Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection

More MGM cartoons come to DVD with extra features
All 34 of the Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry Shorts are included along with two new documentaries. This really doesn't represent the peak of Tom and Jerry cartoons. This is not the era in which the cartoons were winning Academy Awards. Those cartoons are included in Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1-3. Do be aware that there was considerable controversy over these Spotlight Collections in which cartoons were edited in the first two volumes and two cartoons were not even released in the third. Here is a list of the cartoons to be included:

Penthouse Mouse (1963)
The Cat Above and The Mouse Below (1964)
Is There a Doctor in the Mouse (1964)
Much Ado About Mousing (1964)
Snowbody Loves Me (1964)
The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse (1964)
Ah, Sweet Mouse-story of Life (1965)
Tom-ic Energy (1965)
Bad Day at Cat Rock (1965)
The Brothers Carry-Mouse Off (1965)...

A Vastly Underrated Treat!
Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection

(Released June 23, 2009 by Warner Home Video)
Another Long DVD Review by Joe Torcivia

It must have been one heck of a surprise for the theatrical audiences of late 1963 to see the familiar MGM Roaring Lion signal the beginning of the upcoming cartoon - and have the head of TOM fade into its place and go "MEOW! MEOW! FST! FST!". ...I know it was for me when I first saw it on television!

But, with this revamped opening, famed animation director Chuck Jones began putting his stamp on Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera's cat and mouse team of TOM AND JERRY.

Chuck's unique vision and design sense would guide Bill and Joe's creations for little more than three years and 34 cartoons, and it is those cartoons that make up Warner Home Video's release Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection.

We'll break the review into CONS and PROS.

The CONS:

Content Notes: Once again a WHV...

Mixed feelings about this set
To be honest, I bought this set for completion of my Tom and Jerry collection mostly. First off, I think Charles M. Jones is a genius. I love his Warner Bros. work. However, even as a kid 40 years ago I knew there was something strange about his Tom and Jerry cartoons. They're pretty. The layouts are nice. I enjoy his take on the looks of the characters (Tom often looks like Jones's Grinch). But there's one big problem - the cartoons are boring! The humor is on the cute side, and when it does try to have more of an edge, it just seems forced. I've tried to watch the set for the last two days and my son has had to come in and wake me up several times! Sorry, Chuck. Anyway, the set itself is fine. Transfers beautiful. Extras are just so-so. Sometimes "documentaries" can be kind of padded, and the one about Chuck and Tom and Jerry really is.

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