The duo’s cinematic widescreen shorts are collected on Blu-ray
Tom and Jerry are one of television and cinema’s most enduring duos, still regularly featured in a never-ending parade of slapstick-packed movies and television shows.
They’re been through lots of different iterations, from their origins as human characters at RKO, to modern feature films, from their re-invention as cat and mouse by Hanna-Barbera, to my personal favorite version, the Chuck Jones era.
But I think if you ask most animation fans about the most classic or iconic version of the duo, they’ll likely conjure up mental images of the 1950s toons as the golden age versions these characters.
Warner Archive’s new Cinemascope Collection collects 23 classic Tom & Jerry shorts from the 1950s, specifically all the theatrical in the widescreen theatrical Cinemascope format. It’s not a complete collection of all the shorts of the era; which also saw the release of other shorts in standard aspect ratio.
This era of the cartoons series represents the height of Hanna-Barbera’s gorgeous theatrical animation (which would later be cheapened for television as the more familiar version of their “house style”), and featured some wonderful recurring characters like Spike the bulldog and his puppy son Tyke, Tom’s neighborhood rival cat Butch, the adorable Quacker the duckling, Nibbles the mouse, and Jeannie the teen babysitter. Tom and Jerry are usually natural rivals, but if you like the episodes where they team up (I do), there are some of those gems here.
In addition to the Tom & Jerry cartoons, the disc also includes are also a couple of bonus shorts featuring spinoff characters Spike and Tyke, as well as a very unusual holiday-themed sort, Good Will to Men.
Some of the highlights from this collection:
Blue Cat Blues
Probably the greatest Tom & Jerry toon of all time, and certainly one of the most unusual. It’s narrated by the usually non-speaking Jerry (voice of Paul Frees), who relates the sad story of his friend Tom. Tom squandered away his life savings and went into debt trying to impress his love interest, only to lose out to his rival Butch. It’s an iconic episode that’s sad, hilarious, and more adult than the usual subject matter.
Pet Peeve
Tom’s Photo Finish
In Pet Peeve, upset by the high cost of feeding their pets who eat non-stop, Tom and Spike’s owners contemplate giving one of them up, sparking an intense rivalry as each tries to be the ideal pet while sabotaging the other.
Tom’s Photo Finish is another story that focuses on the rivalry between Tom and Spike as pets of the same owners. Tom plants incriminating evidence on Spot to shift his own blame, but Jerry took a photo of the deed, and is now posting copies all over the house while a panic-stricken Tom tries to stop him.
Southbound Duckling
That’s My Mommy
Happy Go Ducky
Several shorts feature Quacker the baby duckling (whose voice resembles a cuter Donald Duck), a little fella whose naivete tends to get him into trouble. My favorite among these is That’s My Mommy, which features him as a brand new hatchling who imprints Tom – who is plotting to eat him – as his mother.
The Flying Sorceress
Tired of his home life, Tom answers a want ad seeking a cat – but it turns out his new job is a position as a witch’s familiar. Tom being Tom, makes the mistake of swiping her broomstick.
Busy Buddies
Tot Watchers
It’ll take all of Tom and Jerry’s wits to try to mind the ornery baby as it crawls through increasingly dangerous scenarios while Jeannie, the inattentive teen babysitter, gabs on the phone. The Roger Rabbit shorts with Baby Herman, produced forty years later, were clearly inspired by these shorts.
Touche, Pussy Cat
Tom and Cherie
Royal Cat Nap
These Musketeers-themed short feature Jerry as a French kingsguard trying to train up a young d’Artagnon-esgue Nibbles. The same duo also features in a similar Robin Hood-themed episode, Robin Hoodwinked.
The Package
Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection features 23 Tom and Jerry , plus 3 bonus shorts, on a single Blu-ray disc.
If you’re a fan of the material this is an easy recommend, as these are among the best shorts from the Tom and Jerry catalogue and of the era.
But you’ll want to weigh it against the digital option. On digital platforms like iTunes, you can purchase a massive super-collection called Tom & Jerry Volumes 1-6 , a massive set of 119 shorts for only $40 (and I’ve seen it priced as low as $20, which is what I paid for it). It includes all 23 of the Tom and Jerry shorts in this collection – but not the 3 bonus shorts.
A/V Out.
