Tom & Jerry: Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2 - 10/25 (1 Viewer)

[Mark Anthony]

Could you confirm the quality of the picture, as on set 1 the 'scope cartoon's looked pristine, but the other's were littered with dust, marks and generally looked unloved, a stark contrast to the quality of the toon's in the Looney Tune set's...is this set an improvement in picture quality over set 1?

M

 

[Jay Pennington]

Good question. My opinion is that they needed to make new transfers for the Scope cartoons to make them anamorphic, but just used existing transfers (probably dating back to masters for the 80s home video releases) for the remainder. I know these shorts exist only as prints and not negatives (there was a fire) but even so, modern transfers of them should look a LOT better than most of them do in set 1. They even look like they've gone through a couple composite video generations, to boot.

I wish WB animation releases were under the purview of George Feltenstein. He'd whip their butts into shape.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

There are several cartoons that have had new masters made for this set: the 'Scope cartoons, and a few early cartoons on disc 1. "Puss Gets the Boot," "The Midnight Snack" and "Fraidy Cat" are among these; they look gorgeous. Unfortunately, they didn't strike new masters for most of the other cartoons, and they look the same as they always have on VHS and TV.

And yes, the Tom and Jerry sets are handled by WB's "Family Entertainment" division, rather than the classic-films division (which handles the Looney Tunes sets). Hence the foul-ups and the lack of new transfers for most of the cartoons. There are people at WB who know these films and could spot the errors, but they don't get to handle the T&J sets. Frustrating.

 

[streeter]

I've held off on these sets because of the edits, but this seems like an acceptable solution to me.

 

[Garysb]

Thank you very much for the information. I appreciate being able to make an informed decision.

 

[Mark Anthony]

So yet again we get a few edited/censored/replaced short's and non-cleaned up content for the most part, but it's still labelled as "fully restored and remastered", frankly I think it's complete bollo*ks and WB should be ashamed and remove whoever has overseen this bas*ard of a project - this should have been as perfect as the Looney Tunes are for the most part.

This'll be struck off my buying list immediately. And considering that some months I spend $500 on dvd's, it takes a lot to put me off a product I really want - I put up with the flaw's on the first set, but I won't again.

When someone at WB that cares about T&J takes the time to release them all uncut and properly cleaned up i'll buy, but not before - even if it's a $200 box with all the short's in it i'll buy it, but not until then.

M

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Me too!

 

[Tom Brennan]

Here's a $200 box of uncensored Tom and Jerry cartoons.

 

[Mark Anthony]

But it's not from hi-def transfer's and cleaned up digitally, unfortunately...which is what all these shorts on the dvd could have been and then we wouldn't be complaining. This is 2005, not 1985!

M

 

[Tom Brennan]

In the end though, it's the content that counts. It could be the most beautiful looking transfer in the world, but if the content isn't there, it's a waste. I'll stick with the LDs of these cartoons until another, better version comes along. These DVDs aren't it.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Not that it really matters anymore, but I never saw a definitive list of the cartoons that were going to be on this set. However, the list that I did see mentions "Texas Tom" which is confusing considering it was already included on the first set.

So, did they actually put "Texas Tom" on this set, too?

Chris

 

[Mark Anthony]

Anyone bought this today and care to comment on it?

M

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

"If Warner Bros. expects us to pay good money for their products, they better start putting a little effort into releasing them."

What an astounding thing to say (or type). Nobody puts more effort than Warners into their vintage product. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. There are some real nit-pickers around here.

 

[AndrewR]

I tend to agree but for some reason, when it comes to Tom & Jerry, Warner consistantly drops the ball.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

The three re-dubbed cartoons, again, are "The Lonesome Mouse," "Saturday Evening Puss" and "Nit-Witty Kitty." The cartoons that have received new transfers for this set (as opposed to using older transfers) are "Puss Gets the Boot," "The Midnight Snack," "Fraidy Cat," "Dog Trouble," "Puss n' Toots" and the six 'Scope cartoons.

 

[Ruz-El]

I picked this up as I'm a total whore for Tom and Jerry, and because I got an offer I couldn't refuse (basically got it for free). While I haven't watched any of it yet, there is one thing on the cover that gave me a pissed off face:



Why is this handled by the TV division, and why are edited cartoons appearing on this set, if this is the case. Warners are tops in my books, one look at the new 3 disc "Wizard Of OZ" set shows that, so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt on the 3 redubbed cartoons, with the hopes that they rectify it in a future set, but not a future complete uncut boxset that I'd have to double dip on.

 

[Christian Preischl]

So they really put 'Texas Tom' on this set again?? Jeez.

Chris

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Okay, Warners are the greatest thing in the entire world, they are flawless and never make any mistakes. Just because they release great live-action classic boxsets and rare b-films, it remedies everything else they've ever done and they are now free of criticism.

Even when they release edited films with altered soundtracks and even go so far as to issue the same films twice on two different sets, because they are so great and put so much effort into everything they do.

I love them and will only speak of them in good faith.

I cant wait to blindly support everything else they screw up in the animated film department in future!

I hope Volume 3 censors even mopre cartoons and rehashes the same films over again with completely redubbed soundtracks this time and also employs cgi technology to improve those dated looking character cel paintings to make them more appealing to children.

W3 iS 5o GrAaT aNd t0m & J3rRy 1z 7hA 3EsT!!!

 

[David Galindo]

I liked the nice cels included in this and the LT box...

So far I haven't gotten a chance to throw it in my DVD player though.

 

[LaurenceGarvey]

To the nit-pickers: So, if this boxed set had 37 cartoons on it, you'd all be raving about it, but because it has 40 cartoons and 3 of the cartoons aren't as originally released, you are boycotting the set? Pardon my French, but what B.S. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that the nit-pickers are always nit-pickers, no matter what's in the box. I'm glad you're not my kids on Christmas morning, that's for sure. *L*

I watched several of the cartoons last night (with a guest, who's 9 and who likes Tom & Jerry a lot more than I like Tom & Jerry) and they look and sound terrific. Like the Looney Tunes and the French Betty Boop set, this is a very highly recommended collection for people who like cartoons. If you're on the fence, I urge to ignore the people who aren't pleased with anything.

Oh, yeah, and look at this: my Tom & Jerry set came with TWO of the animation cels (making it hard to get the discs out of the box) so I had one to share. Or should I be railing about Warners' sloppiness, and boycotting future releases?