This 2-Disc, 30-Short Collection samples many of their best (including 7 Academy Award winners) over the years, put through their paces and evolving their look and personalities through the talents of great directors (William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble). Whatever the medium, their encounters are always fast, frisky and delightful.

CRITIQUE

If you’re a collector of the Tom and Jerry shorts, you very likely already own previous releases of the series, three volumes of the Spotlight Collection and the Chuck Jones Collection. The idea of this Deluxe Edition, then, seems to be nothing more than “sampling” thirty shorts from those releases, but including about five “new age” shorts not available until now, packaged together for the “casual fan” only. Perhaps it is meant to be a “starter” set, although the price is rather steep for that ($26.98 MSRP). One shouldn’t consider, or assume this to be a “best of” collection; otherwise those words would be on the cover.

It’s difficult to recommend this set because the vast majority of these shorts are already on DVD, unless you’re new to Tom and Jerry. The only reason collectors may want to rent this set is for the retrospective documentary, Much Ado About Tom and Jerry (more on that in the extras section). If you’re a parent, please be aware the subject matter in some of the shorts is not suitable for children. In fact, just before the main menu, a disclaimer from WB pops up stating this fact.

THE VIDEO

Warner Bros. presents the classic episodes of Tom and Jerry in their original 1.33:1 full frame presentation. Colors look fine in most instances, but the image quality suffers from dirt and noise, which is to be expected due to the age of these cartoons. The “new age” shorts look decidedly better when compared to the “classic” ones, but it’s not a huge difference.

Now for some marketing snafu; contrary to the packaging, just 2 shorts (and not 7) are presented in “Cinema Scope”, or widescreen. Further, the problem is that the studio inaccurately markets these as being “anamorphic” or “enhanced for widescreen TVs”, which they are not, so viewers will see black bars on the top and bottom (“matted widescreen”) of the picture on a widescreen TV.

English SDH and French subtitles are available.

THE AUDIO

Warner Bros. presents Tom and Jerry in English Mono. Music and dialog is clear, but clearly front-centered. A Spanish language dub is also available.

THE EXTRAS

Much Ado About Tom and Jerry (18:52): A retrospective look at one of animation’s greatest teams, from the early days to award-winning glory, featuring archival interviews with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and others, plus a few looks at storyboards, sketches, B&W photos, and many show clips throughout. There is some interesting history here.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960’s Trailer (1:00): A promo reel for the 2-disc DVD collection.

Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo Trailer (0:29): A disappointing promo for the new animated film coming to DVD later this year, because it shows no actual footage.

The Lord of the Rings Animated Trailer (1:20): This promo is pretty well edited, going for the action adventure angle that we see nowadays.

PEANUTS: Snoopy’s Reunion Trailer (1:14): Promoting the Deluxe Edition DVD.

Several forced trailers also play before the main menu.

FINAL THOUGHTS