In our childhood imaginations, the library of constantly-repeated-on-TV Looney Tunes cartoons were so vast and endless that it was hard to get a grip on how many there were. It seemed like the WB shield and "Th-th-th-th-that's All, Folks" graced at least a thousand or more cartoons, right?

Given that number, it figures that the output of a relatively minor character like that perpetually horned-up French skunk Pepé Le Pew would number at about ... what, fifty? In reality, however, Pépe starred in only 16 cartoons which Warner Bros. trickled out for lucky theater-goers over a 17-year period in 1945-62. Even factoring in Pepé's cameo in the 1954 Sylvester and Tweety outing Dog Pounded, that's a pretty slim filmography. Our aromatic hero's entire output is small enough to fit on a single DVD, which is exactly what Warner Home Video has done with Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of Zee Best, the latest disc in their Looney Tunes Super Stars series compiling the greatest stars in their classic cartoon stable.

Pepé Le Pew, needless to say, is the one who is so deluded about l'amour that he doesn't realize the lady he's so crazy for doesn't share the same passion for him - much less belongs to the same animal species. Chuck Jones supposedly created the character as a way to deal with his own awkwardness with women, but over the years he made the skunk's sheer determination his calling card, much in the same way that Jones did with Wile E. Coyote and his dogged pursuit of the Road Runner.

Although Pepé doesn't exactly brim with comic possibilities (how many ways are there to paint a white stripe on a black cat, anyhow?), the cartoons themselves are surprisingly fresh. The animation is vibrant, and there are a lot of clever riffs on stereotypical French culture ("Le mew, le prrrr...") by scriptwriters like the legendary Michael Maltese. The cartoons also benefit from stunning background designs by Warner Bros. background artist Maurice Noble that depict Paris as a fancy free playground filled with ornament and fey curlicues. Chuck Jones directed nearly all of the Pepé cartoons. This disc is a good way to dig his evolving style, for better or worse, from jazzy and energetic (Odor-able Kitty) to sickly sweet and cloying (A Scent of the Matterhorn).

The cartoons included on Pepé Le Pew: Zee Best of the Best, all directed by Chuck Jones unless otherwise noted, are as follows:

Odor-able Kitty (1945). Previously released on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 3, 2005.
A put-upon stray cat finds a way to avoid the wrath of the dogs and humans who annoy him - by disguising himself as a skunk! He attracts the attentions of a real skunk, however, going to drastic measures to keep the pesky critter at bay. Pepé's debut, with some strange differences - his name is Henry, he unwittingly pursues a male cat, and he's outed for having a wife and kids (and an American accent!). On its own, this is a wonderfully scwewy 'toon.
Scent-imental Over You (1947).
A Park Avenue chihuahua, feeling like a social outcast, decides to glue a skunk-like fur on her hide. This attracts an amorous skunk (named Stinky this time); cute hijinks ensue.
Odor of the Day (1948, directed by Arthur Davis).
This virtually dialogue-less Pepé oddity finds the skunk competing with a homeless dog for shelter on a wintry day. A typical WB effort of the day with predictable gags. Without a lovely lady diverting him, Pepé is actually kind of boring.
For Scent-imental Reasons (1949). Previously released on The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 1, 2003, and The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Volume 1, 2011.
The first true Pepé Le Pew cartoon and the only Oscar winner in the set. A perfume shop owner is horrified to find a skunk on his property; he tosses a stray cat in the shop, white dye strategically falls on her, and le sparks fly. Pepé's horned-up, quasi Charles Boyer personality is in full force here.

Like the other Looney Tunes Super Stars discs, Warner Bros. has packaged Zee Best of Zee Best with generic menu and package designs, along with zero supplementary info as far as release dates and background history. These Super Stars sets have had a spotty history of favoring previously released shorts, often in cropped format for viewing on widescreen TVs. The shorts on Pepé's set are programmed in chronological order, however, and viewable in their original format. Since only three of the 17 cartoons are double-dips, it also offers a glimmer of hope that Warner Bros. is listening to its customers' complaints and supplying Looney Tunes fans with new stuff in a simple, affordable way.

The DVD:

Audio:

The original mono soundtracks are well preserved here with no noticeable glitches or background fuzz. Spoken languages are available in English and re-dubbed Thai (which is quite a trip to hear). Subtitle options are also supplied, in English, Thai and French - but of course.

Video:

Wow. The original 4:3 picture has been digitally restored and spruced up with vivid colors and an excellently mastered image. There are a few instances where the source material shows its age (grain on Odorable Kitty, for instance), but for the most part it's a sweet looking collection. On about a third of these cartoons, Warner Bros. also supplies the option of watching a cruelly cropped widescreen version, in which the image tops and bottoms are hacked off. Jamie S. Rich's DVD Talk review of the Foghorn Leghorn & Friends Super Stars disc demonstrates the differences between the two. The presence of the widescreen option here is annoying, but at least it's not the only choice like on the earliest, badly received Super Stars sets.

Extras:

The sole extras are trailers for Warner Bros.' Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory deluxe blu-ray and Happiness Is Peanuts... Friends Forever. No commentary or featurette? Sacré bleu!

Final Thoughts:

Warner Bros. has done a spotty job on these Looney Tunes Super Star discs in the past. Pepé Le Pew's Zee Best of Zee Best collection threatens to go down that same cynical path, but the mere fact that this one disc contains all the cartoons of a single character in chronological order - beautifully remastered, too - makes this volume a gem. Could a Best of Egghead or Complete Hippety Hopper be far behind? Highly Recommended.

Matt Hinrichs is a designer, artist, film critic and jack-of-all-trades in Phoenix, Arizona. Since 2000, he has been blogging at Scrubbles.net. 4 Color Cowboy is his repository of Western-kitsch imagery, while other films he's experienced are logged at Letterboxd. He also welcomes friends on Twitter @4colorcowboy.