pretty waxy throughout. At times the image will look momentarily quite sharp then dip into much lower-res quality, which makes for an very uneven viewing experience, especially compared to the previous eight films. In the case of Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf that really hurts me because I am a monster kid at heart and I love this monster-mash car rally flick, the character and car designs are wonderful, so to see it look the least of the ten is a bummer. Getting to the two made-for TV bonus films look fantastic, both Scooby Goes Hollywood and Yogi's Ark Lark are presented as extras, and both have been restored from film preservation elements and look marvelous. These were included as bonuses to make up for the lack of lesser quality presentations of Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf and Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, and I appreciate that.
Audio on all ten films comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono withoptional English subtitles. These are somewhat limited sound designs for made-for-TV animations, don't expect tons of depth or amazing panning stereo effects, but the canned sound effects, fun scores, and iconic voice talents sound as good as they ever will. Curiously, the two bonus films do not have subtitles options.
There are no special features aside from the two bonus films. The 10-disc set arrives in two separate, oversized keepcase with flipper trays holding five discs each with single-sided wraps, these are housed inside a side-loading slipcase. Each disc features unique artwork for each of the ten films.
It's wonderful to have all of the Hanna-Barbara's Superstars 10 animated films in HD for the first time, Warner Archive did excellent work bringing restoring these for fans of animation, and they even gave the option of having them all on one set or the ability to cherry pick individual titles.
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