|
|
 |
Tom and Jerry Tales - Volume Four
R1 - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: James Teitelbaum (28th March 2008). |
|
The Show
 Back in the golden age of cartoon shorts, the 'toons made by studios like Warner Brothers or MGM were meant to be shown before feature films in theaters. Thus, they were made to have appeal for audiences of all ages, working on several levels, with plain old colorful silliness for the younger viewers and some more topical or sophisticated humor thrown in for the adults. For several decades (beginning perhaps in the 1970's), this aspect was lost, as the art form degenerated into something perceived as being for children to watch on Saturday mornings. The writing and the quality of the animation suffered as studios decided that kids didn't want or need the level of sophistication that previous generations had enjoyed. Or, perhaps, they just didn't want to spend the cash to make new cartoons as good as the old ones. Fortunately a renaissance in animation took hold with the advent of film studios like Pixar and directors such as Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant" (1999), "The Incredibles" (2004)) who have brought intelligent and well-executed animation back to theaters. The difference is that these people are making full-length animated features, not short subjects. Gone are the days when truly funny and skillfully rendered short features proceeded a theatrical movie. All of this said, the classic characters that Warner Brothers, MGM, and other studios created so many decades ago are still cash-cows for these studios, and every now and then, someone gets the idea to dust off the characters and to do a new series of shorts for kiddie television. The latest characters to get rescued from the vault are Tom and Jerry, who made their debut in an extremely successful series of cartoons between 1940 and 1957, and who have been revived several times since. The newest take on the characters was initially broadcast in February of 2005, and issued on DVD that October. This month (March 2008) sees the DVD release of the fourth volume of new material. Tom and Jerry in 2008 are just as you remember them from 1940. They sometimes begin the cartoon as friends, and sometimes not, but they always end up in a rather violent chase by the end, one that usually ends up with Jerry the mouse outwitting and overcoming the aggressions of Tom cat. Familiar supporting characters like Spike the bulldog and the faceless human Mammy Two Shoes are here as well. The cell-style animation is nice, executed with a moderate level of care. Computer assists allow things like out of focus backgrounds, more elaborate shadows, and blurring of motion scenes - the usual bag of tricks for contemporary cell-style animation. The backgrounds and the human characters (or their lower halves at least) are rendered in a retro style that does a nice job of recalling the 1940's/1950's heyday of these types of cartoons. What struck me the most about these new cartoons is that a lot of them seem to have been directed by someone who has clearly seen, absorbed, and has a great passion for the earlier cartoons, but who, from my perspective, maybe never truly understood them. The form here is perfect, but the feel seems skewed, as if some aliens discovered Tom and Jerry on a deep space satellite transmission and tried to duplicate them without having an understanding of what makes humans laugh. Everything that one would expect to see is present and accounted for, but there is a deeper understanding of either comic timing, character motivation, or fresh ideas that seems to have been missed. Well-rendered characters go through the motions by rote, but they are missing the firm guiding hand of a truly inspired director. That said, of the work present on this DVD, I slightly prefer the 'toons directed by Tim Maltby or Douglas McCarthy to those of Neal Sternecky; the former pair seem a hair more energetic.
Video
"Tom and Jerry Tales Volume 4" is presented in a 1.33:1 full screen aspect ratio. The twelve cartoons look fine; I am sure this material was ported right form the animation computer to DVD and never left the digital realm. The cartoons average about 7 minutes 30 seconds each, so the total running time is a brief 1:28:00 (88 minutes). No compression artifacts, no overt edge enhancement.
Audio
These cartoons are presented in the original English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo as well as a French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. Saying that they're in English is of almost no importance, since there is very little dialogue. These cartoons are carried by a musical score composed by Tom Erba. Erba does his best to summon the spirit of Carl Stalling, and with what sounds like an actual orchestra at his disposal (not to mention an arsenal of contemporary pop instruments), he provides dense and well-recorded accompaniment to the action. This music is in the fore for most of the running time. This disc does not feature any optional subtitles.
Extras
There are no extras at all on this disc.
Overall
|
|||||
|