Toon Zone Talkback - "Tom & Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection": Familiar Faces, New Team

[Speedy Boris]

This is the talkback thread for "Tom & Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection": Familiar Faces, New Team (http://news.toonzone.net/articles/30252/tom-amp-jerry-the-chuck-jones-collection--familiar-faces-new-team).
http://news.toonzone.net/images/2009-06/jones_tandj/splash-jonest&j.jpg

I love ya, Chuck, but this just wasn't you at your best.

[PC!]

Good, fair review. I definitely think that the Chuck Jones cartoons, while charming in their own way, definitely lacked the charm that the H-B shorts had. I always hated those blasted space episodes that didn't really have any reason for Tom and Jerry being there, as well as the awkward clip episodes featuring animation from H-B episodes and "updated" soundtracks.

[EJLD4Ever]

I admit that, although the Jones :tomcat:&:jerry:'s are not as good as the HB :tomcat:&:jerry:'s, they are WAY better than those mediocre Deitch :tomcat:&:jerry:'s. However, I have been told by someone that if Chuck could give :tomcat:&:jerry: the ability to talk, he would have done so.

However, I always liked the design of Jones' :tomcat:&:jerry:---:tomcat: was given pointier ears and darker eyebrows, while :jerry: was given bigger ears and a smaller nose. (Sorry if I am repeating anything in the review---I could not see it myself because clicking on the link causes my computer to crash).

[Ed Liu]

(Sorry if I am repeating anything in the review---I could not see it myself because clicking on the link causes my computer to crash).

You might need to update your Flash player. WB provided YouTube clips that we could embed in our reviews and we've started doing so now, so that might be what's causing the problem. Unless you can't see ANY of our reviews, in which case it might be a different problem.

I remember watching Tom & Jerry religiously as a kid on weekdays after school. I generally preferred Bugs Bunny, but took what I could get. I distinctly remember liking these Chuck Jones T&J shorts more than the older ones, mostly because they looked newer. Hey, I was a stupid kid and I admit that. I'm curious to see how I feel about these things now, especially since I find the Tex Avery T&J cartoons so much funnier as an adult than I ever did as a child. I expect my reaction will be comparable to Speedy's.

The price is right on this set, but it's not exactly #1 on my list. Will get it eventually.

[JerryvonKramer]

Can someone explain to me how Hanna Barbera went from producing brilliance like "The Cat Concerto" in the 40s to the utter tripe they produced in the 70s?

What happened to them?

[Speedy Boris]

First of all, not to be rude or cut off discussion, but this thread should really focus on the Chuck Jones T&Js. The question you posed would actually fit in better in your Jetsons review thread for obvious reasons.

Second, it's not really fair to compare theatrical cartoons (which had a much much higher budget) to TV, especially at a time when the money spent on TV animation was extremely low.

Third, from what I understand, HB essentially had almost total dominance of TV animation during that era, outside of Filmation, I believe. This dominance and relative lack of competition led to laziness, as even if a show tanked, HB could still pitch a bunch more to the networks because they didn't have anything else to air.