Now the latest Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection features everyone's favorite pet shop gorilla. Yes! How much is that gorilla in the window? Magilla Gorilla that is. Now the complete TV Series of Magilla Gorilla is making its debut on Blu-ray!
Synopsis: Direct from his Peebles Pet Shop habitat, Magilla Gorilla swings into the Blu-ray jungle, his inimitable goofiness and penchant for stumbling into trouble still intact to delight new generations of cartoon fans. As the naive ape demonstrates, primates and humans share similar situations. Magilla gets to be an Army draftee (Private Magilla, featuring famous news anchor Walter Crancake), a football player (Gridiron Gorilla), an astronaut (Planet Zero) and more, ever silly situation an occasion for laughs. You can also relish the frisky feuding of Punkin' Puss and Mushmouse in a rootin'-tootin' shooting gallery of hillbilly hilarity. Lightning-fast sheriff Ricochet Rabbit and his coyote deputy Droop-a-long round out the animated animal antics.
Warner Home Video previously released the Classic Collection of the Magilla Gorilla Show on DVD in 2006. One of the biggest problems with that release was it did not include the original Magilla Gorilla Show main/end title sequences. Well with this new Blu-ray set I am pleased to say that this set fully restores the series and adds the opening and closing titles back.
A cartoon is only as good as the voice actors. And the voices found in this series include Allan Melvin (Sam the butcher in The Brady Bunch), Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass in The Andy Griffth Show), Don Messick (provided the voices for Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Hoppy and Astro), Hal Smith (Otis in The Andy Griffth Show) Daws Butler (provided the voice for Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss and Quick Draw McGraw), Jean Vander Pyl (the vice of Rosie the Robot and Pebbles Flintstone) and than the legendary Mel Blanc.
The 23 half hour episodes of Magilla Gorilla have been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p. The audio track is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 There is also the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. But these are not just any transfers these are sourced from newly remastered from 4K scans of the original negatives.
To say I was impressed when viewing this cartoon series on Blu-ray would be a huge understatement. These cartoons look and sound simply amazing. The colors are bright and vibrant. The picture is sharp and clean with no digital artifacts found at all! The audio is clear as a bell. You don't have to worry about the quality of these episodes, they look amazing!
In addition to simply stunning restorations Warner Archive Collection added some cool bonus features to this 3-disc Blu-ray set. Take a look at what is included.
* Here Comes a Star: Archival TV Special goes inside Hanna-Barbera studios to introduce this new simian character. (25 Minutes)
* Magilla Theme Song: Live and Unplugged: Rare footage of Hoyt Curtin and Bill Hanna at the piano. Introduced by series animator Jerr Eisenberg.(1 minute 44 Seconds)
* Mr. Peebles Pet Shop: Interview gallery with Magilla Gorilla's voice Allan Melvin, series animator Jerry Eisenberg and Animation Historian Jerry Beck. (13 minutes 58 seconds)
* Bonus Magilla Gorilla cartoons: Camp Scamps, Deep Sea Doodle, High Fly Guy, Magilla Mix-Up, Love at First Fight, Makin' with Magilla, Pet Bet and The Purple Mask
The addition of the TV Special is a very welcomed one! I love the inclusion of the 'Live and Unplugged' music. That was extremely cool! And the interviews bring a lot of insight into this classic cartoon series. And all the other Magilla cartoons Warner Archive really went above and beyond here making a great addition to the Hanna-Barbera Blu-ray library!
So, if you love the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons as much as I do, this new Blu-ray of Magilla Gorilla is an absolute must for your collection. Head over to Physical Media Land or Amazon and order your copy today! You won't be disappointed!
Out of 4 TV Sets (4 being the best) The Warner Archive Blu-ray of The Magilla Gorilla Show receives....
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