The Blue Ribbon program was initiated in late 1943 as a way to cut costs for producing cartoons during World War II, and later as a way to compete against the growing popularity of television.
Some of them, like A Wild Hare, have edited lines, although the original unedited version is present on The Golden Age of Looney Tunes, Volume 4, Side 1, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, The Essential Bugs Bunny, and the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc 1.
They are, The Cat Came Back (1944 and 1954), Of Fox and Hounds, (1944 and 1954), The Fighting 69½th (1943 and 1953), The Early Worm Gets the Bird (1943 and 1952), Rhapsody in Rivets (1947 and 1954), The Trial of Mr. Wolf (1946 and 1954), and Old Glory (1945 and 1953).
After the sale of copyrights of the pre-August 1948 cartoons to Associated Artists Productions in 1956, Warner Bros. would start to keep the original credits on Blue Ribbon reissues, in an attempt to save more money.
In any event, to this day there is controversy among animation fans and historians on the alteration of the "Blue Ribbon" releases, primarily the ones re-released between 1943 and 1956.
The 1952–53 opening rings and "Blue Ribbon" title card were shown as normal, but then proceeded to the original technical credits.
On the other hand, five cartoons which Warner Bros. would keep for their own television packages, because these shorts were released after July 31, 1948, were re-released under the original 1943 rules (the technical credits are removed).
This was due to those cartoons being billed as Bugs Bunny Specials, a sub-series which Warner Bros. sold to theaters at a higher price.
However, following the shutdown of the original studio, several Bugs Bunny cartoons were reissued in the 1964–69 season due to providing a high box office value for a low cost.
The titles for "A Day at the Zoo", "Of Fox and Hounds", "The Isle of Pingo Pongo", "Don't Look Now", "Wacky Wildlife", "Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas", "Thugs with Dirty Mugs", "A Feud There Was", "The Early Worm Gets the Bird", "Circus Today", "The Mice Will Play", and "I Only Have Eyes for You" were found on eBay in 2007, but never released on DVD.
The titles pre-1948 for "When I Yoo Hoo", "Fresh Fish" and "The Rattled Rooster" were restored for HBO Max, but have not been released on DVD.
MeTV aired a restored version of "Cross Country Detours" with the original titles before it was released to DVD or HBO Max.
The titles post-1948 for "Two's a Crowd", "Leghorn Swoggled" and "Sleepy Time Possum" were restored for HBO Max, but have not been released on DVD.
The titles for "Hobo Bobo" were restored for the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volume 3 Blu-ray (although the rings were sourced from "Hollywood Daffy").