Rating: - Re-living my childhood
Looney Tunes, Droopy and Tom & Jerry were some of my favorite cartoons when I was growing up and it's great to see that they're finally getting released on DVD sets since they're not shown on TV anymore. None of these newer cartoons even compare to these and probably none ever will. These classics are definately worth picking up and definately have alot of replay value.
Rating: - Tom and Jerry - Spotlight Collection
the quality of the product was perfect and the delivery was so fast that I was amaze . Hope to buy from you again, beleive me I am so happy that I did bought this product from you thank you very much and hope to buy from you again I do recommend this item is great.
Rating: - My Version is Unedited
OK, I've been reading the reviews on this set since it was released over 3 years ago. I was disappointed, like many others, when I read about the editing cuts on Disc 1, #11 - The Milky Waif, #16 - The Truce Hurts, and #19 - The Little Orphan. So I never purchased this set, hoping there would eventually be a unedited version.
Well I received a nice birthday surprise from my son a couple of days ago. He purchased this collection as a gift for me. He didn't purchase it from Amazon but from our local outlet of a national chain whose logo is a bright yellow tag with their name written boldly in black. Anyway, the version he purchased was unedited. I didn't have to return any discs. Before the menu appears on Disc 1, there is a disclaimer about how wrong the ethnic stereotypes were then and still are today. I didn't get to finish the disclaimer because it was quite long and didn't stay on the screen long enough. This disclaimer doesn't appear on disc two.
People have asked how they can tell if their version is edited or not. Here are the scenes that were included on my DVD that are missing from the edited versions. On "The Milky Waif", there is a brief scene where Jerry and the baby mouse cover their face with shoe polish to fool Tom and escape. On "The Truce Hurts", their is a scene where the Bulldog (Spike usually but I'm not sure if that was his name in this episode), Tom and Jerry are going to cross a street with a mud puddle at the curb. A car splashes the mud on their faces and they take on features to imply they are African American. On "The Little Orphan", there is a brief 5 second scene or less of the mammy bringing food to the table.
How can you identify the product before purchasing? I don't know since I only have this version but here is a description of things on my box. Maybe someone can tell if there is any difference from the edited set.
On the spine of the box, the number is 65878. On the back of the box on the UPC it contains these two numbers: ISBN 0-7907-8651-6 and 1256958782. There is no claim on the box that these are original unedited versions. I was pleasantly surprised to get these versions.
BTW, the set was purchased just a few days ago (the beginning of December 2007). I hope this info helps others.
Rating: - Worth Every Penny
Tom and Jerry was one of my absolute favorite cartoons growing up. At $14.99, this collection is worth every penny and then some. 40 shorts are included and I remember every single one. As soon as I received the DVDs yesterday, I popped them into the DVD player and my children were cracking up! I will say they are much more violent than I remember but I personally never associated Tom and Jerry with violence, just a great cartoon that I loved to watch. For the most part, children know the difference between what is real and not. For 50 years, children grew up watching Tom and Jerry and to ban it now seems ridiculous to me. Especially compared to what is shown on TV these days. I sat down and watched Cartoon Network with my 5-year-old daughter recently and was appalled at some of the inappropriateness of new cartoons.
Tom and Jerry truly is a timeless classic. As soon as my kids woke up this morning, they grabbed the DVD set and begged me to watch Tom and Jerry again. To share a childhood favorite with my own children makes me happy.
I will point out that if there was any editing, I did not notice. It was all still immensely entertaining.
Rating: - 1-800-553-6937 is the magic number for replacement discs!
I waited until September 15th 2007 to buy this set in hopes that I would get the uncensored discs. Wrong, they were still censored. The packaging was slightly revised to a cardboard box, the first issue was a plastic box, but the DVDs were not revised.
So I still had to call 1-800-553-6937 to request the replacement disc #1.
Once this is replaced, you will have a fine set. The transfers are not remastered like the Looney Tunes, but they still look good. It is an upgrade from the laserdisc. The bonus material is also enough reason to get this set.
Of interesting note, TOCHE PUSSY CAT appears here in it's original Cinemascope Theatrical presentation. But based on the full frame Laserdisc presentation, it appears that this was animated in full frame, but adapted to Cinemascope to cash in on the widescreen craze of the 1950's. The title sections were re-shot for Cinemascope, but except for one scene at the 6:03 mark the entire cartoon is cropped on the top & bottom to look widescreen. It would have been nice to see this both ways on the DVD.