Why Isn't The Quick Draw McGraw Show on DVD/Streaming? - Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. Rant 

UPDATE: Recently Hanna-Barbera historian Don Yowp made a blog post, explaining why Quick Draw isn't out on DVD/Blu-Ray yet. What it boils down to is music rights issues. In the early years of Hanna-Barbera, they didn't have enough money to compose their own musical scores, so they licenced out stock music from Capital Records for The Quick Draw McGraw Show, as well as The Ruff and Reddy Show and the first three seasons of The Huckleberry Hound Show (after that Hoyt Curtin began composing original scores that Hanna-Barbera owned outright). In 2005, Warner Home Video released The Yogi Bear Show: The Complete Series and The Huckleberry Hound Show: Vol. 1 (aka the first season). Originally these sets were supposed to be followed by a Vol. 2 of Huck Hound (aka Seasons 2 & 3) and the first season of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. At that time the stock music in these shows was still owned by Capital Records, and WB easily licenced them for the first season of Huck Hound. However, shortly after the release of Huck Hound Vol. 1, the rights to the stock music reverted back to their original composers and their heirs, who reportably demanded way more money for the use of their music in these shows than WB was willing to pay. That, combined with the low sales of Huck Hound Vol. 1. forced WB to cancel plans for future Huck Hound Volumes and Quick Draw McGraw. SOURCE: yowpyowp.blogspot.com/2024/02/quick-draw-mcgraw-on-blu-ray.html

I totally agree with you man, Quick Draw McGraw is the FUNNIEST of Hanna-Barbera's earliest shows, even more so then both Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. One of the BIG reasons for this, that you forgot to mention, was because the writer on all 45 Quick Draw episodes was Mike Maltese, who's best known as Chuck Jones' main writer and main creative partner. He helped write such legendary Looney Tunes shorts such as Rabbit of Seville, The Hunting Trilogy, Duck Amuck, Duck Dodgers in the 24.5 Century, One Froggy Evening, What's Opera Doc and most of the Road Runner cartoons. For Quick Draw and Baba Looey, he basically repurposed his latter day Daffy Duck/Porky Pig dynamic: dumbarse hero - smartarse sidekick, to great effect.

You hit it on the nail. Quick Draw McGraw definitely deserves some modern spotlight, either it's a physical media release or streaming. (Which I prefer DVDs.) I really am shocked that the other HB characters had DVDs but not Quick Draw McGraw and hopefully it will change, because he doesn't deserve to be lost in time and he one of the well known HB characters.

I can understand how it feels when you are trying to preserve things from not only your childhood but also stuff from before your life that you have taken interest in as well as some new stuff that came out during adulthood that you still enjoy regardless of the target demographic.

The selection of what things can and can’t be on streaming can be really arbitrary. Like where’s Cow and Chicken? Where’s Sheep in the Big City?

I also hope we can get the rest of Huckleberry Hound on DVD someday, (outside of probably some of those compilation DVDs) we only have season 1.

There had been a few HB shows that still haven't made it onto DVD or streaming, not just Quick Draw. Up until a few years ago Warner Bros outright refused to release a complete series set of Wally Gator apparently for similar reasons (not so much music rights as it was really moreso because of the show's varying masters needing to be preserved). When Warner Archive finally released that show on DVD in 2019, they used masters that varied from episode to episode. Some were simply taken from older video masters while others were properly transferred from film elements. This is apparently one of the reasons "Ruff and Reddy" hasn't been made available on any home media format _since the 1980s_ even though when Boomerang aired the shorts created for that series the masters used looked pretty decent.

I'm surprised Quick Draw McGraw isn't on DVD or Streaming.

The Banana Splits Movie came from the script for a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie that Warner Bros was planning to make before the rights suddenly lapsed at the last minute and as a result they decided to recycle the script that was already written while using characters from an old property they actually owned the rights to (The Banana Splits Gang) thinking that nobody cared about them anymore

Top Cat is weird that it was way, way bigger in Latin America, meaning that the movies were adapted from a slightly different portrayal brought in from that regional interpretation of him.

14:56 The reason why top cat has a movie is because it was made in mexico due to how popular the series is in latin america (mostly thanks to how good the dub is) Even thought most of the english community hates the movie, the hispanic community loves it.

Just for a little minor correction, The Brak Show is still up to view on Max unlike it's predecessor. It ALMOST got pulled at the end of August according to Prime Video and an obscure website called "Movie of the Night", but thankfully Warner relapsed the rights in time.

I heard that distribution issues were caused by music rights. Which is weird, because the stuff not originally made for the show was just stock music that also appeared in the infamous Looney Tunes “Seely Six” as well as Gumby. The old HB stuff and Looney Tunes is owned by WB, so there’s no reason why they can’t just pay for the stock music license since they apparently already did for Looney Tunes. I commented this before watching through the whole video, so I don’t know if this was addressed or not. If so, sorry for being repetitive. Also, I honestly think that Hanna-Barbera is just very underrated in general.

I really miss Quick Draw McGraw.

Quick Draw McGraw driving stagecoach cracked me up.

I read somewhere that there were plans, for the ORIGINAL show, to make Augie Doggie a girl... before settling for a boy

I agree with your assessments of the latter day versions of the classic Hanna-Barbera characters. The trouble with them is that they lack the original sense of sincerity. The tastelessness and mean-spirited tone is a reflection of the perceived "sense of humor" of the people making these cartoons. Having crossed paths with these types of people in the industry, I have seen these types. They are snarky and cynical. Many of them make snide remarks about other people in the name of making a cheap joke at the expense of someone else, or do things draw attention to themselves to prove how "clever" they are. They don't have a sense of what is truly funny, nor do they have a good story sense.

I hope David Zaslav will get fired.

I, too, am a lifelong Hanna-Barbera fan, and I practically codified the autism spectrum when I was diagnosed in the early 1980s. There should be home media releases not only of "Quick Draw McGraw", but also of "The Harlem Globetrotters" (1970), "Jana of the Jungle" (1978) and "The Little Rascals" (1982-84). And I never cared for the art style of "Jellystone!", as I prefer "Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?"

THANK YOU!!! Ive been feeling like this for a minute

Hey, I found your channel and I love it! Your content reminds of another one of my favorite channels, PatMac!

Yeah, regarding the stock music licensing, that was why some "SpongeBob SquarePants" episodes had to have some music tracks replaced for home video releases, along with the initial attempt to release the 1950s-60s "Gumby" cartoons on DVD (through Rhino) led to them having to use the 1980s rerun masters with "sweetened" soundtracks containing re-dubbed music and voices. Golden Book Video also had to replace the KPM stock music fanfare in their opening logo with their own originally-composed soundalike fanfare only a year after their launch. Heck, the "Ren & Stimpy" episodes that used Raymond Scott's music tracks aren't available on Paramount+ due to clearance issues involving those tracks! Before I learned the difference between theatrical and television music clearance rights, I suspected this issue was also why those six 1958 "Looney Tunes" shorts using the Capitol Hi-Q stock music library (because WB Animation's regular composer Milt Franklyn was partaking in a musician's strike) were not being released on DVD, but since theatrical music rights have no problems with home video distribution (compared to television music rights), they were able to get four of those six cartoons released on disc.

Loopy the Lupe was a GOOD wolf. He tried to help people, but had to overcome people's prejudice against wolves. Sometimes he won them over, other times, despite his best efforts, he had to end the episode running from angry people.

I wish they would have kept up with the Hanna Barbara Cinematic Universe, because they could have done so much with that. Heck they didn’t even have to make it a whole cinematic universe, they could have just gave different movies and sprinkled in some of the Hanna Barbara characters in it. Like if they would have made a Quick Draw McGraw movie I can imagine they could put characters like Ricochet Rabbit in it and maybe even Huckleberry Hound. Maybe they could even take the four main villains from the movie The Good, the Bad and Huckleberry Hound and make them the villains in a Quick Draw movie. The possibilities are endless here.

Quick Draw McGraw and the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command show are two shows that still haven't had proper DVD releases, and I'm still hoping for the day they get released...

I'm creating a cartoon. It's called, Forgotten Tales! It's about these forgotten and obscure characters that no one remembers from media going on wacky and crazy adventures.

John K's spite towards the classic Hanna-Barbera mostly comes from his general dislike of shows that reuse animation. It also kinda the reason why he was infamous for not meeting deadlines, especially when he was in charge of Ren & Stimpy. Edit: Apparently the Bannana Splits movie was originally supposed to be a Five Nights At Freddie's film.

Other possible reasons for no DVD release for Quick Draw: Gunplay comedy. El Kabong whacking bad guys on the head with his guitar (imitatible) Baba Looey's Desi Arnaz voice as an ethnic parody. Like to see an official Quick Draw release too for history sake.

Warner bros has treated Hanna barbera horribly.

I have to disagree on the topic of Cindy Bear being in the Yogi movie, she could've been in there, but I don't think there's anything wrong with her being excluded, after all she only appeared in just three episodes of the original 1960's series, she certainly became a bigger presence as other such series were created, but the original Huckleberry and Yogi shows were what made him a star, and they did that without Cindy. So while she could've been good in the movie, I don't think Cindy has to be a part of every Yogi project, he works perfectly well without a love interest joined to his hip.

That's surprising to learn, but I just checked and yeah, my copies are boomerang rips. The Banana Splits movie was pretty clearly just them taking their Five Nights at Freddy's script from when WB was going to make the movie and swapping out the characters for ones they already own. And the only gender swap in Jellystone that bugs me is Jabberjaw, just because I really liked the original, more show than the other characters who were changed. As for the John K shorts, I do like the Yogi ones better than the Jetsons ones.

There is a lot of cartoons that never got any good DVD releases because I was hoping for the original Yogi Bear cartoon but I only see the Yogi Bear And Friends DVD which is a different Yogi Bear cartoon, then there is Speedy Gonzale which has a short DVD run for the US but I sure can find the PAL version that wouldn't in the US, and looking for the solo Scrappy Doo cartoons doesn't have Scooby Doo in them just to see them. There is a growing customer base for these cartoons during the last 50+ years which still has potential to this day.

I grew up in the latter part of Hanna-Barbera’s run in the 80’s after they adopted the spinning logo and have loved the company ever since but it’s harder for see the shows having them broken up between 2 paywalls with some on the boomerang app and some on max I do have some on dvd like honk Kong Phooey wait till your father gets home and the wacky racers but in the scope of animation they are underrated cause they perfectly made television version of a cinematic universe work so well cause characters would interact in specials like yogi’s first Christmas and in shows like Scooby's All-Star Laff-A Lympics I still collect there merchandise and I remember having a stuffed Huckleberry Hound I won out of a claw machine when I was a child

I've been wondering what the deal was with Quick Draw McGraw myself. I have been wanting to add it to my cartoon collection.

That’s one thing you pointed out about taking kid friendly characters and making them more dirty. One recent example is in the new Ubisoft cartoon captain laser hawk where they took rayman and make him into an alcoholic drug addict, that’s not cannon I will had to admit

Both my father's and brother's names are Doug Young: Douglas Ray Young (father) Douglas Spicer Young (brother; he was the bass player in a band called Kill Bad Radio aka and formerly known as Devolver)

I have to go with the original HB characters . I can understand the new art forms, but at least WB tried to find voice actors that and sound like the originals as much as possible. Plus, the slapstick comedy is toned down in modern versions. Originals are much funnier. KABOOOOOOONG!!!!🤣 Have a good collection of the older HB cartoons..

My dad loves El Kabong. My mom, my brother, and I got him a Funko Pop of El Kabong for Valentine’s Day

Given that the Wally Gator release was in 2019, you think they had one planned for quick draw for 2020 that got forgotten about due to everything that happened that year? Like there’s some forgotten paper in a Warner exec’s office just waiting to be signed, like what happened with Joy mech fight and Nintendo?

Loved and miss these and others!

I bought a bootleg Quick Draw McGraw DVD years ago with all his episodes including El Kabong. Quick Draw was hilarious!

I need help with finding some lost-media paraody flipnote youtube channel. It was deleted April 19, 2019.

My theory being that Quick draw McGraw was from the earlier era of Hanna-Barbara's television work a ton of Pre- Flinstones shows will never be released in full due to the Masters being in rough shape, Warner does have early shows by H-B that have MOST episodes intact. But some are lost. The 1962 HB Show Wally Gator is a great example More than half of it is missing as the master film had be reused and the episodes that were/are still in existence were in terrible shape(had a few shorts that played on boomarang back in the early 2000s). It was common in the 1950's and 60s to reuse tape and not save that stuff. Ruff and Reddy is also missing episodes, i even think Huckleberry Hound is incomplete. I don't think its that Warner doesn't want to make them available its that they don't have much content.

I know this seems a bit off-topic, but since its about hanna barbera i'd figured i ask this Whats your opinion on the smurfs tv series from the 80s (as that show was produced by hanna barbera)

I wasn’t really sold on Jellystone since I find the humor and writing to be a mixed bag and I don’t think it’s as good as his previous work like Chowder, but I’m still glad that Quickdraw has some sort of love in recent years… even if it’s just minor cameos.

What's the song in the background at the 27:00 mark? Also I'd have a song list or something.

You would have a better chance at transferring the VHS tapes that they released of the cartoon at this point, I don't know how much it covers for the entire series but it looks like there's some out there 🤔

What a coincidence we both watched Boomerang in Indiana.

i don’t even mess with quickdraw like that but gotta respect the need for a physical (or any!) release that can preserve a show. hopefully we can continue to see the reinvention of these old characters.

MeTV Toons (A (Currently) upcoming channel like Boomerang that is a spinoff Channel for MeTV) could possibly have Quickdraw McGraw but there is some legal issues with the Music (The songs are owned by Capital Records and Warner Bros. Discovery and Weigel Broadcasting would have to pay royalties to Capital Records if they wanna air it on there)

I was saying the same thing, i love quickdraw mc craw and i have been looking for it for years.

To answer your question about the john k shorts, John K himself had daddy issues so he projected that in literally everything he did

Are any really early HB stuff in public domain? There’s so many stuff from them that I haven’t seen in ages. Even stuff from the 70’s and 80’s.

I never even realized that up till now.

Warner Brothers seemingly absolutely HATES the old Hanna-Barbera catalog with the sole exception being Scooby Doo. I mean, with a passion. They actively squelch Quickdraw McGraw, Yogi Bear, Johnny Quest, and even The SWAT Kats. They have this massive catalog they could actively dip into to make money off just nostalgia at the least and yet... there's nothing. Since a lot of the early Cartoon Network originals programs, like Megas XLR, are included in that same catalog, it explains why I'd love to see Warner Brothers actively turn to it for more than just Scooby Doo.

Never had boomerang growing up but watched it at friend's houses and was amazed that it was like basically 24-hour cartoon channel with no commercials I miss when boomerang was that

A shame since it's one of my most favorites from Hanna-Barbera, especially with the slapsticks and explosions. I'm guessing Baba Looey may be one of the problems, as well as the cartoon violence.

I thought i remember seeing late night commericals advertising the Muppets show from time line that did a best of beavis and butthead dvd i bought

The Spümcø Yogi shorts were commissioned by Fred Seibert of Frederator Studios which rumor say were initially for What A Cartoon but that is false. The biggest connection WAC had with John K was Seibert asking him to help scout new talent for the show as he saw John K as a type of mentor alongside Hanna, Barbera, and Freleng. The Jetsons shorts being vitriolic to the IP is an odd duck as John K has said that he didn't hate his time as layout supervisor on The Jetsons (1985) unlike is other work in the 80's. It's possible the tone was requested by Adult Swim. The trend of the live action human-focused film adaptation was not a good one with the best one often cited to be Rocky and Bullwinkle for getting the tone right even if the plot focused more on their human companion. The WWE animated crossovers were mainly pushed by WWE Studios in their creation and that includes the idea of otter Vince MacMahon drinking milk from a fish. As you mentioned Top Cat Begins, I recommend the previous film Top Cat: The Movie. It felt more true to the characters. It also features voice work by Rob Schneider and Danny Trejo. It's possible that any issues in the writing for both films are an issue with the dub as they were both done by Mexican studios where Top Cat has a cult following. I've yet to see Jellystone! outside some clips on RU-vid but I do understand most of the changes made to the characters. It was to make the town of Jellystone feel a bit more realistic, well as realistic a town filled with funny animal characters can be, since there were few notable female characters to work with. Some changes do confuse me like Ruff and Reddy being robots, Bobbie Looey being detached from Quick Draw, and Quick Draw being stuck as his alter ego.

I had no idea that Quick Draw wasn't available to stream at all, I i just thought it was WBD being dumb with their properties like always, that's such a shame! Btw what songs did you use in your editing of this video, many of them sounded vaguely familiar?

The are actually multiple T.C. films, a 2D and a 3D one, they were made in Mexico because the show was more popular there thanks to its settings and the the mexican dub. However... I need to see the 3D film again, because I dont remember T.C. swearing. Anywho good job with the video. :)

Love HB. With the source material was more accessible too. Although I think if anyone were to cuss, it would be Top Cat, since he's implied to be a New York Mafioso

Please do more tiny toons videos

So of all the old Hanna Barbera shows (I'm talking the late 50s, 60s and 70s that I grew up with in the 70s) they have not released Quick Draw McGraw as well as Volume 2 of Huckleberry Hound. Also Wally Gator was also in 3 parts like Huck and Quick Draw. Wally Gator also included Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har as well as Touche' Turtle. Sadly the first two were released separately, not as part of the same show and Touche' Turtle has, like Quick Draw not been released.

Shame that for as much effort they put into making all the classic LT/MM shorts restored and readily available on the lastest format, they really just give the HB TV catalogue the shaft for the most part. Either being stuck on DVD in SD, or even worse not on a modern video format at all, relegated to streaming where they are using masters made 20+ years ago that are just poor.

I’m a big fan of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I haven’t ever seen a release for “Secret Squirrel”, ”The Banana Spilts”, “Shaggy & Scooby-Doo: Get A Clue”, “Space Ghost”, “Birdman and The Galaxy Trio” or “Dyno-Mutt Dog Wonder” on DVD.

The Banana Splitz being a horror film is because they were originally the company that was contracted to write the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, but they lost the license. They still wanted to use the script, so swap it up a little and thrown in a nostalgic IP and they can still use it.

Hope they release it soon ❤

I love cartoons

The way these big animation companies treat their older work frustrates me. It's always to capitalize on "nostalgia" culture but never consider the people who enjoy them for other reasons, or the new generations that might like them but don't know about them yet. I'm happy Jellystone! did that for some, though.

I'm so old I remember watching this religiously on USA Cartoon Network.

I use to watch Boomerang from Cartoon Network all the time........until I stopped having Cable afew years back

Hay how r you making the dvd r i have been trying to make dvds for so long can you please tell me how you do it thanks

18:20 I watched that film with my brother and we both thought it was alright.

Thanks for the video Lane. What do you think of this Get Along Gang/ Simpsons parody I came up with? Well Bingo I made it despite your directions. Ah Zipper welcome. I hope you’re prepared for an unforgettable luncheon. Oh ye gods. My roast is ruined. But what if I were to purchase fast food and disguise it as my own cooking? Delightfully devilish Bingo. Zipper I was just stretching my calves on the windowsill isometric exercise care to join me? Why is there smoke coming out of your oven Bingo? That isn’t smoke it’s steam. Steam from the steamed clams we’re having. Mmm steamed clams. Zipper I hope you’re ready for mouthwatering hamburgers. I thought we were having steamed clams. No I said steamed hams that’s what I call hamburgers. You call hamburgers steamed hams? Yes it’s a regional dialect. What region? Upstate New York. Really? Well I’m from Utica and I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase steamed hams. No it’s an Albany expression. I see. You know these hamburgers are quite similar to the ones they have at Hoofnagel’s. No. Patented Beaver Burgers old family recipe. For steamed hams? Yes. And you call them steamed hams despite the fact they are obviously grilled. Excuse me for one second. Of course. Well that was wonderful good times had by all I’m pooped. Yes I should get good lord what is happening in there? Aurora Borealis. Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country localized entirely within your kitchen? Yes. May I see it? No. Bingo the house is on fire. No Mother it’s just the northern lights. Well Bingo you’re an odd fellow but I must say you steam a good ham. Help. Help.

i remember owning this one dvd called “60s saturday morning cartoons volume 1” from warner bros which i think had like 1 episode of quick draw mcgraw in it. i’m honestly surprised that the show in general didn’t have a physical release anywhere, but i hope it does someday! i should probably watch it whenever i get the chance with how lately i’ve been into a bunch of hanna barbera stuff thanks to jellystone (heavily underrated and i will stand by that) bababooey

The Fox Flintstones reboot has been upcoming for the last 10 years

Although my favorite show is The Banana Splits 1968, I agree that Quick Draw McGraw's show needs a DVD or Blu-ray release.

The shows HB & CN made are Gems Beyond compare. (Not counting the Diamond collection.) if WB started releasing there archives to the public like nick or every once in a while like Disney vault movies we could preserve these shows and they could have a blueprint for reference if they chose to in the future. I can’t be the only one who would love to see I am weasel, Johnny Bravo, or bumpers through the decades. But since discovery wants to remove anything animated or shows we care about it will take a new head in charge to bring this dream and issue to light.

Tooncast in Latin America plays it sometimes

Do more leapfrog viedos

Just what exactly stopped them from releasing Quick Draw McGraw on Home Video even the rest of The Huckleberry Hound Show?

Fans keep asking!

15:16 Top Cat, language!

Don’t forget the Hillbilly Bears .

3:07 Makes me wonder if you’re selling those DVDs on Amazon or on yard sales.

Where is Johnny bravo?

apologies for being off topic but coyote vs acme was shelved after being completed

Deleted my previous comment, because I rather keep my opinion on Quick Draw McGraw to myself... But I still feel disappointed at Warner for not acknowledging this character's original series much.

Honestly suprised Challenge of the GoBots isn't on HBO Max or Hulu

Quickdraw, Yogi, Huckleberry hound, and Pixie Dixie Mr. Jinx were the best. Love The Snorkes, too. Snagglepuss, Wally Gator, Magilla Gorilla were Cookie cutter. Hardy Har Har I vaguely remember. Also I always hated the adult take on HB cartoons. Like why they do TC so dirty? I've always hated the Banana Splits their them song is stuck in my head.

Ruff and Reddy? Fantastic Four 67 cartoon?

I guess it's the guns that keeps the show from a release on DVD

He thought he could wipe out crime, but crime has really wiped him out.

Quick Draw had some early SpongeBob vibe (humor) to me.

19:25 I heard it was getting revived.

I was excited when I first heard that about the show Jellystone and don't know if I have been let down as much as what it turned out to be. Even before I started playing it when it came out when I got a first look at the trash animation I was already upset. How could they ruin such beloved characters! As upset as I was I wanted to still give it a try which I think ended about halfway through the first episode. That is something that I do wish would become lost media! There are along with Quick Draw some other great Hanna-Barbera shows that I wish were easily available some early shows like Quick Draw and newer ones like 1978 Godzilla up to Johnny Bravo to a lesser degree as it is available in a couple places just not on VUDU where watch most of my digital media.

Its always nice to find a hardcore Hannah Barbera fan. I heard the reason they don't use Quick Draw McGraw its because the character had a Gun. but I don't think that's enough reason not to release a dvd set, since possibly the audience of those DVDs are adult people anyways. I'm surprised you didn't talk about the DC/HB crossover comics, because that's a good example of: "HB characters being edgy." Some are pretty good and others are some of the worst comics I've ever read. I think it would make for a good video.

Quick draw McGraw is like I’m pissed😂

❤0:18 ❤