A brand new Three Stooges' DVD that lets viewers choose to colourize the original black and white version has some Stooges fans, as well as film historians, knocking themselves in the head.

Critics of the new disc, released by Sony, say colourization of the original is an abomination.

Colorizing the Stooges is reviving a debate about the process, which appeared dead after colourization advocate Ted Turner -- who colorized classics like Casablanca and It's a Wonderful Life in the late 1980s -- appeared to have accepted that people like to watch black and white films the old-fashioned way.

But the latest innovation of DVD technology has movie traditionalists up in arms over more than the sanctity of Larry, Curly, Moe, and Shep, as Sony says it plans to offer the same option for feature length films.

McHale's Navy was the first television show to be colorized because stations feared no one would watch the old version.

"I understand why they do it," said one Stooges fan. "To cater to the young people who spontaneously dislike black and white and just think it's old and bad. But it is far better."

Some critics of colourization call it artistic mutilation and argue that the process violates the moral right of the artist or artists to have his or her work maintain a permanence that would stand the test of time.

"Wouldn't you hate it if someone said, 'You know, the Mona Lisa does not smile well enough, she really should have a bigger smile?'" comedian Carl Reiner said.

Others say colourization denies entertainment its true place in history.

"I am very concerned about our national heritage, and I am very concerned that the films that I watched when I was young and the films that I watched throughout my life are preserved, so that my children can see them," said
Star Wars creator George Lucas, who doesn't mind tinkering with his own classics for special edition re-releases.

Before he died, legendary director John Huston recorded a plea to the U.S. Congress to voice his vehement opposition to the process.

"The truth is what is at stake here, historical truth," Huston said. "That truth is being cynically distorted for future generations by those for whom the truth means nothing."

It is worth noting that the new DVD also allows viewers to watch all the slapping, poking, and whup-whup-whupping in black and white.

With a report from CTV's Scott Laurie