Tom and Jerry: Whiskers Away
Available on: DVD
Availabity: In Stores Now!
Release Date: 2002
Release Location: US
Contents:
- Cruise Cat
- Neopolitan Mouse
- Posse Cat
- The Two Mouseketeers
- Mucho Mouse
- Cat Fishin'
- Texas Tom
- Cat and the Mermouse
- Million Dollar Cat
- Tom and Jerry at The Hollywood Bowl
My Opinion:
This review will be in three parts: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (in honor of one of my favorite movies). The good being what was good about the dvd and what I liked, the bad is what wasn't good and what I didn't like about it. The ugly will be additional comments, rants and general soapbox shouting. On to the review...The Good
It's Tom and Jerry on DVD it's ALL GOOD! :-] Seriously, though, there are 10 cartoons on this DVD:
The picture quality is great considering how old some of the prints are. The sound isn't too shabby either. It's in stereo from its original mono sound so for those of us that grew up with them it's sort of an improvement in that it is cleaner. Everything is uncut, for the most part. Just like the previous DVD, The Greatest Chases, you can select Play all and watch all 10 toons straight through.
- Cruise Cat
- Neopolitan Mouse
- Posse Cat
- The Two Mouseketeers
- Mucho Mouse
- Cat Fishin'
- Texas Tom
- Cat and the Mermouse
- Million Dollar Cat
- Tom and Jerry at The Hollywood Bowl
Extras include How to Draw Tom and Jerry and some trailers, nothing spectactular.
The Bad
Crappy Extras!
How to Draw Tom and Jerry was a BIG slap in the face! What a cruel joke! I'm sorry, but I was really excited about this special feature when I heard about. That excitment fell to the earth like an anvil on Tom's head! We are given a 1 minute 40 second speed drawing of Tom and Jerry. That is it! ARGH!!!!There are more trailers than there are extra features! You are given the trailers to:
Ok, I'm a little hard on the trailers! Actually, I'm pretty vicious. For that, I apologize. I need to look at it from the perspective that the general target audience is kids, not grown ups with websites devoted to a cartoon :-]
- "Hansel and Gretel" reeks of a Halmark TV movie, but on the Big Screen
- Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire. I only wish they'd promote Tom and Jerry as much as Scooby Doo. This thing was only about 10 seconds so why is it on this DVD?!?!
- Virginia's Run. UGH! Sappy and contrived from the looks of it. Looks like an "After School Special" without the message.
- Tom and Jerry: The Movie
- Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring
The Ugly
Rome approaches the Soapbox and a hush falls over the crowd. Fear and dread set in as he is about to type.
Relax it's not going to be that bad :-]
I am stoked that they finally released more Tom and Jerry on DVD. However, I am disappointed in the release. The Extras are a joke! I wish they put more in it. A look at the animation process or something more for the "how to draw" tease! I watched that part 3 times and once in slow motion to feel that I got something from that area. A little nitpickiness, why aren't the toons in chronological order? (yeah I know I'm getting picky about that, sorry)
The trailers, why? 5 trailers! Come on! Forget the trailers and give me some stuff about Tom and Jerry!
About the "uncut, for the most part" comment..all were uncut, except "Mucho Mouse". The toon was originally in Cinemascope meaning letterbox! It is not letterboxed on the DVD..WHY NOT?!?! Ugh is it too much to ask to get the Cinemascope Tom and Jerry's in letterbox?? I have never seen them in their original format of letterbox. Nor have many, many other people who didn't see them in the theaters over 40 years ago. Please someone explain this to me! Fans such as myself would love to see these Tom and Jerry cartoons they their creators wanted them shown.
I feel like I'm biting the hand the feeds me. That they release a Tom and Jerry DVD and I do nothing but complain about what I feel should be on it. I apologize for that. I am grateful that Tom and Jerry DVDs are released. Personally, though, I feel like I am being fed scraps from a large banquet table. The Japanese have a box set of all the episodes. VCD's are common in many parts of the world and there are a lot of Tom and Jerry VCDs. But here we aren't given much. Cartoon Network shows Tom and Jerry at odd hours of the day so that is something, but not everyone has Cartoon Network. Besides, PC thugs like to edit Tom and Jerry...a subject that I don't want to get into.
Please, those of you that have control of these cartoons, I'm asking you, begging you, give us more! Tom and Jerry merchandise of any kinda is few and far between. Episodes on VHS and DVD is very rare, even with the latest release. I'm sure a lot of the loyal Tom and Jerry fans would love to see a DVD release in box set that does honor to their legacy in the history of animation. Something that does justice to those that worked on it for so many year. An anthology if you will! Hanna-barbera early years, the Gene Deitch years, the Chuck Jones years, the later Hanna-barbera years. All uncut, digitally remastered! Let us know what went on it, give us a documentary along with it. The books they were publised about these cartoons are no longer in print! Information is sparse! And I am rambling...time to get off this soapbox.
Please don't let this rant deter you from buying this DVD. The DVD is worth getting! I enjoyed watching the cartoons and it is a welcome addition to my DVD collection! So go out and buy it and await patiently for the next release...whenever that will be...
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