Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection

"The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection" is a series of two-disc DVD sets, released by Warner Home Video in the same style as the "Looney Tunes Golden Collection". Originally planned as an uncut chronological set, the issued "Spotlight Collection" sets include selected "Tom and Jerry" shorts on each volume. Volume one was released on October 26, 2004, volume two on October 25, 2005, and the third and final volume on September 11, 2007.

Volume 1 does not include any cartoons where Mammy Two-Shoes, an African-American maid character, speaks; she is briefly seen, though not heard, in "The Little Orphan". By contrast, Mammy appears in several cartoons on volume 2, although production errors led to a mixing of audio tracks so that some cartoons include the original Mammy Two-Shoes dialogue performed by Lillian Randolph, while others include redubbed dialogue tracks commissioned by Turner Entertainment in the mid-1990s to censor the Black dialect in the character's dialogue.

Contents of each volume

"The following 112 shorts were directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio in Hollywood, California. All shorts were released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1940 – 1958." The Hanna and Barbera/MGM cartoons are a total of 114 shorts. "Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat" are missing in these volumes but the "Texas Tom" are repeated in Volume 1 and 2:

"Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1"

"A superscripted one ( ¹ ) denotes cartoons presented in the CinemaScope aspect ratio using a new anamorphic widescreen transfer."

Disc 1

#"The Yankee Doodle Mouse"
#"Sufferin' Cats!"
#"Baby Puss"
#"The Zoot Cat"
#"The Million Dollar Cat"
#"The Bodyguard"
#"Mouse Trouble"
#"Tee for Two"
#"Flirty Birdy"
#"Quiet Please!"
#"The Milky Waif"
#"Solid Serenade"
#"Cat Fishin'"
#"The Cat Concerto"
#"Kitty Foiled"
#"The Truce Hurts"
#"Salt Water Tabby"
#"The Invisible Mouse"
#"The Little Orphan"
#"Heavenly Puss"

Disc 2

#"Texas Tom"
#"Jerry and the Lion"
#"Tom and Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl"
#"Jerry and the Goldfish"
#"Cue Ball Cat"
#"Slicked-up Pup"
#"Jerry's Cousin"
#"Cat Napping"
#"The Flying Cat"
#"The Two Mouseketeers"
#"Smitten Kitten"
#"Johann Mouse"
#"Two Little Indians"
#"Baby Butch"
#"Mice Follies"
#"Designs on Jerry"
#"Pecos Pest"
#"Touché, Pussy Cat!" ¹
#"The Flying Sorceress" ¹
#"Blue Cat Blues" ¹

Bonus features

*Commentary by Jerry Beck on: "The Zoot Cat", "Kitty Foiled", "Heavenly Puss"
*"Behind the Tunes: The MGM Orchestra" {documentary on the music of Tom and Jerry)
*"How Bill and Joe Met Tom and Jerry" {documentary on the origin of the series}
*Jerry Dances with Gene Kelly {excerpt from "Anchors Aweigh"}
*Tom and Jerry Swim with Esther Williams {excerpt from "Dangerous When Wet"}

"Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2"

"A superscripted one ( ¹ ) denotes cartoons in the standard Academy ratio presented in newly remastered versions. A superscripted two ( ² ) denotes cartoons presented in the CinemaScope aspect ratio using a new anamorphic widescreen transfer."

Disc 1

#"Puss Gets the Boot" ¹
#"The Midnight Snack" ¹
#"The Night Before Christmas" ¹
#"Fraidy Cat" ¹
#"Dog Trouble" ¹
#"Puss n' Toots" ¹
#"The Bowling Alley Cat"
#"Fine Feathered Friend"
#"The Lonesome Mouse"
#"Puttin' on the Dog"
#"The Mouse Comes to Dinner"
#"Mouse in Manhattan"
#"Springtime for Thomas"
#"Trap Happy"
#"Part Time Pal"
#"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse"
#"Old Rockin' Chair Tom"
#"Professor Tom"
#"The Cat and the Mermouse"
#"Polka-Dot Puss"

Disc 2

#"Saturday Evening Puss"
#"Little Quacker"
#"Texas Tom"
#"Safety Second"
#"Sleepy-Time Tom"
#"Nit-witty Kitty"
#"Cruise Cat"
#"Triplet Trouble"
#"Push-Button Kitty"
#"The Missing Mouse"
#"Jerry and Jumbo"
#"Just Ducky"
#"Little School Mouse"
#"Tom and Chérie" ²
#"Muscle Beach Tom" ²
#"Down Beat Bear" ²
#"Mucho Mouse" ²
#"Tot Watchers" ²

Bonus features

*An introduction by Whoopi Goldberg (similar to the introduction to the third volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection) where Goldberg explains that the Tom and Jerry cartoons may contain racial stereotyping (particularly centered on the appearance of Mammy Two-Shoes) that may offend some modern-day viewers.
*Audio Commentaries: Commentary on "Saturday Evening Puss", "Puss Gets the Boot", "The Night Before Christmas", and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse" by MADtv castmember Nicole Parker and Animation Historian Earl Kress
*Documentary: Animators as Actors: Actor's workshop of where the inspiration for character personalities come from
*Featurette: The Comedy Stylings of Tom and Jerry (featuring appearances by Mark Kausler, Jerry Beck, and MADtv castmembers Nicole Parker and Ike Barinholtz)
*Production Sketches: 1941 Pencil Sketch: "The Midnight Snack"

"Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3"

"Vol. 3" completes the Hanna-Barbera "Tom & Jerry" canon, save for "Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat". According to a Warner Home Video press release, these cartoons were omitted from the set for racial stereotyping. [ [http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7460 Tom and Jerry DVD news: Rear Cover Art, Extras for Tom and Jerry - Spotlight Collection Volume 3 | TVShowsOnDVD.com ] ] (These cartoons are presented uncut on as part of the European PAL DVD set "Tom and Jerry - The Classic Collection ".)

Disc 1

#"A Mouse in the House"
#"Hatch Up Your Troubles"
#"Love That Pup"
#"Jerry's Diary"
#"Tennis Chumps"
#"The Framed Cat"
#"His Mouse Friday"
#"The Duck Doctor"
#"Little Runaway"
#"Fit to Be Tied"
#"The Dog House"
#"That's My Pup!"
#"Life with Tom"
#"Puppy Tale"
#"Posse Cat"
#"Hic-cup Pup"
#"Downhearted Duckling"
#"Neapolitan Mouse"
#"Mouse for Sale"
#"Smarty Cat"

Disc 2

(All cartoons in CinemaScope - 16:9 widescreen)
#"Pet Peeve"
#"Southbound Duckling"
#"Pup on a Picnic"
#"That's My Mommy"
#"The Egg and Jerry"
#"Busy Buddies"
#"Barbecue Brawl"
#"Timid Tabby"
#"Tops with Pops"
#"Feedin' the Kiddie"
#"Tom's Photo Finish"
#"Happy Go Ducky"
#"Royal Cat Nap"
#"The Vanishing Duck"
#"Robin Hoodwinked"

Bonus features

*Cat and Mouse: The Tale of Tom and Jerry: a documentary on the history of the "Tom and Jerry" shorts, and the censorship issues the series has had to deal with.
*"The KarateGuard": a 2005 "Tom and Jerry" short directed by co-creator Joseph Barbera.

Negative reactions to edited cartoons

The "Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection" sets have received intense and well-deserved negative consumer reaction, due to the edits in certain cartoons on each set. The first set contained three edited shorts ("The Little Orphan", "The Truce Hurts" and "The Milky Waif"), which Warner stated was a mistake (with the wrong prints being used). All three of these shorts originally included various characters in blackface. A replacement program was begun at the end of 2006, two years after the set's initial release.

The second volume contained four shorts ("The Lonesome Mouse", "Polka-Dot Puss", "Saturday Evening Puss" and "Nit-Witty Kitty") with edited sound tracks, again reported to be due to use of incorrect prints. These four shorts contained the censored Mammy Two-Shoes audio track, instead of the original.

Consumers have also expressed displeasure at the fact that, although advertised as being "restored and remastered", none of the cartoons on the first volume are restored, save for those presented in widescreen. The first six cartoons on volume two were remastered for the set, as were the widescreen cartoons. However, all other cartoons on both discs use prints prepared in the 1990s for television broadcast. Warner Home Video later released replacement discs for both "Tom and Jerry" Spotlight Collections 1 and 2.

Complaints also arose over "Mouse Cleaning" and "Casanova Cat" being left off of Volume 3 because of racial stereotyping, according to a Warner Home Video press release. [ [http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7460 Tom and Jerry DVD news: Rear Cover Art, Extras for Tom and Jerry - Spotlight Collection Volume 3 | TVShowsOnDVD.com ] ] These two shorts were the only "Tom and Jerry" shorts from the Hanna and Barbera era not present on DVD. One short that is particularly heavy on racial stereotyping, "His Mouse Friday", is included on the DVD, but is presented in an edited version.

Other notes on sets

*"Texas Tom" (1950) was accidentally included on "both" Volume 1 and Volume 2.
*"Touché, Pussy Cat!" (1954), on Volume 1, uses an unreleased stereo mix of its soundtrack. This mix is missing a few lines of dialogue present in the mono mix, specifically the character Tuffy singing "Frère Jacques" while painting an unflattering caricature of Tom (the score accompaniment to "Frère Jacques" is still present in the soundtrack without the singing). [Johnson, Gay (December 8, 2004). " [http://www.imagesjournal.com/2004/reviews/tomandjerry/text.htm Review of "Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 1".] " "Images Journal".]
*"Pup on a Picnic" (1954) is presented on Volume 3 in a 1.78:1 ratio instead of the CinemaScope format listed on the back of the box, although it was originally made in the standard Academy ratio. [Corey, Joe (October 15, 2007). " [http://thedvdlounge.insidepulse.com/articles/70953/2007/10/15/itom-and-jerry-the-spotlight-collection-volume-3i--dvd-review.html Review of "Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Volume 3".] " "The DVD Lounge".]
*Three other shorts ("Touché, Pussy Cat!" on Volume 1, and "Pet Peeve" and "Southbound Duckling" on Volume 3) were originally produced simultaneously in standard Academy and CinemaScope formats. The CinemaScope version of each of these short is missing non-critical information present at the top and bottom of the frame in many shots from their Academy versions. This is not an error, but a consequence of working in both aspect ratios.

References

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