In light of yesterday’s review of The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes book, I’ve decided to bring the Watch This! series back from the dead with the classic Looney Tunes short, Hair-Raising Hare. I grew up watching this short over and over at my Grandparent’s house and any time it was on TV. Luckily, it’s in the one Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD I own, so I still watch it every once in a while. And of course, it’s on YouTube, so why don’t you slack off at work for a few minutes and enjoy?

Further Reading

Hair-Raising Hare on Wikipedia

In other news, I need to write 2Y9WTU336HV4 in this post for top-secret reasons, so look over there!

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension
2. 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Book Review
3. Watch This: We Aim to Please – 1934

The Tom and Jerry Deluxe Anniversary Collection is a 2-disc DVD set that aims to give you a cross-section of the famous duo’s entire career. It’s not a set for collectors who already have the Spotlight collections and the Chuck Jones Collection I reviewed previously. Completists will already have all the shorts presented minus the five that are new to DVD. That being said, this set is a great way to get introduced to a lot of the different versions of Tom and Jerry if you’re a casual fan.

Tom and Jerry have been around for a long time, and this DVD set does a great job of giving you glimpses at each of their main eras. But, there’s no need to buy it blindly, so here is a complete list of what you’ll find on the discs.

The Shorts

Disc 1 – Oscar Winners and Classics

• Puss Gets the Boot
• Midnight Snack
• Dog Trouble
• Fraidy Cat
• Puss ‘n’ Toots
• The Lonesome Mouse
• Yankee Doodle Mouse
• Mouse Trouble
• Mouse in Manhattan
• Quiet Please
• The Milky Waif
• The Cat Concerto
• The Little Orphan
• Saturday Evening Puss
• Two Mouseketeers
• Johann Mouse
• Touche Pussy Cat
• That’s My Mommy
• The Egg and Jerry
• Tops With Pops

And on Disc 2 – Through the Years:

• Jerry Dances with Gene Kelly in Anchors Away
• Tom and Jerry swim with Esther Williams in Dangerous When Wet
• Penthouse Mouse
• The Cat Above the Mouse Below
• The Cat’s Me-Ouch
• Cosmic Cat and Meteor Mouse
• Jerry’s Country Cousin
• Flippin’ Fido
• The Karate Guard
• A Game of Mouse and Cat

There is also a nice bonus feature with an unfortunately long title, called Much Ado About Tom and Jerry – Retrospective Look at One of Animation’s Greatest Teams – From Early Days to Award-Winning Glory. The presentation and packaging is what we’ve come to expect from these higher-class WB cartoon classic releases, and the shorts are presented in their original aspect ratios, some being fullscreen and some being widescreen.

Should you pick up this set? Well, if you don’t own the Spotlight Collections or the Chuck Jones Collection, I’d say go for it. Otherwise, you might be buying a lot of shorts you already own. If you don’t own any Tom and Jerry shorts on DVD, then don’t even think about it, just get it. Someday your children’s children will thank you.

Disclaimer: This review was based on a free review copy. Read my blog disclosure statement for more.

Related posts:

1. Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 4 Review
2. Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 2 Review
3. Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection Review

Check out the trailer for a rare, never-released-on-home-video animated Looney Tunes short called Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension. According to Cartoon Brew, the short was made to be shown in the WB Studio Stores (which I was loved) and at a theme park in Australia. It was an early attempt at emulating 2D animation with CGI. I’d love to see the whole thing.

Via Cartoon Brew

Further Reading

Wikipedia

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Hair-Raising Hare (1946)
2. Watch This: The Lone Chipmunks (1954)
3. 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Book Review

It seems like every week I add more cartoons to my DVD collection. This time, it’s another great set of Tom and Jerry shorts! Warner Bros. has released another volume of the Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases, and this time around it has 14 classic cartoons featuring everyone’s favorite cat and mouse team this side of Itchy and Scratchy.

For around ten bucks you get 98 minutes of classic animated shorts, and the shorts speak for themselves. The presentation is what we’ve come to expect from these releases, but Tom and Jerry completists who don’t own the Spotlight sets (like me) will find Vol. 4 to be another great way to add a handful of classic shorts to your collection.

The Cartoons:

• The Mouse Comes to Dinner
• Springtime for Thomas
• Trap Happy
• Polka-Dot Puss
• Saturday Evening Puss
• Little Quacker
• Cruise Cat
• The Missing Mouse
• Jerry and Jumbo
• Just Ducky
• Little School Mouse
• Tom and Cherie
• Muscle Beach Tom
• Down Beat Bear

I was really surprised how many of these I remembered from TV as a child. With a library as huge as Tom and Jerry, I’m sure we’ll be getting these DVD sets for a long time now, but that’s fine with me.

Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 4 is out now, so make sure to pick it up on DVD today!

Disclaimer: This review was based on a free review copy. Read my blog disclosure statement for more.

Related posts:

1. Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 2 Review
2. Tom and Jerry’s Greatest Chases Vol. 3 Review
3. Tom & Jerry: Deluxe Anniversary Collection DVD Review

I think I’ve confessed my love of Disney’s Chip ‘n Dale shorts around here before, and thanks to DVDs like Classic Cartoon Favorites Vol. 4 – Starring Chip ‘n Dale and a few of the Disney Treasures sets, I’ve been able to collect most of the shorts I grew up watching.

The Lone Chipmunks is one I have not been able to find for a long time, and for some reason only recently thought to look up on YouTube. It was great seeing it again, but now I wish I had it in DVD quality at least. Unfortunately, the only DVD it’s been released on is a random Davy Crockett Two-Movie set. Now the question is whether it’s worth $15 to me to have this short. Hmm.

Further Reading

The Lone Chipmunks on DisneyShorts.org

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Three for Breakfast – 1948
2. Watch This: Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)
3. Watch This: Hooked Bear – 1956 Disney Short

In case you’ve been overwhelmed with the holiday season like I have this year, here is a classic Christmas Disney short to get you in the mood. Well, for Christmas, that is.

It’s Pluto’s Christmas from 1952, and it stars Pluto and my favorite Chipmunks, Chip ‘n Dale. I have it on a Disney Treasures set, but I’m pretty sure that every DVD this has been on is now out of print. All the more reason for you to enjoy it here!

As always, you can read more about this classic Disney short over at DisneyShorts.org.

Related posts:

1. Watch This: The Lone Chipmunks (1954)
2. Watch This: Three for Breakfast – 1948
3. Watch This: Moving Day – 1936 Disney Short

Ok, so this one doesn’t specifically say it’s Thanksgiving, but I think it’s pretty obvious. Enjoy the 1948 Donald Duck short Soup’s On, if you haven’t eaten yourself into a Turkey coma already.

You can read more about Soup’s On at DisneyShorts.org.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and I’ll see you on Monday. Try not to trample anyone to death on Black Friday.

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Turkey Day Tom and Jerry – The Little Orphan
2. Watch This: Three for Breakfast – 1948
3. Watch This: Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)

In honor of Thanksgiving, here is a classic Tom and Jerry short that takes place on Turkey Day, The Little Orphan. The only thing better than a wonderful Thanksgiving feast is an animated one, so cheers!

View all of the Watch This! entries.

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Turkey Day Donald Duck – Soup’s On
2. Tom and Jerry Tales: The Complete First Season on DVD
3. Tom and Jerry Greatest Chases Vol. 4 Review

In this edition of Watch This!, I bring you a classic 1934 Popeye short: We Aim to Please. This short depicts Popeye and Olive Oyl as restauranteurs during the Great Depression, so you can be sure a lot of hysteria and fistfights ensue. Also, you can count on Wimpy trying to score some free hamburgers.

This short is availalbe on the awesome Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938 Vol. 1 DVD set.

Related posts:

1. Watch This: Disney’s The Mad Doctor – 1933
2. Watch This: Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)
3. Watch This: Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension

Some of my favorite classic Disney shorts are the few that feature Chip n’ Dale. Usually they pit the tiny critters against Donald Duck, who has always been my favorite Disney character. There is just something about those shorts that perfectly defines nostalgia for me, and Three for Breakfast is a great example.

You can read more about this short on DisneyShorts.org or you can find it on the Classic Cartoon Favorites: Vol. 4 – Starring Chip ‘n Dale DVD, which is a great set.

Related posts:

1. Watch This: The Lone Chipmunks (1954)
2. Watch This: Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952)
3. Watch This: Moving Day – 1936 Disney Short