Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Tennessee Tuxedo Update # 1! -- or -- “Confound It, Odie, Where’s My Other Half?!”


Slowly waddling (he’s a PENGUIN, get it?) my way further into “TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION” on DVD, from Shout! Factory, I’ve found nearly everything to be consistent with what I’ve previously observed – in THIS POST. 

…Except for this glaring error!   

I’ve already mentioned that, unlike UNDERDOG, no effort was made to reconstruct anything resembling the original TV show TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES! 

The first disc is divided into THREE SEPARATE SECTIONS: One for Tennessee Tuxedo, one for The King and Odie (King Leonardo), and one for The Hunter. 

Here is the Disc One menu for “The King and Odie” section.  Anyone spot the problem? 

 Okay, I’ll spare you the effort… King Leonardo cartoons were two-part stories. 

On the original KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT SUBJECTS series, we would get Part One of King L., then Tooter Turtle, (maybe a short segment like the cereal-ad-based “Twinkles”), The Hunter, and finally Part Two of King L.

And, on TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES, King L. would begin one week, and conclude the next.

So, if all the “King and Odie” cartoons were two-parts, how can this disc have only SEVEN (…and not EIGHT) “King and Odie” segments?! 

Easy, the second part of “Got ‘Em Up Scout”, titled “The King Camps Out”, was LEFT OFF! 

…Yes, really! 

I’ll say it again, for those staring at their computer screens in utter disbelief…

LEFT OFF! 

That’s: L-E-F-T (pause) O-F-F-! 

It ain’t there! 

And, if the episode listings for the set are to be believed, it ain’t anywhere else, either! 

LEFT OFF! 

The King, himself, would say: "CONFOUND IT!"

Now, I’ve given Shout! Factory the benefit of the doubt, when it comes to the tricky task of piecing together a show like this.  In fact, here are my own words, as they applied to the UNDERDOG set:   

At this point in time, I’m not sure it is at all possible to properly reconstruct multi-segment shows like this – that were “sliced and diced” in countless ways for various syndication packages.  And, I’m certain that Shout! Factory did the best they could in reconstructing the original “Underdog Experience”.  So, I’m willing to concede this, and give ‘em points for trying.”

But, leaving off Part Two of a series KNOWN to always have been shown in two parts, is more than I’m willing to overlook! 

Bad job, folks!  Sorry!

I just hope there are no more such surprises to be discovered. 


5 comments:

Chris Barat said...

Joe,

Perhaps King Leonardo and Odie abandoned their adventure to go and help in the search for Woody Woodpecker and the other stranded mariners?

Chris

Fun Ideas said...

I hate to say it, but I'm not even impressed with what Shout Factory ultimately did with the Tennessee Tuxedo set. After great accomplishments with the Casper and Underdog sets, it seems like they really dropped the ball here. I am refraining from writing a review on Amazon or anywhere else except here due to my displeasure....

Joe Torcivia said...

Chris:

I was thinking the exact same thing RE: that infamous Woody Woodpecker comic book.

But, I didn’t want to have to conjure-up an explanation to the readers who were left unscathed by that period of comic book history. So, I’ll leave that homework assignment to you for bringing it up! :-)

Everyone… Chris will be back with the explanation, while I say “Thank You” to Mark for his contributions to the recent Casper, Underdog, and Tennessee Tuxedo DVD sets!

From our private conversations, I know he worked hard on these to make them the best they could be – and any criticisms made here are never to be taken as criticisms of his efforts!

Overall, despite the listed shortcomings, I have really enjoyed the TT set. All the more so, having played the Bonus Features!

joecab said...

YUCK. I'm anal enough that that's seriously enough to get me to NOT buy it. I wouldn't buy the Magilla Gorilla DVDs because they left out the opening and I didn't even buy the WB cartoon DVDs because the shorts were all out of chronological order. (Picky, picky, picky ...)

Joe Torcivia said...

Joe C:

I certainly understand why you’d feel that way… Though I’m still happy enough (…NOTE: There *IS* a difference between “happy” and “happy enough”!) with the Magilla Gorilla set. It IS complete in number of cartoons, after all, as opposed to not having them at all! …Like we still don’t have Peter Potamus!

And the Magilla shows are reconstructed more properly, with openings and closings – and “So Long” song interstitials, on the “Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s” volumes. Find those reviews buried deep in this Blog for more.

But, come back tomorrow – and I’ll be posting “Tenessee Tuxedo Update # 2”, in which things get considerably better overall. My opinion has “upped” somewhat, in view of additional discoveries. Let me know what you think after you read that.

Joe T.