TV Show Info:

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: December 8, 2007-March 22, 2008
DVD Release Date: February 3, 2009
Online Availability: Amazon for $10.99
Episodes: Episodes #22-#26 from Season Two

It’s time for yet another review of Tom and Jerry Tales. This time it’s Volume 6. You can check out reviews of Volume 5 and Volume 4 here on LI Kids. While the episodes on Volume 4 weren’t well received, Volume 5 seems to have been a lot more entertaining and engaging. In this review you’ll discover if the show continues to get better in Volume 6.

Before I get into reviewing Volume 6, I should mention that my 14 year old son loved to watch Tom and Jerry Tales when it aired on Kids WB and The CW4Kids. This was one of his favorite shows, actually. He’s long been a fan of the old Tom and Jerry cartoons, but this version is a bit more hyped up, so this new generation can get into it a bit more. Though we argue about “taste” he would say “his T&J” – particularly those from Tom and Jerry Tales are superior to the originals. I’m a traditionalist, so I, of course, disagree.

I can tell you this, Tom and Jerry Tales is going to be best received by a younger audience. There are some historical lessons that have been snuck into the plot of some of these episodes, so your children will learn as they watch, but at the fundamental base of this show, it truly is a game of Cat and Mouse, which is the main similarity of this to past Tom and Jerry cartoons.

While this isn’t my favorite cartoon, and I’m not a huge Tom and Jerry fan anyway, this show isn’t so horrible that I can’t watch it with my kids. The one thing that distinguishes this from the original is that Tom and Jerry do, on speak or sing fairly regularly. I think that part of the charm of the duo is having them never (or rarely ever) speak. It makes their plight to catch one another even more elusive. Having them speak takes some of the fun out of the show. But, of course, that’s just my opinion.

The Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 6 Plot

Episode #22 – Declaration of Independunce/Kitty Hawked/24 Karat Kat:

The first part of the episode is July 4, 1776. Thomas Jefferson is with his lazy cat, Tom. Tom is no longer lazy once he discovers a colonial version of Jerry Mouse hiding in Jefferson’s books. Tom turns the paper the Declaration of Independence was drafted on into a paper airplane and he ships Jerry out the window in it. Jefferson sends him off to get the paper, as the fate of the Republic depends upon it. Of course, Tom faces big trouble when Jerry turns the document over to the red coats.

Part Two continues with the historical theme. In the museum of history and science, a Grandpa looking Jerry is leading a bunch of little nice through the museum. He is telling them about the first flight. In the shop of the Wright Brothers in Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville are mad because Jerry mouse is causing trouble. They send their cat, Tom after the mouse, and Jerry manages to grab some paper to use little flying wings out of poster board. The Wright Brothers use Jerry’s knowledge of aerodynamics to test out the first flight…by a mouse.

The final cartoon on this episode has us heading out west during the gold rush. When Jerry strikes gold, Tom and Butch decide to steal the gold from him, but Sheriff Spike finds them before they can, scaring them off. Their encounter with Spike doesn’t stop the two from hatching various plans to steal Jerry’s gold, no matter the cost.

Episode #23 – Hockey Schtick/Snow Brawl/The Abominable Snowmouse:

From history we move on to sports. It’s winter time and Jerry is so excited. He runs the hose to make his very own ice skating rink. Jerry decorates up the place as he enjoys skating around, but his plans are interrupted by a fierce looking ice hockey player, Tom, who takes over the ice skating rink, turning it into a hockey rink. The two fight for control over the ice, with Tom wanting to play hockey and Jerry wanting to skate elegantly.

The wintry theme continues in the second part of this episode. On a cold winter day, Jerry attacks Tom in his warm bed, with snowballs. Once Tom’s outside, the two end up having a massive snow brawl with Tom losing pitifully to Jerry, until one of Jerry’s super big snowballs mows out in front of a truck filled with magic hats. When one of the hats gets stuck on Tom’s snow cat’s head, he helps protect Tom from Jerry, so Jerry steals a magic fez for his snow mouse. Tom is left with no choice but to create a gigantic snow cat/beast and finally an army of snow cats. With Jerry forming his own army of snow mice, the brawl truly is on.

There is one more snowy tale in this episode. A frozen Tom is trapped outside in a snowstorm. He comes upon a tiny house, the home of Jerry mouse. Tom is desperate to get Jerry, so he does everything to get him out of his home. This includes destroying it. With no place to go, the two end up in a cave with a humongous, sleeping snow mouse. Jerry uses the Snow mouse to hide from Tom with some pretty funny results.

Episode #24 – DJ Jerry/Kitty Kat Blues/Flamenco Fiasco:

In the records store, Tom Cat is in charge for the night. He has to make sure nothing happens while the owner is away. Once the owner is gone, the mice in town can go into the wall of the record store to the club “Hole in the Wall”. This is where Jerry is the DJ and Spike is the bouncer. As you’ve probably guessed, Tom tries to ruin their fun so he can get some sleep. Of course, he destroys the record store, in the process. It wouldn’t be Tom and Jerry without a good ol fashioned chase scene, anyway.

The musical fun continues in this retrofied take on Tom and Jerry. Tom tries to impress a beautiful, girl cat named Toots. This is a modernized cartoon of many of the 1940s Tom and Jerry cartoons featuring bluesy style music. Tom is a miss with Toots, until he gives her Jerry as a present, who she loves. While she babies Jerry, Tom does everything he can to get her back and destroy Jerry, in the process. When Tom learns Toots loves musicians, he decides to serenade her, with his own version of the blues while searching for Jerry, so he can get rid of him.

The musical numbers keep rolling in for the third part of this episode. Tom sets out to impress royalty with his amazing Flamenco dancing skills. He’s the only one brave enough to get up on stage. He and his dance partner impress until Jerry, who is on a date with a beautiful female mouse beneath the stage, must do something to stop Tom from stomping and dancing, which is ruining his date. Jerry sets out to make a fool of Tom and the two fight for control of the stage in typical Tom and Jerry fashion. Finally, the two have a dance off for possession of the Golden Guitar.

Episode #25 – You’re Lion/Kangadoofus/Monkey Chow

It’s time to visit the Safari. Tom is reading about the Big Cats of Africa, and he’s bored until he gets to see the Lions. He’s excited because they are his royal cousins. He tries to give the male lion Jerry as a present, but the Lion decides to try and eat Tom instead. Jerry actually works to save Tom from the Lion, and the two work together long enough to prevent Tom from becoming the hunted. Of course, they’ll need a little help from the rest of the animals in the safari to get out alive.

Part two keeps on with the animal theme when Jerry climbs to the top of a cliff in Australia. Looking over the beautiful land he sees many unusual animals from the Koalas to the Duck Billed Platypuses. Tom catches up to Jerry, chasing him into the pouch of a Kangaroo. The kangaroos look remarkably like Jerry, except they can hop, and have Kanga shaped tails. The mom decides to adopt Jerry into the family protecting him from Tom, but Tom’s not fooled by Jerry’s trickery, so he does everything in his power to get Jerry away from the roos.

The last part of this episode has Tom and Jerry visiting the Monkey Garden with Mrs. Two Shoes. She wants Jerry to disappear, so Tom tries to get rid of him for her. Doing his job for once, it’s paybacks for Jerry when he feeds the Monkeys despite a sign warning him not to do so. When the monkey steals Mrs. Two Shoes purse because Tom has put food in it, she makes Tom go get it back for her. After getting her ipod back (Tom does — but not her purse), Jerry releases the Man Eating plant to eat Tom and the two (the monkey and Jerry) go through her purse, making fun of (and electrocuting) Tom in the process. When the monkey escapes from the garden with Jerry in Mrs. Two Shoes’ car, it’s up to Tom to stop them.

Episode #26 – Game of Mouse and Cat/Babysitting Blues/Catfish Follies

The final episode in this set starts with Tom and Jerry back at home. Jerry pretends that Mrs. Two Shoes likes him and is afraid of Tom. She tells Jerry to find Tom and get rid of him the way Tom so often tries to rid the home of Jerry. The tables are turned when Jerry is the one kicking Tom out on the street with Butch. Tom sneaks his way back in and Jerry must continue to kick him out or face Mrs. Two Shoes’ wrath. Of course, it’s all a mind game, and Tom has a game of his own he’d like to play.

Part two of this episode is all about babysitting. Jerry has to babysit his nephew, Nibbles. When Jerry thinks he left Nibbles outside, the baby mouse crawls off to visit Tom, who is more than willing to eat the little tyke. Jerry must stop him, of course, but that doesn’t stop Tom from trying to eat little Nibbles every chance he gets. Tom is interrupted when his sister shows up with Tom’s super fat baby nephew, who he has to babysit, as well. Together, the two must get through the babysitting thing, especially when it becomes clear Tom’s nephew is afraid of Nibbles.

The episode wraps up at a Lake in the middle of a beautiful forest. Jerry is fishing and catching a bunch of fish. Tom is across the lake from him, fishing as well and he isn’t catching anything, except for maybe an electric eel. When a smart alec fish who looks a lot like Butch torments Tom, he’s displeased, but as a catfish the Butch fish decides he likes to catch mice. As a result, he sets out to do what he can to make both Tom and Jerry’s experience fishing miserable.

Storyline/Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 4 out of 5 stars
Acting: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
If you have ever watched Tom and Jerry Tales on television then you will be pretty familiar with the kind of quality that you can expect in this one disc volume. There are not any major problems to report here. The color palette was good and should certainly please the average child that will be watching this. Compression errors were kept to a minimum and it was rare to see problems with noise or distortion. Tom and Jerry Tales is a newer cartoon so things look pretty decent. Detail is fair and kids won’t have any problems with this DVD assuming they are Tom and Jerry fans.

The audio comes through without a hitch. It’s not perfect audio, by any means, but it’s perfect for a show like this. The dialogue comes through easily without a problem and the music and sound effects are as dynamic as they need to be to get the point across. It’s not like something you would hear in a Blu-ray setting, but it certainly meets its goal for a standard DVD. Not only that, but this DVD exceeds the expectations in the language department, offering language support in English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Subtitles are offered in English, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. I am not sure why they are missing in French.

Visual: 4 out of 5 stars
Audio: 4 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
There are previews for the following DVDs that are being released by Warner Home Video: A Pup Named Scooby Doo: Season 1, Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 5, and Pop Go the Wiggles. If you want to call that a good bonus section then you’ll be thrilled. Otherwise, you might have some issues.

Bonus Features: 0 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 6 features some of the better episodes from the show. If you have kids, this purchase is a no brainer. Sure, Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 6 doesn’t feature anything when it comes to bonuses, but the quality is good and your kids are definitely going to enjoy what is offered here. All of the episodes are family friendly and there isn’t much to worry about, even with the various injuries that happen to Tom and occasionally Jerry. Tom and Jerry Tales, Vol. 6 is recommended.

Overall Rating: 3.21 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: DVD Review, Tom and Jerry Tales, Volume 6, Cartoon, Kids Show, TV on DVD, Warner Bros

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: March 1, 2008-March 15, 2008
Season Air Dates: March 1, 2008-June 14, 2008
DVD Box Set Release Date: September 9, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $14.99
Episodes: Season One – Episodes #1, #2, and #3

I’m a huge fan of comic based television shows. I’m into all the Batman, Justice League, X-Men, and Superman cartoons. I just have never been a fan of Spiderman. So, when The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard fell into my lap for review, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Spidey just isn’t my guy. Give me a good old Dark Knight cartoon and I’ll be entertained thoroughly (as long as the story is good, of course!). I just don’t get the thrill of a guy who looks and acts like a spider. What’s so cool about spiders, anyway?

When The Spectacular Spider-Man started airing on the CW4Kids network, I didn’t watch it. My son is more into the 4KidsTV lineup, so he never saw this show either. Our family’s first exposure to this series was in the form of The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard. Ok, now I know that cartoons are a bit fast paced these days, but they were fast paced back in the 80s when I was a kid. If you can’t keep up with a cartoon you shouldn’t be trying to review it!

I really liked The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard. I recommended it to Ashtyn. I recommended it to my son, who isn’t a huge Spidey fan either. I recommended it to my nephew and all the other kids in my neighborhood. I don’t get why some reviewers think The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard was choppy. Had I not known this was the first three episodes of the series, which started airing on television in March of 2008, I’d have thought this was meant to be a full length feature.

That being said, The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard isn’t the Spiderman of the past. I recall the series I watched of Spidey in the 80s. This show actually follows Peter Parker as he discovers his Spidey powers. It’s fun, entertaining, and perhaps even a bit juvenile at times, but c’mon. It’s a cartoon! It’s designed for kids! I’m a big kid myself, so I get it. Adults (especially stuffy ones) just won’t get the allure of this show, but kids will, and that’s all that matters!

The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard Plot
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard DVD presents the first three episodes of The Spectacular Spider-Man television series. These three episodes actually tell a full story and compliment one another nicely. I didn’t feel that these episodes were necessarily choppy or hastily put together. They had pauses that were, no doubt, for commercials, but any cartoon television series is going to have those types of breaks in the action. That’s the entire point of it being a television show!

The episodes that have been combined to make one full length feature are “Survival of the Fittest”, “Interactions” and “Natural Selection”. While the plot shifts gears a few times, it’s pretty easy to follow, nonetheless. The story begins with a high school student named Peter Parker (Josh Keaton). This high school junior has just realized that over the summer, he has developed powers. These make him the elusive Spiderman, who is really just an “urban legend” at this point. Peter is sure this is going to be a much better year than the last, but the jocks at school still see him as a nerd, not realizing he’s the Spiderman. Luckily, he has a few friends who make his solitary existence a bit more tolerable. This includes his best friends, Gwen Stacy (Lacey Chabert) and Harry Osborn (James Arnold Taylor).

In the first episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, Spidey must take on a scientist named Adrian Toomes. Toomes has created his own flying ability to get revenge on Norman Osborn (Harry’s dad), as Osborn stole his original flying technology in the first place. Of course, Peter has other things on his mind that are almost more important than catching bad guys. Aunt May (Deborah Strang) is out of money, and she doesn’t want Peter to know. Of course, Peter makes it his mission to find the cash for her. This leads him to J. Jonas Jameson, to whom he suggests that Jameson pay him if he can get pictures of Spidey in action.

Peter has gotten a job at the laboratory where he first received the spider bite. He works with Gwen and some other people, including Eddie Brock, a jock that went to his high school a few years back. All of them work for Dr. Curt Connors (Dee Bradley Baker) and his wife, Martha (Kath Soucie) at the Empire State University laboratory. During a fluke accident at the lab, an electrician named Max Dillon is transformed into Electro, a powerful, electrically charged villain. While Dr. Curt tries to help Max, he accepts his fate and realizes that as Electro he holds all the power.

Peter must stop Electro, but he also has to make sure he does so while following Aunt May’s curfew rules. This puts a damper on anything Spidey related. Peter is still trying to get that picture to make money for Aunt May. He is also trying to tutor Liz Allen, a popular girl who doesn’t seem to take anything seriously.

With Electro messing up some vials at the lab that Curt Connors is using to try and regrow the arm he lost in the Gulf War, the doctor unwilling puts himself and everyone else at risk. He regrows his arm, but with a price he must pay. With the doctor transforming into The Lizard, Spiderman has more on his plate than a regular teenager should have to handle.

Storyline/Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 5 out of 5 stars
Acting: 5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 4 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard looks excellent! You can tell this animation is definitely comic book inspired. The colors are vibrant, the contrast of the animation is sharp, and there isn’t any color bleeding or glow. The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer isn’t exactly typical for a cartoon series. That is what makes this quality so much better than your standard cartoon. I was impressed even if there were some minor instances of compression artifacts. To someone just watching this and not looking for flaws, these minor flaws won’t be noticeable.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track far surpasses the audio track of a standard DVD cartoon transfer. Sony went all out when putting The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard on DVD. The sound is dynamic with music, dialogue and sound effects filling out the speakers nicely. While this isn’t going to blow your mind like a Transformers soundtrack would, it’s definitely better than I expected to hear. This track offers closed captioning for the hearing impaired and subtitles are available in French.

Visual: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Audio: [rating:]

Bonus Features:
The only bonus here is a music video. This is the Spectacular Spider-Man music video. It originally aired in theaters. It isn’t exactly awesome, but it is better than nothing. This is, perhaps, the most disappointing section of this DVD.

Other than that, The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard only offers up trailers.

Bonus Features: 2 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
I don’t know why other reviewers didn’t like this. I really enjoyed The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard. It is one of those cartoons that isn’t so cerebral that you can’t enjoy watching it with your kids, yet it is entertaining and engaging enough to appeal to a vast audience. While Spiderman purists won’t enjoy the liberties taken with the telling of this story (Gwen and Peter met at college, not high school, etc.), those of us who enjoy a good story will be able to get over those story changes. These kind of changes happen in comic books all the time. So, if you have a comic book based cartoon fan on your hands, pick up a copy of The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard. Neither of you will be disappointed.

Overall Rating: 4.08 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Spectacular Spider-Man, Attack of the Lizard, DVD Review, TV show, Kids WB, CW4Kids, Spiderman, Cartoon, Full Length Feature