In the 1930’s and 40’s, MGM was trying to get in on the lucrative animation game. The field was dominated at the time by Warner Brothers with their Loony Tunes shorts, and of course, the iconic cast of animated characters coming out of the Walt Disney Studio. For years they had failed to find the right property to take advantage of the market. It wasn’t until the team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera approached the studio with their first project that the times did change, at least a little, for the fledgling animation department at MGM. The project was far from an original one even for the time. It was a very basic cat-and-mouse adventure featuring a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. There would be almost no dialog on the shorts. It certainly didn’t look like much of a hit to the studio brass, but with no better ideas on the way, they went ahead with the new shorts of Tom And Jerry. There’s a reason why the cat-and-mouse pair is such a classic. It’s because it works. If you can make your characters entertaining and endearing enough, you can have a hit. MGM finally entered the major leagues, and the team of Hanna and Barbera would become one of the most successful animation teams in history. They would go on to create such cherished characters as The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, and, of course, Scooby Doo.
These were the days of the Golden Age in Hollywood. These shorts were not being produced for television, which hadn’t been invented when they began; rather, they were intended for theater-goers. In those days, going to the movies was much more of an inclusive experience. You always got a cartoon short along with an adventure serial, the likes of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and The Lone Ranger. These multi-chaptered serials were the forerunners to the modern television series. It kept you coming back to the movies to see what would happen next. Each chapter ended in a cliffhanger. These early serials were the inspiration for such film franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Finally you got one, sometimes two movies, all for the price of a single admission.
Then came television, and suddenly entertainment was available in your living room for the cost of a set. It hit the movie industry hard, and cutbacks had to be made. Over the span of a couple of decades, the films eventually appeared alone. Serial and animation production was winding down. MGM was hit about as hard as any other studio, and before long Tom And Jerry were on their way out. But television did much to save the cat-and-mouse duo. They still appear on television stations around the world. Now you can get a complete collection of the shorts from 1940 to 1958 with this completely restored collection of 114 Tom And Jerry shorts. The five discs offer you 20 commentary tracks from a variety of vintage sources.
Collected here you’ll find 114 of Tom and Jerry’s best, providing hours of crazy antics. Here are just a few of the highlights you can expect:
Cat Napping (1951) Hammock Hammock Who’s going to get the hammock. The duo fight over the lazy summer sleeping spot.
The Flying Cat: (1952) Jerry is hiding out in a canary cage with the bird occupant. Tom is determined to get to them both.
The Two Musketeers: (1952) In Old England Tom is charged with protecting the King’s banquet table. A certain little mouse and his friends have other plans for the feast.
Smitten Kitten: (1952) Jerry has visions of all of Tom’s failed relationships when he falls for yet another female feline.
Baby Butch: (1954) Butch the dog is getting desperate for some munchin’ time. When all of his attempts to swipe some goodies fail, he makes himself up as a hungry baby in the hopes of getting fed.
Designs On Jerry: (1955) Tom hopes to build a better mousetrap.
Pecos Pest: (1956) When Uncle Pesco visits Tom with his guitar playin’, Tom’s not quite so happy. You see, every time Pesco breaks a string, he grabs one of Tom’s whiskers to replace it. Unfortunately, Pesco breaks a lot of strings. Fortunately, he’s not playing a catgut-string guitar.
The Flying Sorceress: (1956) Tom gets a job as a witch’s familiar. He steals his boss’s broom to try to give Jerry a fright.
Blue Cat Blues: (1956) Tom’s sittin’ on the railway cryin’ over his latest lost love. Jerry sings the blues and tells us how it all happened.
The Night Before Christmas: (1941) The cat-and-mouse chase takes the pair out in the snow where the tit-for-tat gets really cold.
The Bowling-Alley Cat: (1942) It’s Tom’s night out to bowl, but he’s not aiming for the pins. He wants to nail Jerry with that big old bowling ball, but the only one who gets run over is Tom.
Fine Feathered Friend: (1942) Jerry might not be chicken, but he’s hiding out in the henhouse. These ladies show Tom the pecking order.
Puttin’ On The Dog: (1944) Jerry’s hanging out at the dog pound with Spike. Jerry decides to disguise himself as a dog to get in.
Touché’ Pussy Cat: (1954) Nibbles wants to be a musketeer like Jerry but can’t seem to get the hang of it until Tom attacks.
Barbecue Brawl (1956): Tom and Jerry’s antics interfere with Spike teaching his son the fine art of cooking.
Hic-cup Pup (1954): Tom and Jerry’s fighting wakes up Tyke and gives him a bad case of hiccups. So Spike warns the guys not to do it again. Guess what they do?
Little Quacker (1950): When Tom steals an egg for his breakfast; it’s a duckling that lands in the pot. That’s OK with Tom. He’ll have duck instead, that is if he can get the little quacker to cooperate.
Neapolitan Mouse (1954): Tom and Jerry are in Naples, where their cartoon fame gets them noticed by a friendly mouse and some not-so-friendly dogs.
Pet Peeve (1954): When pet food gets too expensive, either Tom or Spike have to go. The one who can catch a mouse gets to stay.
Pup On A Picnic (1955): Spike and Tyke are trying to have a family picnic, but Jerry keeps hiding the food,and Tom’s chasing is driving the dogs crazy.
Robin Hoodwinked (1958): Jerry and his pals are out to rescue Robin Hood while Tom’s guarding the cell.
Timid Tabby (1957): Tom’s in trouble, cuz George is in town and he’s afraid of mice. Can Tom keep Jerry captive and out of George’s sight?
The Vanishing Duck (1958): Jerry hides a duck from Tom with a jar of vanishing cream.
That’s My Mommy (1956): A newly hatched duck is in trouble when he mistakes Tom for its mommy. If Jerry can’t explain it to the duck, Tom’s going to have a nice dinner.
It’s a delightful collection and sure to bring memories to many of us and introduce a younger generation to one of the finest animated cartoon cat and mouse team there has ever been. I guess you can’t go wrong with these little collections, but Warner just gave us all of them in one release. Or as the Italians say: “Che mouse fortissimo!”
