There will be more details when the fur flies on Tom & Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1. The duo’s never ending battle will now be available on Blu-ray. The boxset contains the first 37 shorts of the 114 made by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. This is the period when MGM gave the famous duo a healthy budget so there’s so much detail on the screen. The visual upgrade should dazzle the eyes of little kids and big animation freaks. The boxset is due out October 25 in both Blu-ray and DVD format. Here’s the press release from Warner Home Video:
BURBANK, CA (August 17, 2011) – Consumers will be in pursuit of Warner Home Video’s (WHV) latest Tom and Jerry Blu-ray and DVD release featuring 37 re-mastered, cartoon shorts available on Blu-ray hi-def for the first time October 25, 2011. Titled Tom & Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1, this entertaining compilation features a definitive lineup of theatrical shorts directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Through the use of Blu-ray technology, the set presents the work of the renowned animation duo with superior picture quality. Each cartoon has been re-mastered from the best surviving/earliest generation film elements in order to create a reproduction that is most faithful to the original. The set includes Academy Award-winning/nominated shorts and bonus material. This release will retail for $26.99 SRP (standard DVD) and $34.99 SRP (Blu-ray).
Tom and Jerry have chased their way over the funny bones and into the hearts of moviegoers, television viewers and Internet users for generations. The iconic team’s earliest adventures are unleashed inside this delightful two-disc collection of 37 Re-mastered shorts and bonus features.
Among the 37 cartoons showcased on Tom & Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1, four are Academy Award winners (Best Short Subject: Cartoons). They include The Yankee Doodle Mouse*, which finds Tom and Jerry engaging in warfare using household objects; Mouse Trouble*, where Tom follows the ill-fated advice of a book on how to catch mice; Quiet Please!* in which Spike warns Tom not to make a sound while he naps and The Cat Concerto*, featuring Tom playing a concerto on a piano Jerry happens to be napping in.
The collection also has three Academy Award nominated shorts, Puss Gets the Boot**, which stars a feline named “Jasper” and an unnamed mouse. Puss Gets the Boot** not only catapulted the then-unnamed Tom and Jerry to meteoric stardom, but also served as the launching pad for the collaborative efforts of another gifted legendary duo, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Tom and Jerry creators. Other Oscar nominated shorts included are The Night Before Christmas** and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse**.
Bonus material on the DVD includes an excerpt from the 1945 live action film Anchors Aweigh, in which Jerry performs a dance routine with the legendary Gene Kelly.
Tom & Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1
* Puss Gets the Boot
* Flirty Birdy
* The Midnight Snack
* Quiet Please!
* The Night Before Christmas
* Springtime for Thomas
* Fraidy Cat
* The Milky Waif
* Dog Trouble
* Trap Happy
* Puss N’ Toots
* Solid Serenade
* The Bowling Alley-Cat
* Cat Fishin’
* Fine Feathered Friend
* Part Time Pal
* Sufferin’ Cats!
* The Cat Concerto
* The Lonesome Mouse
* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse
* The Yankee Doodle Mouse
* Salt Water Tabby
* Baby Puss
* A Mouse in the House
* The Zoot Cat
* The Invisible Mouse
* The Million Dollar Cat
* Kitty Foiled
* The Bodyguard
* The Truce Hurts
* Puttin on the Dog
* Old Rockin’ Chair Tom
* Mouse Trouble
* Professor Tom
* The Mouse Comes to Dinner
* Mouse in Manhattan
Special Features:
* Tee for Two
* New Retrospective Featurette: Vaudeville, Slapstick and Tom and Jerry
* Two Vintage Featurettes: “How Bill and Joe Met Tom and Jerry” and “The Comedy Styling of Tom and Jerry”
* Commentary on Nine Key Cartoons by Noted Animation Experts
* Anchors Aweigh Dance Sequence with Jerry and Gene Kelly
“Just as we’ve done with Looney Tunes collections in the past, our goal was to present consumers with a quality, comprehensive collection featuring some of the best and brightest Tom and Jerry, material we could find,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WHV Executive Marketing Director of Non-Theatrical Franchise. She added, “If you’re a Tom and Jerry fan or animation connoisseur, Tom & Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1 is a definite, must-own Blu-ray or DVD for your home entertainment collection.”
Originally created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Tom and Jerry centers on the never-ending rivalry between Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. The plots of each short usually center on Tom’s attempts to capture Jerry. Jerry however, is clever and quick on his feet so Tom hardly ever manages to catch him. The original series is notable for having won or been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoon seven times.
Tom and Jerry The Golden Collection Volume 1 is intended for the adult collector and may not be suitable for children. “Academy Award” and “Oscar” are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
*Academy Award Winners
* The Yankee Doodle Mouse – 1943 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
* Mouse Trouble – 1944 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
* Quiet Please! 1945 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
* The Cat Concerto – 1946 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
** Academy Award Nominees
* Puss Gets the Boot – 1940 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
* The Night Before Christmas – 1941 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse – 1947 Best Short Subject: Cartoons
