Tom & Jerry: Golden Collection, Volume One (1940-1948) re-issued

[Battra92]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

What's with all the Chick Jones hate? After all he did the stellar animated TV feature: "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" (I've never met a sole who does'nt like that one)

Chuck Jones is alright for some things and I know I'm in the minority but I hate his Looney Tunes and T&J cartoons. His own subjects I don't mind so much and his take on Seuss was pretty good.

[dana martin]

Ok not to offend the under 40 crowd , but three pages of talk backs and I wonder how many of you really know the history of Tom & Jerry, yes I love Loony Tunes, and Woody Woodpecker as well, but the basic premise of cat chases mouse with virtually zero dialogue, slapstick makes this a lot more than you may think, it could play virtually anywhere in the world, lots of raves and mentioning of Fred ****bley, when actually all of that credit should be going to Hanna-Barbera and the musical styling’s of Scott Bradley. That is for the original 114 theatrical shorts, most of the original negatives were lost in a fire, what we are getting in this set should be superior to the previous DVD releases, as they are using better materials. As for the controversial material, I find it odd in today’s climate where crap like the Human Centipede can be released , that some will be truly upset if these were released correctly, and uncensored, I don’t mean to offend anyone, by that statement but it is film history, hell it is our nations history. Should we just pretend it never happened?; that is a huge disservice to the voice of these originals Lillian Randolph (Mammy Two Shoes), these deserve to be seen as originally shown, with the proper disclaimer, an appropriate label should also be posted .

Gene Dietch has gotten a bad rap by some fans because his style isn’t what some were expecting, well you know it’s a redesign and a different take on Tom and Jerry, and some of them are entertaining, Dickie Moe!!

All of the hate spewed at Chuck Jones, well another redesign, and different take, it plays better as a Roadrunner cartoon with Tom and Jerry starring.

personally i liked Charles M Jones better, and what he did for TV (Grinch) worked for his style, but this was basically the end of theatrical shorts, saturday morning cartoons were being cut out of the original theatrical shorts and packaged for broadcast, bumpers thown in.

for those of you too young to have gone to the movies and see a theatrical short, before the feature, well its nice to see some of them make somewhat of a comeback.

[jaaguir]

kashif, Warner owns all MGM movies produced until the late 50's, more or less. It's an old story of buying rights. They already released "The wizard of Oz", "An american in Paris", etc., all MGM titles, didn't you notice?

This set (after the reassuring words by Jerry Beck) is a day-1 purchase for me.

There seems to be heated argument about favorites. I don't even know when Chuck Jones directed any T&J cartoons, but my favorites are the ones from the 40's because that's the look I love, from character design to backgrounds.

[RudyC]

i will most likely buy this...

but anyone remember the tom and jerry series called : the tom and jerry comedy show!

YouTube - ‪The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show‬‏

YouTube - ‪Tom and Jerry Comedy Show‬‏

i WANT THIS on blu-ray.

is it on dvd yet? anyone know?
outro

YouTube - ‪The Tom & Jerry Comedy Show Outro 1980‬‏

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Imrahil2001

I love the cover! It's "Jasper"!

Can't believe the Chuck Jones hate. Save the hate for the Gene Deitch monstrosities.

I love the cover too. I wanted to call my cat Jasper, but the family said no. I got to call him Tom instead.

But I'm another who doesn't like the Chuck Jones shorts. I was trying to put my finger on why, and the Grinch connection is it! They just don't look like the T&J that I know and love.

[DVDFreaker]

Originally Posted by dana martin

Ok not to offend the under 40 crowd , but three pages of talk backs and I wonder how many of you really know the history of Tom & Jerry, yes I love Loony Tunes, and Woody Woodpecker as well, but the basic premise of cat chases mouse with virtually zero dialogue, slapstick makes this a lot more than you may think, it could play virtually anywhere in the world, lots of raves and mentioning of Fred ****bley, when actually all of that credit should be going to Hanna-Barbera and the musical styling’s of Scott Bradley. That is for the original 114 theatrical shorts, most of the original negatives were lost in a fire, what we are getting in this set should be superior to the previous DVD releases, as they are using better materials. As for the controversial material, I find it odd in today’s climate where crap like the Human Centipede can be released , that some will be truly upset if these were released correctly, and uncensored, I don’t mean to offend anyone, by that statement but it is film history, hell it is our nations history. Should we just pretend it never happened?; that is a huge disservice to the voice of these originals Lillian Randolph (Mammy Two Shoes), these deserve to be seen as originally shown, with the proper disclaimer, an appropriate label should also be posted .

Gene Dietch has gotten a bad rap by some fans because his style isn’t what some were expecting, well you know it’s a redesign and a different take on Tom and Jerry, and some of them are entertaining, Dickie Moe!!

All of the hate spewed at Chuck Jones, well another redesign, and different take, it plays better as a Roadrunner cartoon with Tom and Jerry starring.

personally i liked Charles M Jones better, and what he did for TV (Grinch) worked for his style, but this was basically the end of theatrical shorts, saturday morning cartoons were being cut out of the original theatrical shorts and packaged for broadcast, bumpers thown in.

for those of you too young to have gone to the movies and see a theatrical short, before the feature, well its nice to see some of them make somewhat of a comeback.

I love your avatar, Woody Woodpecker is my favorite cartoon and I have the DVDs!

[kashif]

Originally Posted by jaaguir

kashif, Warner owns all MGM movies produced until the late 50's, more or less. It's an old story of buying rights. They already released "The wizard of Oz", "An american in Paris", etc., all MGM titles, didn't you notice?

This set (after the reassuring words by Jerry Beck) is a day-1 purchase for me.

There seems to be heated argument about favorites. I don't even know when Chuck Jones directed any T&J cartoons, but my favorites are the ones from the 40's because that's the look I love, from character design to backgrounds.

Mine as well are from the 40's as they possess the true feeling of Tom and Jerry.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by bigshot

The two cartoons on the Robin Hood bluray look great. Better than Disney's color goosed and overworked "restorations" by a longshot.

The two Looney Tunes cartoons on the Robin Hood BD, Rabbit Hood and Robin Hood Daffy, were remastered from the original technicolor negatives. That will be difficult to do with Tom & Jerry, since MGM lost several of the negatives were lost in a fire. I hear that some of the cartoons on this new T & J Blu-ray were transferred from newly found prints, However, that's not the same as having the negatives to work from.

I also have the Spotlight DVD sets, but will upgrade to Blu-ray if this set has better PQ quality, better commentaries, and the cartoons are uncut. Jerry Beck mentioned that they were remastering "Mouse Cleaning" from a nitrate negative. If that's true I'll be real happy, 'cause that's one of my favorite cartoons.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by Rudeboy2025

I love How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but his style just isn't suited for Tom & Jerry IMO. When I compare his Tom & Jerry with the earlier work by Fred, I'd choose the older cartoons anyday b/c Tom & Jerry (and other characters such as Spike & Tyke) actually look cute and the stories are funny. I think the problem with Jones's versions is that at some point or another in each cartoon, Tom & Jerry actually start to look like the Grinch and not at all cute.

Fred Qui mby rules!

Fred Qu!mby didn't do anything on the Tom & Jerry shorts. Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera directed all the cat and mouse MGM cartoons from 1940 to about 1957, when the studio shut down its animation department. The two men then went into business for themselves producing cartoons for television, such as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and The Flintstones, for example.

*EDIT* In fact, according to Joe Barbera and Tex Avery, when the directors would pitch a cartoon to Qu!mby, they stated that Qu!mby never laughed at any of the jokes. He never understood the humor of the very cartoons he produced, and the directors would have to explain it to him. Qu!mby also felt that the rowdy humor of some of the Avery and Hanna-Barbera cartoons were distasteful.

(Also, I didn't see Dana Martin's response before I posted this.)

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by kashif

Mine as well are from the 40's as they possess the true feeling of Tom and Jerry.

The budgets were bigger in the '40s for animated cartoons, especially at Disney and MGM. By the '50s the studios started to tighten the budget for short subjects. When Chuck Jones was producing Tom and Jerry cartoons in the '60s, the budgets were even tighter, which meant limited movement of the characters.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by beefytwinkie

I don't mind the Chuck Jones ones. The ones I really dislike are the episodes that were "silent". I don't know how to explain it. There were a bunch of episodes that just had weird sound effects and animation. There was almost no music in them. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Whenever those episodes come on I switch channels. I don't know who directed them but I really dislike them.

I do know that some of them show a man (Tom's owner) who always looks pissed off. One episode had them going to the beach and Jerry sneaks on the car (station wagon) and Tom tries to get rid of him.

God, those episodes drive me nuts! Who directed them?

Edit: Looked it up and found out it was Gene Deitch. I can't stand those episodes.

The Gene Deitch versions of the Tom and Jerry cartoons were made in Prague, by animators who had never seen a Tom and Jerry cartoon before. (They also sound like they were recorded in a public bathroom, but I have no source on that.) It seems animated cartoons were the first products to be outsourced to foreign companies (and in a communist country at that).

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by beefytwinkie

I don't mind the Chuck Jones ones. The ones I really dislike are the episodes that were "silent". I don't know how to explain it. There were a bunch of episodes that just had weird sound effects and animation. There was almost no music in them. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? Whenever those episodes come on I switch channels. I don't know who directed them but I really dislike them.

I do know that some of them show a man (Tom's owner) who always looks pissed off. One episode had them going to the beach and Jerry sneaks on the car (station wagon) and Tom tries to get rid of him.

God, those episodes drive me nuts! Who directed them?

Edit: Looked it up and found out it was Gene Deitch. I can't stand those episodes.

Yes, I always hated them, as a kid even. I was a Tom rooter, and he always got punked horrifically in these. The audio and animation were terrible as well. Psychadelic is the best way to desribe them. They were made by some commies behind the iron curtain, and they tried to steer them as far away from those terrible "politically incorrect" golden era shorts as possible. "Dicky Mo"...

I was peeved when I didn't see "Mouse Cleaning" in the list, and was thinking "here we go again..." But then I saw that it was added as a supplemental feature. Good news. Let's hope the rest are uncut and uncensored as well, no re-voicing, etc.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally Posted by Tom Servo

Yes, I always hated them, as a kid even. I was a Tom rooter, and he always got punked horrifically in these. The audio and animation were terrible as well. Psychadelic is the best way to desribe them. They were made by some commies behind the iron curtain, and they tried to steer them as far away from those terrible "politically incorrect" golden era shorts as possible. "Dicky Mo"...gahhhh!

I was peeved when I didn't see "Mouse Cleaning" in the list, and was thinking "here we go again..." But then I saw that it was added as a supplemental feature. Good news. Let's hope the rest are uncut and uncensored as well, no re-voicing, etc.

Those Prague animators didn't steer the cartoons away from "political correctness" (that concept didn't even exist in the early '60s), because they had never seen a Tom & Jerry cartoon before. They were trying to recreate a Hollywood style cartoon in a vacuum. Their version of Tom & Jerry was just as violent, so you can't say it's "politically correct". (The 1975 Hanna-Barbera Saturday Morning version was, though.) They just aren't good.
It's also not fair to call them communists, since it wasn't their fault that Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Russians. There was a coup d'etat in Czechoslovakia a few years after WWII. Those that tried to escape the country faced persecution.

The new Tom & Jerry set presents the first 37 cartoons in chronological order, so "Mouse Cleaning" would not make the list. It would be included in a 2nd volume, if there is one.

List of Tom & Jerry Cartoons

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by J. J. Hunsecker

Those Prague animators didn't steer the cartoons away from "political correctness" (that concept didn't even exist in the early '60s), because they had never seen a Tom & Jerry cartoon before. They were trying to recreate a Hollywood style cartoon in a vacuum. Their version of Tom & Jerry was just as violent, so you can't say it's "politically correct". (The 1975 Hanna-Barbera Saturday Morning version was, though.) They just aren't good.
It's also not fair to call them communists, since it wasn't their fault that Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Russians. There was a coup d'etat in Czechoslovakia a few years after WWII. Those that tried to escape the country faced persecution.

The new Tom & Jerry set presents the first 37 cartoons in chronological order, so "Mouse Cleaning" would not make the list. It would be included in a 2nd volume, if there is one.

List of Tom & Jerry Cartoons

Mouse cleaning was the last one from 1948, so it wouldn't make sense to hold it over until the next volume.
Well, true enough about the iron curtain situation, but the creator stated that he never liked the Mamie stereotype character, and the senseless violence. Then he went on to make them even more violent, with Tom getting pulverized in hideous ways by his owner. Go figure. But political correctness had begun to rear up in the 60's if not earlier, nothing like today of course.

[MTRodaba2468]

I have to say, I'm surprised that WB elected to release Tom & Jerry on Blu-Ray before any of the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts.

Not bothered by it, though. I grew up on T&J, along with LT/MM. I'll welcome all of them on Blu-Ray.

[Ponder Stibbons]

I just hope that we get the unedited/uncensored versions of the cartoons on Blu-Ray!

Personally I think it would be a tremendous insult to Lillian Randolph's memory if her Mammy Two-Shoes was replaced either vocally (like Turner did to make her sound less "Ebonic") or physically (like how she was rotoscoped out in favour of thin white people or an Irish maid).

She's usually my favorite part of the cartoons these days!

And yeah, I get the "racially insensitive stereotype" protests, but these cartoons should be preserved as our cultural heritage -- warts 'n' all. If the racially insensitive Popeye cartoons can be released unedited, surely Tom & Jerry can be too?

Cheers, JohnH / Ponder

[madlost1]

Great news now bring on looney tunes.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[McCrutchy]

[dana martin]

serious animation fan, just wish Universal would follow this and start on all the lance toons as well, woody and the rest never get the same kind of push that WB does with it's animation, but woody is great , he is like a small devil with a beak at times

[DVDFreaker]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Man, this is tempting me to sell the Golden Collection DVDs I have and get this....decisions, decisions!