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View Full Version : WB's Treatment of Tom & Jerry

Vdubdavid
08-07-2005, 09:26 PM
This is purely to let off some steam, but why is Warners having the trouble its having when it comes to releasing Tom and Jerry? While the Looney Tunes are treated to full restoration (which they rightfully deserve), those who like T&J have to make do with masters that were probably done 10 years ago. If the orginal negatives aren't essential (though nice to have) to make a film shine again, then why are these classics turning up on DVD the same way they do on CN, with muddy picture ("Designs On Jerry" being a prime example) and those multicolored frames on the titles? If the next set does not have these problems, and is unedited to boot, then I will gladly let bygones be bygones, but until then...

There, that felt good to write. Let me stress once again, that I am not trying to denigrate Warner or those who work on these sets, but we all have to vent every once in a while.
Tom41
08-08-2005, 02:53 AM
Well, the borders on the intro sequences of Tom & Jerry are necessary. These cartoons were never intended to be seen on TV, only in theaters. Therefore, showing the picture full-screen would result in some of the credits being cropped off (due to TV overscan).

The borders (windowboxing) ensure that the full credit frames are visible on a normal TV screen.
corey3rd
08-08-2005, 10:06 AM
i've been told that T&J can't be restored to LTMM because the negatives are MIA.
J. B. Warner
08-08-2005, 12:58 PM
Well, all of MGM's color negatives at the time were destroyed in a 1953 vault fire, but anything after that should still have its negatives available. I think, I don't know too much about this event.
Jack
08-08-2005, 01:54 PM
Well, the borders on the intro sequences of Tom & Jerry are necessary. These cartoons were never intended to be seen on TV, only in theaters. Therefore, showing the picture full-screen would result in some of the credits being cropped off (due to TV overscan).

The borders (windowboxing) ensure that the full credit frames are visible on a normal TV screen.
I don't think he was objecting to the windowboxing, just to the distracting way it is done on the MGM cartoons. Titles can be windowboxed in such a way that the border can't be seen when the film is played on TV - and the border really should be black rather than a bright color.