Let’s actually get the bad news out of the way first: The UK physical media/pop culture retailer Zavvi as officially entered Joint Administration, which in the US is known as bankruptcy. This is a formal insolvency process. Unfortunately, it means that Zavvi will not be able to fulfill any outstanding product orders or pre-orders, nor will they be able to address defective product returns, nor will any refunds for unfulfilled pre-orders be issued. That means if you’ve pre-ordered discs with Zavvi that you haven’t received, you need to contact your credit card company or payment provider to see if you’re entitled to a refund from them. If you have any other questions, the Joint Administrators have established an email address to contact them here. You’ll receive an automated reply with an FAQ, etc.
So yes, this sucks. Zavvi is unfortunately a victim of very tough climate for retail chains generally at the moment, including a slow-brewing UK financial crisis, dramatically increased global shipping and transportation costs due to the Iran War and Middle East conflict, excessive tariffs, inflation, supply chain issues, and assorted other economic problems. Zavvi has certainly had cash flow issues for the last year or so, and disc fans will know that they began charging customers up front for pre-orders. You can read more on this today here at The Daily Express.
I’m sure we’ll learn more about all this in the coming days and weeks, so there’s not much else to say at the moment except this: Find a reputable online disc retailer that you trust and that you know supplies great customer service, and do your best to support them—they need you right now.
But on that disappointing note, let’s have a bit of great news to help cheer you up:
After dazzling physical media fans last week (see our report here) with a stunning November and December slate of catalog titles that included The Music Man and Doctor Zhivago in 4K Ultra HD and The Yogi Bear Show on Blu-ray, our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just revealed that they’re releasing a Tex Avery: The Definitive Screwball Collection Blu-ray box set on 12/1!
This will be a 4-disc set Blu-ray set that serves as the “definitive, complete, and uncensored collection of master animator Tex Avery’s peerless work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,” featuring “every single comic masterpiece Avery created during his tenure at the studio.” That means all 63 MGM shorts, plus all the Droopy cartoons created after Avery departed the studio. The package will also include a 72-page book with liners note and other writing. Here’s a look…
And for those for you who might be wondering, yes, Warner Archive will also be announcing a Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 4 Blu-ray release containing 14 additional shorts that were not included in the Volume 1-3 Blu-ray sets. Here’s what that looks like [Update: This is the revised artwork.]…
So if you already have the separate Tex Avery: Volume 1-3 Blu-rays, Volume 4 should be all you need to complete your collection. (All you’ll be missing from the new box is the 72-page book—This is confirmed with WAC.)
All right, that’s all for now. Back soon with more.
And for those of you who are paid subscribers to our Digital Bits Patreon, I’ve posted a new My Two Cents: A Video Blog update with some great upcoming 4K information, and I have another coming very soon!
Stay tuned…
- Bill Hunt
(You can follow Bill on social media on Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook, and also here on Patreon)