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So here it is, TOM & JERRY SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION, VOL. II. On this collection, for the first time on video since their appearances on laserdisc box sets of the complete output of the series, are prints of cartoons that are often either censored from TV packages of the series or scissored or altered so that they are airable, regardless of whether the cartoon makes sense with such alterations or not, and this is why this set is truly collectable.
To add to the collectability of these sets, each disk opens with a disclaimer of sorts from comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, discussing her fondness for the series and her acknowledgment of these rarely included titles and the character that forces them into retirement from most TV packages, the human who often chastises Tom for his lackluster efforts to catch that mouse, Mammy Two Shoes. She makes note of the fact that the voice of this character, Lillian Randolph, has made her name in both radio and TV and that her character is an integral part of the series. Instead of dismissing the character, she says, she is offered here as representation of the times in which these cartoons were originally created and that it is better explored than needlessly swept under the rug as they were not meant to so much mock and disrespect the race as they were to poke mild fun at the way Hollywood often portrayed some people of color. She does acknowledge that the caricatures were wrong then and they are wrong now.
But as we look at these cartoons, we note that the focus of most of the humor is the tortured attempts of the cat to outwit the mouse. In "PUSS GETS THE BOOT", the first cartoon that actually opened the Hanna-Barbera series, although credited to Rudolph Ising, we watch as Jerry, a then unnamed pest in the house, constantly teases the cat, here named Jasper, with plates that he would drop if the cat dared to leap after him, only to end up badly with a series of broken dishes and other knickknacks and, thus, the cat getting tossed out of the house anyway! We also take note of the fact that the cartoon to follow, "THE MIDNIGHT SNACK" is almost the same cartoon as we previously sat through, only this time with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera directing and even redesigning the characters a little bit to look closer to the cat and mouse we are used to watching. They are still at odds with each other, with Tom getting tossed out of the house, but we then see a bit of a temporary truce between the two in "THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS", a wonderful Holiday cartoon with the music score adding to the slight pathos as Tom suffers guilt for having finally gotten rid of the mouse, Jerry, by tossing him out through the mail slot in the door. We hear the somewhat dark strains of a combination of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and "Silent Night" with the ominous line "sleep in heavenly peace" as Tom lays a funeral wreath at Jerry's mousehole, thinking that he may never come back, only to discover the frozen mouse just outside the door, and we know the battle of wits continues for another day and many more years.
This is the best of the existing two SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION sets of TOM & JERRY cartoon shorts from MGM, courtesy of Warner Home Video, merely because of the daring attempt to unearth the afore-mentioned rare cartoons and put them in their proper perspectives, and that is why this set should be supported by collectors of the art of animation. Having said this, there are a few noteworthy mistakes that almost go toward removing the credibility of the afore-mentioned preamble by Ms. Goldberg. First of all, four of these titles, "SATURDAY EVENING PUSS", "THE LONESOME MOUSE", "POLKA DOT PUSS" and "KNIT-WITTY KITTY" feature the dubbed tracks that were later done to allow the titles to be aired on the various cartoon cable stations and/or on the major TV networks that would ever again broadcast TOM & JERRY cartoons. This mistake even spills over into Whoopi Goldberg's wonderful comments about the voice contribution to the character. As she explains just who Lillian Randolph is, even siting her contribution to the movie "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE", we suddenly hear the dubbed track!! Now I know for a fact that this was NOT the way that this track was meant to go out to the public, but there it is. Aside from this, for no apparent reason, "TEXAS TOM" appears on this collection as well, again an oversight that was not meant to happen, but if anyone HAD to own a representation of what makes the odd little "friendly" squabbles of this cat and mouse team so endearing in the theatrical age, THIS is the volume to own, and we can and should hope that collections like this can only get better as this bold new step to bring these films, uncut, to the forefront for the parusal of general audiences moves forward.
Focus instead on the nuances of the cat and mouse "relationship". Aside from the temporary truce in "THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS", we get "LONESOME MOUSE", a cartoon that shows that the mouse could get bored once the cat is tossed out of the house, having been blamed for damage originally done by the mouse, and an elaborate and violent strategy is underway to once again force Mammy to need Tom's awkward attempts at relinquishing the mouse for good. In "PART-TIME PAL", Tom is ordered by the lady of the house to remain on guard in the kitchen, which he does, until a raucous chase lands him in the punch bowl and he is rendered roaringly drunk and interested in nothing more than maliscious mischief which it is now Jerry's job to thwart at every turn, lest the bumbling cat again land himself out of the house forever. In "OLD ROCKIN' CHAIR TOM", Tom is sent packing when a younger, faster mouser is brought in by the apt name of Lightning. The cat is given this name because his entrance into the scene is merely one bright red stream of electrical current as he zaps about the house, nimbly scooping up Jerry and kicking him headlong out the door. So where does this relationship sour? The younger mouser gets the older cat tossed out and both Tom and Jerry, now homeless, scheme to regain their respective domiciles, causing Lightning to swallow an iron and pulling him out with the force of a magnet.
So, with such cartoons as these, we see that the chase is inevitable and forever. This collection should be savored in hopes that, with the next volume, if at all, they will get it right and we will see even more in the way of extras around the series, maybe even displaying the original openings of the first TV appearance of TOM & JERRY, with the montage of scenes from the Hanna-Barbera cartoons compiled and arranged by LOONEY TOONS animator Chuck Jones who actually created his own TOM & JERRY series for theaters. There is still more exploring in this series to do. After all, it would be nice to see some representations of the Chuck Jones cartoons and even the stranger, more stylized versions of the cat and mouse antics by Gene Deitsch, who came to MGM for a brief while from Paul Terry's studios in New York, where he had animated the likes of DEPUTY DAWG, SICK, SICK SIDNEY and others. We also need to see the Hanna-Barbera cartoon one shots created for MGM throughout their tenure with the cat and mouse being their main focus. This, therefore, is truly the beginning and hopefully NOT the end.
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