Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 3 announced!

[brotherbear]

I don't know how many people here are interested in the T&J DVD's, but I figured that I would post this to those who are interested:

From tvshowsondvd.com:

"Warner Bros will release the third, and final, volume theatrical shorts (which were later used in the TV show)on SEPTEMBER 11. The remaining 35 shorts will be in the collection, including 15 Cinemascope cartoons presented in their original widescreen format. The set will retail for $26.99, and includes a "Tom and Jerry Retrospective Featurette." Hopefully we get more details when Warner Bros issues a press release. Here's a look at the artwork:"



Since May, Warner Bros has neglected to give us a press release on the set, though they have now given us the back cover art, which in turn lists the bonus features to be found on the DVD's:

back cover:



blown-up bonus listings:



I personally have yet to buy either of the 2 sets of T&J currently out due to the issue with "accidental" censorship. However, many T&J fans on other forums believe that Warner Bros. will not make the mistake again of issuing DVDs with censorship which resulted in the distribution of countless free replacement disks to dissapointed fans. But I guess the same thing could have been said after Vol. 1...

-BB

[musicradio77]

I might get the first two volumes of Tom & Jerry's Spotlight Collection, because I missed watching the old T&J cartoons when it was on WPIX-TV in New York City back in the early to late 80's. WPIX-TV was the station that ran Tom & Jerry every afternoon after coming home from school. If Wol. 3 comes out, will see.

[brotherbear]

Update:

While it has been debated as to whether or not this set will complete the Hanna & Barbera Tom and Jerry series, (on the back cover art, it states 35 shorts on the set, when in reality there are 37 left), it has been leaked that 2 shorts will in fact be dropped from the set. These shorts include the controversial Mouse Cleaning (black face jokes are found here) and Casanova Cat. As a result, many T&J fans are already severely dissapointed just weeks before the set is released. Many (myself included) are also hoping that Warner will get the message as to how dissapointed the fans and customers are and will just go through the whole disk replacement again. I'm personally not going to get this set the day it comes out. I'm going to wait to see if the set's truely uncut (as advertised) and if those 2 shorts really are missing. If it's cut, I'll simply wait to buy the set until we get confirmation of a disk replacement...

Just thought I'd inform those on UD who are looking into getting the Tom and Jerry DVD's and haven't been reading up on other boards.

-BB

[ichabod]

Well Warner has issued a statement revealling why they have now succeeded in cocking up all 3 Tom and Jerry releases:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=8048

[Mr. Toad]

Wow I am gonna miss out on more black face gags. With all the ones I have had to endure to date with Disney and Looney Toons I am not feeling any poorer for them being left out.

[Maerj]

They should have a disc that you can send for just to get the two remaining shorts, that waycompletists would be happy and everyone else would still be protected.

UPDATE: Just watched Mouse Cleaning on You Tube. One black face gag at the end of the short. Nothing worse than has been on the other sets such as Looney Toons, Treasures, etc. They could have just put in a vault section on the disc.

Going to watch the other short now...

UPDATE #2: I remember the Casanova Tom cartoon very well. There was one Jerry in blackface tap dance gag in the middle of the short. I really don't think that these 2 cartoons were that bad to totally omit them from the set, hopefully they make them available.

[ichabod]

Well here are the 2 shorts from youtube. I don't really see how "Cassanova Cat" is any worse than other shorts at all. Although I suppose with "Mouse Cleaning" it's the ending they objected to.

Cassanova Cat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YlMKJ2XB2Y

Mouse Cleaning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fe9cscou3g

[dvdjunkie]

All this talk about the two missing shorts, which I don't have an opinion on, what about the four re-makes that are included in this collection on Volume Three. No one seems to care that they have remade four of the shorts, but let them not put two of their shorts on this 'complete' collection and they are up in arms. Why can't we just appreciate the fact that we got this third volume which includes 15 remastered in Cinemascope Widescreen shorts. To me that is what made this collection most wanted.

[Maerj]

Where does it say that they remade 4 of the shorts? I never heard about that.

[Mr. Toad]

I havent heard it either Maerj and I cant believe it would not have been a topic of converstion at Golden Age Cartoons or Animation History Forum.

I watched the cartoons and I didn't find anything that objectional about Casanova Cat. I can sure do without Mouse cleaning though

[Maerj]

I still have to pick up Volume 3. Been trying to watch my money a little bit lately. I actually still haven't sent back the two discs that I got in the last disc replacement for Volume 2. I don't think its a big deal but I did mean to do it.

Anyway, they've released a lot of the classic cartoons at this point on DVD. What do we still need yet? Anyone have a list?

[dvdjunkie]

If you so-called critics will read the box............it is clearly printed on the back that there are three shorts included in this collection that are remakes of previously released cartoons. (I stand corrected from a previous post, there are three shorts that are included that are remakes.)

The remakes are two that are included in volume three and one that is in the Volume One collection. They include: "The Egg and Jerry" which is a remake of "Hatch Up Your Troubles" (contained on Volume Three); "Top With Pops" which is a remake of "Love That Pup" (contained on Volume Three), and "Feedin' The Kiddie", which is a remake of "The Little Orphan" which is in the Volume One collection.

Again, I don't miss the two that weren't in this collection, because I just wanted a complete release of all of their Widescreen cartoons and we got that with this Volume Three release.

[Maerj]

So-called critics? Uh, okay...

I still see nothing in that picture about remade cartoons. Even if they did remake 3 previously released cartoons and put them on this set, so what? The originals are still on the other sets, right?

[dvdjunkie]

I am just tired of everyone who thinks because they leave a song out of a episode of a show that is released on DVD that it isn't complete. If people would just be happy with what they get and quit complaining life would be so much less complicated. As in the Tom and Jerry Volume Three collection, so they left off two questionable cartoons, and everyone jumped up and screamed. But they should have checked about the remakes and been just as ticked off. They weren't were they?

Those of you who have purchased the set of Tom & Jerry Volume Three will know what I am taking about when I said it is on the back of the box. When you pull the sleeve out of the set and reveal the two discs packaged over the top of each other, on one side is the contents of both discs and the notations that there are three remakes included in this collection. And then they tell you what the remakes are and what they are a remake of, as I posted in the contribution above. I know there is nothing about special about remakes, but the fact that they updated three cartoons should also be talked about as much as the fact that they left two cartoons of questionable content off.

That is all I am trying to say.

[TM2-Megatron]

If nobody ever questioned anything, this would be a terrible world to live in. Besides, I've seen you do a fair bit of complaining yourself about things some might consider petty... what gives you the authority to trivialize other people's concerns over this issue? If you're truly a collector, then you should at least understand why this may bother some people instead of expressing your exasperation over their "complaints"; even if your only requirement for a DVD set is a widescreen presentationm, some people do want more. That's assuming a widescreen OAR, anyway... otherwise widescreen is just as wrong as pan&scan. For some sad reason, the Region 1 season sets of Dragonball Z (a cartoon from the 80s) was butchered into a widescreen format.

I certainly know what it feels like to be dissapointed by a DVD release; particularly when its such classic material. The treatment of animated stuff has improved (by certain companies, anyway) during the era of digital home video, however it's still not at the levels it needs to be.

Certainly, this set is a must-have for any fans of Tom and Jerry... or older animated in general. However, one would hope that WB take the opinions of their customers seriously and include these missing shorts in later sets.

[Rowlf_The_Dog]

Ok LOL ... You are seriously making a big deal over the "remakes" LOL

Here are the descriptions for the shorts you listed above ... maybe that will clear up any confusion you may have ... so that you don't ... jump up and scream anymore ...

Feedin' the Kiddie is a 1956 Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in 1957. The short was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It is a CinemaScope remake of 1948's Academy Award winning cartoon, The Little Orphan. In other words, it is essentially the same cartoon, but shot in Widescreen, with stylized backgrounds and thicker inklines around the characters. Additionally, a few elements of the original cartoon are missing, notably a few seconds trimmed from the beginning of the cartoon where Jerry raids his cupboards for food, and also, Mammy Two Shoes' brief cameo is missing.



The Egg and Jerry is a 1956 Tom and Jerry cartoon produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It is a CinemaScope remake of 1949's Hatch Up Your Troubles. The only aspects of the cartoon that differ from the original are that it is in a Widescreen format, the ink lines around the characters are thicker, and the backgrounds are more stylized. The cartoon's title is a play-on-words of the novel and film The Egg and I.



"Tops with Pops" is a 1956 Tom and Jerry cartoon, released in 1957, produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (by this time, Fred Quimby had retired and left the studio.) It is a shot-for-shot CinemaScope remake of 1949's Love That Pup. The only major differences are that the cartoon is in a Widescreen format as opposed to fullscreen, and the ink lines around the characters are thicker and more defined, due to the fact that any imperfection would be noticeable on the screen. Also, the backgrounds are more stylized than detailed, as was the style in the late 1950s. It was also the final appearance of Tyke.

Those descriptions were taken from wikipedia ...

[Escapay]

I am just tired of everyone who thinks because they leave a song out of a episode of a show that is released on DVD that it isn't complete.

Imagine DVD releases of "M*A*S*H*" without the theme song "Suicide is Painless". Try watching an episode of "Miami Vice" with generic synthesized music instead of the pop songs of its time. Sit through "Saturday Night Live" with all the musical performances cut out. Then see who's complaining. Be grateful for studios that put an effort in actually getting the music rights for a DVD release.

If people would just be happy with what they get and quit complaining life would be so much less complicated.

Less complicated, yes. But they still wouldn't be satisfied. There's no pleasing anybody these days. Besides, why settle for less when you know and the company knows that there's more. Why buy a "complete" collection when they purposely leave out two shorts? I know that you said you simply wanted the widescreen shorts, but there are others who want *gasp* all the cartoons. They shouldn't have to settle for less just because you're satisfied.

But they should have checked about the remakes and been just as ticked off. They weren't were they?

I don't think remade cartoons would be a bigger reason to complain/discuss than excluded cartoons. After all, as others have said, the originals are contained as well, so there's no harm done. I mean, nobody complained when Disney remade "Orphan's Benefit" in color (the original was 1934, the color was 1941). So why should there be a big hubbub because three shorts originally in 4x3 were redone for CinemaScope? At least it's by the original filmmakers and done with their input as opposed to a film studio wanting to milk an older franchise by bringing in some revisionist to make a modern version.

Scaps

[TM2-Megatron]

Sit through "Saturday Night Live" with all the musical performances cut out. Then see who's complaining.

When they're releasing the 90s and 2000s SNL, I just wish they could leave the music and cut out all the skits.

[ichabod]

I am just tired of everyone who thinks because they leave a song out of a episode of a show that is released on DVD that it isn't complete. [/quote]

Well if they leave something out, how can it be complete?

People pay for things in good faith. People have seen TV shows / films on TV or in theatres numerous times. We all have our favourite episodes/scenes/characters. Now when we see a DVD for sale for example "Roseanne: The Complete Eighth season" and we buy it and get it home and pop it in and lo and behold scenes have been cut here and there it's annoying. Espescially if its one of your favourite scenes.

If people would just be happy with what they get and quit complaining life would be so much less complicated.

Why should we be happy at being screwed over?

As in the Tom and Jerry Volume Three collection, so they left off two questionable cartoons, and everyone jumped up and screamed. But they should have checked about the remakes and been just as ticked off. They weren't were they?Those of you who have purchased the set of Tom & Jerry Volume Three will know what I am taking about when I said it is on the back of the box. When you pull the sleeve out of the set and reveal the two discs packaged over the top of each other, on one side is the contents of both discs and the notations that there are three remakes included in this collection. And then they tell you what the remakes are and what they are a remake of, as I posted in the contribution above. I know there is nothing about special about remakes, but the fact that they updated three cartoons should also be talked about as much as the fact that they left two cartoons of questionable content off.

That's because the originals AND the remakes were included, so no loss.

That is all I am trying to say.

This isn't the first time you've claimed we are over reacting. It's exactly because of people with your mindset that studios think they can screw us over. People who will buy something no matter how edited/changed/awful it is.

If we don't let the studio how disappointed we are they won't do anything. It's like the more Silly Symphonies DVD and the True Life Adventures DVDs, both had mistakes which thankfully were corrected because people complained.

Half the time I don't know why you bother buying DVDs. If things like bad restoration, DVNR, compression issues, pixellation, missing scenes, cut music, missing content and grainy prints don't bother you why don't you just get some blank VHS tapes and tape them off the TV!?

[MK Sharp]

I'm sorry, DVDJunkie, but I can't see why the issue of remakes should be a big deal. In each case the two films were made by the original production team of the day, are equally valid, and ought to be both included in a complete set. In fact, I'd be more likely to complain if the studio decided *not* to include the remakes simply because they were based on an earlier film.

In fact, this is one of the most interesting aspects of short cartoon films, and comparing different interpretations of the same material made at different times is one of the most fascinating parts to me of the scholarly study of animation. One of the things I'm most looking forward to with the release of the Oswald Treasure is being able to compare Sky Scrappers (1928) with Building A Building (1933). It would be fascinating to be able to see Ozzie Of The Mounted, because the story sketches reproduced in Walt In Wonderland suggest that Harman & Ising reproduced chunks of it exactly in the 1931 WB short Big Man From The North.

Even when the original animation drawings are re-used in the remake, it still offers a good insight into the production process of the day to see how the backgrounds have changes stylistically, how films were treated when converted to widescreen, and so forth. Personally, I wish that the Disney Rarities Treasure had included both the Academy Ratio and Widescreen versions of Toot Whistle Plunk & Boom because the screen compositions in many cases are radically different despite the same background and cel elements being used.

There are all sorts of reasons why music substitutions, edits, etc are unsatisfactory. I think you've chosen the wrong issue to try to make an analogy with that here.

And if you think there's over-reaction about the occasional music sub, I suggest you head over to some of the Doctor Who forums, where argument has recently raged over whether it is valid to paint out a boom mike that wouldn't have been seen on the original transmission anyway (due to the overscan on 60s TVs)!