 |
|
| The Best of WB Sound FX | |
| Warner Bros. // DVD Audio // $24.98 // October 10, 2002 | |
|
|
| Review by Aaron Beierle | posted January 7, 2003 |
|
The Music:
WELCOME TO THE VAULT
BUGS' TOP 10
DAFFY'S BOTTOM 10
MASTERFUL MUSICAL MOMENTS
OH, LOOK! THE PUDDY-TAT FAW DOWN, GO BOOM!
BUY ACME!
SOUNDS TO SCARE YOUR MOM
A LITTLE CULTURE
IT IS TO LAUGH!
IT IS TO LAUGH SOME MORE!
HARE-BRAINED THEATER
BUGS' COMBOS
DUCK DODGERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
BONUS VIDEO: NOW HEAR THIS
BONUS AUDIO: INTERVIEW WITH TREG BROWN
The DVD
SOUND: I suppose that every new format has a title whose purpose remains a mystery. In this case, it would be "Best of Warner Brothers Sound FX", a DVD-Audio title that presents quite a few of the Looney Tunes-related sound effects in DVD-Audio 96khz/24-bit 5.1 for DVD-Audio players and Dolby Digital 5.1 for DVD-Video players.
The program seems to be made up of newly recorded character sketches and stretches of older sound effects. Many of the older sound effects sound their age, even though they have remastered for this DVD-Audio presentation. The newly created sound effects sound perfectly fine, but the surround mix is random and tiring. Sound effects bounce from speaker-to-speaker rapidly - while this would likely entertain children with shorter attention spans, adult listeners will likely wish for a sound mix with a little more restraint.
The other element of this album is made up of newly recorded skits, none of which I found particularly funny - they all seemed disapointingly half-hearted and rushed in comparison to Looney Tunes projects of the past. As for surround sound, some of these conversations between characters took place between two speakers - for example, one character would be talking in one of the surrounds, while another would be in one of the fronts.
Lastly, the assorted older sound effects and some of the newly recorded bits (a few jokey "commercials") largely folded up into the front speakers, with only a bit of surround reinforcement, if any. There's probably a market for a "sound effects" DVD-Audio title, but this Looney Tunes edition just doesn't work that well; the sound effects are thrown about the 5.1 presentation too much at times and not at all in other sections. I wish work had instead been spent on restoring some of the actual cartoons and bringing them to DVD instead of just this compilation of sound effects.
Final Thoughts: I really don't know who this release is aimed towards. While I mentioned in my review that kids may find it enjoyable, I don't know how much repeat value they'll find in a record that's mostly sound effects bouncing around speakers and a few stories and bits I found surprisingly unamusing for the Looney Tunes. Not recommended.