The collection that Warner Home Video has put together is certainly a puzzling one. While we didn’t review the first two volumes of Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures, volume three is a mirror of the series’ pattern. It mixes together old Hannah-Barbera / Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons with more recently produced ones. You’ll get the following from the first two classic set of directors:
– Ah, Sweet Mouse-Story of Life
– Bad Day at Cat Rock
– Jerry, Jerry, Quite Contrary
– Love Me, Love My Mouse
– Shutter Bugged Cat
– The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
The rest of the episodes are of the newer releases of Tom and Jerry. They are led by directors Neal Sternecky and Tim Maltby, and are as follows:
– Beach Bully Bingo
– A Life Less Guarded
– Northern Light Fish Fight
– Doggone Hill Hog (though on the box it says ‘Dog’ instead of ‘Hog’)
– Sasquashed
– Snow Mouse
– Spook House Mouse
– Don’t Bring Your Pet to School Day
I commend Warner Home Video for putting a little something in there for everyone. Kids who are familiar with the newer series now will be happy to know that the newer episodes are included on volume 3. The episodes are colorful, simple and straightforward. For example, Northern Light Fish Fight has some fun material in it, as Tom is somehow up in the snowy north trying to survive (how did he get up there?) by ice fishing, which he is doing unsuccessfully. The comedy from his attempts at catching fish and his use of a very unhelpful worm is simple fun. When Jerry is thrown into the mix the comedy goes up a bit, as Jerry is having a very successful time fishing. Of course, Tom gets jealous and then both start to fight over a giant fish that the mouse caught. The comedy escalates even more to the point there is a snowball fight, and to a finale where both decide they can eat the one fish equally (there is a twist at the end, though). It’s simple comedy that isn’t overly violent.
That’s how the newer episodes go and that might be why I dislike them so much. There is a clear lack of violence and a compromise at the end. That’s not how the old school T&J would have done it.
The newer ones simply cannot stand-up to the classic cartoons from Hannah-Barbera and Chuck Jones. The humor in the newer episodes isn’t driven by violence, which sounds sick, but it’s that no holds barred sort of situation that makes the original series ‘classic’. You’re always wondering how far the cat and mouse can take things, as there were no limits back in the 50s/60s.
With that said, the volume does compromise, as it gives you the best of both worlds. You can rest assure that your kids will enjoy the newer ones, while you can sit back and enjoy your childhood favorites that were violent as can be.
Now, getting back to my original statement, the volume’s construction is puzzling. While it’s nice to have a good amount of new/old Tom & Jerry on one DVD, if you’re going to release volumes then it might be worthwhile to do so by years. If you want older episodes of the show then have older episodes of it on one DVD. Give your audience a reason to purchase it, as kids will demand the newer years and adults will snatch the older ones. This sort of even balance of random episodes doesn’t really feel like it’s together in a solid set. If you’re going to put this stuff together then at least build the DVD as a common theme release. For example, put all the Christmas or Holiday classics on one set. Or put all the summertime episodes on one set. Just don’t randomly throw cartoons together, as that doesn’t give any expectations to what’s on the DVD compilation.
Anyway, that’s my biggest complaint about this DVD. I wish it had a more cohesive theme or motif.
The big plus about this release is that you can find it on Amazon for $11.98, which provides a quick amount of entertainment for the kiddos. It’s a cheap price and in turn you get no features with it except for two trailers for the Wizard of Oz Tom and Jerry feature and a Scooby-Doo feature.
To the summary!
