Warner Bros. Home Ent. has seen its kids episodic DVD business -- including Nickelodeon, DC Comics, Cartoon Network and other TV releases -- grow 37% in the past year. Compilations of shorts account for a relatively small part of that business, with a primary initiative being the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, of which Volume 4 was released in late 2006. Introduced annually in the fall, each four-disk set contains 55 to 60 shorts plus lots of extras. Volume 4 included Bugs Bunny Favorites, shorts by Frank Tashlin (including many Porky Pig cartoons), a Speedy Gonzales collection, and a disc of shorts featuring Sylvester and other of Warner's classic cartoon cats.

A recent trend is to include a short film as an extra for feature DVD releases. Pixar included shorts on Cars and The Incredibles while Disney presented The Little Match Girl (above) with The Little Mermaid DVD. © Dis

"Our customers want to share these crown jewels with their children," says Dorinda Marticorena, WBHE's vp of family entertainment and sports marketing. "But they are also fans themselves. They can't get enough of the backstory." As a result, the studio invests a significant amount of resources on enhanced content for these collector DVDs, such as featurettes about the animators and the like, created by Warner's in-house special feature creative team using original production materials the studio has saved. "The enhanced content has generated significant press for the Looney Tunes franchise," Marticorena reports.

Another upcoming release from Warner is Tex Avery's Droopy Dog: The Complete Theatrical Collection, scheduled for a May debut. The studio also occasionally includes shorts on its feature film or episodic TV discs.

An independent studio with a strong brand, especially in the U.K., is Aardman Animations, which has a large collection of short films. Its compilation DVDs to date have included Aardman Classics (which has sold about 100,000 units since its 2002 release), featuring Creature Comforts, Wat's Pig and other shorts, and Aardman's Darkside, containing edgier fare such as Angry Kid, Rex the Runt, and Big Jeff.

"We try to trade off the backs of the higher-platform releases," explains Sean Clarke, head of marketing and licensing. The Aardman Classics disc was timed to the feature Chicken Run, and a re-release, with a new sleeve, was issued with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Both were merchandised alongside the higher-profile features. Packaging calls out the best-known shorts on each collection.

Compilations of shorts account for a relatively small part of Warner Bros. Home Ent.’s business, with a primary initiative being the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

Distribution of Aardman's compilations occurs primarily through specialty retailers and e-commerce rather than mass, and the U.K. accounts for the bulk of sales, although the company sees opportunity in the U.S. market. U.S. consumers are responsible for the largest number of downloads of many of Aardman's Internet-distributed shorts, including Angry Kid, especially through the AtomFilms site.

Film Festivals
Outside of brand-name studios, a handful of other companies are releasing DVD compilations featuring animated shorts. Distribution is mainly through online and niche channels, although some have mainstream distribution as well. Many are tied to film festivals.

In January, MTV released a boxed set of Volumes 1 and 2 of The Animation Show (which has a broadcast deal with MTV2). Linked to Mike Judge and Don Herzfeldt's theatrical tour of animated shorts, the DVD set is available at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other retail channels. (Volumes 1 and 2 are available separately on the MTV and Animation Show websites.) The DVD productions are loosely based on each year's theatrical tour, but with some replacements and additions; the set includes extras, such as a featurette about animated shorts and animation festivals and a book of interviews that reveal the personalities and influences of the 22 films' creators.

The theatrical tour, which includes shorts mined from animation festivals around the world and from the 1,000 to 2,000 submissions the company receives each year, is currently in its third incarnation, and a Volume 3 DVD is expected to follow.

Robert May, one of The Animation Show's producers, says that the focus of the enterprise is to allow people to experience animated shorts in a packed theater. But the festival visits a limited number of cities. The DVD is a way not only to provide something for collectors, but to expand the festival's reach beyond the towns where the theatrical version tours. "Working with MTV means we're on the shelf in Target in towns where the show's never played before," explains May.