Customer Reviews

Tom & Jerry, Vol. 1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Product description for this Tom & Jerry cartoon set describes it as "their most fun-filled escapades of cat-and-mouse games." These are NOT MGM Tom & Jerry toons but decades-older b&w VAN BEUREN shorts starring human Mutt & Jeff ripoffs. Also, these guys play NO "cat and mouse games."

Van Beuren was RKO's animator. Their product is crude compared to Disney or Fleischer. Just as Warner's animation division was hitting their stride, VB was winding down. Paul Terry (who later gave us Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle) drew for this outfit that in 8 years of existence revived Felix the Cat, brought life to the Little King and created Farmer Al Falfa, Molly Moo Cow and Cubby Bear. Tom & Jerry was Van Beuren's 'A' list series.

In the 75 years since VB's demise, most of their roster has faded into obscurity. A glimpse of these nine shorts reveals more about why that happened than words can. On a 1 to 10 scale, none here rate above a 6.


PROGRAM--

A SWISS TRICK (1931) - Mountain climbing leaves Tom and Jerry stranded and hungry.

ROCKETEERS (1932) - Tom and Jerry blast off for the moon but end up elsewhere.

IN THE BAG (1932) - Tom and Jerry fly an egg-shaped airplane out West, where they meet up with an outlaw.

POTS AND PANS (1932) - At Tom and Jerry's diner, all the appliances sing and dance.

PLANE DUMB (1932) - After a plane crash off Africa's coast, Tom & Jerry are pursued on-shore by "spear-chuckers."

A SPANISH TWIST (1932) - The human Tom & Jerry get dumped from a raft by an octopus and end up in Spain, where they meet a flamenco dancer and fight a bull.

PIANO TOONERS (1932) - Tom and Jerry's musical adventures at an opera house include meeting a fat diva and a flapper.

PENCIL MANIA (1932) - Artists Tom and Jerry play tricks on each other using their art supplies.

A FIREMAN'S LIFE ("Hook and Ladder Hokum") (1933) - Tom and Jerry as firefighters.

Yes, thes prints are cropped on all 4 sides, it is the same film transfer that "Cartoon Craze" uses for their Tom & Jerry DVD. Until someone goes back to the original films and re-transfers them this is the best you will get. Most of the time the cropping does not hurt the cartoons, but one does wish for better treatment.

Overall, the picture is sharp with decent contrast.

This Genius DVD has two more Tom and Jerry's than the similar Cartoon Craze DVD, so I would suggest getting this one. Only two of these cartoons are on superior DVDs, so this makes a good companion to the other DVD collections.

The humor of these cartoons is unusual. The most startling one is when Tom & Jerry are flying in a plane and a bird flies into their engine. The propeller cleans the feathers off of the bird and the engine cooks it. Tom & Jerry then produce a dinner plate and catch the cooked bird for their dinner.

This is not Disney!

The cartoons included here are (in order of original release):
SWISS TRICK (12/19/31)
ROCKETEERS (01/30/32)
IN THE BAG (03/26/32) (also on Mackinac's quality DVD "Attack of the 30's Cartoons")
POTS AND PANS (05/14/32)
PLANE DUMB (06/25/32) - some Bevis & Butthead humor in this one!
A SPANISH TWIST (10/07/32)
PIANO TOONERS (11/11/32) (also on Image's quality DVD "Cartoons That Time Forgot: The Van Beuren Studios")
PENCIL MANIA (12/12/32) - a very imaginitive cartoon!
HOOK & LADDER HOKUM (04/28/33) - re-titled with a home movie title "A Fireman's Life". Directed by the great Frank Tashlin (Warner Brothers cartoons & Jerry Lewis features)!

The cartoons could be fun to watch, but they are severely cropped on all four sides, which means characters are often only partially visible etc. Think abaout it twice even for this great price.

I was looking around Amazon for classic TV programming and stumbled across a seller who had several for sale for $3. I bought four of them, this included. If for no other reason, I would recommend it for the great value. Most sets like this are easily over $20 so if you're interested in the content, there's no reason to pass up this opportunity.

Be warned that this is not the "Tom and Jerry" you're probably accustomed to. Rather, it's a much rarer animation that predates the more popular version by the looks of it. It's great seeing how different production companies are able to build off of each others concepts.

These are cartoons from the early 1930s. If you're only interested in new color stuff, you probably won't be happy with these. However, if you're interested in old entertainment, you'll love this set. I'd never heard of this Tom and Jerry until I saw the DVD. It's not the cat and mouse.

What I find interesting is how risque some might find some of these. The Piano Tooners offers shadow views of a rather large nude opera singer and a prancing Bettie Boop type chorus girl complete with garters. Obviously pre-Hays stuff. That being said, it's nothing really overt by today's standards. Just good 1930s fun - and the sound tracks are great as well.

Well worth the couple bucks you might pay.

Bought wrong product, I confused with the "cat & mouse" Tom & Jerry, but this was not the cat & mouse, at the time I bought it, it didn't show me the cover of dvd. I did not have any interest in this particular classic cartoon.

This DVD is a great bargain for the price. This DVD contains rare cartoons of the original Van Beuren studio's Tom & Jerry. If you are a fan of Fleischer Studio and other east coast style animation you will really enjoy these shorts.

It is one of those old cartoons were characters don't speak and the humour is very infantile...all of this into an unattractive display and not creative enough for the nowadays viewer