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Show:		8.0
Picture:		8.0
Sound:		7.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		7.0

Director(s):	Chuck Jones • Maurice Noble
Writer(s):	Chuck Jones, Michael Maltese, Don Towsley
Starring:	Daws Butler • Don Messick • Mel Blanc • Stan Freberg • Tex Avery
Genre:	Animation • Television
Website:	http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tomjerry/
Release Date:	June 23, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $18.99
Amazon:

If you’ve ever wondered what the template for the violent, mean-spirited humor in The Itchy and Scratchy Show was, look no further than the original Tom and Jerry. While the original cartoons don’t necessarily contain more brutality or misanthropy than the original Looney Tunes (which were produced in the same period), they are notable for containing little else. All characters are generally defined by their mutual hatred and desire to destroy one another, and all interactions between them can be gauged by how much firepower they involve. Naturally, they never really succeed, but let it be said that one is usually in a better position at the end than the other (hint: it’s not Tom).

These Tom and Jerry cartoons were produced in the 1960s under the direction of animation maestro Chuck Jones (who is effectively eulogized by the set’s two documentaries), and they follow a fairly simple formula. Tom (the cat) is doing something either vain or irritating, such as relaxing by a pool or making a lot of noise while Jerry (the mouse) is trying to sleep. Sometimes, it’s even more innocuous than that; once, Jerry was even trying to take Tom’s food. Jerry tends to retaliate in a rather seemingly reasonable way like clasping Tom’s mouth shut with a rubber band. Tom only grows furious, and then proceeds to try to kill Jerry in what could be considered fairly clever ways, usually involving mousetraps, flyswatters, and other tools that can be found right in the home (whether it inspired any children to behave similarly remains to be proven). In the end, Jerry tends to get what he wants, while Tom endures brutality that would kill any person in real life.

The intended effect of Tom and Jerry has always been somewhat unclear to me. What are we really supposed to be feeling as Tom tries to crush Jerry with a hammer? Are we supposed to sympathize with Jerry after he’s put Tom through excruciating pain for rather minor offenses? I guess, since Jerry seems to always be sitting pretty fat and happy at the end of each cartoon, and Tom always seemed to be crushed under something or other. Frankly, I’ve always found it hard to particularly identify with any of the characters, as so little time is spent developing any character traits other than their capacity to annoy each other; thus nearly everything that happens between them is a fairly transparent attempt to direct our sympathy at this fairly unlikeable mouse.

What can be appreciated here, however, is the beauty of Chuck Jones’s animation, and the innovation utilized in the way in which the two try to kill each other. Of all the people working in animation in that time, Jones’s reputation is second perhaps only to that of Walt Disney’s. His sense of motion is immaculate, and, periodically, he seems to realize that the only thing that these characters have going for them is complete and utter disregard for all accepted social behaviors, and simply goes balls-to-the-wall with it (one of the cartoons is literally entirely composed of a duel between the two with gradually increasing firepower, starting out with revolutionary war era muskets). One can also appreciate the clear appreciation and thought that went into the creation of this set (how often do you go ‘that’s a really nice box’? Not enough), proving once again that if anything good has come out of DVDs, it’s that someone finally found a halfway decent way to package and market classic animation. That if nothing else.

DVD Bonus Features

The DVD contains two documentaries: "Tom and Jerry…and Chuck" a pretty interesting documentary on the history of the trio, and "Chuck Jones: Memories of a Childhood" (which is really more of a short film), which features Chuck Jones talking about his childhood, which is subsequently animated. Kind of an odd inclusion, but something the man himself might well have appreciated.