Hal SmithTom And Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection

Excellent value

Great ! Who doesn't like these two ?

Not the classic Tom and Jerry but the Chuck Jones cartoons. You either love these or loathe them. Very much in Chuck Jones’s style. Not a great fan of these but they have grown on me. At the price, it was worth it

Very funny my 7 year old always watches 2 episodes before bed and laughs her head off as do we, great to see her laughing at episodes that me and husband watched as a kid and they never get old or boring

From the creator of Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner and director of multiple Looney Tunes cartoons (including the "Rabbit Season / Duck Season" trilogy and the two meta episodes "Duck Amuck" and "Rabbit Rampage") comes a series of theatrical shorts featuring a different kind of Tom and Jerry.This two-disc DVD collection features all 34 uncanny shorts produced by the late Chuck Jones (God rest his soul) in the 1960s (before Tom and Jerry's move to television) with over 4 hours of hypnotic slapstick entertainment plus two detailed documentaries; a retrospective on Chuck Jones' involvement with the show and an animated biography of the man himself from cradle to grave (which almost made me cry).In this series, the iconic cat and mouse duo is given a makeover. Tom is given a more devilish look with thicker eyebrows and fluffier cheeks a la Wile E. Coyote while Jerry was made even more adorable with bigger eyes and ears a la Porky Pig. But that's not all. In some episodes, the usual cat and mouse chase is taken to new various locations. For instance, in three episodes, Tom and Jerry engage in a battle of wits and robots. And, in two other episodes (which are my favourite out of them all), they even sing Italian opera!Having worked with the Looney Tunes in the past, Chuck Jones carried over a lot of traits from his previous work such as the falling gags in Chuck's very own Wile E. Coyote. There are even a few cameo appearances of Marc Anthony, taking the place of Spike the Dog, as well as a sneaky reference to Pepé le Pew.Of course, this collection is not for everyone. It's often considered inferior to the original Hanna-Barbera series (1940-1958) due to its more subdued and atmospheric pace as well as its heavy use of subtlety and finesse. It's also criticized for recycling the plots from the Hanna-Barbera shorts. Two episodes in particular can be summarized as recaps of the Hanna-Barbera shorts (in case you missed them). Nevertheless, it's universally considered a vast improvement over the short-lived Gene Deitch shorts.As written on the back of the DVD box, this collection is best suited for fans who grew up with the cartoons. To me, it's a chance not only for longtime fans to revisit their childhood memories but also for new fans to discover and learn from this collection's beauty. I myself adored the Tom and Jerry re-runs when I was a 90's kid but I never knew about Chuck Jones and/or his contributions until recently. Ever since buying this DVD, I've been learning from his shorts and striving to apply his cartoon wisdom to my own work. So, be the Chuck Jones Collection what it will, with all its flaws and weaknesses, it's a cartoon gem still.

Compared to these new imbecile digitally animated "cartoons", this classic deserves an Oscar, Nobel prize and more....

Bought as a present for my husband who wanted to watch some original cartoons.

Bought this 2-disc set locally in a charity shop. Despite the input of animation legend Chuck Jones, these Tom and Jerry cartoons from the mid 60s are pretty awful. Hardly a laugh in site, a few smiles maybe here and there. However they do look like the Warner cartoons of the same period, and after "The End" appears on screen each time I kept waiting for the WB logo.There are two short featurettes included - the first runs about 25min and is on disc 1, although it's meant to be about Chuck Jones' involvement with T+J, it's a brief potted history of the T+J (theatrical) history. I haven't got around to the second featurette yet "Chuck Jones Memories of a Childhood".The cartoons themselves are in pretty good condition, and I assume uncut (though they do thankfully seem to speed along and do seem very brief in running time). There's no listing on the box cover (no insert in my used copy) but it's all the T+J from the Chuck Jones era. Oddly a few shorts were only produced by him and not directed by him.Overall for the serious collector who wants everything it's a must have for the sake of completeness. I'm still hoping that Warner will continue to release the region free Blu ray sets - the first set is very good.