Realizations: Something’s Missing!

I don’t know how many of you go back through my older posts but, if you do, you will find that many (though, oddly, not ALL) of my Hanna-Barbera “embedded-from-You-Tube-videos” are no longer available for viewing!

As you can see above, Huck is rather surprised over this development!

All of the Huckleberry Hound cartoons, the one Yippie, Yappie, and Yahooie, and the one Hokey Wolf cartoon all no longer play – but display the following message:

“This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.”

Fair enough, I say. I don’t own them, and Warner Bros. does. And, the specific targeting sweep would seem to point to Warner rightly protecting its intellectual property.

Someone(s) thought enough of these cartoons to post many, many of them on You Tube – and I, with the same admiration, embedded them into my Blog. So, shame on me, if I’ve done something inappropriate. Unlike many you’ll encounter on the Internet, I don’t feel it is “MY RIGHT” to do as I please with the property of others!

BUT, my refrain throughout these posts – particularly when it comes to Huckleberry Hound – is that the particular cartoons in my posts HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED ON DVD, nor does it seem to be Warner’s intention to ever do so.

Not even calls from Ranger Smith seem to change their minds!

The Huckleberry Hound Show: Volume One was released in 2005. If we haven’t seen anything additional by now, I’m not holding out much hope for the future.

I’m all for the rights-holders getting their entitled due – especially in this age of all manner of electronic piracy – and I would gladly pay Warner for the ability to pop Seasons 2-4 of The Huckleberry Hound Show into my DVD player, but if they are not going to come through (…and it is certainly THEIR CALL on whether or not it is financially feasible for them to do so), why sweep through You Tube and remove these cartoons from view?!

Since I can’t watch an authorized studio DVD of “Huck’s Hack” or “Cop and Saucer”, it was nice to know that I could always call them up on my Blog to enjoy… until now, that is.

It could be argued that Blog posts such as mine, that extol the virtues of these undeservedly obscure works of early television animation, might even serve as “free (and heartfelt) advertising” and help create or increase a demand that might make additional DVDs a more likely endeavor.

I suspect this sort of thing happens periodically. Eventually, most if not all of these cartoons will find their way back to You Tube and other such services, and the “unauthorized enjoyment” will continue. Kinda like small bands of “rebels” continuing to mildly sting a large “empire” (Hey, somebody oughtta make a MOVIE about that… and put some ROBOTS in it!), and on-and-on it will go.

I will continue my practice of embedding, as situations allow – not out of any inappropriate sense of entitlement, and certainly not because there is any gain in it for me – but because of my great affection for the cartoons themselves, and my wish to enjoy them and have others enjoy them too.

…But, I’d REALLY like to legitimately purchase them on DVD! Let’s try to work on that, okay?

Don’t be angry, Huck! The videos will return someday!