Tom & Jerry Cartoon Festival are early home video volumes of Tom and Jerry cartoons released on VHS, Betamax, CED Videodisc, and LaserDisc by MGM/UA Home Video from 1981 to 1984. Many of the Tom and Jerry shorts made their home video debuts through this series.
Each video contains 8 cartoons, most of them from the Hanna-Barbera-era with Fred Quimby's input (except for its fourth volume, which only had cartoons from the Chuck Jones-era). These do not include the CinemaScope or Gene Deitch cartoons; the Deitch cartoons would not be distributed on television until 1988.
1denotes the Chuck Jones' censored version.
2denotes a sequence was cut.
3denotes the short uses the Academy ratio version.
4denotes the post Hanna-Barbera-era.
5denotes the print being re-used in The Art of Tom & Jerry laserdisc releases in the early-1990s
Volume 1[]
- The Flying Cat
- The Bodyguard
- The Little Orphan1
- Jerry's Cousin
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse5
- Mice Follies
- The Cat and the Mermouse
- The Cat Concerto
Volume 2[]
- Mouse Trouble
- Jerry and the Lion
- Mouse in Manhattan
- The Milky Waif2
- Cat Napping5
- Saturday Evening Puss1
- Hic-cup Pup
- The Invisible Mouse
Volume 3[]
- The Million Dollar Cat
- The Night Before Christmas5
- Polka-Dot Puss5
- Two Little Indians
- Trap Happy
- The Hollywood Bowl
- Cue Ball Cat5
- Little Runaway5
Volume 4[]
- Fraidy Cat25
- Baby Butch5
- Johann Mouse5
- Pet Peeve35
- The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.45
- The Dog House5
- Baby Puss5
- The Zoot Cat5
Gallery[]
VHS[]
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Betamax[]
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
CED Videodisc[]
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
LaserDisc[]
Volume 1
Volume 2
Notes[]
- The prints used for the first two volumes are all sourced from old, worn-out and faded 16mm TV prints used on syndicated television airings in the 1970s, therefore resulting into each cartoon having far lesser picture quality than in later prints (even by 1980s and 1990s VHS era standards) and consequently feature anomalies that are normally not present on later video remasters, such as very faded colors, glitchy pictures (due to film print damage), poor quality sound, and in some cases, censorship and cuts which are done in a sloppy or abrupt way (as in The Milky Waif). Some shorts in this collection also use 1960s Chuck Jones reanimated versions, which alter certain scenes for censorship reasons. However, beginning with Volume 3, subsequent Tom and Jerry cartoons (and other MGM cartoons in general) are mastered off higher-quality 35mm film elements, therefore resulting a noticeable increase in the picture quality of the prints compared to the ones in Volumes 1 and 2, although the prints used in Volumes 3 and 4 still appear quite faded compared to later home video releases.
- Several cartoons on the first two volumes have blocked out "Technicolor" by black bars for broadcasting reasons in the old world and this is the only set to do so. Also, some shorts have the logo's Tanner the Lion replaced by that of Leo that omits "Technicolor" as well.
- Most of the cartoons in Volumes 1 and 2 (and to some extent, Volume 3) would later be remastered with better prints for The Art of Tom and Jerry LaserDisc releases in the early-1990s, though only the two Cartoon Festival prints of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse and Cat Napping ended up in said LaserDisc series for unknown reasons.
- The CED Videodisc format only released 3 volumes of the Cartoon Festival while volume 4 for said format was cancelled due to CED Videodiscs were being outsold by the then-successful LaserDisc. This was also due to bad sales of the CED Videodisc players, which ceased operations in 1984, despite these discs were still in the markets until 1986.
- The LaserDisc versions only released the first two volumes as the last two volumes were cancelled for unknown reasons.
- The first volume was issued by CBS Video in 1981. CBS was at the time joining forces with MGM video marketing before CBS departed in 1982 due to MGM bought and merged with the near-bankrupt United Artists (UA) from Transamerica as MGM/CBS was rebranded to MGM/UA. Because of this, the first volume was reissued in 1986 by the then-current MGM/UA rebrand.
- Prior to the 1986 VHS/Betamax reissue, the CED Videodisc was issued by the then-current rebrand in 1982 as copies from the former MGM/CBS brand in 1981 were minimized and are deemed extremely rare today.
- Due to updates with the video covers in the late 1980s, the cardboard video covers from the earlier video era are very unique and have become collector's items today. These volumes have gotten quite expensive on online markets in later years.
- Saturday Evening Puss, on volume 2, features the Chuck Jones' redrawn version, but erroneously uses the audio containing Lillian Randolph's original dialogue for Mammy Two Shoes instead of June Foray's, who voiced the thin young lady who replaced Mammy for the 1960s television, therefore resulting the final scenes to have the soundtrack appear out-of-sync.
- The Milky Waif, on volume 2, is edited to remove a blackface gag, due to it being sourced from a 16mm print containing this edit.
- The Dog House, on volume 4, keeps its original ending title card in this video collection, as its ending title card has been changed in both Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Classics Volume III VHS release and The Art Of Tom & Jerry LaserDisc release for unknown reasons.
- These are the only video releases that noted copyright dates of the original cartoons, as well as noted them if they were renewed or will be renewed in the upcoming years.
- At least one cartoon, The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R., was not listed for renewal since it was newer than the others at the time as it was made in 1967. Therefore, it would not be renewed until the 1990s.
- The VHS box art of Volume 3 uses character designs based off the Chuck Jones-era cartoons, despite the fact that none of the Chuck Jones era cartoons are included on that VHS release.