DVD Review: Tom and Jerry Chuck Jones Collection
Warner Home Video Releases Classic Hanna-Barbera Cartoon
Jun 25, 2009
In 1963, legendary animator Chuck Jones was asked to create new Tom and Jerry shorts for MGM. Fired from Warner Bros. for working on the UPA animated feature Gay Purr-ee (ironically, Warner only found out when they agreed to distribute the film) and realizing the era of the theatrical animated short was over, Jones tried to adapt his style for the demands of television, and breathe new life into the Tom and Jerry formula perfected, and hammered into the ground, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Working within the financial confines of what Jones considered "limited animation," he nevertheless was able to bring his imagination and visual sensibilities to the new shorts. It didn't hurt that Jones also reassembled much of his old "Termite Terrace" team for his Sib Tower 12 Productions unit, including voice actors Mel Blanc and June Foray.
But, by 1965, Jones was more interested in making non-Tom and Jerry material like "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" and the equally classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." MGM returned the favour in 1967, when they canceled Tom and Jerry for good.
Warner Home Video has now assembled all 34 of those 1960's shorts for Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, a 2-disc DVD box set.
Warner Home Video Distributes Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection
Okay, no-one's watching Tom and Jerry for the intricate plotting: Tom chases Jerry, Jerry outwits Tom, Tom gets his violent comeuppance, rinse and repeat. If you've seen one short, you've pretty much seen them all. So what's the big deal?
Animation historians will be interested in what Jones brought to the shorts. Tom gained bushy eyebrows and a less complex colour scheme, while Jerry's look became rounder and slightly reminiscent of Porky Pig.
Several Looney Tunes tropes also made the jump, such as the occasional breaking of the 4th Wall, the increased use of pantomime, and reliance on classical music to drive some shorts, such as "Cat Above, Mouse Below." The backgrounds, while more static than the classic Warner Bros. shorts, still have that wonderful sense of whimsy, and Jones' sense of characterization remains intact.
There are a lot of worthy visuals on display, and some classic gags, but it's clear the quality of the shorts started to decline as Jones lost interest in the series. Some storylines were recycled, such as the dog-assisting-Jerry-with-a-whistle subplot in "Much Ado About Mousing."
There may be more than one way to skin a cat but, after the 30th try, it's hard not to repeat yourself.
DVD Extras
There are two featurettes of note. Legendary voice actor June Foray narrates "Tom and Jerry . . . and Chuck," a retrospective look at Jones' history with Tom and Jerry. Despite the fact that this featurette technically supposed to extol Jones' revival of the cat-and-mouse duo, Foray can't help mentioning that Jones swiftly grew tired of trying to develop new situations for the pair.
"Chuck Jones: Memories of a Childhood" is a touching documentary short, featuring the maestro telling his own life story. It's worth watching simply for Jones' beautiful drawings that illustrate certain times in his life.
The Final Analysis
This set is geared towards the animation fan, or fans of Chuck Jones. If you're more familiar with Jones' Looney Tunes period, or grown up in a post-Pixar world, then you'll probably wonder what the fuss is all about. Certainly Jones deserves mucho respect for freshening up Tom and Jerry's shopworn formula, but there was only so much he could do, and he knew it.
Given that it's a celebration of an animation genius's less celebrated period, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection gets a 7/10.
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