WB announces Tom and Jerry Golden Collection Set 1

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It’s become fairly easy to get cynical and pessimistic with Warner Brothers about their treatment of classic cartoons over the past couple of years. The Golden Collections were dropped as they’re expensive to restore and don’t sell well enough; the Looney Tunes we do have coming out include some entries that look like the titles were chosen by dartboard; they used a ‘widescreen’ format that was used for Cinemascope theaters in the 1950s that cuts off part of the frame; and then there’s the long, painful story of the Tom & Jerry DVD sets.

First there was the ‘Spotlight Collection’ in 2004. It had 40 cartoons, chosen from all over the cat and mouse’s history, and was not restored except for the first six – we’ve known for years that the original prints were lost in a 1970s fire, but as the first 6 cartoons showed, a great restoration COULD be done. They also had some censored cartoons – which was apparently a mastering error. You could send WB your DVD and get a replacement with the original cartoon. Then we had the second collection in 2005 – which had the same issues, and ALSO needed replacement discs you had to send in for. It also omitted the shorts ‘Mouse Cleaning’ and ‘Casanova Cat’ because it felt they were too offensive – despite other cartoons in the earlier sets having blackface and Indian gags left in. Then they started to re-release everything for the kiddie market…

It has become apparent that even though these old cartoons are sometimes marketed as being ‘for the adult cartoon collector’, WB simply does not want to let that kiddie audience go. Over the last 2 years or so, WB has issued a bunch of little DVDs just for the Children’s market called Tom and Jerry’s Greatest Chases, and also several new cartoons featuring the cat and mouse. Kids are simply glutted with the duo right now.

So it is, perhaps, the perfect time to actually try that collector’s release again, 7 years later. On October 25th, we will see ‘Tom and Jerry Golden Collection’ Volume 1, on DVD and Blu-Ray. This will feature the first 37 cartoons made by MGM for the carton stars – note that ends right BEFORE Mouse Cleaning, which should be on Volume 2 in its proper place. They will be in chronological order for the first time, and apparently restored using the best elements available – fine-grain or nitrate prints for most of the 40s and early 50s titles, negatives for the rest of the 50s titles. 9 of the shorts will have commentary, and there will be a new documentary. Fingers crossed, this looks like it may FINALLY be the release we have been waiting for.

Here’s a list of the cartoons announced for the first set (I won’t list all the times Mammy has been censored or redubbed, as there are far too many.):

1) Puss Gets the Boot (Feb. 20, 1940). Tom (called ‘Jasper’ here) is told by the black maid of the house, Mammy Two-Shoes, that he has to catch that mouse or he goes O-W-T. Naturally, Jerry (unnamed at this stage) makes sure to get the upper hand. Nominated for an Academy Award.

2) The Midnight Snack (July 19, 1941). Tom and Jerry are named as such for the first time. Jerry’s raiding a fridge, Tom has to stop him without arousing Mammy’s ire.

3) The Night Before Christmas (December 6, 1941). Tom and Jerry chase each other under the Christmas tree. The first cartoon showing the two agreeing to stop fighting at the end – in the spirit of the Christmas season. Nominated for an Academy Award.

4) Fraidy Cat (January 17, 1942). Tom listens to a ghost story on the radio and is terrified, so Jerry decides to give him a few scares. Great bit with Tom’s 9 lives all visible – including one who’s a complete goofball! The host of the radio drama ‘The Witching Hour’, Martha Wentworth, provided her own voice for this short.

5) Dog Trouble (April 18, 1942). Tom and Jerry have to team up for the first time, to take on a vicious new bulldog – the first appearance of Spike, though he’s far nastier here.

6) Puss ‘n Toots (May 30, 1942). Tom tries to flirt with a girl cat who Mammy is taking care of. He tries to use and abuse Jerry to impress her, but Jerry gets the upper hand. A short Chinese caricature of Tom has sometimes been cut from this cartoon.

7) The Bowling Alley-Cat (July 18, 1942). Tom and Jerry at a bowling alley. Violence ensues.

8) Fine Feathered Friend (October 10, 1942). Tom and Jerry on the farm, with Jerry taking advantage of a hen and her chicks. This is the last time Tom yowls like a real cat – he’d soon get Joe Barbera’s loud human scream when seriously injured.

9) Sufferin’ Cats! (January 16, 1943). Tom and a rival cat (Meathead) are both trying to catch Jerry, who proceeds to work both sides against each other – in the end, both cats lose.

10) The Lonesome Mouse (May 22, 1943). Jerry gets Tom thrown out, and has the house to himself!… Sadly, he’s completely bored, and makes a deal with Tom to get Mammy to invite him back. It works… but Jerry does not get the reward he expects.

11) The Yankee Doodle Mouse (June 26, 1943). Their first Academy Award winner. Tom and Jerry chase gags, but set up like a battlefield, with lots of wartime references. A short shot of Tom in blackface is cut from TV prints.

12) Baby Puss (December 25, 1943). Tom is the victim of a little girl who has dressed him up like a baby. Humiliated, he’s then further enraged when Jerry starts laughing hysterically. Then Jerry invites some of Tom’s alley cat friends to see him. Meathead makes his last appearance, and Butch is introduced (he’d been in an earlier MGM cartoon, this is his first with Tom & Jerry.)

13) The Zoot Cat (February 25, 1944). Tom is trying to impress the girl cat Toots again, but is apparently a complete square. Then he gets the great idea of making a Zoot Suit from a hammock. Of course, this does not actually stop Jerry from messing everything up. Tom has spoken before, but this is the first cartoon we really see Tom speak a lot.

14) The Million Dollar Cat (May 6, 1944). Tom inherits a million dollars from his owner’s aunt… provided he doesn’t harm any animals. You can all see where this is going. Jerry is particularly obnoxious in this cartoon, one of the few where it ends with Tom definitively having the upper hand.

15) The Bodyguard (July 22, 1944). The first time we see Spike with his more friendly persona… though he still hates Tom, of course. Jerry rescues Spike from a dog catcher, and Spike says anytime Jerry needs his help, just whistle. Once again, Jerry takes things just a bit too far, and the cartoon ends with Spike recaptured and Jerry once again running from Tom.

16) Puttin’ on the Dog (October 28, 1944). Jerry hides in the middle of a dog pound, so Tom decides to infiltrate by disguising himself as a dog.

17) Mouse Trouble (November 23, 1944). The second Tom and Jerry Academy Award Winner. Tom tries to use a book on catching mice to nab Jerry. The first of two T&J; cartoons to feature the terrifying drone ‘Doooon’t yoooou belieeeve it’ from a particularly battered Tom, something that always scared me as a kid, when I was unaware of Ripley’s.

18) The Mouse Comes to Dinner (May 5, 1945). Tom tries to impress Toots with a dinner Mammy Two-Shoes has prepared for his owners. He also gets Jerry to be their servant for the meal. Tom at his most jerk-like here, and eventually gets so bad that Jerry and Toots team up to send him into a punchbowl to drown.

19) Mouse in Manhattan (July 7, 1945). Jerry is tired of country life, so leaves Tom’s house and heads for the big city. He discovers that New York is a nightmarish hell for a mouse such as himself, though, and after a series of disasters (at one point police are shooting at him!), he runs back home and kisses Tom, happy to be back.

20) Tee for Two (July 21, 1945). This is the one with the golfing. One of the most frequently run on TV. Also one of the most violent. The scene with the bees is agonizing to watch.

21) Flirty Birdy (September 22, 1945). Jerry is snatched up by a hawk, and Tom tries to recapture him. He makes the mistake of doing this by dressing as a female bird – and then finds it’s a lot harder to break up than he thought.

22) Quiet Please! (December 22, 1945). The third Tom and Jerry Academy Award Winner. Spike is trying to nap, so Tom has to try to catch Jerry without waking him. This goes spectacularly well. Wait, no, it doesn’t. Another one famous for Tom speaking, if only for one line (“One custard pie!? Well, let me have it!”)

23) Springtime for Thomas (March 30, 1946). Tom is in love again, and Jerry is jealous. He decides to use Butch to break up Tom’s romance. It’s works quite well… till Jerry sees a cute female mouse. For those of you who like to see ho yay between Tom and Jerry, this is a great example. Also, please don’t tell me if you do, as they’re a freaking cat and mouse.

24) The Milky Waif (May 18, 1946). Nibbles is introduced here, for better or worse. I’ve always found him irritating, but in many ways he’s designed to be. Jerry has a foundling mouse left on his doorstep, and tries his best to deal with being a surprised father. Tom really isn’t helping. A blackface scene has been censored from many prints, including the first run of the Spotlight Collection.

25) Trap Happy (June 29, 1946). Tom decides to call an exterminator to get rid of Jerry. This turns out to be Butch, who proceeds to set various traps. Unfortunately, Jerry’s cleverness and Tom’s overeagerness mean that we end up with the same result. Butch turns on Tom in the end in rage.

26) Solid Serenade (August 31, 1946). Tom tries to serenade Toots with his singing (yes, he sings several choruses of “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”) and his double bass, but has to deal with both Jerry and Spike.

27) Cat Fishin’ (February 22, 1947). Tom tries to fish at a private lake. Spike is the guard dog. Jerry is Tom’s bait. Hijinks ensue.

28) Part Time Pal (March 15, 1947). Tom gets accidentally drunk on cider, destroying the house – then gets accidentally drunk on rum! Mammy Two-Shoes is not amused.

29) The Cat Concerto (April 26, 1947). Tom is a concert pianist, and plays Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Jerry is asleep inside the piano. Jerry decides to strike back. One of their most famous cartoons, this won their fourth Academy Award. Try not to say that around fans of Friz Freleng’s Rhapsody Rabbit, though. Long story.

30) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (June 14, 1947). Notable for being nominated for an Academy Award and NOT winning (it lost to WB’s Tweetie Pie), this has Jerry drink a mixture that turns him into a much larger, stronger mouse. Much Tom abuse follows, especially when Tom tries the same thing, with different results.

31) Salt Water Tabby (July 12, 1947). Tom and Jerry at the beach, where he’s trying to impress his girl once again but with miserable results. Some great gags here.

32) A Mouse in the House (August 30, 1947). This time Tom *and* Butch are both in the house. But only one of them can stay: whoever catches Jerry. Jerry runs rings around the cats, getting them both thrown out… sadly, Mammy notices him as well, and he winds up outside himself!

33) The Invisible Mouse (September 27, 1947). Invisible ink always works differently in cartoons. Jerry takes advantage of this, torturing Tom and setting him up against Spike.

34) Kitty Foiled (June 1, 1948). Jerry teams up with a canary (perhaps being angry that he lost to Tweetie Pie last year) to take on Tom. Watch for Tom trying to run over Jerry with a model train, as his insane facial expression must be seen to be believed.

35) The Truce Hurts (July 17, 1948). Tom, Jerry and Spike are all fighting each other, but Spike wonders why they can’t just be friends. After singing a peace treaty, we spend the whole cartoon finding out why. Another censored blackface gag here that the DVD should have uncut.

36) Old Rockin’ Chair Tom (September 18, 1948). Mammy Two-Shoes gets her largest role in a T&J; cartoon, as she replaces Tom with a younger, faster cat. Tom and Jerry must team up to get rid of this newcomer. One of the rare cartoons where their truce lasts through the end of the cartoon – Tom even shares his food at the end!

37) Professor Tom (October 30, 1948). Tom is trying to teach a young, bored kitten how to catch mice, and gets very frustrated when the kitten and Jerry end up becoming friends rather than enemies.

The TV Shows on DVD presser notes 4 additional cartoons, but Jerry Beck has stated that Professor Tom is the last on this first collection. Presumably Collection 2 will contain Mouse Cleaning (uncut on DVD for the first time!) through Just Ducky, and Set 3 would finish off the series. (I’m going to guess they don’t plan to restore the Gene Deitch shorts, and Chuck Jones got a separate DVD already for his T&J; shorts). Assuming these are finally restored, and WB can avoid having the issues they had with the prior sets, this looks to be the one to finally satisfy classic cartoon fans.

Maid Shokun Volume 1

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By Akira Kiduki and Nanki Satou. Released in Japan by Wani Books, serialized in the magazine Comic Gum. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

I have to admit, this title may be the surprise of my entire spring. There were so many things working against it. It’s about a maid cafe, has a cute girl showing lots of thigh on its cover, and it runs in Comic Gun, home of Ikkitousen (Battle Vixens) and other titles known for being basic fanservice. I’d heard that there might be some yuri, but again, was expecting the ‘ooooh, can I feel your breasts’ sort of yuri you get in seinen magazines.

I’m here to tell you that I was mostly wrong, and that this is a charming and perfectly reasonable title to come out from the late Tokyopop. The basic premise is what I expected: a group of women work for a maid cafe in Akihibara catering to otaku, and one day take in a girl from the country who’s come to the city to go to college. She ends up working there due to a series of wacky circumstances, and her eager to please, earnest personality proves to be both a boon and a liability. Will she be able to make friends and do well, even as her fellow co-worker seemingly hates everything she says and does?

Despite Chiyoko being the star, she’s actually the least interesting part of the manga, being your basic naive yet bubbly heroine who wears her heart on her sleeve (she has a very Club 9 feel to her, only without the confidence). I was far more interested in the other supporting cast. Heine is in charge of the maids, and seems to be the sensible one with a good head on her shoulders. She also seems to have some sort of past with Arumi, the aforementioned maid who’s angry all the time and can’t warm up to Chiyoko. A lot of this seems to be due to her having a standard ‘tsundere’ personality, but we haven’t actually seen the dere yet in this series. There are suggestions of something else, though, such as Arumi being ‘different’ from the other maids at the cafe, and Heine darkly hinting that Arumi has to obey all her commands. It’s an intriguing plot thread that I would look forward to seeing resolved in future volumes if there were any.

But the big surprise to me was Chapters 4 and 5, which go into detail about two of the other maids, Hachiya and Airi. A couple of past chapters have gone into detail on Airi being stalked by one of the cafe’s patrons, and what they can do about it without upsetting the other otaku who go there to essentially gaze at cute maids. As this happens, it becomes clear that Hachiya (who wears a bartender’s outfit, and was very much ‘the butch one’ even before this chapter) and Airi are actually lovers, something that accidentally gets revealed to the others. It’s amazing how realistically this plays out – one maid, Pamiru, finds it hilarious and disgusting at the same time. Arumi doesn’t care that they’re gay, but says they either have to break up or one has to quit, as their being together hurts the cafe. Heine is away. And the two of them have been fighting anyway.

We get a flashback to Airi’s past… where she’s shown to have been a prostitute. She runs into Hachiya, who is dressed as a man and acting as ‘escort’ to other women. After saving Airi from a crazy customer, the two slowly fall in love… and when Airi finds out the truth about Hachiya’s gender, she decides that she loves her anyway. Unfortunately, societal and work pressures are adding up. Airi feels she’s being a useless burden to Hachiya, and Hachiya is convinced this is a ‘phase’ Airi is going through.

It may seem anticlimactic, but what ends up happening is that they end up talking to each other, and resolving everything. This isn’t as humorous or earthshaking as a series of wacky manga coincidences, but far more realistic. Hachiya feels they should break up as Airi is young enough to get married and have a normal life. She even notes that were she to die, Airi would get nothing from her estate, the way the world works now. Airi, who I think gains more confidence the more she sees how uncertain Hachiya is, tells her to shut the hell up and that she plans to love her for the rest of her life. It’s a very sweet scene, but it’s also rather rare in its honest discussion of what being a gay couple in Japan is like. The manga is worth getting for these two chapters alone.

There’s a lot of discussion of the maid cafe environment, which in 2006 (the year this debuted) was still somewhat of a new thing. Arumi and Chiyoko have a long discussion about the cafe possibly being rated as ‘adult entertainment’, and what that would mean – both minuses and pluses. The last chapter features Chiyoko at college, having been secretly given alcohol by a couple of horny guys, being rescued by one of the maid cafe patrons – and he’s now incredibly awkward with her, as the ‘veil’ that exists between the maids and their clientele seems to be removed. Given that over and over again the manga has emphasized the ‘look but don’t touch’ aspect of the maids in the cafe, it actually does feel like a crisis rather than a goofy romance starting up.

Again, I note this is a Tokyopop series, so we will not be getting any more volumes here in North America. And no, it’s not scanlated online either. And hey, Volume 4 is sold out at Amazon.jp, so you can’t even buy the Japanese. I still recommend that you buy this manga, which rose way above what I thought it would be. And if you happen to find out what happens in the remaining three volumes, please let me know.

Brief Reviews On Sundry Manga: The Sequel

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Yes, once again I have several volumes that I can’t seem to find several paragraphs worth of things to say, so will pile them all together in order to winnow down my review pile.

Kamisama Kiss 3: Yes, it’s still suffering from not being Karakuri Odette. Which is a shame, as it’s quite a likeable manga. We get a lot of plot points about how romances between humans and yokai go in this world, and how much “forbidden” tends to be actual lip service. Nanami is kidnapped by a snake yokai (who then turns into a bishie – this is shoujo, after all). I quite liked the fact that Nanami’s quiet “Tomoe, enough.” was sufficient to get him to listen to her and stop his rampage, which shows the bond of trust that’s developed between them since the first two volumes. The last chapter is more serious, featuring Nanami going back in time to see a Tomoe who’s seemingly far crueller and more dangerous than the one she knows. In the end, it’s a little more mainstream and typical than her previous series, but that’s also helped it run longer in Hana to Yume as well.

Toriko 5: This volume continues the search for the Regal Mammoth, and as such is basically just a bunch of fights. It was hard for me to see one group coming at the mammoth from one path and the other choosing a different one without thinking of The Five Doctors, honestly. And like The Five Doctors, each path proves to be fraught with peril. Toriko actually has to let his savage self take over in order to drive away some predators (and trust me, it’s a nightmarish sight), which Sunny and Komatsu travel through a deadly marsh. We are once again reminded of the ethics that govern Toriko’s universe, as Sunny and Komatsu are horrified than Gourmet Corps is casually slaughtering the animals without using them for food – WASTE is the big sin here. The Regal Mammoth does indeed prove to be huge – so huge that our reunited gang must journey INSIDE the animal to get at its prized meat within. As always, this is big dumb goofy Shonen Jump fun.

Blue Exorcist 2: Things settle down in this second volume, as Rin and Shiemi continue their school life at True Cross Academy. We meet a few new cast members, who are very much shonen ‘types’ – there’s the frustrated hothead who derides the hero for being lazy and stupid, but turns out to be far too similar to him for everyone’s tastes. And there’s the bitchy girl who ‘allows’ Shiemi to be friends with her in return for waiting on her hand and foot (and who seems to be the kid who was bullied when she was young, now trying to live life on the other side). Naturally, by the end both are reluctant allies to our heroes – Ryuji after he sees Rin’s bravery in the face of danger (albeit somewhat stupid bravery), and Izumo after getting told off by her ‘normal’ friend and being rescued by Shiemi’s basic goodness and niceness. It’s decent stuff, and I kept turning the page, but it hasn’t really risen above cookie-cutter shonen level yet.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan 3: This had several interesting plotlines going through it. We wrap up last volume’s big fight, and get a highly interesting revelation: Rikuo’s been playing everyone (and the reader) all this time, and is far more in control of his life than previously suspected. Of course, this also leads to organizational problems, as Rikuo also tends to be merciful, and when you want to be the leader of a bunch of cut-throat yokai, mercy is something that needs to be explained. There then follows a short plotline with Kana being stalked by a yokai that has been killing children on their 13th birthday. Naturally she’s rescued by Nura… unfortunately, this leads to her falling for the Nura side of Rikuo’s personality, and asking if Rikuo can hook her up. Ah, secret identities… (There’s also a great mirror of Kana spying on Rikuo and Tsurara at the start, with Tsurara doing the same at the end when Kana is being ‘overly friendly’… romance is likely not important in this series, but it’s sometimes cute to see. Finally, a new gang of yokai comes in to ‘take over’, and start by going after Rikuo’s grandfather. Which is unfortunate, as he’s hanging out with Yura, who most likely would try to kill him if she knew who he was. Nura is trying to do the yokai tales as a mafia/yakuza-type story, and so far it’s working pretty well.