This past Wednesday we brought you Warner Home Video's
announcement that on
June 23rd they would release
Tom and Jerry - The Chuck Jones Collection, a 2-disc set with 34 remastered shorts from 1963-67. They were produced by Jones' Sib Tower 12 Productions company, which he co-founded after ending his
Looney employment with Warner Brothers. The shorts were made for theatrical showings, but were repurposed for television viewing in the
Tom and Jerry program which ran on CBS from 1965-72.
In our original report about the upcoming DVD set, we passed along information obtatined from Warner that "
Video will be in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio." The word "original" was one we chose to use, not the studio; we had believed that the Jones-era cartoons (and the Gene Deitch-era cartoons just prior) were both originally framed in the old, non-wide format. That belief of ours was supported in various ways, including the fact that the old LaserDisc release of the Jones shorts had been released in 1.33:1 "full frame" (see the information at
at this link; thanks to reader Paul Mular for providing it).
After our initial write-up, however, the studio provided a separate document which had contradictory information, stating that the shorts on this 2-disc set would be "
remastered in their original theatrical widescreen format." We naturally went back to Warner Home Video to double-check this info, and ask which was correct. They responded that "
These shorts were remastered in their original theatrical format...1.85 aspect ratio." So the upcoming release will definitely be in widescreen.
Our next question, of course, is "which aspect ratio is correct?" Not that Warner gives us reason to doubt them in recent times, but we know fans will ask that question, so we wanted to be ready with the answer. We decided that the best possible person to pose this question to would be renowned animation expert, Jerry Beck. Jerry was kind enough to respond quickly with a reply that makes things crystal clear: "
The cartoons themselves were never in CinemaScope, but were designed for a 1:85 screen ratio for theatres, but filmed full frame for TV." So fans who purchase Warner's upcoming set can be assured that they are getting it in the original aspect ratio ("OAR"), as designed for theaters. Good to know.
Our thanks to Jerry Beck for taking time to provide that, and for also passing on info about this release
at his Cartoon Brew blog (where he credited me as a source; I deeply appreciate that, too!). There he commented that the old LaserDisc release "
was marred by awful DVNR clean-up technology," and assures that this issue is fixed with the new remastering done for these DVDs. Thanks for letting us know that, too. And thanks especially to our contacts at Warner Home Video for their assistance, too...we know how busy everyone is!
