The titular cat and mouse Tom and Jerry were created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1940. While Tom and Jerry have evolved over the past seventy years, the basic premise has become a basic recipe for many successful cartoons—take one lovable scoundrel, introduce a second scoundrel to the same environment, and see which one comes out on top. In the case of of Tom and Jerry, even after all these years, it has to be considered a draw.
Back in February, Warner Bros released their first collection of Tom and Jerry Fur FlyingAdventures on DVD, presenting 14 classic cartoons recollected for a new audience. In June, they followed up with a second set of animated shorts with Tom and Jerry Fur Flying Adventures Volume 2. This collection of shorts appears to be from three different eras and the transfers vary in quality. My personal favorites are the original Hanna-Barbera shorts from the 1940s and 1950s, and those from the Chuck Jones era in the mid-1960s, not the shorts from the later series Tom and Jerry Tales.
The DVD includes the following shorts:
- “Tops with Pops” (1957 – Hanna-Barbera)
- “Monster Con” (Tom and Jerry Tales 2007)
- “Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl” (1950 – Hanna-Barbera)
- “Of Feline Bondage” (1965 – Chuck Jones)
- “Saturday Evening Puss” (1950 – Hanna-Barbera)
- “The A-Tom- Snowman” (1966 – Chuck Jones)
- “Surf-bored” Cat (1967 – Chuck Jones)
- “Snowbody Loves Me” (1964 – Chuck Jones)
- “Duel Personality” (1966 – Chuck Jones)
- “Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?” (1964 – Chuck Jones)
- “The Haunted Mouse” (1965 – Chuck Jones)
- “Declaration of Independunce” (Tom and Jerry Tales 2007)
- “Kitty Hawked” (Tom and Jerry Tales 2007)
- “Which Witch” (Tom and Jerry Tales 2007)
The lineup offers some bona fide classics, along with some funny but largely forgettable shorts. The truly great ones—largely from the 1960’s—remain memorable. If you don’t have the Tom and Jerry: Chuck Jones Collection that Warner released back in 2009, this is a great way to discover just how great Jones’ work really was.
Several of the transfers don’t look very sharp, with obvious scratches and a jittery picture. It was especially noticeable in some of the shorts from the ’50s and ’60s. The newer Tom and Jerry Tales shorts had nice, clean transfers with little extra movement beyond what the creators wanted. Given the nearly sixty year age gap between some of the shorts and lack of remastering, the uneven transfer is to be expected. This is a non-anamorphic presentation.
The Digital 2.0 soundtrack serves the material well.
There are no special features.
