Pound for pound, Looney Tunes is the undisputed king of classic animation. Say what you will about Tom & Jerry or Disney and Co.; for my money, there's nothing quite like a six minute short featuring Bugs, Daffy, the Road Runner, Elmer Fudd, or any of the other classic Merrie Melodies gang. With incredible comic timing, perfectly suited orchestral scores and art that holds up well some 60 years later, animation has rarely enjoyed such a consistent level of quality. With hundreds of great shorts in the vault, Warner Bros. has begun to beautifully remaster each one for DVD, releasing a handful at a time for hungry cartoon enthusiasts.

With The Golden Collection: Volume One, Warner Bros. really knocked one out of the park. With nearly 60 shorts, tons of commentaries and other invaluable bonus features, they really looked to be on the right track. Disney had already set the bar high with their classic Collector's Tins, but The Golden Collection was every bit as much of a love letter to fans. After scooping up the massive 4-disc set upon its initial release, I eagerly devoured every bit. It was great to know that a major studio took such fine care of one of its most successful franchises, and animation fans couldn't have been happier.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros. wasted production time on The Premiere Collection, a watered-down 2-disc alternative. Featuring half the cartoons and only a fraction of the special features, it was hardly a bargain...even at half the price. Although I'm not up to speed with the sales of each version, I couldn't imagine why anyone would settle for anything less than The Golden Collection. It's like settling for one scoop of vanilla instead of a hot fudge sundae.

Sadly, history has repeated itself with The Spotlight Collection. 2 discs. 30 cartoons. A few special features. Not bad, but it pales in comparison to The Golden Collection, which offers double the cartoons and roughly one billion times the special features. On a basic level, it's hard to be disappointed with the lineup here; after all, it's a great mix of classic shorts that every Looney Tunes fan should own. The problem is, The Spotlight Collection is an inferior release that should have just as well been left on the shelf. It's a cheap imitation of The Golden Collection, and I sincerely hope that Warner Bros. phases these things out in the near future.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Despite its obvious shortcomings, the classic content of The Spotlight Collection at least deserves a run-through. These 30 cartoons, presented in quasi-chronological order, span three decades and a handful of great characters. Here's your starting lineup:

Disc One

1. "Bad Ol' Putty Tat" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1949)
2. "All a Bir-r-r-d" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1950)
3. "Room And Bird" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1951)
4. "Tweet Tweet Tweety" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1951)
5. "Gift Wrapped" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1952)
6. "Ain't She Tweet" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1952)
7. "A Bird In A Guilty Cage" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1952)
8. "Snow Business" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1953)
9. "Tweety Pie" (Sylvester/Tweety - 1947)
10. "Kitty Kornered" (Porky/Sylvester - 1946)
11. "Baby Bottleneck" (Daffy/Porky - 1946)
12. "Old Glory" (Porky Pig - 1939)
13. "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" (Daffy - 1946)
14. "Duck Soup To Nuts" (Daffy/Porky - 1944)
15. "Porky In Wackyland" (Porky Pig - 1938)

Disc Two

16. "Back Alley Op-Roar" (Elmer Fudd/Sylvester - 1948)
17. "Book Revue" (Daffy Duck - 1946)
18. "A Corny Concerto" (Doc/Champ - 1943)
19. "Have You Got Any Castles?" (1938)
20. "Hollywood Steps Out" (1941)
21. "I Love To Singa" ("Owl" Jolson - 1936)
22. "Katnip Kollege" (Johnny Cat - 1938)
23. "The Hep Cat" (Hep Cat - 1942)
24. "Three Little Bops" (1957)
25. "One Froggy Evening" (Michigan J. Frog - 1955)
26. "Rhapsody Rabbit" (Bugs Bunny - 1946)
27. "Show Biz Bugs" (Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck - 1957)
28. "Stage Door Cartoon" (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd - 1944)
29. "What's Opera, Doc?" (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd - 1957)
30. "You Ought to Be in Pictures" (Daffy/Porky - 1940)

Again, hardly a bad lineup of shorts. From the absolutely classic "One Froggy Evening" (at top) and "What's Opera, Doc" (second from top) to the entertaining antics of Sylvester and Tweety (above), you can bet that these 30 shorts will put a smile on your face. Unfortunately, we're missing some great content found on The Golden Collection, including tons of Bugs Bunny masterpieces and a generous spread of Road Runner vs. Coyote shorts. Even with such a solid lineup of great animation, though, it's hard to feel satisfied with this release when a better version is already available.

From a technical standpoint, The Spotlight Collection delivers the same punch as its bigger brother. These shorts look and sound fantastic for their age, standing head and shoulders above their broadcast counterparts. Unfortunately, the missing content is a major drawback, and this release also suffers from a lack of bonus features and other goodies. Don't get me wrong: as a stand-alone release, it's not bad. As an alternative buying option, though, it's not even worth considering. In any case, let's see how this release stacks up, shall we?

Here's where things seem a little off. With the abrupt name change from the earlier Premiere Collection, Warner Bros. hasn't tweaked the packaging to match their other Spotlight Collection releases (such as Tom & Jerry, for example). Still, it's a simple and straightforward presentation that gets the job done...for the most part. The mildly animated menus are simply designed and feature smooth navigation, but I'd have liked to see a preview picture or other information for each short instead of just a title. Each 6-7 minute cartoon is presented on its own with no chapter stops, and no layer change was detected during playback. The 2-disc set is housed in a fold-out digipak with a colorful slipcover, and a complete list of content is also provided.

Attention, fans of Looney Tunes: don't pass "Go", don't collect $200, and don't bother buying The Spotlight Collection. Rake lawns, set up a lemonade stand, or pawn off some old DVDs to save up for The Golden Collection - Volume 2 instead. I'm sure this 2-disc set would've been a nice meal a few years ago, but it's barely an appetizer by today's standards. As much as I hate to chastise any classic compilation of creative and crazy cartoons, The Spotlight Collection just isn't worth your time, attention, or hard-earned money. Skip It.