Just in time for the winter holidays we get a Yogi adventure that takes place in the spring. This is another Warner Archive Collection release that allows us to get our hands on something that would otherwise be impossible to find. The 1987 full-length cartoon adventure features your favorite “smarter than the average Bear” Yogi and Boo Boo as well as a few guests from the Hanna-Barbera line of characters. You’ll also find Snagglepuss, Wally Gator and Quick-Draw McGraw in this adventure.
As the winter begins to melt away at Jellystone Park, Yogi and Boo Boo are about to wake for the spring, and boy, are they hungry. There’s nothing left in the pantry, so it’s off to explore for picnic baskets. When they finally find a basket, they’re in for a big surprise. There’s no food. Instead, there are three little bear cubs and a note asking their “uncle” Yogi to care for them during the spring.
As if there isn’t enough trouble, Ranger Smith gets a call that Jellystone is over budget and has to be closed down. That means all of the animals will be rounded up and taken to a zoo, including Yogi. That’s not exactly what Yogi has in mind, so he builds a “super car” and escapes from the park. Even with a hired tracker and his dog, the ranger stays just a step behind the fleeing company of bears. With the help of a network of kids across the country, Yogi manages to stay free. There’s also a hardened duo of bear thieves. Bandit Bear and his brother just so happened to look just like our favorite bear duo. Now the cops are on the hunt for Yogi. It’s going to take smarts better than the average bear for Yogi to catch the real crooks and clear their names.
Warner Brothers continues what I believe to be a wonderful new program to enhance their home video release catalog. Let’s face it. We all have a favorite film or television show that was never really a popular release with the general population. But that doesn’t matter to us, because we love it anyway. We wait forever in the hopes that the title will one day be available. Unfortunately, like anything else, video releases have to make money. If the studio does not believe that it will have broad enough appeal, the release will never see the light of day, nor your local favorite video store. The reality is very easy to understand. Millions of copies of a release have to be cut in order to make all of the preparation and processing viable. If that number isn’t a realistic projection, there isn’t going to be a release. But, now Warner Brothers has actually found a compromise, and at last hope for your obscure “gotta have” title, if it is owned by Warner Brothers, of course.
The Warner Archive Collection offers up hundreds of obscure titles that the studio has evaluated and found not viable as a commercial release. The catalog is growing almost by the day. For a nominal fee, not more than a standard DVD release, you can order a copy of these hard-to-find titles. Warner will then cut a DVD-R of that title and ship it direct to you. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. This is going to look like that bootleg copy your cousin makes in his basement. Wrong. The DVD-R comes in a solid case with a printed insert, just like in the stores. The disc is silk-screened and in color. The video quality varies somewhat. I’m not going to tell you that the audio and video are wonderful, but they are in better shape than cousin Hector’s bootleg, that I promise you. The discs do not contain extras, and the films are not restored or processed much as transfers. Still, it’s an incredibly grand idea, one I hope that all of the other studios adopt soon. “That’s sure all right, if you know what I mean.”
You can look at what there is to offer yourself at Warner Archive Collection
