Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2493 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-26
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Animated, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 180 minutes

Synopsis
The fourth collection in the series of classic cartoons from the inimitable Tom and Jerry. The 25 cartoons include Two Little Indians, Little School Mouse, Touche Pussy Cat and Blue Cat Blues.

Customer Reviews

Favourite of the four!
Well, I can't say I know anything about the directors or the backgrounds mentioned in other reveiws, all I can tell you is that this DVD is great! I have the others (1-3) and this is the one that my children always want to watch, I don't know why, but something obviously grabs their attention!
If you are looking for one for the kids, this is it!

Series was in decline here, but still above average
This cartoon collection continues the Tom & Jerry series with cartoons from 'Two Little Indians' (1953) to 'Barbecue Brawl' (1956).

There are some enjoyable cartoons on this DVD, but now we are reaching the period in time where cartoons were starting to skyrocket in costs, and it becomes noticeable once we reach cartoons like 'Neapolitan Mouse' (1954), where some of the characters become schematic in design and movement. After 'Pecos Pest' (1955), producer Fred Quimby also retired, and the general production values really started to slip for the remaining cartoons in the Hanna-Barbera era.

One thing that bothered me about this collection is that some of the later cartoons -- the ones from 'That's My Mommy' (1955) onwards, plus 'Touché, Pussycat!' (1954) and 'Tom & Chèrie' (1955) -- were originally in Cinemascope, as shown by the typical black borders at the top and bottom of the screen during the opening and closing credits, but, with the exception of 'The Egg And Jerry' (1956), which retains the Cinemascope aspect throughout, the cartoons themselves have been put into pan-and-scan -- and not all that well; sometimes important bits of a scene were out of shot, meaning that, unless you had seen the original, or at least a pan-and-scan version that had more carefully selected views in each part of the cartoon, it was not always that clear what was going on; 'Muscle Beach Tom' and 'Barbecue Brawl' are particularly affected in some places because of this, resulting in action that was happening off-screen with only sound effects being a rough clue as to what was happening (if that). Why didn't they keep the Cinemascope aspect of these ones and give us a real treat to see the full view, if they were prepared to do it for 'The Egg And Jerry'? The picture quality was becoming more schematic by this period so the closer inspection of the on-screen action was not really doing these cartoons any favours, and surely keeping the Cinemascope would have been a lot less hassle than going through all those cartoons deciding what bits would have to be sacrificed and put off-screen for pan-and-scan?

So, not a bad collection, but the cracks were starting to show here...

Into the decline
Whilst many of these cartoons are still good it is obvious that the series was in serious decline by this point. Backgrounds become cheaper and characters have their designs simplified. Some of the storylines are weird, in particular I don't think "Blue Cat Blues" was guaranteed to send the audience away happy. Good for kids but makes you wish for the glory days. If these cartoons distress you then don't touch volumes 5 and 6.