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Tom and Jerry, one of the most iconic duos in cartoon history, will continue their 85th anniversary celebration on December 2 with a very exciting box set for fans of classic animated shorts. For the first time ever, a complete collection of the duo’s theatrical shorts will be available on Blu-ray. Preorders for Tom and Jerry: The Golden Age Anthology are available now for $60. At the time of writing, the 16-plus hour collection of cartoon hijinks is the No. 1 best-selling Blu-ray on Amazon.
$60 | Releases December 2
Part of the Warner Archive Collection, this six-disc standard Blu-ray set includes 114 shorts in total, presented in chronological order and in 1080p. These originally appeared before the main feature film presentation in cinemas from 1940 through 1958, and three of the shorts–Casanova Cat, Mouse Cleaning, and His Mouse Friday–have been completely remastered for the first time.
Additionally, the collection comes with a 28-page booklet with artwork and essays, 20 audio commentaries, over three hours of bonus features, and two brand-new featurettes–Lady of the House: The Story of Mammy Two Shoes and Animal Hijinks: The Friends and Foes of Tom. The cover also features a nod to the animated shorts, with illustrations of Tom in his Zoot suit from 1944’s The Zoot Cat.
As mentioned above, the remastered shorts Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat are being released on home media for the first time in the US. These are controversial Tom and Jerry episodes due to them being racially insensitive, and while they were scheduled to appear in Tom and Jerry: The Golden Collection Volume Two, that release was ultimately canceled. Older–and extremely dated–content like this has appeared in several other Warner Archive releases over the years, as the company has added disclaimers to these shorts to indicate their historical context, problematic nature, and racially insensitive jokes.
If you don’t feel like waiting until December, there are several other Tom and Jerry collections you can grab right now. Tom and Jerry: The Complete Cinemascope Collection bundles all 23 of the pair’s CinemaScope widescreen animated adventures together, along with three bonus cartoons. This is classic Tom and Jerry at its highest quality, as each cinematic short featured incredible animation, as well as cruel and unusualy punishment for Tom as he tried to do his job.
Each short has been remastered, and now features a more vibrant color palette and cleaned-up audio. While the work isn’t perfect, they’re still a marked improvement when compared to original VHS and DVD releases from many years ago. The three extra cartoons from Tom and Jerry creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera include Good Will to Men (1955), Give and Tyke (1957), and Scat Cats (1957).
The other recommendation here is the three-volume set of Tom and Jerry: The Spotlight Collection on DVD. This has been discounted to $14.45 (was $38) and it’s a four-disc set of 112 cartoons in total. Covering everything from the original Tom and Jerry short–when Tom was still named Jasper–to later classic cartoons, this is a comprehensive collection featuring the enduring cat-and-mouse team. The one thing to note here is that this version of the Spotlight Collection doesn’t include the audio commentary tracks, but several special features like behind-the-scenes featurettes, documentaries, and additional scenes are still here.
For more classic cartoons, check out the upcoming Peanuts: 75th Anniversary Ultimate TV Specials Collection for $85. This will be released on October 7, and it includes 40 Peanuts animated specials from the very first one in 1965 through 2011. Each one has been remastered in 1080p and the five-disc set comes also comes with a 28-page collectible booklet featuring art and facts about each special.
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