WHV Announcement: Tom & Jerry Golden Collection Volume Two (Blu-ray) (DVD) (2 Viewers)

[mr-benn]

It would seem that at this point most - if not all - of the HB era shorts have been restored, and were most likely close to completion even by the time GC1 was released. I certainly haven't given up hope for a Vol. 2!

 

[Ken_Martinez]

So, Warner has decided to take a third option with the restored transfers. Instead of putting out the second Golden Collection, or not putting it out, they're going to put the restorations out in drips and drops as bonuses on their Tom and Jerry DVD's for kids.

This is from the just-released "Santa's Little Helpers" collection (and it's from the official WB page, so no infringement). Compared to the old Spotlight Collection copy, it's darker but sharper and more saturated in color. Like the copies that ran on RTL in Germany.

 

[jedi_1]

First of all, i'm sorry because in my previous post, all the image-links are broken. :'(

Second... NICE!!! The quality of the prints looks better than my recording copies of SuperRTL (using a Scart for the capture of video). It means that the DVD quality is perfect, and imagine the HD quality of the possible Golden Collection v2!!!

But... i think it's a bad strategy from Warner. In the last years, Warner has released a lot of stand-alone-DVD's of Tom and Jerry, mixing some restored prints of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons used on GCv1 with some cartoons of Tom and Jerry Tales... (maybe in some of that DVD's, Warner used Jones cartoons and Deitch cartoons too, note that Deitch cartoons never have been released on USA, just in Europe with the Classic Collection of 12 DVD's).

Well, Warner's revenge stills, so we can see some prints on SuperRTL (in this days the T&J Cartoons still aired) or some stand-alone-DVD's, but for the GCv2 we will have to wait.


PD: Maybe tomorrow i will post new pictures of my new and last project of the Tom and Jerry Preservation, but in this case i will not upload the pictures at the "subefotos.com" server

 

[mr-benn]

Thanks for the link to the video

Wow - it looks beautiful! The colours are absolutely spot on. Too bad it's making me crave Volume 2 even more...

 

[jedi_1]

Breaking News!!!!!


Today SuperRTL continues the broadcast of Tom and Jerry in this 2015, and does it with two important surprises!. Ready, let's go!


I will separate this post in two parts to explain better this news.


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The first part: The Jones Cartoons.


Until today, SuperRTL just aired the Hanna-Barbera's T&J Cartoons, by using the remastered prints of Golden Collection v1 and Golden Collection v2 (as you know, the v2 isn't released yet). The first surprise is that today, they started to aired the Jones's T&J Cartoons, by using the remastered prints that you can see in The Chuck Jones Collection.


But, if you remember, the controversy with The Chuck Jones Collection was that Warner submitted the cartoons "as they were shown in theaters" (by using the 16:9 Widescreen format) instead of the correct production aspect ratio (the 4:3 Fullscreen format). Generally, Widescreen format is the correct aspect ratio when the production was been in Widescreen, but Jones Cartoons were produced in Fullscreen, so in this case, the cartoons lost a part of the picture in the conversion to the Widescreen format.


However, SuperRTL aired today five Jones Cartoons in the correct aspect ratio, Fullscreen, and remastered. With this information, now we know that the cartoons were remastered in its correct aspect ratio and were converted to Widescreen exclusively for the dvd.


To illustrate the assertion, i show some captures of a comparison between the prints aired by SuperRTL, and the rest of the prints of this two cartoons: "Pent-House Mouse" and "The Cat Above and the Mouse Below". As usual, the A prints are the remastered prints, the B prints are the Turner prints, the C prints the MGM/UA Home Video prints, and the D prints the oldest prints of MGM (bumper collections, old reels, and other rarities).


- In the first comparison, you can see that the prints are exactly the same, but in the left the Fullscreen aspect and in the right the Widescreen DVD aspect:

- In the second, the comparison between the remastered (left) and the Turner print (right):

- In the third, the comparison between the remastered (left) and the Laserdisc/VHS print (right):

- And finally, the comparison between the remastered (left) and the Oldest prints (right):

To finish this part of the post, SuperRTL just will air the Jones Cartoons in this 5 days, and only will air 25 of the 34 episodes, so if you want to see this shorts, you only can see in those days (maybe they reissue coming soon?)


This is the list of the episodes and the dates:

• 31/01 => Pent-House Mouse, The Cat Above and the Mouse Below, Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?, Much Ado About Mousing and The Uhshrinkable Jerry Mouse
• 01/02 => a reissue of Pent-House Mouse, The Cat Above and the Mouse Below and Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?; and Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life, Tom-ic Energy, Bad Day at Cat Rock, The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off and Haunted Mouse.
• 02/02 => a reissue of Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life, Tom-ic Energy and Bad Day at Cat Rock; and I'm Just Wild About Jerry, Of Feline Bondage, The Cat's Me-Ouch, Jerry Jerry Quite Contrary and Jerry-Go-Round.
• 03/02 => a reissue of I'm Just Wild About Jerry, Of Feline Bondage and The Cat's Me-Ouch; and Love Me Love My Mouse, Puss 'N Boats, Filet Meow, The A-Tom-inable Snowman and Catty Cornered.
• 04/02 => a reissue of Love Me Love My Mouse, Puss 'N Boats and Filet Meow; and O-Solar-Meow, Guided Mouse-Ille, Rock N' Rodent, Cannery Rodent and The Mouse from HUNGER.
• 05/02 => just a reissue of O-Solar-Meow, Guided Mouse-Ille and Rock N' Rodent.

Also, this Jones T&J Cartoons were presented with the correct Fullscreen aspect ratio in the following titles:

• The Cat's Me-Ouch => Deluxe Anniversary Collection Disc 2
• Snowbody Loves Me => Winter Tails

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The first part: more Golden Collection v2.


As you seen in my last post ( http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/321182-whv-announcement-tom-jerry-golden-collection-volume-two-blu-ray-dvd/?p=4091804), that was the list of the Golden Collection v2 episodes aired by SuperRTL. No aired the following episodes: Mouse Cleaning, Jerry's Diary, Little Quacker, Texas Tom, Casanova Cat, The Duck Doctor, Jerry's Cousin, Smitten Kitten and Posse Cat, but the rest of the episodes of the GCv2 were aired and all were the remastered prints (you can see the images that fortunately still working).


But... (attention now!!!!)


SuperRTL at last will issue Little Quacker, The Duck Doctor, Jerry's Cousin, Texas Tom and Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat too!!! Yes, is premature to say if the prints of Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat will be the remastered prints or the Turner prints, but i will be pending of that and i will take captures... i can't wait, and i hope that this two episodes are finally remastered and uncensored.


However, no metions to Smitten Kitten or Posse Cat (also, Jerry's Diary is used to present the TV package, so i think this episode will never be aired.


Also, SuperRTL aired new pan&scan of the cinemascope HB T&J Cartoons, from the remastered prints that we can see in the Spotlight Collection. Now, they will air three more unpremiered shorts: Touche Pussy Cat, Mucho Mouse and Tot Watchers.


However, no metions to Busy Buddies, Blue Cat Blues, Robin Hoodwinked, The Egg and Jerry, Tops With Pops and Feedin' the Kiddie. Also, they aired The Flying Sorceress and Timid Tabby in their Turner prints.


So, finally they air 41 of the 44 shorts of Golden Collection v2, and 17 of the 23 cinemascope shorts of Spotlight Collection


This is the list of the episodes and the dates:

• 08-02 => premiere of Texas Tom and Mouse Cleaning
• 09-02 => premiere of Little Quacker and Touche Pussy Cat
• 10-02 => premiere of Casanova Cat and Jerry's Cousin
• 11-02 => premiere of Mucho Mouse
• 12-02 => premiere of Tot Watchers
• 13-02 => premiere of The Duck Doctor

Also, this HB T&J cinemascope Cartoons were presented with the new pan&scan aspect ratio in the following titles:

• That's My Mommy => Deluxe Anniversary Collection Disc 1
• Barbecue Brawl => Tough and Tumble and Print-Sized Pals Disc 1
• The Flying Sorceress => Tricks & Treats
• Tom's Photo Finish => In the Dog House
• Southbound Duckling, Downbeat Bear and Mucho Mouse => Santa's Little Helpers

Also in Santa's Little Helpers you can find the premiere of some cartoons of GCv2 on DVD, with some Jones cartoons. You can see the content here: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91dYuqzpH3L._SL1500_.jpg


For the unremastered episodes (Hic-Cup Pup, Little School Mouse, Baby Butch, Mice Follies, Neapolitan Mouse, Downhearted Duckling, Mouse for Sale, Designs on Jerry, Smarty Cat and Pecos Pest), SuperRTL will air the Turner prints.


And finally, still no mentions to the Deitch's T&J Cartoons.


* Remember that you can see SuperRTL online here: www.live-stream.tv/online/fernsehen/superrtl.html and you can see the list of the SuperRTL's T&J broadcast here: http://www.wunschliste.de/serie/tom-und-jerry(click on SuperRTL button).


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PD: One more surprise?


Please watch this video:





It's a complete and restored original version of Texas Tom! (just some captures but not the complete cartoon). Well, the video was uploaded by cartoon98100 ( ) a YouTuber that brings news and upload videos of the remastered T&J shorts of GCv2, as you can see in his profile.


My question is: SuperRTL will air Texas Tom in a few days... will this print be the same as the print of cartoon98100? If true, we will have the complete original remastered version of Texas Tom... or not??


You can see a really nice recreated version of the original Texas Tom intro here:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_dPZKWH6ds&spfreload=1


(courtesy of Ortitle BuddyGuddy: ).


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Greetings, see you soon!!

 

[cartoon_fan_kev]

Were CASANOVA CAT and MOUSE CLEANING remastered for the Super RTL broadcast earlier this week? I really don't want this DVD release to get canceled. Also, WHV is releasing a DVD of the Gene Deitch shorts this June. Hopefully this is a sign of the TJGC #2 to come later on this year too?

 

[Rob W]

There seems to be a misunderstanding of how widescreen 1:85 films were designed and projected. The overwhelming majority of 1:85 films were shot with the full 1:33 frame exposed but were composed to be matted down to 1:85 for projection. The additional information at the top and bottom was never intended to be seen, although major studios still protected the composition so that it could be used for television.


Things would have been no different for animated films. Just because they were still drawn for the full 1:33 ratio doesn't mean they were expected to play that way. There probably aren't many people out there who have ever worked in a single -screen theatre when projectionists ran with two machines and changeovers; but few of them were likely have gone to the trouble of switching lenses and adjusting the masking to run something as insignificant as a cartoon in 1:33 before a 1:85 or Cinemascope feature. The studios were supplying product, not art, and knew that it had to be standardized for the two aspect ratios that became the norm : 1:85 and 2:35.


Let's use some common sense here. If MGM had gone to the trouble to produce Tom & Jerry cartoons to match the new widescreen Cinemascope format, why in the world would they later go back to designing them for a 1:33 ratio that was obsolete for theatres by 1955 / 56 ? It makes no sense whatsoever.


I can understand how theatrical animation buffs would be interested in seeing the artwork opened up to the full-frame, but let's not pretend that this is the way they were designed to be seen.

 

[bigshot]

Mike Lah told me that the instructions at MGM regarding aspect ratio on the shorts were to "make it work at any aspect ratio". His opinion was that this made it work for none. He said they even told the animators to keep the action in the center of the frame in case it got cropped horizontally. When characters exited the frame, they had to exit the sides fast so it would still work with a center crop, and nothing ever happened at the edges of the frame. A real mess. Mike said he was happy to go on to TV with a rational aspect ratio again after MGM shut down.

 

[bigshot]

By the way, the widescreen T&J cartoons were made with wider paper and cels. They didn't shoot it full frame 35mm and crop it down. That's why back in the 70s when the widescreen shorts ran on TV, they were either squished or cropped to the center. I suspect that what you say about projectionists not changing lenses between features is true. I bet these cartoons got projected in all kinds of aspect ratios on first run.

 

[jedi_1]

About "Casanova Cat" and "Mouse Cleaning", i have to say that SuperRTL failed in their broadcast and didn't aired "Mouse Cleaning" but aired "Casanova Cat" (just one of the two days that they announced the aired). Sorrowfully, aired the Turner Print, and aired with the blackface/smoking scene cut. :S


I think that the premiere of this two shorts will be finally in the Golden Collection V2 Set. Don't worry, sooner or later, will go to the sale. I don't know when. BUT... i am happy with the announcement of the Deitch remastered shorts.


About the Aspect Ratio, i only ask that they submit the Jones cartoons with the option of see in 4:3 fullscreen or 16:9 letterbox, both of them, similar to some titles of the Looney Tunes Super Stars like Foghorn Leghorn. I think it's more just.


Also, you can see some of the CinemaScope cartoons in 4:3 Pan&Scan with the new remastered prints in some individual T&J DVD's, for example "That's My Mommy" in Deluxe Anniversary Collection or "Busy Buddies" in House Pests. And SuperRTL aired some of this cartoons in the 4:3 P&S. It's usual that some defendants titles were presented in both rations at different collections. For example in Star Wars, the 6 DVD's of the Lucas Saga (not the Blurays) were presented in the original CinemaScope, but also they presented a limited fullscreen edition in 4:3 P&S of the new prints (not the VHS or Laserdiscs pan&scan's). By this way, people can decide. So, it's good to have the opportunity to see it too at the T&J CinemaScope cartoons. Personally, i recorded all the prints of SuperRTL and rip the prints of this individual DVD's, so i get a genuine collection of the 23 CinemaScope cartoons in 4:3 P&S (only "Blue Cat Blues", "Timid Tabby", "Robin Hoodwinked", "Tot Watchers", "The Egg and Jerry", "Tops With Pops" and "Feedin' the Kiddie" with a personal P&S because i can't find a official Warner's P&S).


Returning to SuperRTL, they aired the remastered print of "Texas Tom" and "The Duck Doctor". But in "Texas Tom" they censored all the smoking scene. And i think that isn't the original print that we can see in the Youtube video in my previous post. Doubly sad :S


About the Jones Cartoons, they aired all except "Snowbody Loves Me", "The Year of the Mouse", "Duel Personally", "Matinee Mouse", "Cat and Dupli-Cat", "The Mouse From HUNGER", "Shutter Bugged Cat", "Advance and Be Mechanized" and "Purr-Chance to Dream". And all of the aired were in their 4:3 fullscreen except "Is There a Doctor in the Mouse".


About the rest of the unrestored T&J shorts: "Hic-Cup Pup", "Little School Mouse", "Baby Butch", "Mice Follies", "Neapolitan Mouse" and "Mouse For Sale" are the Turner Prints. And curiosly, "Pecos Pest" is the Laserdisc Prints (from the Art of Tom and Jerry set) and "Designs on Jerry" is the 1965's CBS print (that prints were aired with the red card intro). Not aired "Downhearted Duckling" and "Smarty Cat" yet.


In the following days, a new broadcast of SuperRTL announces the emission of: "Posse Cat", "Mouse Cleaning", "Little Quacker" and "Casanova Cat".


I haven't too much time now, but i promise to put screenshots of all the prints aired.


See you soon!

 

[jedi_1]

About the 2:35 vs 1:33 aspect ratio on Tom and Jerry cartoons, only 4 cartoons were produced in both formats: "Pet Peeve", "Touche Pussy Cat", "Southbound Duckling" and "Pup on a Picnic" with 3 more remakes made for the 2:35 called "The Egg and Jerry", "Tops with Pops" and "Feedin the Kiddie". In the first 4 shorts, maybe MGM aired this shorts for new and old theatres, and Warner presented the 2:35 version of this shorts in the definitive T&J collection. But this is a debate, and there are two versions of this shorts.


If Warner wants to present only the 2:35 version it's ok, but this means that the other version of 1:33 can be lost in the future (fortunately there are preservation works). And personally, i prefer the 1:33 versions of this shorts.


I remember another case: Spaceballs movie, similar to the Jones cartoons. The movie was presented on 1:33 aspect ratio in some VHS, but presented in 1:85 in the DVD/Bluray, losing the horizontal stripes of the top and down. The movie was made for the theatres in the original release, but there are two versions... what is better? Depends on the preference of people: the DVD was released with the theatrical version but the other version of the VHS hasn't been digitally preserved and could disappear at the end.


I understand that people generally prefer to see Spaceballs in the 1:85 ratio, because this is a live action movie, but the Jones cartoons were known by most people in their 1:33 ratio at the TV's from 1970 to 2000 (CBS, Cartoon Network, Boomerang,...), and in this case (and in the Looney Tunes case), people generally prefer to watch it in the 1:33 version (the same ratio that all the previous cartoons of 30s, 40s and 50s years). However, it would be necessary to make a survey to reinforce this argument, because I could be wrong and maybe people prefer to watch the Jones cartoons in the 1:85 version.


Greetings!

 

[cartoon_fan_kev]

What I think they should do with the TJGC #3 with the 4 cinemascope cartoons in both fullscreen (NOT pan and scan) and widescreen is give the viewer the option of choosing which version they want to watch like on the Pepe Le Pew DVD. Since the third installment would have only 35 cartoons and plenty of room for extras, they should remaster those four shorts in both aspect ratios.

 

[Diablo Griffin]

Hello everyone . This is my first post here, and I hope to contribute to this site often. Back in October, I became reacquainted with the Tom and Jerry shorts and I now own most of them via the Spotlight Collections, Golden Collection Vol. 1, and the Chuck Jones Collection. I'm also planning on getting the Gene Deitch Collection (and I happen to prefer his T&J's over the Jones-era BY FAR).


With all of this said, I'm starting to get a little sick of the Spotlight Collections. The absence of Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat aside, I really HATE the blue tinting that's present on most of the shorts. I could live with this, but the only way to make some shorts look anywhere close to natural is by lowering the color on my TV (and who wants to resort to that?). I've also noticed that many shorts also have audio noise reduction, so the sound quality gets very watery and murky in certain spots. The sound is VERY inconsistent across the sets; some shorts have nice EQ and good dynamic range, while others have too much treble and are dynamically compressed. On the other hand, the CinemaScope cartoons look and sound amazing to me (given that they were made back in the 50's). Although this isn't a gripe about the collections themselves, the first DVD on ALL 3 Spotlight Collections each has lots of scratches, so I can't play some of the cartoons unless I purchase the sets again .




This is making me crave Golden Collection Vol. 2, but it will most likely never see the light of day. I'm not sure if the broadcasts of the remastered Jones cartoons in their original aspect-ratio is a sign, but if it is, I'm hoping that it's a good one. Speaking of aspect-ratio, I'm beginning to suspect that the Deitch Collection will suffer the same fate as the Jones Collection; being remastered in the correct ratio, but converted to fake widescreen for the DVD release. As someone who still uses a CRT TV, I certainly hope that this won't be the case.

To illustrate the assertion, i show some captures of a comparison between the prints aired by SuperRTL, and the rest of the prints of this two cartoons: "Pent-House Mouse" and "The Cat Above and the Mouse Below". As usual, the A prints are the remastered prints, the B prints are the Turner prints, the C prints the MGM/UA Home Video prints, and the D prints the oldest prints of MGM (bumper collections, old reels, and other rarities).

Hey jedi, where did you find the sources for the various D prints you've compared, and would you be able to know exactly when they're from? I don't know why, but I find old prints of stuff originating from the days before home video to be quite interesting .

 

[youworkmen]

It's probably been said before but the 2 missing toons from the Spotlight Collection are included on the UK dvd's and you can get those for next to nothing. Can't recall the content of Casanova Cat but Mouse Cleaning is uncut with the original Mammy voice too.

The UK dvd's also have at least one toon missing ( can't recall which one) which is included on the US sets.

 

[Bill Waits]

It's probably been said before but the 2 missing toons from the Spotlight Collection are included on the UK dvd's and you can get those for next to nothing. Can't recall the content of Casanova Cat but Mouse Cleaning is uncut with the original Mammy voice too.

The UK dvd's also have at least one toon missing ( can't recall which one) which is included on the US sets.

Which DVD set contains these toons that you mention? Thanks in advance!

 

[youworkmen]

Which DVD set contains these toons that you mention? Thanks in advance!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tom-Jerry-Complete-Volumes-Collectors/dp/B000I0QSOO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1431806804&sr=8-2&keywords=tom+and+jerry


That's the complete set of all 6 volumes. Sods law unfortunately says the 2 missing toons are on 2 different volumes so taking postage into account you might be better off just buying the complete set instead of 2 separate volumes.


Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat are both included uncut

 

[Kirben]

The DVD Collection released in Germany is a better option, since the UK release used double sided discs:

Tom und Jerry - The Ultimate Classic Collection [12 DVDs]


The packaging is just two keep cases inside a box, and the DVD menus are still in English.

 

[dana martin]

I need to stay out of this thread, till WB gets around to starting this back up and does it proper, hell just release volume 3, and 4 yep I know that is the Dietch and Jones toons, and the last of HB, at least its a step closer, or release it via Warner Archive

 

[Diablo Griffin]

Couldn't another division of Warner (such as in the UK) continue the release of the Golden Collections? Or is the PC issue too big to let that happen?

 

[youworkmen]

The DVD Collection released in Germany is a better option, since the UK release used double sided discs:

Tom und Jerry - The Ultimate Classic Collection [12 DVDs]


The packaging is just two keep cases inside a box, and the DVD menus are still in English.

I can't recall which one is missing from the UK set but is there still the one missing on the German set?

Couldn't another division of Warner (such as in the UK) continue the release of the Golden Collections? Or is the PC issue too big to let that happen?

Here in the UK we have no Cinemascope toons in their correct ratio, we still have several like The Little Orphan that are cut and to the best of my knowledge we have none of the restored versions at all as seen in the Spotlight Collections . And of course no Tom and Jerry on Bluray.

While the UK and US clearly have different sources I would expect significant releases still to need clearance from the parent company.

I doubt PC is an issue in the UK which is why Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat uncut do appear on the UK discs