Many lost gems are now available on Loony Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. All LTGC Volume 2 images © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation.

The holiday season once again approaches and hundreds of furtive purchases are being made on behalf of the world’s animation fans. The usual panoply of boxed DVD sets is now hitting the shelves, soon to be removed by savvy gift-givers and stashed away in hiding places until paper, ribbons and bows disguise their countless joys. (This scenario applies only to those who began their holiday shopping early. Yes, all three of you.) One of the DVD extravaganzas certain to be eagerly opened in homes across the country is The Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

This four-disc follow-up to last year’s prized entry will contain 60 shorts (four more than the last set) and some attractive featurettes including a spotlight on Bob Clampett. Among the bonus shorts included is a 2004 entry, Daffy Duck for President. Since the set goes on sale Nov. 2, 2004, this cartoon may be of immense benefit to undecided voters during that week.

The press release promises that all films will be “beautifully restored and re-mastered to their original, uncut presentation.” Disc One spotlights Bugs Bunny, Disc Two offers the Road Runner and Coyote, Disc Three features Tweety and Sylvester, and the final disc takes more of the grab-bag approach seen on last year’s set. LTGC Vol. 1 took some heat last year for not including many favorite and famous cartoons, but the new volume seems to include many of them.

Films such as What’s Opera Doc (1957), Porky in Wackyland (1938), The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946), The Dover Boys (1942), and, yes, One Froggy Evening (1955) appear in this set. According to animation historian/author Jerry Beck, who was instrumental in selecting the shorts seen in the set, original beginning and ending titles have even been found. Many of them have gone unseen for years.

I am not in the employ of Warners nor am I attempting to shill for this collection; the above description simply happens to be factual. If these beloved shorts are included and are indeed restored to perfection, this may well be an adequate response to some of fandom’s gripes about LTGC Vol. 1. However, not everyone will be satisfied, nor will some aficionados cease in their complaints. The focus this time appears to be a matter of what has been excluded rather than included. This same issue has been tugging at the edges of animation for several decades, a conundrum that will not die and is unlikely ever to find resolution in our present society.

Will Warners “politically incorrect” cartoons featuring the depiction of African-Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans and Asian Americans ever find their way to future Golden Collections?

Daffy Duck for President, produced this year, appears on LTGC2.