Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection Review

Last week I reviewed the WB DVD set of Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 2, and this week Warner Bros. is continuing their quest for awesomeness with the release of the Tom and Jerry Chuck Jones Collection.

Chuck Jones is remembered most for his amazing work on Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and his Oscar winning short The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, but from 1963-967 he gave the world his version of one of the longest running animated theatrical series; Tom and Jerry.

One of Chuck Jones’ greatest strengths was his subtle, dry sense of humor. I remembered seeing a lot of his Tom and Jerry shorts when I was younger, but I had no idea they would be so funny. Riley and I popped this set in one night and found ourselves laughing out loud at Jones’ quirky, sometimes bizarre gags. Whether it’s Jerry getting intoxicated and dancing on a piano or Tom’s fur being torn off constantly, you’ll find more than a few things to laugh at in this set.

It includes all 34 of Jones’ Tom and Jerry shorts, together for the first time and presented in widescreen. Even though it’s a standard definition DVD set, the picture looked great on my HDTV. The set has two discs and comes in a sturdy slip case, and actually looks pretty sweet on the shelf.

The set also includes two documentaries. Tom and Jerry…and Chuck tells the story of how CJ came to work at MGM after Warner Bros. terminated him and the shorts department. Chuck Jones: Memories of a Childhood is an 30 minute documentary produced by John Canemaker, a well known animator and historian. It includes interviews and animated sequences made just for the documentary. You can read more about this documentary over at Cartoon Brew.

This is turning out to be a great year for classic animation on DVD, mostly thanks to Warner Bros, and with How the Grinch Stole Christmas coming out on Blu-ray in the fall, it’ll also be a great year for Chuck Jones fans. Head over to Amazon if you’d like to show the studios that we appreciate them putting out these sets!