Complete Casper (theatrical toons and 63 series) coming to DVD!!

[drmark7]

Greetings Group, If I already have the Classic Media HARVEYTOONS set (Recent purchase for $8!) What additional material (if any?) would I be gaining by getting the new HERMAN AND KATNIP and CASPER sets? Presumably commentaries, original TV titles and in-betweens of the "New Casper Cartoon Show"? Are there some different (original?) titles on CASPER set cartoons? Were the "New Casper" cartoons all on the HARVEYTOONS set? It seems a review said the HERMAN AND KATNIPS were taken verbatim from the HARVEYTOONS set. Any extras there? Thanx in advance, Mark

[MarkTheShark]

And from A-Haunting:

From what I have been reading, this seems like a cool set and I'm looking forward to it (even though Casper is not my favorite of the Famous/Harvey characters). I appreciate the efforts to be authentic, but there really isn't much that can be done with those completely refilmed red UM&M titles. If I'd been doing this project, I would have left that one "as is." But they did try to do something at least.

I remember liking the 1963 Casper shorts better than the theatricals as a kid -- though I'm not sure how well they would hold up viewing them now. I guess I'll find out. (They seemed "less sappy" to me as a kid.)

Original Paramount titles would have been awesome, but even vintage Harvey titles (as opposed to the 1998 Harveytoon Show versions) are an improvement over what I already have. I also have read that the Harveytoon Show versions are either time-compressed or maybe have PAL/NTSC issues, and at least some cartoons have some minor trims of a few seconds here, a few seconds there, just to shorten them a little. I don't know if that's accurate, but if they actually went back to the pre-Harveytoon Show masters, that's great!

At any rate, good to have them all available, especially all in one convenient set.

I haven't read through this whole thread -- having the original New Casper Cartoon Show opening and closing in color is great news (I thought that was the best part of the show -- I love the "hootenanny" at the beginning, and like Linus The Lionhearted and Porky Pig, they do the bit where everyone is all sad and crying at the end because the show is over, which seems especially appropriate for a wimpy character like Casper). I've got my fingers crossed -- do the TV cartoons have their original intros and closings as opposed to the retitled versions they released on VHS? I hope they do, or at least most of them do.

Looking forward to it!

(EDIT: See a few posts down -- a slight majority of the TV shorts have original titles, only one theatrical cartoon has vintage Harvey titles, all the rest are Harveytoon Show versions.)

[MarkTheShark]

Greetings Group, If I already have the Classic Media HARVEYTOONS set (Recent purchase for $8!) What additional material (if any?) would I be gaining by getting the new HERMAN AND KATNIP and CASPER sets? Presumably commentaries, original TV titles and in-betweens of the "New Casper Cartoon Show"? Are there some different (original?) titles on CASPER set cartoons? Were the "New Casper" cartoons all on the HARVEYTOONS set? It seems a review said the HERMAN AND KATNIPS were taken verbatim from the HARVEYTOONS set. Any extras there? Thanx in advance, Mark

I'd like to know this myself, especially for Herman And Katnip -- though I believe I have read they just used the Harveytoon Show versions, which would make the set a double-dip -- except that I think there may be one or two cartoons that weren't included in the Harveytoons complete incomplete collection. I hope someone out there can definitively answer this.

The 1963 made for TV Caspers were not included in the Harveytoons set, that much I can tell you. The new one would be worth getting just for those, aside from other things mentioned in this thread so far.

[David Gerstein]

I'd like to know this myself, especially for Herman And Katnip -- though I believe I have read they just used the Harveytoon Show versions, which would make the set a double-dip -- except that I think there may be one or two cartoons that weren't included in the Harveytoons complete incomplete collection. I hope someone out there can definitively answer this.

I can. The Herman and Katnip disc includes
• 3 shorts (CAT CARSON RIDES AGAIN, NORTHWEST MOUSIE, SURF AND SOUND) that were only included as excerpts on the Harveytoons set
• One short (FUN ON FURLOUGH) that wasn't on the Harveytoons set at all

[MarkTheShark]

I can. The Herman and Katnip disc includes
• 3 shorts (CAT CARSON RIDES AGAIN, NORTHWEST MOUSIE, SURF AND SOUND) that were only included as excerpts on the Harveytoons set
• One short (FUN ON FURLOUGH) that wasn't on the Harveytoons set at all

Thanks for the info!

[ohmahaaha]

Here's hoping we will see a "Complete Baby Huey??"

[Bobby Bickert]

Original Paramount titles would have been awesome, but even vintage Harvey titles (as opposed to the 1998 Harveytoon Show versions) are an improvement over what I already have.

But it's still disappointing that they used old TV prints of cartoons that were filmed in three-strip Technicolor. (But I know the blame for that goes to Classic Media, not Shout Factory.)

Did they at least try to get better prints of "Once Upon A Rhyme" and "Boo Hoo Baby"?

[MarkTheShark]

Okay, I picked it up and here are the stats regarding original titles, reissue titles, Harveytoon Show versions, etc.:


Of 26 made-for-TV cartoons from The New Casper Cartoon Show, 15 have the original openings and closings (some of them appear to have been re-edited back onto the Harveytoon Show versions of the cartoons). The quality is variable from one cartoon to another, but nothing real bad. The remaining 11 cartoons have the Harveytoon Show recreated titles to match the theatrical ones:

• A Visit From Mars
• The Absent Minded Robot
• Growing Up
• Small Spooks
• The Enchanted Horse
• Little Lost Ghost
• Twin Trouble
• Wendy's Wish
• Bedtime Trouble
• Mother Goose Land
• Super Spooks

The original show opening plays at the beginning of the disc and the show closing follows the last one at the end. The show opening and closing are in nice shape, they look and sound good. The only things not there are the ABC color logo at the beginning of the opening and the "Harvey Films" logo at the end of the closing. I didn't see any of the "next week" teasers which were actually left on syndicated 16mm prints of some of the Modern Madcaps in the 1970s and 1980s.

Among the theatrical cartoons, Casper's Spree Under The Sea has a vintage Harvey opening and closing. (Full original theatrical titles but with the Harvey name and logo replacing the Paramount.) The remaining theatrical cartoons are all the Harveytoon Show versions, although for some reason, one cartoon (Which Is Witch) has a vintage Harvey end title.

I kid you not -- the three public domain cartoons appear to have been lifted from (what else) public domain DVDs. Two of them (The Friendly Ghost and A Haunting We Will Go) have the exact same anomalies as seen on a recent Image/Madacy 300 Classic Cartoons public domain set -- who else besides me thinks it's a little scary that Madacy and Image Entertainment have merged!?:eek: -- Paramount logos tacked onto the beginning and then placed in a "frame" with a shadow around it. The Friendly Ghost has a tacky "THE END" title visual created on video, and A Haunting We Will Go has no end title at all. There's Good Boos To-Night begins with the NTA logo, but the end title is covered up with a repeat of part of the opening title -- almost how it appears on the same Image/Madacy collection, except the latter fades it up after the NTA logo. So these cartoons probably weren't sourced from that specific public domain collection, but I just mention it because the tacked-on Paramount intros were not done for the new Shout Factory set, they were already there on whatever PD source they used.

All the cartoons have their original soundtracks. The Harveytoon Show sourced cartoons look and sound pristine, even if they're time-compressed and not exactly complete.

Even though the theatrical cartoons are a double-dip, the set is worth having for the 1963 made-for-TV shorts, and the show opening and closing (which actually may have been the best part of the show). They serve as a nice complement to the incomplete Harveytoons Complete Collection.

[drmark7]

I could order online, but made a sweep today locally of Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart. Figured with it being Halloween a CASPER set would be all over, but found it nowhere. Has anyone seen the CASPER set at a brick and mortar store?

[Ken Layton]

I've looked at Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Shopko, etc and have not found it on store shelves.