Maybe I'm too old, please define the phrase related to cartoons. Background, I'm aware of PAL vs. NTSC, Full Screen (TV), Widescreen (Theater) etc... As far as official releases they may edited, censored, re-dubbed audio, faster speed time (Not PAL/NTSC). Another point I have issues with is what I term as "Re-Formatted" ie... taking a Full Screen, chopping of top and bottom, giving a fake Wide Screen appearance. Note to self, I finally figured out the DNVR issue. The easiest way is run newer releases side by side with an older format, like night n day (Broken and disappearing lines).

Maybe I'm too old, please define the phrase related to cartoons.

This is one of those things I'm not sure exists because, as much as I've read about them, I've never actually seen one! The theory revolves around a bad PAL to NTSC conversion, but that's as much as I can help you with, because most PAL to NTSC conversions result in no speed difference at all. (BBC America, anyone?)

I'd love it if someone could actually point us in the direction of an actual release with an actual low-pitched cartoon on it. Is there one?

See "Bully for Bugs" on either the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection or the third Platinum Collection. You'll notice that the audio is lower-pitched than it should be.

Why they didn't fix the mistake on the third Platinum Collection, or why the mistake popped up in the first place, I'm not sure.

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I'll check tomorrow, but in the meantime, is the phrase meant to be audio level? As in turning up and down the volume? BTW, thanks for the point to ponder. :-)

You're welcome.

Nope, the phrase has nothing to do with volume. It has to do with how the audio is a tone lower, meaning the music is a note lower and the voices and SFX sound deeper. Such it is that, for example, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" at the beginning is no longer in C-major but in B-major.

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It has to do with how the audio is a tone lower, meaning the music is a note lower and the voices and SFX sound deeper. Such it is that, for example, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" at the beginning is no longer in C-major but in B-major.

Now, this is the bit I have a problem with: do such cartoons have lower-pitched audio but everything else is fine, or are the whole things running at a slower-than-intended speed (picture and sound)? Because unless this phenomenon is unique to the digital era of pitch-shifting (and it could be - I don't know), I have no idea how a cartoon running at the correct speed could possible have audio in the wrong pitch.

Now, this is the bit I have a problem with: do such cartoons have lower-pitched audio but everything else is fine, or are the whole things running at a slower-than-intended speed (picture and sound)? Because unless this phenomenon is unique to the digital era of pitch-shifting (and it could be - I don't know), I have no idea how a cartoon running at the correct speed could possible have audio in the wrong pitch.

When it comes to Looney Tunes, it's the former. An example of the latter would be The Amazing World of Gumball Volume 4 from the Warner Archive. Because Gumball was a European co-production, it probably stands to reason the show was made in PAL and because of this, when shown on NTSC televisions, there is ghosting throughout (per the norm). The first 3 DVDs were PAL-NTSC transfers, but Volume 4 was fully converted to NTSC and because of this, the framerate is a little slower but barely noticeable, except when the sound pitch is lower/deeper which Volume 4 has (someone who has the DVD can confirm it):
http://theamazingworldof....com/wiki/Volume_4_(DVD) 

Incidentally, I alerted Warner Archive on the problem.

Now regarding the lower pitch audio on the selected Looney Tunes cartoons on Volume 1; they were not PAL-sourced. More likely this was an error done by someone.

Now regarding the lower pitch audio on the selected Looney Tunes cartoons on Volume 1; they were not PAL-sourced. More likely this was an error done by someone.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I really can't get my head around this part. If you speed up or slow down a cartoon, the audio pitch changes automatically - that's obvious enough. But if a cartoon is running at the correct speed... Well, that means that someone during the authoring of the Golden Collection manually pitch-shifted an entire cartoon's audio track for absolutely no reason. This simply isn't something that can happen by accident.

So, um, under what bizarre circumstances could that possibly have come about? 🤔

I've not yet compared the "Bully For Bugs" across all formats I have yet. But my guess would be the audio was stripped and cleaned and the results are the effect. Otherwise to me I agree, its sped up or down to change the pitch.

See "Bully for Bugs" on either the first Looney Tunes Golden Collection or the third Platinum Collection. You'll notice that the audio is lower-pitched than it should be.

Why they didn't fix the mistake on the third Platinum Collection, or why the mistake popped up in the first place, I'm not sure.

I think it was because Golden Collection Vol. 1 was released at the time AOL was own by WB (up until I believe 2004), they even pitched down the audio for the Warner Home Video logo (with the AOL Time Warner Company bylines) on the DVD. Which might explain why some of the cartoons on the DVD have low pitched audio.

There were actually 8 cartoons with low pitched audio:

• High Diving Hare (1949)

• Bully For Bugs (1953)

• Rabbit Of Seville (1950)

• Golden Yeggs (1950)

• Rabbit Fire (1951)

• Awful Orphan (1949)

• Kit for Cat (1948)

• Early to Bet (1951)

Unfortunately, the only cartoon that had its audio restored back to its normal audio pitched is Rabbit Of Seville when it was released on The Essential Bugs Bunny back in 2010. Its later releases like on the Platinum Collections later used the low pitched version.

Back then, I did download all of those cartoons online and pitched their audio back to their correct pitch. And I also added some recreated titles to some of the cartoons that had Blue Ribbon re-issue titles which I still have with me on one of my flash drives.

Thanks for the list, LuckyToon - I'll have to check those out and compare.

But have you any idea how this all came to pass? I'll say it again: changing the pitch of an audio track without changing its speed isn't something that can happen accidentally. In fact, go back about 20 years, and people would have told you it was impossible! Of all the DVD glitches we've had down the years (DVNR, interlacing, etc.), this one makes the least sense.