Tom and Jerry Golden Collection was a scrapped series of two-disc DVD and Blu-ray sets produced by Warner Home Video that was expected to collect all 161 theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoon shorts released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from the 1940s through the 1960s. Only the first of the three planned volumes was released, on October 25, 2011. It features 37 shorts, roughly one-third of the 113 Tom and Jerry shorts that had been included in the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection , a previous DVD series that focused on the shorts directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera from 1940 to 1958. [1]
A second volume, containing the next 42 shorts, was initially scheduled to be released on June 11, 2013, but was later canceled indefinitely. [2] [3] [4]
The first volume Blu-ray was reissued, released this time by Warner Archive Collection, on March 17, 2020, after having been out-of-print for several years. [5]
Warner Home Video had previously released the majority of the original 114 Hanna-Barbera-directed shorts in the Spotlight Collection over three volumes. The primary differences between the Spotlight Collection and the Golden Collection is that the latter was intended to feature the shorts in chronological order and uncensored. Also, because most of the original pre-1951 MGM cartoon negatives were destroyed in the 1978 George Eastman House fire, the Golden Collection features new, restored transfers from CRI negative elements, as opposed to the Turner broadcast television prints previously used. The Golden Collection is being released on both DVD and Blu-ray (the latter restored to HD quality), whereas the Spotlight Collection was only available on DVD.
Lastly, according to animation historian Jerry Beck on his March 2012 appearance on Stu's Show, the Golden Collection series will feature the later, 1960s shorts directed by Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones in addition to the Hanna-Barbera shorts. Although the shorts are presented digitally restored (just like how it was shown in theaters), however, because many of the original pre-1951 MGM cartoon negatives are destroyed in the aforementioned GEH fire, some of the pre-1951 Tom and Jerry cartoons were restored using their Metrocolor negatives which were their 60's television transfers so some of the cartoons couldn't be presented in pristine condition.
It had been announced that Mouse Cleaning would be available on the Tom and Jerry Golden Collection - Volume 2 on DVD and Blu-ray, with the short being presented uncut, uncensored, remastered, and restored from its original nitrate elements that had been recently discovered. [6] The set was originally scheduled to be released on June 11, 2013. However, on February 6, 2013, it was announced by TVShowsOnDVD.com that Mouse Cleaning was not a part of the list of cartoons set to be on the release, as well as the cartoon Casanova Cat , which was also skipped over on the Spotlight Collection, Volume 3 DVD release in 2007- both cartoons featured controversial content: specifically brief scenes of the characters of Tom and Jerry in blackface. [7] When asked for an interview request, a Warner Bros. spokesperson said: “The company felt that certain content would be exceedingly inappropriate for the intended audience and therefore excluded several shorts." [8] Many collectors and fans proceeded to post negative reviews of the product on Amazon and other various websites in protest. Many of them also noted the hypocrisy of this decision, pointing out that several other cartoons with similar – and in some cases, even more offensive – racial stereotypes were also planned to be included on the set uncut – including the infamous His Mouse Friday – with no objections from the Warner Bros. legal team. In addition, Jerry Beck, who already wrote liner notes for both shorts for the release, was shocked to hear about the omissions, saying that he wrote notes for both cartoons and that they were supposed to be included on the set. [9]
On April 1, 2013, following the numerous complaints from fans and collectors, the second set was confirmed to be canceled indefinitely. [10] Restored prints made for the set can be purchased on the iTunes Store.
Volume One was released on October 25, 2011, in the US and in France on November 23, 2011. All of the shorts are shown in their original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. [1]
An asterisk (*) indicates that the cartoon is restored with washed-out colors and grainy picture and has the 1960 MGM Metrocolor logo with Leo the Lion.
A hash (#) indicates that the cartoon has been previously seen on the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD set.
An asterisk (*) indicates that the cartoon is restored with washed-out colors and grainy picture and has the 1960 MGM Metrocolor logo with Leo the Lion.
A hash (#) indicates that the cartoon has been previously seen on the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD set.
Volume Two was scheduled for release on June 11, 2013, before being canceled indefinitely by Warner Home Video.
An asterisk (*) indicates that the cartoon has been restored with washed-out colors and grainy picture.
A hash (#) indicates that the cartoon has previously been seen on the Academy Awards Animation Collection .
^ denotes that Little Quacker is restored with its original opening titles (the end titles are still kept from the 1957 reissue).
A hash (#) indicates that the cartoon has previously been seen on the Academy Awards Animation Collection .
The Cat Concerto is a 1947 American one-reel animated cartoon and is the 29th Tom and Jerry short, released to theatres on April 26, 1947. It was produced by Fred Quimby and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with musical supervision by Scott Bradley, and animation by Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge and Irven Spence and uncredited animation by Don Patterson.
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. Essentially the polar opposite of Avery's other MGM character, the loud and wacky Screwy Squirrel, Droopy moves slowly and lethargically, speaks in a jowly monotone voice, and—though hardly an imposing character—is shrewd enough to outwit his enemies. When finally roused to anger, often by a bad guy laughing heartily at him, Droopy is capable of beating adversaries many times his size with a comical thrashing.
Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the rivalry between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.
Tom and Jerry are fictional characters that starred in a series of early sound cartoons produced by the Van Beuren Studios, and distributed by RKO Pictures. The series lasted from 1931 to 1933.
The Looney Tunes Golden Collection is a series of six four-disc DVD sets from Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts originally released from the 1930s to 1960s. The initial run of the series was in folding cardboard packaging issued gradually from October 28, 2003 to October 21, 2008. A boxed set combining all six volumes was released in 2011, and each volume was reissued separately in standard Amaray-style cases in 2020.
Tom & Jerry Kids is an American animated television series co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Entertainment Co., and starring the cat-and-mouse duo Tom and Jerry as toddlers. It premiered on Fox on September 8, 1990, airing as the first program of the children's programming block, Fox Kids, and was the second Tom and Jerry TV series to be produced by Hanna-Barbera following The Tom and Jerry Show in 1975.
Puss Gets the Boot is a 1940 American animated short film and is the first short in what would become the Tom and Jerry cartoon series, though neither were yet referred to by these names. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Rudolf Ising. It was based on the Aesop's Fable, The Cat and the Mice. As was the practice of MGM shorts at the time, only Rudolf Ising is credited. It was released to theaters on February 10, 1940, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Mammy Two Shoes is a fictional character in MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoons. She is a heavy-set middle-aged African American woman who is the housemaid in the house which Tom and Jerry reside. But the fact that she has her own bedroom in the short "Sleepy Tom" raises the possibility of her being the owner of the house, as no other human is present in the house in shorts she appears. She would scold and attack Tom whenever she believed he was misbehaving; Jerry would sometimes be the cause of Tom's getting in trouble.
This is a complete list of the 166 shorts in the Tom and Jerry series produced and released between 1940 and 2021. Of these, 162 are theatrical shorts, one is a made-for-TV short, one is a two-minute sketch shown as part of a telethon, and two are special shorts released on HBO Max.
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsible for producing animated shorts to accompany MGM feature films in Loew's Theaters, which included popular cartoon characters Tom, Jerry, Droopy, Butch, Spike, Tyke, and Barney Bear.
The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection is a series of two-disc DVD sets released by Warner Home Video. Originally planned as an uncensored, chronological set, the issued Spotlight Collection sets include selected Tom and Jerry shorts on each volume. Volume 1 was released on October 19, 2004, Volume 2 on October 25, 2005, and the third and final volume on September 11, 2007. On October 15, 2019, the set, which consists of 4 discs, was repackaged with some errors fixed.
Mouse Cleaning is a 1948 one-reel animated cartoon and the 38th Tom and Jerry short. The title is a play on "house cleaning". It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on December 11, 1948, by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and again on February 17, 1956. It was animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge, who were the usual animators for the Tom and Jerry cartoons in the early 1940s up until the late 1950s. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and produced by Fred Quimby; no writer has yet been credited. The music was scored by Scott Bradley and the backgrounds were created by Robert Gentle.
Casanova Cat is a 1951 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 55th Tom and Jerry short directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby.
Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios, based in New York City, adapted Segar's characters into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye the sailor makes short work of the villain.
Warner Bros.' library of Oscar-nominated cartoons were showcased in a DVD set released by Warner Home Video on February 12, 2008 that included their own Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, as well as Tom and Jerry, Droopy, and other classic MGM cartoons, together with entries from Max Fleischer's Popeye and Superman series. All cartoons selected for this release were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, with the exception of the film So Much for So Little, which won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. A total of 41 cartoons were chosen for this set, 15 of them being Oscar winners.
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 is a DVD box set from Warner Home Video that was released on October 25, 2005. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short subject cartoons, nine documentaries, 32 commentary tracks from animators and historians, 11 "vintage treasures from the vault", and 11 music-only or music-and-sound-effects audio tracks.
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 is a Blu-ray and DVD box set by Warner Home Video released on October 16, 2012. It contains 50 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements. Disc 3 is exclusive to the Blu-ray version of the set. Unlike Volume 1, which was released in a digibook, Volume 2 was released in a standard 1 movie case. This release was followed by Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3
The Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection is a two-disc DVD set, released by Warner Home Video.
Tom and Jerry: The Classic Collection is a series of Region 2 DVD sets released by Warner Home Video. The sets include selected Tom and Jerry shorts on each volume. These DVDs are available in 6 double-sided DVDs and 12 single-layer DVDs. The DVDs in the UK were re-released as "Collector Editions", which were Digipak versions with 2 Volumes inside.
Tex Avery Screwball Classics is a series of single-disc Blu-ray and DVD sets by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment's Warner Archive unit collecting various theatrical cartoons from animation director Tex Avery during his tenure at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio's cartoon division between the years of 1942 and 1955. It is the first comprehensive collection of Avery's MGM shorts to be released on home media in North America since The Compleat Tex Avery series of laserdiscs in the 1990s, with many of the shorts having been previously unreleased on DVD or Blu-ray.