and the envelope, please...

Another year come and gone, and several more must have DVD have been crossed off of many a list. What about you? Any favorites from last year? This year is shaping up to have some great releases and special edition re-releases, but let’s take a quick look back at 2007 and review The Shelf’s picks for 2007: The Best of the Year.

2007 was the year for Animation fans. Many important sets hit the shelves, including a long awaited first installment of the complete run of Popeye, which had been held up for years over copy write issues. So here are The Shelf’s Top 5 picks for Animation for 2007 (these picks are in no particular order):

Walt Disney Treasures 2007 wave
Tex Avery’s Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection
Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1
Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 5
Woody Woodpecker and Friends, Classic Cartoon Collection Vol. 1

Our top pick? Popeye.


All of the above sets are great, worth of any top 5 list. The crème de la crème of any fan of animation has to be the long awaited Popeye set. Remastered and unedited, this volume of the first series of Popeye shorts demonstrate why the “Sailor Man” has endured for so long. Warner Brothers went to wall for this one, putting in hours of extras and bonus material relevant to the collector. With the Looney Tunes series coming out yearly with similar care and loads of stuff in each volume, it’s going to be great to look forward to the annual installments of Popeye and Looney Tunes. Let’s just hope the Disney Treasures sets keep coming as well.

How about the Special edition DVDs or Collector’s editions? Well there were many to choose from here as well. Our five favorites for the year are as follows for the 2007 Top 5 Shelf Picks for Special Edition DVDs:

Ace in the Hole: Two disc Criterion Edition
Rio Bravo Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Battleship Potemkin: Kino 2 disc Special Edition
The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1: 1934-36
Blade Runner (Various Special Editions)

And what is our number one pick? The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 1.


I know, I know ladies- you just don’t get it. And I know that Blade Runner seems out of place. Well, trust me it is a modern classic. And the multiple editions are fantastic. However, we went the sentimental route with this one and pick the Stooges. Fans have been given the shaft when it comes to the Stooges on DVD for a while now. You could pick up a very expensive disc with sometimes only four shorts. And the last several releases were colorized! This set is beginning to get it right, finally. While there are no extras, the shorts have been cleaned up and remastered and look great. And now Sony (which owns the Columbia catalog) is putting them out chronologically. And the price is right as well. I can’t tell you how happy I was just to see Three Little Beers and False Alarms on DVD! Keep it up Sony.

Lastly, let’s look at our Top 5 Picks for 2007, Box Sets.

William Powell and Myrna Loy Collection
Film Noir Classics Collection Vol. 4
The Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland Collection
The Jazz Singer
Ford at Fox

The number one pick? Do you have to ask? Ford at Fox, natch.

And what is our Number One, Overall, Top Shelf Pick for 2007?
Again, Ford at Fox!


This set just blew everyone away. Yes, it carries a hefty price tag, but really not that bad considering the package. I suspect that during tax refund season, Fox will be shipping these out in bunches. 21 great films, by the American master, John Ford: many of the films seen for the first time on any home entertainment format. Reproduction stills, brochures, large picture book and a new feature length documentary on Ford round out the set. It should be no surprise that this set was at the top of many “Best of…” lists.

Did we miss your favorite? Do you agree or wish you could reach through the monitor and shake some sense into ol’ Uncle Loophole? Well, these are our picks for 2007. Sound off in the comments section and let us know what your favorites were for 2007, and what you are still hoping for. (The African Queen. The freakin’ African Queen! Do you hear me, oh, DVD gods?)



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