DVD Reviews

Tom and Jerry Tales: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

By Dana Rae Apr 30, 2010, 15:34 GMT

There\'s no stopping them! Tom and Jerry recently returned to the TV limelight to continue their wham-bam winning streak of comic cat-astrophes and merry mouse-adventures in the all-new series "Tom And Jerry Tales". Join the pursuit with this terrific 2-Disc, 13-Episode Collection of their Complete First Season. Each episode features 3 cartoons chock-a-block with the familiar fur-flying, fun-packing chases, schemes and pranks that delight kids and their parents time and ...more

The animated television series which ran US in 2006-2008 on the CW4Kids network comes to DVD in a two disc set - which includes all thirteen episodes of the first season.

It is the fourth Tom and Jerry television show in the franchise that continues the antics of the famous cat and mouse duo since the first Tom and Jerry appeared on screen in Puss Gets Boots (a 1939 produced and 1940 released short which was the first collaboration of Joseph Barbera and William Hanna). 

The two have been mixing it up for about 70 years, and in this enjoyable show, the animation gets a face-lift. The look is sleek as opposed to the older shorts where they are a bit timelessly grainy.

Also, Tom and Jerry enter into a more modern age and seem to give up the smoking and the drinking (if you will remember, the originals are not necessarily for kids). And this was made for kids in mind and aired on a kids’ network, so parents should not be afraid to let their children view it. It is delightfully entertaining for kids and parents alike. I enjoyed watching with my 6 and 11 year old sons. 

The duo is still violent and continue to try and hurt each other, but in a different way.  More humanely hurt each other I should say. Tom gets more smashed than opposed to, say, getting cut up into little bity pieces.

Of course Jerry has the endearing quality of always finding a larger friend (i.e., the bulldog and the polar bear) that helps him out-brawn Tom. That has not changed! In fact, the format pretty much stays the same. Neither Tom nor Jerry speak, which is another endearing quality. 

Remember in 1992 when Tom and Jerry the Movie was released? Well, it flopped because they talked and people hated it. Rule Numero Uno of this duo: they must never talk. Others around them can say the occasional phrase or mumble, but our favorite cat and mouse team-up will always be pantomimed in our hearts. 

One complaint that I have to mention is that while enjoyable to watch, these episodes are not the original Tom and Jerry shorts/cartoons. Some of the episodes are even a rehash of those classics (a certain octopus episode was reminiscent of the classic under-the-sea episode where the octopus falls in love, and there is a medieval redo).

But, parents might like these more as they keep the spirit of the original Tom and Jerry shorts and these are more kid-friendly. Each episode contains two or three “shorts” with a theme, for example, the zoo, where Tom and Jerry find themselves either working or chasing or being chased. 

As in the originals, there is no chronological timeline. Tom just happens to have a job cleaning up the zoo…the bulldog just happens to be the boss that harasses him not to feed the animals. 

From the zoo, they skip to faraway places like the arctic where a polar bear takes on the role of protecting Jerry. In the end of that episode, we see that Hawaii just might be in Tom’s future as he hightails it out of there fast wearing a lei and a tropical shirt. 

Other episodes find them in medieval times, in a jungle, and on a high speed chase. 

While not the originals that have a gritty, somewhat off-kilter humor and nostalgic value, Tom and Jerry Tales keeps the spirit while making it more kid-friendly. The animation is more modern (but not necessarily better, in my opinion). Parents will want to check this out for their children’s entertainment.

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