Cartoon Network: Cartoon Crack-Ups DVD Review
By Paul Rudoff on Aug. 3, 2022 at 10:10 PM in Home Video, Animation

All of my old reviews here on The Corner Penthouse were originally written on Amazon, back when real reviews and information was appreciated over there. Most of the "reviews" there now are either from people pissed off that their items arrived damaged (with photos!) or from people who think that it's where they should leave seller feedback. Whatever good reviews that are there, such as mine from the past, are buried under pages and pages of crap. The Amazon Customer Reviews area is now a wasteland that is best ignored.
I digress. Back on May 5, 2005 I used the Amazon review system to post some information about the Cartoon Network: Cartoon Crack-Ups DVD that Warner Brothers released in 2001. My original review was intended to let potential buyers know that "The Flagstones Pilot" on the disc did not contain the original voice track. I recently found that DVD while going through storage, and given the DVD and Blu-ray releases that have come since, I thought it would be worth revisiting this disc and writing a full and proper review of it.
[ OFFICIAL DVD SYNOPSIS ]
Get ready for tons of fun and lots of laughs as you enjoy your favorite cartoon characters doing what they do best - cracking you up! Seven classic episodes showcase these animated greats in their best moments ever. Whether you giggle, chuckle or snort, you won't be able to contain your laughter!
[ EPISODES ]
This single-layer disc contains the seven Hanna-Barbera cartoons listed below. All content on the disc, including the menus, is presented in 4:3 fullscreen.
- The Flintstones: "The Swimming Pool" (Oct. 14, 1960) (Season 1 Episode 3) (26:27)
Contains the original "Rise and Shine" instrumental theme song, which was used for the first two seasons. One scene in this episode was originally used as the pilot for the series (see: The Flagstones). - The Jetsons: "A Date with Jet Screamer" (Sep. 30, 1962) (Season 1 Episode 2) (25:44)
This is the version with the title card added in the 1980s. It does feature the original "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" ending credits. - Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?: "Jeepers, It's the Creeper" (Sep. 26, 1970) (Season 2 Episode 3) (22:00)
- Huckleberry Hound: "Spud Dud" (Sep. 11, 1960) (Season 3 Episode 1) (7:19)
This is one segment from a three-segment episode. - Yogi Bear: "Bearface Disguise" (Apr. 24, 1961) (Season 1 Episode 13) (7:19)
This is one segment from a three-segment episode. - Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks: "Heavens to Jinksy" (Nov. 14, 1959) (Season 2 Episode 12) (7:19)
This is one segment from a three-segment episode. - Top Cat: "Maharajah of Pookajee" (Oct. 4, 1961) (Season 1 Episode 2) (24:58)
The beginning and end credits text was redone, probably in the 1990s after Turner bought the Hanna-Barbera library. The episode ends with the Turner logo. Furthermore, the DVD cuts off the opening right after TC gets in the taxi, over which new title text was added. The original opening showed TC pulling down a window shade on the back of the taxi which had the title on it. Since the DVD cuts a few seconds short, it also loses the last verse of the theme song. While there are no edits in the ending, the new text is completely mistimed from the original ending text.

I have no idea why Turner felt the need to redo the Top Cat credits text. If you know more about this, post a comment below.
[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]
Despite being a Hanna-Barbera sampler, there are a few extras to be found.
- Biographies - Despite the name, these are not "biographies", but rather 9 screens of fun facts about the shows on the disc: The Flintstones (2 screens), The Jetsons (1 screen), Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (2 screens), Huckleberry Hound (1 screen), Yogi Bear (1 screen), Pixie and Dixie (1 screen), and Top Cat (1 screen).
- The Flintstones' Pilot: The Flagstones - This was the primary reason why I bought this disc back in 2005. (The nice selection of episodes was just a bonus.) Imagine how disappointed I was when I went to watch it and saw the following text on the screen: "New voices were added to this pilot for use on the DVD." I'd really like to know why. At the time of this disc's release in 2001, the pilot was already released on Laserdisc with the original voices: Daws Butler as Fred and Barney, June Foray as Betty, and Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma (the only hold-over from that early test).
- 'Toon Tunes - The theme music from five of the seven series on the disc. The Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? theme song is notably absent, and "Top Cat" is, quite bizarrely, only the first 3 seconds of the song and nothing more - so I'm not counting it. The music, which is played in the menu, seems to have been pulled from the videos on the disc, as they include the sound effects. "Meet The Flintstones" is mislabeled; it is the original "Rise and Shine" instrumental theme song (used in the episode on the disc) and not the familiar song with that title which was introduced in season 3 of the show. The selections for Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear are not for their respective shows, but rather for their individual episodes.
- Gallery - A total of 21 pieces of artwork from all seven shows preceded with this message: "Following are sketches of Hanna-Barbera characters. These demonstrate how some of our favorite characters have evolved over the years. The Gallery also features original storyboards from several episodes included on this disc." The forward/back and right/left buttons do not work, so you must sit there and watch the images change at a pre-determined pace.
Back in 2001, when the Cartoon Crack-Ups DVD was first released, this was the only way you could get episodes from most of these series. That is no longer the case 20 years later.
• The Flintstones is available as a Complete Series set on Blu-ray and DVD. Both releases contain "The Flagstones" with the original voices.
• The Jetsons is available as a Complete Series set on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray only contains the original 1960s series (now known as "Season 1"), while the DVD adds the two 1980s seasons to it (thus giving you all "three seasons").
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is available as a Complete Series set on Blu-ray (also in haunted house packaging) and DVD.
• The Huckleberry Hound Show is available as a Volume 1 set on DVD (4-Discs) and DVD (3-Discs, Repackaged). This is the complete first season of 26 episodes (66 segments), however, the episodes are edited due to expensive licensing issues. The episodes contain three stories each. Unfortunately, "Spud Dud" is not one of them. I am not aware of "Spud Dud", which should be paired with "High Jinks" and "Tricks and Treats", being available on any other DVDs.
• The Yogi Bear Show is available as a Complete Series set on DVD (4-Discs) and DVD (3-Discs, Repackaged).
• Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks is not available officially on DVD, aside from a few shorts in the previously mentioned "Huckleberry Hound: Volume 1" set and the "Heavens to Jinksy" short on this Cartoon Crack-Ups disc. If you want the Complete Series of 57 shorts, you'll have to go the bootleg route. I will not provide links for the bootlegs I found as I don't know if they are from reliable sources.
• Top Cat is available as a Complete Series set on DVD (4-Discs), MOD DVD (5-Discs), and DVD (3-Discs, Repackaged).
With all of those options available to you, there is no longer a need for the Cartoon Crack-Ups DVD. You don't even need it for the trivia and gallery, as I uploaded all of the images to The Corner Penthouse Facebook page, and you can view the menus on the DVD Database Wiki. The Cartoon Crack-Ups DVD is not recommended at all.
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