Tom and Jerry-Classic Collection-Volume 10 (1961)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1961
Running Time	91:38
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4,5	Directed By	Gene Deitch
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$14.95	Music	None Given

In 1960, MGM outsourced the production of Tom and Jerry to Rembrandt Films in Eastern Europe. Over the next two years 13 theatrical animated shorts featuring Tom and Jerry were overseen by producer William L. Snyder and director Gene Deitch in Prague, Czechoslovakia and drawn by uncredited animators, unfamiliar with the characters and their traits.

The series of cartoons directed by Gene Deitch have often been described as surrealist by animation historians, however modern animation enthusiasts have always appreciated the inventive and experimental style of Deitch. Deitch often drew the layouts and key poses in order to retain the common look of the characters, which were previously developed and overseen by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for almost two decades.

Volume ten of the Tom and Jerry Classic Collection assembles the 13 animated shorts produced by Gene Deitch for Rembrandt Films (1960 – 1962):

• Switchin' Kitten
• Down and Outing
• It's Greek to Meow
• High Steaks
• Mouse Into Space
• Landing Stripling
• Calypso Cat
• Dicky Moe
• The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit
• Tall in the Trap
• Sorry Safari
• Buddies Thicker Than Water
• Carmen Get It!

Video

The Gene Deitch shorts were all produced in Academy format, but with compositions that made them compatible to be matted to Academy widescreen format as well. On this single-sided, single layered DVD all the cartoons are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 Full Frame.

This series of theatrical shorts unfortunately incurred a number of technical glitches due to the low budget; shots are out of focus, frames are incorrectly exposed, characters and objects change positions between shots and there are some missing animation elements. The theatrical shorts have been encoded at an average bit-rate of 4.77 Mbps, achieving a smooth transfer with average colour rendering. The transfer appears soft but remains relatively clear despite heavy film grain and assorted film artefacts. There is a selection of subtitle options available which appear in small white text.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

Due to the low budget of the production, sound effects are often misplaced, dialogue is mumbled and unclear and the use of music is sparse. Some cartoons feature a narrator, while the screams of Tom and other characters are more demonic then in previous episodes. Stepán Konícek was responsible for some of the original music in this series of cartoons. The music is much more energetic then previous series', sometimes imitating the original score while at times often influenced by Jazz.

Overall the sound design is awkward, similar to the designs of the main characters; however the Dolby Digital 1.0 audio soundtracks available on this DVD remain clear and audible. The soundtracks do not make use of surround sound, but nevertheless are suitable in respect to the age and design of the source material.

Audio Ratings Summary

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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.

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:

R1 - 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 a English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtrack and English, French and Spanish subtitles.

R2 – 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

R4 – Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 1-12

It seems the local release is actually the R2 DVD collection released as single-layer, single-sided DVD releases 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 for version will depend on whether the R1 extras are of importance to you or whether you'd rather have the majority of episodes. Also, the R2 release suggests the cartons have been digitally re-mastered but this apparently is not the case.

Each of the Tom and Jerry theatrical animated shorts directed by Gene Deitch are assembled on this DVD. The series of cartoons were initially described as being of a lesser quality than the cartoons previously overseen by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. However Deitch's experimental approach should be appreciated. To read more about Gene Deitch's experience of directing the Tom and Jerry cartoons, please visit here.

The DVD compiles the cartoons in an average fashion. The sound errors are a result of the low budget production of the theatrical animated shorts.

Video
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Extras
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