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The Warner Brothers chat ANIMATION question you have been waiting to be answered..... (1 Viewer)

Ken_McAlinden

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The three cut/censored shorts (and the "offending" scenes) are:

o The Milky Waif (Jerry and Nibbles disguising themselves in blackface with shoe polish)

o The Truce Hurts (Jerry, Tom, & Spike splashed with mud wind up in blackface)

o The Little Orphan (Tom resembles stereotypical "pickaninny" after getting burnt)

Regards,
 

Garysb

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I think the fact some of the cartoons were cut should have been disclosed. I don't know if it was a fact or a rumour that corrected disc were to be issued.
I guess we will not be seeing Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips and Coal Black and the Seben Dwarfs anytime soon.

Per the TVSHOWSONDVD site:
Tom and Jerry - 'Uncut' Toons Are Cut After All...But WB Plans To Fix This!
Posted by David Lambert
10/22/2004


We've reported for a while about Tom and Jerry - Spotlight Collection: The Premiere Volume, and this past Tuesday it finally hit store shelves to our utter delight! However, there's an issue with this release, and we want to help spread the news about it swiftly.

Our friends at TheDigitalBits.com posted the following story yesterday, reporting that certain stories on the release ended up being the editing version of the show, rather than the uncut version promised on the box! Here we will quote the article at The Digital Bits, including word about what the studio plans to do about it:

Moving on, we have some bad news for you Tom and Jerry fans. It seems that a few of the animated shorts included on their just released Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection were edited (they're supposed to be original and uncut). All three of the shorts are on Disc One of the collection. The shorts in question are The Milky Waif, The Truce Hurts and The Little Orphan. The good news, however, is that Warner Bros is aware of this issue and says that it was unintentional. Steps are being taken to remaster Disc One with the original uncut shorts, and to make replacements available to those who purchased the set at no cost. Click here for comments on the problem from producer Jerry Beck (via the Animation Show forum - slide down to his post about halfway down the page). We'll post replacement details as soon as we have them.

To read the story at The Bits for yourself, use this link and scroll down a bit. To save our readers some time, here is what Jerry Beck says at the link embedded in the quote above:

Warner Bros. Home Video is very, very upset over the edited cartoons that made their way into the TOM & JERRY SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION.

This was a mistake made at the servicing level. Warner Home Video and I became aware of the error only ten days before the official release date - and by then, the dvds were on their way to the stores.

It is part of Warner Bros. Home Video's marketing plan not to release edited or censored cartoons because they know that collectors want them complete.

The company is taking immediate steps to correct the situation. The proper digital masters of all three cartoons have been located and are being prepared now for replication. It may take as long as six to eight weeks to have a corrected disc ready for replacement.

From what I've been able to gather, the intention is for fans to be able to replace Disc 1 at no charge to them. I know from personal experience that Warners had a problem a year ago with the film KISS ME KATE. The transfer was not done correctly and fans were upset. Warners responded immediately, created a new transfer and eventually fans recieved replacement discs. It was not an overnight process. But it all worked out in the end.

Those of you waiting for the uncut disc 1 to appear on store shelves, I cannot say when that will happen. It will not happen soon. The quickest way to get the set the way you want it is to buy it now and go through the replacement process.

Despite this inconvience, There is much to recommend on the TOM & JERRY SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION as is. The CinemaScope transfers are amazing, and the never-before-released stereo soundtrack on TOUCHE PUSSY CAT is really fantastic. (Only eight MGM Cartoons were recorded in true stereo at the time and this is the first one to be restored and released as originally intended).

Heck, I'd buy the dvd just for that.

Thanks, Jerry...we will! And we encourage any fan of the show to go ahead and get the existing version, and once we here at TVShowsOnDVD know what the exchange process is to get the fixed disc, we'll be sure to pass that on to our readers. Stay tuned!

Link to this page:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2350

All news for this show:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shownews.cfm?ShowID=5836
 

Ken_McAlinden

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Redundant post omitted.

Note: Jerry Beck's quote above first appeared in a post on October 19th, 2004 on the Animation History Forum he moderates at the "animationshow.com" web site. WBHV has finally contradicted it after almost seven months of leaving consumers in the dark.

BTW, print adds at the time of the DVD's release (e.g. Premiere magazine) reportedly used the word "uncut".

Regards,
 

Tory

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Just canceled all my preorders for Warner Classic Film DVDs in fear of edits. This type of action only encourages the blackmarket.
 

Chris*W

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I believe that the other issues are the DVNR'ed shorts on both volumes of the LTGC - the ones that PatrickMcCart mentioned in his previous post. I would also include the absolutely unprofessional packaging art for both LTGC's as a major problem.

As others have stated, I am sick and tired of Warner's animation department and their utter lack of respect for the historic classic animation that they own. Tex Avery still hasn't been released. All of the LTGC's up to this point have all been very P.C., have had technical problems, and have horrible packaging artwork. They need to get their act together, plain and simple.

I am also livid over the fact that a replacement disc was supposed to be in the works, but was never implemented. I regret buying the set. The only shorts that appeared to be "remastered" as I see it were the Cinemascope shorts. All the rest were the same TV prints that we've seen OVER AND OVER again on Cartoon Network. The fact that an uncut set was promised and was not delievered was the last straw. I will be very critical of any future animation releases from this company.
 

Brandon Conway

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With all due respect, Chris, not liking the packaging seems, to me, to be of a much lower priority when compared to censorship and technical problems.

Warner - I'll buy your products when they are done properly. Otherwise, no sale.

And I am far from a hard-knuckled enthusiast, nor am I all that up to date on the intricacies of Tom & Jerry history, but I will not purchase inferior products. I'll be thinking twice before spending my money on WB animation collections again.
 

Mark Anthony

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Crawdaddy the problems are particularly on the T&J spotlight collection you linked, plus the two looney tunes 4 disc box sets that have been released so far that have the problems mentioned further up in this thread that affect a few of the toon's on them - namely excessive dvnr and a non-progressive picture, which both destroy picture quality particularly on large-screen displays.

And as for cancelling pre-order's, i'm not suprised some have, I'd wait for professional reviews on WB animated product before I pre-order or order any more of their products in future.

M
 

ChrisPearson

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We've discussed the problems with both Looney Tunes sets elsewhere in this thread, but see here for screenshots of DVNRd shorts. Note also that, in Flintstones Season Three, the episode The Big Move is a syndication print, missing four minutes – very careless. See Eric Paddon's customer review here for more details.

BTW I don't think it's an overreaction on the part of some posters to cancel their Warner preorders. Cancelling preorders is not the same as not buying or boycotting; it's just exercising caution, something I wish I'd done instead of preordering this abysmal T&J set.
 

MarcoBiscotti

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Wrong, it's about the overall quality, effort and innitiative put in by the company that obviously doesn't care in the end what it delivers to consumers. Especially when they promised us something they didn't deliver, built up false expectations and promoted them until we all purchased the set based on false pretenses and than spent half a year neglecting the issue which had been consistently thrown back into their face, only to have them post this lame response in which they backpeddled their way out still ignoring the situation and basically telling us nothing we didn't already know. Three edited cartoons in my opinion, would be more than enough to justify it regardless. That's three classic films. Deliberatley censored by a company that claims to acknowledge, respect and preserve cinema history via these classic properties. Yet they throw a bunch of existing transfers into a poorly designed boxset and release it under the pretense that it be directed to us golden age animation enthusiasts who were tired of purchasing their flimsy hacked-up kiddie compilations with poor transfers and poorly selected cut-up shorts... by first promising us newly remastered, chronological films presented UNCUT and in their entirety. Instead we received yet another compilation, this one being 2-discs chalk full of the same transfers already issued to dvd, spoiled by DVNR process and very much censored to boot. Not only was this blatant false advertising based on what they'd promoted to all of us at last year's chat, but it's an utter sign of disrespect to all of us who were anticipating the set, and those of us who appreciate and care about the preservation of classic film animation. It was basically a big f--- you, we don't care! This is nothing new. It's obvious that WB has taken this attitude before in releasing their cartoon library. Just looking at packaging, even though it's become an almost universal stance that the general public (not exclusive to messageboards like these) are opposed to the cheap snap case packaging and the company has recognized this much by eliminating them from their live-action film releases, they continue to package their animated properties as such... because it is again a sign that they hold them in little regard. As other have stated, the Looney Tunes Golden Collections, are chock full of issues as well. I'll be the first to state that these are anything but good dvd's... the content is tops and that's really what pushes these to the level they're at (because these are some of the best animated shorts ever produced) but as far as dvd productions... they are well below average. I'm tired of supporting lackluster releases from a company who's obviously capable of getting it right. Until they issue a proper statement addressing many of these issues, I see no reason to show them anymore support in their animation releases. There's no question that WB owns the best films around, but if they aren't doing them justice on dvd than I simply won't continue to buy them. Why should we than suddenly take the attitude that a company who we support by ultimately funding it's ventures, is doing us a favor by simply releasing these for the sake of making them available. I can turn on Boomerang Network and watch these lackluster edited transfers of Tom & Jerry whenever I want. I find WB's stance to be extremely disrespectful and as a customer who's shown continued support, I'm offended by their attitutde towards us and don't think anyone in this thread is taking extreme perspectives... We deserve better!
 

RolandL

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Any word on when the Tom and Jerry - Spotlight Collection: Voume 2 will be released?
 

Robert Crawford

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If you think Warner is directing these animation releases just for the golden age animation enthusiasts then you've been misinformed by somebody. These animation releases have mass-market promotion written all over them in the quest to sell as many units as possible to the general public.







Crawdaddy
 

Eric Peterson

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I am absolutely furious about this!!:angry:

I knew about these cuts before I made my purchase, but due to the posts by Jerry Beck (Who supposedly had information from WB), I made this purchase in good faith.

If you ask the average Joe on the street, "What are Warner Brothers famous for?", I'd be willing to bet you'd get an answer related to animation, yet they continue to treat them as kiddy fare.:angry:

We were promised that this situation would be rectified, and now seven months later, they're telling us all to go screw. I will be selling off my T&J DVD and will not be purchasing any further animation releases from WB until it is 100% verified that the shorts are uncut and remastered, and even then I will be extremely hesitant. Thankfully, I held on to my laserdiscs, and I am perfectly content with those.

I also have been an extremely loyal WB customer in regards to their classic film ouput (I've purhcased nearly every boxset that they've released), but as of now my purchases are going to be extremely curtailed. I like to support a company that does the right thing, but when they do the wrong thing, I quickly remove my support. These titles will now be rentals.

Shame on you WB!!!
 

Ruz-El

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Am I the only one who bought this set and laughed their ass off?

I'm not making any excuses for WB, I'm as surprised as anyone from their lame ass excuse about the packaging not indicating uncut toons, or the lack of promise to correct the discs themselves. I'm not any fan of DVNR either, although the 3-4 toons in the LTGC where more noticibal to me than on here. Considering that T&J has problematic source material in the first place, and that these toons look better than I've ever seen them, with nice replicated Cinemascope toons, decent bonus content and a cheap price(I paid $20), I'd hardley call the set abysmal.

I agree that is not up to WB usual standards, and seems to be the red headed step child to the LTGC. I'm sure that Warners is looking at threads like this and well hopefullly do the right thing. I wasn't involved in the "Kiss Me Kate" problems, but I'm under the impression that that wasnt't an overnight affair, or 6 month affair either.
But part of me can't help but think it's better than nothing, and hope that WB takes note and realizes that the majority of their animation consumers are adults who like their toons uncut.
 

John Whittle

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Use the word "censored" as you wish, but technically censorship means governmental action. The whole reason for the Hays Office and those that followed was to prevent censorship action by the government and there was lots of noise in that area back then. Only government has the power to enforce their cuts. Local edits by local review boards only applied to that area.

What a company does (Disney or Warners) in editing content to to stave off governmental intervention or in these days lawsuits by people like Jessie Jackson.

It's ashame that the three cartoons were edited, it's also ashame that the source materials for these cartoons wasn't up to the standards of this forum, but this forum isn't the audience (the wide audience) that the set was produced for.

You guys should have grown up during the age of 16mm film collecting when you were grateful if you find anything in whatever condition!

Ah the young and the restless.

John
 

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