Not Available for Christmas 2013...
Not Available for Christmas 2013...
One gift that is unavailable for holiday shoppers this year is Mr. Magoo: The Theatrical Collection, 1949-1959. This DVD box set promised viewers every Magoo theatrical short produced by Columbia Pictures. Listed by Amazon.com, it has yet to appear.
Sony Pictures, the parent company of Columbia, never showed much interest in its ownership of ninety UPA theatrical shorts. Some were released on videotape in the 1980s. But UPA failed to appear on DVD except for four Gerald McBoing Boings, sold on a kid-friendly disc capitalizing on the Cartoon Network series. And a few stray UPA cartoons turned up on a Hellboy DVD.
At last, Sony made sublicensing deals to release the UPA treasures. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) did a superb job with UPA: The Jolly Frolics Collection. Shout! Factory proposed to do the same with the fifty-three Magoo theatricals. (Shout previously released the three Magoo TV series on a massive eleven-disc set.) Reed Kaplan was hired to produce supplementary materials. Jerry Beck, John Canemaker, and Emily Hubley (daughter of UPA director John Hubley) all recorded audio commentaries. Sony promised to restore 35mm prints for the DVD release. The four-disc set was also to include 1001 Arabian Nights, UPA’s first animated feature.
Then... nothing. Even so, four Amazon readers found it worthwhile to review the nonexistent product.
Perhaps the Magoo set will be available for Christmas 2014...
December 18, 2013