Directing Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Oct 29, 2005, 11:17 PM
|
|
T&J Spotlight #2 Still Hasn't Got it Right
|
|
|
First let me say that I might never have been able to write this review had I not persevered and taken great pains to get the DVD package open--it was all I could do to keep from accidentally ripping the dust cover while extracting the DVD case. I finally discovered that the reason why the package was so hard to open was that the marketing brain trust at Warner Home Video had seen fit to include (at no extra charge) a "collectible" animation cel of Tom and Jerry. Unfortunately the cel and background layout is merely a reproduction, and a badly-rendered one at that, of a "scene" from the 1940 short Puss Gets the Boot. While Tom looks more or less as he did circa 1940, the design on Jerry is more akin to the early 1950's model sheets. This is, I think, indicative of the basic shortcoming of this set:
Overall, the word that best describes the second (and, hopefully, not the last) installment of Tom and Jerry: The Spotlight Collection is, "inconsistant". Because while Warner Home Video have presented us with gorgeous remasterings of additional Tom and Jerry CinemaScope titles--of which Muscle Beach Tom is one of the best and Tot Watchers one of the worst; a number of the 1940's shorts featured in this set still suffer from varying degrees of carelessness on the part of those in charge of their remastering.
A number of the prints, although they are not heavily scratched, nevertheless contain artifacts that could have been digitally excised. I'm speaking of actual artifacts (i.e., dirt and emulsion scratches) on the film itself; not of dust specks, paintbrush streaks, and other slight imperfections inherent in the original animation cels and backgrounds (and that are much more noticable with the higher resolution of the DVD format.) It is my opinion that some of the 1940's cartoons presented here, when compared with cartoons of the same vintage in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 3, could be a little cleaner-looking.
One problem with most of the classic MGM Tom and Jerry cartoons is that they have only been available in reissue prints that were re-released by the studio in the late 1940's and 50's; and that they have been shorn of their original title cards and music cues.
Of the early cartoons on Disc 1 the present DVD set, only Puss Gets The Boot and The Night Before Christmas have the original MGM logo that the studio used in its feature films and in all of its cartoons up until around 1943:
The Midnight Snack is shown in a reissue print from the 1950's and utilizes this opening title with the "MGM Cartoon" logo and "Tom and Jerry" title card:
A variation of this T&J title card, in which the modeling on the characters is reversed, appears on other re-issue prints of 1940's cartoons:
The above MGM Cartoon logo and "Tom and Jerry" title card, along with these earlier designs:
can be seen at the begnning of the remaining non-CinemaScope cartoons in this set.
For the wide-screen productions the following MGM Cartoon logo was used in conjunction with three different Tom and Jerry title cards; the more stylized Tom and Jerry card at the bottom was used during the MGM Cartoon Studio's last year of production:
My special thanks to "Jinxey" for supplying images of the MGM Cartoon Logos. For full details on the discrepancies in the MGM cartoon opening and closing title cards, log on to Jerry Beck's Cartoon Research Page.
A more important matter involves the selection of audio elements for the remastering of some of the titles in Vol. 2. For the uninitiated, this deserves some explanation:
A regular featured character in the classic MGM Tom and Jerry cartoons from 1940 until 1952 was a black maid who went by the unofficial name of "Mammy Two-Shoes" She was referred to as such by the animators because she was usually never seen onscreen from the neck up. This was done to reinforce and accentuate the vantage point of Tom and Jerry, who saw everything and everyone from the floor and baseboards of the house they occupied.
Mammy Two-Shoes was supposedly the housekeeper in the Tom and Jerry cartoons (although in one cartoon she was identified as the actual owner of the house). She was also, unfortunately, a racist caricature who bothered network executives at CBS in the 1960's when a Saturday morning Tom and Jerry cartoon show was proposed. In order to avert any possible protest on the part of the NAACP, it was decided that the original cartoons featuring the Mammy Two Shoes character (voiced by radio and film actress Lillian Randolph) would be modified by re-animating her (and re-dubbing her voice) as an Irish Maid.
The re-animation took place at SIB Tower-12 Productions. This was an independent animation studio formed by Chuck Jones and members of his animation staff from Warner Bros. Cartoons, when that studio was in the process of closing. MGM had already contracted with Jones and his associates to produce a new series of Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts and to provide new animated titles and bridging sequences for The Tom and Jerry Show. The original animation drawings from the classic cartoons directed by Hanna-Barbera were still extant at MGM; it was therefore simple enough to trace over (or rotoscope) the drawings of Mammy Two-Shoes and insert her altered image into new prints of the classic cartoons to be shown on television. Mammy's new voice was provided by June Foray, a veteran of several cartoons produced during the 40's and 50's at Warner Bros. Foray also occasionally voiced the new Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts, along with Mel Blanc (the characters didn't speak, per se, but only made occasional gasps and yells).
What is not generally known is that the picture, voice, and music/SFX elements for all cartoons and feature films produced in the Hollywood studios were usually stored on seperate reels in the vaults; and only "married" when striking new prints from the original negatives. This made it possible to dub English-language films in foreign languages for distribution overseas. For Hollywood musicals this also made it possible to match a singer's voice to an actor who normally did not sing well.
In the case of the Tom and Jerry cartoons that featured Mammy Two-Shoes; sometimes when new prints of the classic cartoons were struck for re-release in theatres or on television (long after the Tom and Jerry show was no longer shown on CBS on Saturday mornings):
1. Either the re-dubbed voice tracks were accidentally matched to the original animation negatives, or
2. The re-animated segments were matched with the original voice tracks--all because of carelessness on the part of the film editors.
In Volume 2 there are six instances in which the soundtracks and picture of cartoons featuring Mammy Two-Shoes have been mis-matched:
1. In Puss Gets The Boot the original Lilian Randolph voice tracks can be heard; when one selects the commentary with Earl Kress and Nicole Parker, however, one hears the June Foray dubbed version. The giveaway is a line that Mammy speaks in the middle of the original cartoon, "...any more breakin' an' dat cat's goin' outta here!" If one listens to the same line while also listening to the commentary, the grammar of the sentence and the timbre of the voice are markedly different(!)
[Post-Script 08/28/07: Since posting this review I have learned that, when audio commentaries are taped for inclusion on DVD sets the commentators are most likely viewing an older, unrestored print of a feature film, television show episode, or animated short—because the restored print was simply not ready in time. Thus, any anomalies on the soundtrack like I have described above might result.]
2. In the actual cartoon print of The Midnight Snack Randolph's voice is readily-apparent. In the audio tracks that accompany the pencil-test reel for the same cartoon, however, June Foray's voice can be heard.
3. In Nit-Witty Kitty the voice is clearly Foray's. In addition, a line of Mammy's dialogue is omitted near the end as she sneaks up on Tom to hit him over the head with a broom to cure his amnesia (an earlier blow to the head has had him behaving like a mouse for most of the cartoon). All that can be heard at that instant is Scott Bradley's underscoring.
4. In Polka-Dot Puss Foray's voice is heard again in place of Randolph.
5. In The Lonesome Mouse, Randolph's voice is heard for most of the cartoon; near the end, however, Foray's voice is inexplicably spliced in(!)
6. In Saturday Evening Puss the June Foray version can be heard. There are four different versions of this cartoon that have been circulating for years:
a) The original, unedited cartoon with Lillian Randolph as Mammy.
b) A re-animated version, in which the Mammy character has been replaced by a white, teen-aged girl (voiced by Foray).
c) The original animation of Mammy, but with Foray's voice tracks.
d) The re-animated version, but with the original Randolph voice tracks.
I don't believe that the discrepancies in Mammy's voice in these cartoons, then, are the result of any overt censorship on the part of Warner Home Video. If they were, then all of the cartoons featuring her in this set would have been altered. No, I believe that the discrepancies encountered here are the result of plain sloppiness and not out of any desire to be politically correct.
Whoopi Goldberg, in her introduction to the set (which is repeated ad nauseum on Disc 2), emphatically stresses to the viewer that the Mammy Two-Shoes character was a product of her time; that although the intent of the producers of the original cartoons was not to offend audiences, people of color were nevertheless hurt by this and other caricatures that were prevalent in Hollywood films of the 30's, 40's and 50's. She also states that "...removing Mammy Two-Shoes from the Tom and Jerry cartoons would be the same as saying she never existed".
Obviously Ms. Goldberg is unaware of the discrepancies with Mammy's voice and appearance that have plagued these cartoons for the past 40 years. The same could be said for animation historian Earl Kress, who erroneously states in his commentary for Polka Dot Puss that the voice of Mammy is that of Lilian Randolph.
Having said all this, I would like to also say that the remaining cartoons from the 1940's and early 1950's in this present DVD set "exemplify the Hollywood cartoon at its best", to quote film critic Leonard Maltin. Among the gems of this set, despite their somewhat less-than-pristine quality, are:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse; a marvelously-atmospheric cartoon with a great music score, which in it's present incarnation has better sound quality than in earlier VHS and DVD compilations.
Part Time Pal; which features Mammy Two-Shoes with the original Lillian Randolph voice, and in which the supurb character delineation and story contribute to one of the best entries in this series. Here, Tom gets drunk and befriends (and is befriended by) Jerry. Wonderful contributions by Scott Bradley.
Old Rockin' Chair Tom; in which Mammy (again completely-voiced by Randolph) brings in a new and younger cat to deal with Jerry. One of the few cartoons in which Tom and Jerry team up against a common enemy. WHV have apparently remastered the same print of this cartoon that was used for the VHS compilation, Tom and Jerry's 50th Birthday Classics (MGM/UA, 1990). In both video versions there is a slight distortion in the soundtrack near the end of the cartoon, as Jerry snatches a pie pan from Tom using a horseshoe magnet.
Mouse In Manhattan; A rare cartoon in which Jerry is featured for most of the time by himself. Tom only apears at the beginning and end of this cartoon. Made the same year as the animated sequence (featured in Volume 1) in the Gene Kelly musical, Anchors Away, this cartoon features a Gershwin-inspired score and a wonderful dance sequence. The effects animation, layouts and backgrounds in this cartoon rival and sometimes surpass anything being done at the Disney studios around the same time.
The Cat And The Mermouse contains a great fantasy element in that most of the action takes place underwater. Some scenes anticipate the Tom and Jerry animated sequence that would be featured in the 1953 MGM Esther Williams musical, Dangerous When Wet (a clip of which was included in Volume 1)
The Bowling Alley-Cat actually boasts a better visual quality here than in previous VHS and broadcast television incarnations (which were rather dim and faded-looking). Many details, like Jerry's reflection in the polished lane floors are more readily-apparent. This cartoon features the scruffier version of Tom and has better gags than the later Cue Ball Cat that was featured in Volume 1.
Previous VHS and DVD versions of The Missing Mouse seem to have somehow been remastered at a slightly faster speed; which had resulted in the audio track being pitched at least a semitone sharp. I had seen this cartoon numerous times on TV (and even had gone so far as tape the soundtrack off the air for later listening) and I was immediately aware of changes in instrumental timbres—particularly in the trombone and oboe—when I later saw the cartoon on home video. In the present transfer WHV seem to have corrected this problem; the timbres sound the way I first heard them. As far as I can tell, the MGM Studio Orchestra (consisting of some of the finest professional musicians in Hollywood) was usually tuned to normal concert pitch (A = 440 Hz). All that aside, this cartoon is one of my favorites. The story is funny, as are Tom's double-takes; the backgrounds by Robert Gentle are top-notch (no one could render kitchen tiles and cabinets the way he could); and the music score is truly great. This is perhaps the only MGM cartoon during the period from 1934-57 in which Scott Bradley did not write the music. The on-screen music credits actually go to Edward Plumb, who was an arranger at Disney and whose previous credits included Fantasia and Bambi. Plumb was most likely Bradley's arranger and copyist during the late 40's and early 50's; although I have not been able to find any documentation to support that theory.
As far as the extra features are concerned, only the pencil test footage of The Midnight Snack is of any real worth; the rest (with the exception of interviews with veteran animators and production staff from the MGM studios) seems highly-superfluous. I can't even begin to understand the rationale behind engaging Mike Barinholtz and Nicole Parker from MAD-TV to provide interviews and commentary for the present set; except that it seems to be a feeble attempt by the producers to make Tom and Jerry attractive to the 15-25 age-group. I don't doubt that Parker and Barinholtz are fans of Tom and Jerry, but their comments are more obtrusive than informative. Why can't WHV simply let these cartoons stand on their own merit, without the aid of contemporary celebrities to promote them to a wider demographic?
This is not by any means a horrible DVD set. Then again, because of the inconsistancies with the aforementioned cartoons featuring Mammy Two-Shoes; it is not the truly great set it could (and should) have been. If you already have these cartoons on VHS or laserdisc, stick with those versions. If not, and you want to obtain a nearly complete collection of the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons, then purchase this set and its companion volume (despite the title-duplication of Texas Tom in both sets).
WHV were supposed to release a replacement Disc 1 to customers who had purchased the first volume, which contained cartoons that had been edited for content. This never happped as promised; so it's all the more important now that they be held accountable for their actions. Perhaps what is needed here is a petition; signed by concerned collectors, demanding that the previous mistakes be corrected post haste. Anyone who has been dissatisfied by the inconsistancies in this set and the previous one should log on to Amazon.com and post a negative customer review. The marketing executives at WHV apparently read the customer reviews on Amazon and other sites; so this may be a good way for many of us to have our voices heard.
-------------------------
"Sit, Ubu, sit... good dog!" ("Arf"!)
(This post was edited by zavkram on Feb 14, 2008, 7:22 PM)
|
|
|
|
