HOME ENTERTAINMENT : A Quandary Over ‘Bugs Bunny’ Video

MGM Home Entertainment is still undecided about what to do with a shipment of cartoon videos that is being recalled embarrassingly tagged racist.

In case you missed the news, Vol. 7 of the 10-volume “Golden Age of Looney Tunes”--titled “Bugs (Bunny) Nips the Nips”--is from the days of World War II and includes the kind of vicious Japanese stereotypes that were commonplace in those days. A complaint lodged last week prompted Warner Bros. to remove them from its paraphernalia shops around the country.

Warner Bros. is involved because it originally made the cartoons, which were later sold to Turner Entertainment, which in turn made a deal to distribute them through MGM. The set sells for $80 ($100 on laser disc) or $13 per tape.

Anne Corley, vice president of corporate communications for MGM Inc.--parent company of MGM Home Entertainment--laid out the company’s options at this point: Either shelve the collection completely and lose all that money or edit out the offensive segments and re-release the tape--also a very expensive process.

“We’ve shipped 8,000 units to retailers,” she explained. “We don’t know how many are on the shelves unsold. I don’t know if we’ll decide it’s worth the cost to edit and re-release the tapes.”

Surprisingly, the collection has been on the market since 1993 and no one complained before. But the protest may backfire. Controversy creates demand, and people who previously knew nothing about those cartoons may now be curious about them--and try to get a copy of Vol. 7 before it’s off the shelves.

Copies of the tapes may still be available at some retail outlets. Corley said MGM can only suggest that retailers return the tapes (for full restitution) but can’t force them to do so.

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O.J. on Video: As the O.J. Simpson double-murder trial got under way, the news media emphasized the importance of the lawyers’ opening statements. MPI Video figured they were crucial enough for trial-watchers to want them for their very own. So the company has rush-released--available today in many outlets--”California v. O.J. Simpson: The Opening Statements,” two four-hour tapes priced at $15. Also available through (800) 323-0442.

Look for “O.J. Simpson: Minimum Maintenance Fitness for Men” to be re-released with outtakes--but not on Playboy, which originally put out the tape last fall. Playboy, which clearly didn’t want to look as if it were exploiting the Simpson situation, made a deal with All Work Enterprises, which will release the revamped version.

“The O.J. Simpson Story,” the Fox TV movie that got a critical trouncing but relatively good ratings when it was broadcast Jan. 31, is coming to home video March 1 on FoxVideo.

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Videobits: When “The Lion King” comes out on video March 3, you may have trouble finding it at some retail outlets. Disney has told retailers that it will ship conservatively--initially about 20 million copies--and try to stay just ahead of demand. It’s a reaction to the headaches caused by over-shipment last fall of the company’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” resulting in massive retailer overstock and millions of returns of unsold tapes.

The buzz in the consumer electronics circles is that Sony/Philips is trailing so badly in the digital video disc (DVD) race that it may abandon its disc. Due next year, DVD is a CD-sized disc--played only on special machines and offering exceptional sound and picture--that would be used primarily to market movies. Sony/Philips and Toshiba/Time Warner each developed different versions of the format.

The Toshiba disc, which holds twice as much information as its rival, was showcased recently and picked up the critical support of key electronics companies and movie studios. Sony/Philips has made no announcements yet, but the word from consumer electronics sources is that it may back out of the race rather than fight what appears to be a losing battle. Software retailers have made it clear they won’t stock two versions of the same format.

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Special Interest Video: Hard-core cigar smokers will be fascinated by “Cigars . . . From Seeds to Smoke,” a leisurely, loving homage that explains their history and how they’re made, with scenes shot in a factory in the Dominican Republic. The video-box jacket, which looks like a cigar box, is a clever touch. From Bearden Co., at $40, (800) 508-0999.

“The New Solar System” is an hour’s worth of dazzling outer-space footage shot during unmanned space flights, including narration chock-full of intriguing information. The shot of a comet striking Jupiter is a stunner. From Holiday Video Library, at $30, (800) 345-6707.

Last year’s edition of the “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Video,” which shows the shooting of the magazine’s famed swimsuit issue, was only available when you bought Brut Products. The ’95 tape, though, is exclusive to Blockbuster outlets, selling for $6 with a rental or purchase--or $15 otherwise. The video, again just tasteful soft-core porn, is available Wednesday.

On Feb. 28, MPI is releasing a four-volume set, at $80, of TV’s “Hullabaloo,” a half-hour pop music variety show from the mid-1960s.

What’s New On Video: “Corrina, Corrina” (New Line): Back in the 1950s, romance brews between a widowed father (Ray Liotta) and his smart, saintly housekeeper (Whoopi Goldberg), who becomes a surrogate mother for his 7-year-old daughter (Tina Majorino) who’s grieving her dead mother. In this low-key drama, the social repercussions of the interracial affair are downplayed in favor of sticky sentiment and a feel-good flavor. Thoroughly manipulative but well-acted and fun for Goldberg fans.

“Little Giants” (Warner): “The Mighty Ducks” and “Bad News Bears” on a football field. Same old tale of a team of young rejects assembled by a troubled coach and molded into a winner. In this one, the coach is a wimp, played by Rick Moranis, whose coaching rival is his brother (Ed O’Neill).

“Blankman” (Columbia TriStar): Don’t rent this expecting stars Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier to be as funny as they were on TV’s “In Living Color.” Wayans plays a mild-mannered inventor who becomes a bargain-basement crime-fighter named Blankman. With the help of his brother (Grier), he tries to clean up a crime-infested Midwestern town. Promising spoof of super-heroes never really takes off--grounded by too many unfunny jokes.