Tonight's Movies: Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Cartoon Collection - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The Warner Archive Collection has released some wonderful cartoon sets on Blu-ray in recent months.

Regular readers are no doubt aware of the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4; my reviews for all but the first set are linked here.

The latest cartoon collection from the Warner Archive is Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection.

The set contains 23 cartoons plus three "bonus" cartoons, for a total of 26.

These widescreen cartoons span the years 1954 to 1957. Like the other Warner Archive sets, the cartoons can be played by choosing individual titles or by simply hitting "Play All."

Tom and Jerry are longtime cartoon favorites of mine; I love the way the adorable little Jerry the mouse always gets the better of Tom the cat. Some critics find them a little too "cute" but honestly, I think that's what appeals to me about this series.

I have especially fond memories of seeing a few Tom and Jerry cartoons theatrically when I was a pre-teen, in the mid '70s; they were shown ahead of classic MGM films at the UA Cinema Center in Westwood, California.

In fact, an ad I saved for that series reminds me I saw PUP ON A PICNIC (1955), which is included in this set, prior to a showing of IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER (1955). It was a joy to revisit it thanks to this Blu-ray.

I also particularly remember seeing TOUCHE, PUSSY CAT! (1954) when I was young; that's another short I enjoyed seeing again in this set.

Other favorites in the collection include SOUTHBOUND DUCKLING (1955), about a domestic farm duck determined to fly south for the winter, and THAT'S MY MOMMY (1955) in which a baby duckling mistakes Tom for its mother.

Some critics rate Tom and Jerry cartoons which preceded the titles in this set as the best of the long-running series; hopefully they'll also be released on Blu-ray at some point, but in the meantime I really enjoyed these cartoons.

The cartoons all look sharp, with vivid colors. Like the previous WAC cartoon sets, there are no extras, but all cartoons do have optional English subtitles.

The complete list of all 26 cartoons contained in this collection, listed in chronological order: PET PEEVE (1954), TOUCHE, PUSSY CAT! (1954), SOUTHBOUND DUCKLING (1955), PUP ON A PICNIC (1955), TOM AND CHERIE (1955), THAT'S MY MOMMY (1955), THE FLYING SORCERESS (1956), THE EGG AND JERRY (1956), BUSY BUDDIES (1956), MUSCLE BEACH TOM (1956), DOWN BEAT BEAR (1956), BLUE CAT BLUES (1956), BARBECUE BRAWL (1956), TOPS WITH POPS (1957), TIMID TABBY (1957), FEEDIN' THE KIDDIE (1957), MUCHO MOUSE (1957), TOM'S PHOTO FINISH (1957), HAPPY GO DUCKY (1958), ROYAL CAT NAP (1958), THE VANISHING DUCK (1958), ROBIN HOODWINKED (1958), TOT WATCHERS (1958), plus "bonus cartoons" GOOD WILL TO MEN (1955), GIVE AND TYKE (1957), and SCAT CATS (1957).

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

Tweet