List of Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues
Many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts were given Blue Ribbon reissues by Warner Bros. between 1943 and 1969.
Background
The Blue Ribbon program was initiated in late 1943 as a way to cut costs for producing cartoons during World War II, and later as a way to compete against the growing popularity of television. Through the reissue seasons, the reissues had a given season's opening rings and the "Merrily We Roll Along" theme followed by a title card which showed a blue ribbon and a Grand Shorts Award trophy. The closing title cards, for the most part, were replaced too, with some exceptions.The Blue Ribbon titles were edited into the cartoon's original negative. For the first 13 years of the program, the credits were also scrapped. However, later re-releases kept them. The gap between the keeping and splitting of the credits would determine which cartoons whose copyrights were sold to Associated Artists Productions in 1956, with some exceptions. Only Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons made in color were eligible for this program.
A Feud There Was was the first cartoon to be re-released with Blue Ribbon titles on September 11, 1943, scrapping the original titles. It was later re-released again on September 13, 1952, scrapping the first re-release's Blue Ribbon titles.
Though some have had their original bullet title sequences and credits restored for official DVD and Blu-ray releases, majority of the re-releases still have the Blue Ribbon credits. In addition, most Blue Ribbon prints of the short, usually through the American and European 1995 Turner prints, can be seen on television packages throughout the world. Some of them, like A Wild Hare, have edited lines, although the original unedited version is present on The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 4, Side 1, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, The Essential Bugs Bunny, and the , Disc 1. Also, several Blue Ribbon prints have altered titles. For example, A Wild Hare is titled The Wild Hare, My Little Buckaroo is titled My Little Buckeroo, and The Fella with the Fiddle is titled The Fella with a Fiddle. In addition to A Feud There Was, instead of re-releasing other shorts into the Blue Ribbon program, seven other Blue Ribbon shorts have been re-released twice, scrapping the first re-release titles. They are, The Cat Came Back, Of Fox and Hounds,, The Fighting 69½th, The Early Worm Gets the Bird, Rhapsody in Rivets, The Trial of Mr. Wolf, and Old Glory. However, the latter three were credited Warner Bros. on their first re-release, keeping the first Blue Ribbon re-release closing titles for the second re-release. Starting with the 1947-48 animation season reissues, custom fonts for titles were used. Dangerous Dan McFoo was the first cartoon to use this.
After the sale of copyrights of the pre-August 1948 cartoons to Associated Artists Productions in 1956, Warner Bros. would start to keep the original credits on Blue Ribbon reissues, in an attempt to save more money. These re-releases replaced the original opening cards with the animation season the cartoon was re-released in, then proceeded to the original credits through a cut instead of a fade in. These releases between 1956 and 1964 kept the original opening and ending music, regardless of what series the cartoon was originally in. In addition, re-releases between 1956 and 1959 always kept the original closing title cards, regardless what series the cartoon was originally in. But starting with the 1959-64 season, for the most part, the original closing title card was replaced with the reissue season's ending title card.
For the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD releases, Warner Bros. went through great lengths to track down whatever elements of the original title credits still exist in an effort to re-create as best they could the original versions of the altered 'blue ribbon' shorts. Some pristine prints of the original issues were obtained from the UCLA Film and Television Archive. As a result, such cartoons as I Love to Singa and Book Revue can once again be seen as they were originally intended. Unfortunately, there are some "Blue Ribbon" reissue versions of cartoons that are represented on the Golden Collection DVDs as they are the only versions that were made available for exhibition. In any event, to this day there is controversy among animation fans and historians on the alteration of the "Blue Ribbon" releases, primarily the ones re-released between 1943 and 1956.
Exceptions
The 1940 cartoon Mighty Hunters was the one exception to the original rule. The 1952-53 opening rings and "Blue Ribbon" title card were shown as normal, but then proceeded to the original technical credits. This was the only cartoon which ended up in the a.a.p. package to be reissued under the 1956-57 rules.On the other hand, five cartoons which Warner Bros. would keep for their own television packages, because these shorts were released after July 31, 1948, were re-released under the original 1943 rules. These were: You Were Never Duckier, The Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Dilly, Kit for Cat, and Scaredy Cat. You Were Never Duckier was reissued in the 1954-55 season, while the others were reissued during the 1955-56 season. Daffy Dilly was originally produced in Cinecolor, while the rest were produced in Technicolor. Also, Daffy Dilly is the only one of the five to have its original titles not present on DVD releases, although they are known to exist. The Foghorn Leghorn is the only one of the five to be directed by Robert McKimson and Kit for Cat is the only one of the five to be directed by Friz Freleng. The other three were directed by Chuck Jones.
Notably, Bugs Bunny cartoons were often excluded from being reissued. This was due to those cartoons being billed as Bugs Bunny Specials, a sub-series which Warner Bros. sold to theaters at a higher price. They also allowed theaters to book these cartoons separately if they wanted. Very few cartoons featuring the character were actually reissued under the program: Only 22 cartoons in total were reissued, and only A Wild Hare and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt were reissued under the 1943-1956 rules. The other 20 still keep their both their technical credits and the Bugs Bunny in card as well.
Cartoons with re-releases in the last few years of the program did not have new titles. Instead, they were re-released with their original titles.
Reissued cartoons
Cartoons with original technical credits restored on DVD
Many of the above cartoons have been restored for DVD release as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Looney Tunes Super Stars and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD releases. However, only a handful of cartoons that were reissued prior to the 1956-57 season have their original technical credits restored. These are:| Title | Original Release Date | Restored for the DVD/Blu-ray title |
| I Love to Singa | 1936-07-18 | |
| Speaking of the Weather | 1937-09-04 | |
| Little Red Walking Hood | 1937-11-06 | |
| Daffy Duck & Egghead | 1938-01-01 | |
| The Night Watchman | 1938-11-19 | |
| Little Brother Rat | 1939-09-02 | |
| The Bear's Tale | 1940-04-13 | |
| A Wild Hare | 1940-07-27 | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees |
| The Trial of Mr. Wolf | 1941-04-26 | |
| Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt | 1941-06-07 | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees |
| Trap Happy Porky | 1945-02-24 | |
| Book Revue | 1946-01-05 | |
| Holiday for Shoestrings | 1946-02-23 | |
| Baby Bottleneck | 1946-03-16 | |
| Hush My Mouse | 1946-05-04 | |
| Crowing Pains | 1947-07-12 | |
| A Horse Fly Fleas | 1947-12-13 | |
| Back Alley Oproar | 1948-03-27 | |
| Hop, Look and Listen | 1948-04-17 | |
| You Were Never Duckier | 1948-08-07 | |
| The Foghorn Leghorn | 1948-10-09 | |
| Kit for Cat | 1948-11-06 | |
| Scaredy Cat | 1948-12-18 |
In addition to the cartoons listed above, the following cartoons reissued after 1956-57 have had their original opening rings, and ending rings if re-released in the 1959-64 animation season, restored:
| Title | Original Release Date | Restored for the DVD/Blu-ray title |
| The Pest That Came to Dinner | 1948-09-11 | |
| Hippety Hopper | 1949-11-29 | |
| A Ham in a Role | 1949-12-31 | |
| Home, Tweet Home | 1950-01-14 | |
| The Lion's Busy | 1950-02-18 | |
| Strife with Father | 1950-04-01 | |
| The Hypo-Chondri-Cat | 1950-04-15 | |
| It's Hummer Time | 1950-07-22 | |
| Dog Gone South | 1950-08-26 | |
| Canary Row | 1950-10-07 | |
| Pop 'Im Pop | 1950-10-28 | |
| Dog Collared | 1950-12-02 | |
| Canned Feud | 1951-02-03 | |
| Fool Coverage | 1952-12-13 | |
| From A to Z-Z-Z-Z | 1954-10-16 | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees |
| Bell Hoppy | 1954-04-17 |
In 1995, Turner Entertainment restored the original openings for "Hop, Look and Listen" and "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" for their American and European Turner "dubbed" prints.
The titles for "Bone Sweet Bone" are restored for TV, but has not been released on DVD. However, the original copy with the original titles has problems of its own, as split cuts in this copy cut out the ending lines from when the dog says, "If you think for a moment that this little incident is going to upset me--" then it cuts to him freaking out. The rest of his line, "you're absolutely right", is missing in the original title print. The Blue Ribbon print does not have these split-cuts.
The original titles for "Sunday Go to Meetin' Time", "The Merry Old Soul", "September in the Rain", "Tweetie Pie", "A Tale of Two Mice", "House Hunting Mice", Doggone Cats, "I Taw a Putty Tat", and "Daffy Dilly" all are known to exist. However, the original audio is also required for the short to be present restored on a home video release.
The titles for "A Day at the Zoo", "Of Fox and Hounds", "The Isle of Pingo Pongo", "Don't Look Now", "Wacky Wildlife", "Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas", "Thugs with Dirty Mugs", "A Feud There Was", "The Early Worm Gets the Bird", "Circus Today", "The Mice Will Play", "Fresh Fish", "Cross Country Detours", and "I Only Have Eyes for You" were found on eBay in 2007, but never released on DVD.
Sketches and photos of the original titles for "Katnip Kollege, "Farm Frolics", "Sioux Me", "The Fifth-Column Mouse", "Pigs in a Polka", Mouse Menace, The Mouse-Merized Cat, "The Sneezing Weasel", "Old Glory", "You're an Education", "Along Came Daffy", "The Cagey Canary", "An Itch in Time and "A Tale of Two Kitties" have surfaced, but their real titles have not been found.