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Tom and Jerry Tales - Volume Two (2006-2007)
R1 - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (12th September 2007). |
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The Show
 Everybody knows Tom and Jerry, right? The overly optimistic housecat Tom that´s endlessly chasing the small, witty mouse Jerry. After some “crash-boom-bang” action Tom usually ends up on the losing side. Occasionally they team-up to face the common enemy and there´s that invisible “bond” between them, but usually they try to finish each other off - in a violent, but always in an over-the-top, cartoonic way. The animation series was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (later known as “Hanna-Barbera Productions”) for MGM and its “golden years” between 1940-1958 produced 114 shorts. After that there were short stints in 1960-1962 (13 shorts) and 1963-1967 (34 shorts) and various incarnations on TV after 1975. For many these TV-cartoons were the low point, since instead of the rivalry between the cat and mouse, in some of the shorts Tom and Jerry were now “pals”. The duo was brought up to the 2000s (there were e.g. “The Mansion Cat” and “The Karate Guard” shorts that came out before, though) in a new TV-series called “Tom and Jerry Tales”. It premiered in the “Kids' WB” block at “The CW Television Network” in September 2006 in the US and a bit earlier in the UK. In “Tom and Jerry Tales”, each “episode” consists of three short cartoons (approx. 7-8 minutes each) and each episode has the same theme. “Volume Two” DVD includes part of the “first season” of the series and here´s the brief description of the cartoons. With “Play All”-option, all episodes run 90:40 minutes (NTSC): #1 (all 3 cartoons directed by Neal Sternecky) 1 - Octo Suave (8:05 min): Tom and Jerry end up underwater, where Tom meets the lovesick “French” Octopus. 2 - Beach Bully Bingo (7:00 min): Tom and Jerry take a brief “holiday” from their on-going feud and head to the beach. Old familiar characters Butch, the cat, and Spike, the bulldog, also soon appear and start flexing their muscles. 3 - Treasure Map Scrap (7:35 min): Tom and Jerry on the raft and in the treasure hunt. #2 (all 3 cartoons directed by Douglas McCarthy) 4 - Fire Breathing Tom Cat (8:05 min): Tom is a medieval knight, who has to slay the fire-breathing dragon. Jerry of course interferes. 5 - Medieval Menace (7:01 min): Tom and Jerry still in the castle, using magic spells against each other. 6 - The Itch (7:32 min): This time Tom is a medieval tax collector, Jerry plays the flute and the local band seems to get everyone “itching” with their hit song. Note, that Joseph Barbera is the co-writer of this one. #3 (all 3 cartoons directed by Neal Sternecky) 7 - Digital Dilemma (8:05 min): Tom creates a computer and soon he´s inside of it with Jerry (in the spirit of “TRON (1982)”). 8 - Hi, Robot (7:01 min): Tom takes over the robotic toy mouse and - after some modifications - is using it against Jerry. 9 - Tomcat Jetpack (7:33 min): Tom uses the flying “jetpack” to create some wild stunts, many against Jerry and Spike. Droopy Dog makes a cameo appearance. #4 (all 3 cartoons directed by Tim Maltby) 10 - Piranha Be Loved By You (8:05 min): Tom tries to impress the female kitten in the amusement park at the pier, but the angry piranha is after him. 11 - Spook House Mouse (7:00 min): Tom and Jerry ends up in the old amusement park and face some strange things in the spooky “funhouse”. 12 - Abracadumb (7:32 min): Tom is a famed magician, who soon is in rivalry with Jerry. I´m not a “cartoon scholar” in any way, but the old cartoons from e.g. Warner Bros., MGM and Disney have always fascinated me. Sure, these cartoons were sometimes violent (especially e.g. “Tom and Jerry”) and “politically incorrect” - even including some racist and propagandist elements, but they were products of their time and should be viewed in a certain mentality today. The “anarchy” in the older “Tom and Jerry”-shorts was something that probably influenced the newer cartoons like “The Itchy & Scratchy Show” (from “The Simpsons”) and “Happy Tree Friends” (which of course took the cartoon violence much further). That being said, a few questions come to mind; does "Tom and Jerry Tales" maintain the old, classic attitude of the series - or is it just another “wishy-washy” modern cartoon that you can see on TV everyday? Well, a bit of both. The new series doesn´t completely forget its roots, so Tom and Jerry have their duels and sometimes in the “old school way”. In other words, Tom will get hurt and Jerry is usually laughing next to him. The mouse has again outsmarted the cat. While it never goes too violent, it follows the original idea of the series to some degree. There are also some familiar characters (like in the original concept, the human faces are not visible) and settings from the old shorts, which at least gives some “vintage” feel for the fans. And Tom and Jerry still don´t talk, which is a relief. There´s still the “cute”, unimaginative and modern side also, so some episodes feel like another mediocre cartoon that the kids are watching on a Sunday morning; they make the youngest ones laugh, but can drive the parents to near boredom. There are several missed opportunities, since the interesting setting doesn´t always offer much in the end. There are still a couple of funny bits (e.g. the squirrel that is used as a “machine gun”) and generally good ideas (inside the computer), so fortunately not all is lost for the “old fans”. “Tom and Jerry Tales” is first and foremost aimed for the kids, so they probably enjoy the series. While there is some wild action and minor “violence”, the series is quite laid back and perfectly suitable for the kids.
Video
The series is presented in 4:3 and looks very good. Since it´s a digital, modern production, the image is clean and sharp. Colours and black levels are generally also quite solid. I did find that during some of the panning shots, the moving images are “breaking up” a bit and there´s minor background colour banding. Still, a pretty good effort. “Single layer” disc is coded for “R1”, “R2”, “R3” and “R4”.
Audio
English and French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (with Surround encoding) tracks are included and nothing to complain about on the audio front. Everything is clean and crisp. Since the series includes mainly music and sound effects, the dialogue is not in a very important role (the voice actors are actually quite forgettable). There are no subtitles, but English Closed Captions are included.
Extras
There are no real extras, but some bonus trailers are included (with “Play All”, they run 1:59 minutes): “What's New, Scooby-Doo? - Season 2” (38 sec), “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo - Vol.6” (48 sec), and “Cartoon Network DVD: Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy - Season 2” (32 sec). There´s also “warnervideo.com” web page info.
Overall
Kids will probably enjoy it, adults are mildly amused and even the old fans can have some occasional fun. That´s “Tom and Jerry Tales - Volume Two” in a nutshell. DVD presentation is solid, but is basically barebones. For more info, please visit the homepage of Warner Brothers.
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