Tom And Jerry: Classic Collection - Volume 5 [DVD] [2004]

This volume features 23 epidodes that were made between 1956 and 1962. The first half celebrates the works of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera while the second half celebrates cartoons directed by Gene Dietch.Highlights include 'Mucho Mouse' with its fantastic Spanish music and great storyline, ' The Photo Finish in which Jerry takes a photo of Tom framing poor Spike for stealing a chicken from the fridge. It's one of my personal favourites. There's also two stories featuring Little Quacker, the adorable little duckling, including The Vanishing Duck, in which he and Jerry play a trick on Tom.While I prefer Hanna and Barbera over Dietch, I do have a favourite cartoon of his, and that is 'Buddies Thicker Than Water'. This was perhaps one of the first cartoons I remember watching when I was little and out of Dietch's cartoons, this perhaps has a more of a storyline that flows. Jerry rescues Tom from the bitter cold outside a block of flats, but later Tom betrays the mouse in order to stay inside. Jerry returns, angry with Tom and decides to play a spooky trick on him. The music in it is great and atmospheric.I best point out that this disc is a dual format, meaning that it can played on both sides, so don't panic if you see not all the episodes listed. The rest are on the other side :)This is a lovely collection of classic cartoons with two of the most iconic characters in the animated world. Enjoy :)

Five stars for side one. Zero stars for side two (absolute garbage). Whoever allowed the Tom and Jerry names to be used should be locked in a dark room and be made to watch them for eternity. (side two that is)!

The Tom & Jerry Classic Collection covers 159 of the 161 cartoons in chronological order, thus the first half of the DVD covers the remaining Hanna-Barbera era cartoons that weren't covered in Volumes 1-4.The cartoon series was in decline by this point, and for whatever reasons, the CinemaScope cartoons were put into pan-and-scan meaning you sometimes miss a little of the action. However, this notwithstanding, many of the cartoons are good.The second half features all of the cartoons from the Gene Deitch era, hence the sharp drop in quality. It didn't help that MGM gave the Czech team a very limited budget. In general these cartoons are creepy, unsettling, contain one-dimensional and evil characters, and laughs are few and far between. I don't think the cartoons themselves are terrible- to my mind they range from 'passable' to 'rather poor', but they suffer somewhat by comparison with the Hanna-Barbera era, and to a lesser extent the Chuck Jones era.Overall, four stars for the first half, but only two stars for the second half, so three stars overall.If you own Volumes 1-4 and are a Tom and Jerry fan, you may as well pick up Volumes 5 and 6 and have the complete collection- they're not bad considering the price. Otherwise, you're probably better off sticking with the earlier volumes.

Buyyyyyyyyyyy

I bought this for my grand daughter who adores Tom and Jerry. She loves it. so I have to watch it quite a lot. I have to say the stories and the animations are very clever. I didn't appreciate their subtlety (yes, that's the word I've chosen!) when I was a child, but I do now. So now I'm buying more of them.

What can I say? All 13 of my Tom & Jerry films, which I produced in Prague during the early 1960s, are on this disc!; For me a rare find, and perfect prints, absolutel y like new! I am delighted to have them as my own personal souvenir of my early animation work!Gene Deitch

Another set of the cat and mouse tales. Also liked by the grandson. Provides an escape and no interruptions from the adverts.

GERAT TIME CLASSIC EVERYONE WILL LOVE THE OLD CLASSIC TOM & JERRY. WILL NEVER DIE NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE OR HOW MANY TIME YOU WATCH YOU WILL NEVER GET TIRED.