Comments on: “I’ll strangle the guy who sez CRI Technicolor!”

By: D.M.

D.M. — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:19:07 +0000

“Was it the one with Tanner or the one with the current lion?”

It’s the current lion, with the red “A” and “CARTOON” as in Deitch cartoons. It’s just like this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhsCQvmRr48

By: Bobby Joe

Bobby Joe — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:47:06 +0000

I have a random question concerning the cartoons with the 60’s MGM logo… what did the logo look like? Was it the one with Tanner or the one with the current lion? And did it say “A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer CARTOON” around the logo, or did it just simply say “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer”?

By: R. Araya

R. Araya — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:10:46 +0000

“what does CRI stand for? what does it mean?”
Color Reversal Internegative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_reversal_internegative).

By: wahoo76

wahoo76 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:50:46 +0000

what does CRI stand for? what does it mean?

By: Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:31:49 +0000

Sometimes I wonder if restorations don’t harm quality, removing the varnish or vaseline lens of the old prints. I find in the recently antholoigized Warners things I didn’t see heretofore: dirty platen, cel reflections, dirty cels, and uneven opaqueing. Either I have a better eye for these things now, or restoration has brought out all the little imperfections.

By: Mesterius

Mesterius — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:23:27 +0000

Huh. I just realized that the cartoons with the 60s MGM logo are the same cartoons which look lackluster compared with the best restorations. Guess that makes sense. I hope Warner at least issues disc replacements for those cartoons which actually had better-looking versions on the Spotlight collections.

By: Mesterius

Mesterius — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:49:29 +0000

Thanks for this in-depth review. Even though the inferior quality of those 10 cartoons DOES bug me (especially seeing the screenshot comparisons of your print vs. Warner’s print of Mouse Trouble – why the heck didn’t they seek advice/prints from historians like yourself and David?), I’ll probably buy this release anyway. After all, how likely is it that Warner Bros. should issue a disc replacement program for restoring those cartoons once more, and better? (Those things do take time, as far as I know…)

Still, there is one thing which bugs me even more about this release – and seems fixable. The fact that they used the 60s MGM logo for the opening titles of some cartoons. It just seems completely out of place – and it would probably be an easy matter for Warners to just go in and change those titles to something at least slighty better and aesthetically more pleasing, like the 1950s re-issue titles. (If nothing else, those re-issue openings were at least put together by the artists working on the original T&J cartoons.) So I’m halfway hoping they could at least start a disc replacement for that, and/or change it in future pressings. But getting back to what I was gonna ask… could you also list all the cartoons which have the 60s MGM logo in their opening titles?

By: David

David — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:46:35 +0000

“You will never see a 100% perfect Tom & Jerry release unless either David Gerstein or I are looking over it every step of the way. This is a fact. But given that idealistic scenario will never happen, this is about as good as you’ll be getting.”

When it comes to cartoon DVD releases, I’ve learned it’s good to think of the adage ‘never say never.’ I posited a very similar idea on the thread discussing this set over on the GAC, and I think that given the right circumstances there could someday be someone like yourself, Mr. Gerstein or, better still, someone willing to seek your advice, on WB’s payroll whose job is to ensure that future ‘ineptitude’ is avoided.

By: John

John — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:44:56 +0000

Thank you for the review. It is obvious that you are very knowledgeable about cartoons. Much more than me for sure.

Still, the most exciting thing about this set is that we finally have the opportunity to watch these shorts in hi-def

By: Matias

Matias — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:27:07 +0000

While I get your point, can clearly see how the Technicolor version of “Mouse Trouble” has better colors than the BD, and would love to see proper CRI Technicolor restorations of ALL the “Screwed-up 10″, I have to say that at least, Mouse Trouble doesn’t look THAT bad, Eastman or not. Or if it isn’t Eastman, what is it?

On the other hand, Puttin’ On The Dog looks really nasty. That’s just what I was afraid I’d see when you said Eastman prints made their way.

Also, you imply that there are different types of CRI elements for T&J (at least used on this set) so it’d be great if you did explain more about the specifical sets of CRI elements for T&J and which shorts are which.

I appreciate your efforts.