Tom and Jerry-Classic Collection-Volume 8 (1955) |
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Tom and Jerry-Classic Collection-Volume 8 (1955) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Animation | None | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1955 | ||
| Running Time | 84:31 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4,5 | Directed By |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Daws Butler June Foray William Denby Hanna Wes Harrison Lillian Randolph |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $19.95 | Music | Scott Bradley |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) Turkish Dolby Digital 1.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | Varies | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English German Spanish Italian Turkish Greek English for the Hearing Impaired German for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Pup On a Picnic (1955)
Mouse For Sale (1955)
Designs on Jerry (1955)
Tom & Cherie (1955)
Smarty Cat (1955)
Pecos Pest (1955)
That's My Mommy (1955)
The Flying Sorceress (1956)
The Egg and Jerry (1956) - Cinemascope remake of Hatch Up Your Troubles (1949)
Muscle Beach Tom (1956)- Nominated for the Annie Award
Downbeat Bear (1956)
Blue Cat Blues (1956)
Barbecue Brawl (1956)
From 1953 to 1956, some Tom and Jerry animated shorts were produced in both 1.37:1 and 2.66:1. On the single-sided, single layered DVD all the cartoons are presented in an aspect ratio of Full Frame 1.33:1. However the opening credits of eight episodes are presented in a non 16x9 enhanced 2.66:1 aspect ratio. These episodes include Tom & Cherie, That's My Mommy, The Flying Sorceress, The Egg and Jerry, Muscle Beach, Tom Downbeat Bear, Blue Cat Blues, Barbecue Brawl and appear to have been cropped from the original aspect ratio.
The animated series is sourced from tape and has been encoded at an average bit-rate of 5.63 Mbps achieving a smooth transfer with average colour rendering. The transfer appears soft but remains relatively clear although heavy film grain and film artefacts are perceptible. Most likely this is a result of the age of the source material. There is a selection of subtitle options available which appear in small white text.
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| Colour | |
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
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The Dolby Digital 1.0 audio track is available in a number of language options. There are no errors apparent on the soundtracks and they remain clear and audible. Dialogue is limited in these animated productions; subsequently much of the comedy is reliant on the musical language of the late Scott Bradley. The composer emplaced a 20 piece orchestra to mimic and emphasise the onscreen action creating a comedic language based on both timing and originality. Unfortunately the soundtrack does not make use of surround sound but nevertheless is suitable in respect to the age of the source material.
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| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
Main Menu
A static and practical 16x9 enhanced menu, featuring an image of the characters with language, subtitle and episode selection. There are no scene chapters for episodes.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
There have been various DVD releases of Tom and Jerry cartoons in themed compilations. In terms of the “classic collection” there have been two other major releases:
Region 1 - Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection.
This 2-disc DVD set contains a selection of 40 cartoons. Various cartoons have been omitted due to censorship, while at least three cartoons on this release have been altered in terms of dialogue and have had visual gags edited out due to being regarded as racially contentious. These cartoons are The Milky Waif, The Truce Hurts and The Little Orphan.
Extras included on this set are:
Animation historian Jerry Beck providing a commentary on three episodes.
A 27 minute documentary entitled How Bill and Joe met Tom and Jerry.
A 17 minute documentary entitled Behind the tunes: the MGM orchestra.
“Anchors Aweigh”: a dance sequence with Gene Kelly (8:11)
“Dangerous When Wet”: swimming sequence with Esther Williams (7:46)
This NTSC set includes an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack and English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Region 2 – Tom and Jerry: Complete Collector's Edition.
This 6-disc, double-sided DVD collection includes 157 Tom and Jerry cartoons out of the 161 episodes produced. The negative is that 15 episodes have had either audio changed or video edited out. The only soundtrack available is English Mono with no extras.
An excellent visual guide to the censorship implications can be found here.
Region 4 – Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 1-12
It seems the local release is actually the Region 2 DVD collection, released as single-layer, single-sided DVD discs and as such the censorship still exists on the local release.
Overall, each region unfortunately has become a victim of political correctness and your preference will depend on whether the Region 1 extras are of importance to you, or whether you would rather have the majority of episodes. Also, the Region 2 release suggests the cartons have been digitally re-mastered but this is not the case.
To the delight of animation enthusiasts the classic Tom and Jerry animation series is finally available on DVD however the continuing series of DVD’s are unfortunately limited in terms of production.
| Video | |
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| Extras | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Denon DVD-1910, using DVI output |
| Display | Panasonic PT-AE 700. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. |
| Amplification | Yamaha DSP-A595a - 5.1 DTS |
| Speakers | (Front) DB Dynamics Polaris AC688F loudspeakers,(Centre) DB Dynamics Polaris Mk3 Model CC030,(Rear) Polaris Mk3 Model SSD425,(Subwoofer) Jensen JPS12 |