The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection is a series of two-disc DVD sets released by Warner Home Video. Originally planned as an uncensored, chronological set, the issued Spotlight Collection sets include selected Tom and Jerry shorts on each volume. Volume 1 was released on October 19, 2004, Volume 2 on October 25, 2005, and the third and final volume on September 11, 2007. On October 15, 2019, the set, which consists of 4 discs, was repackaged with some errors fixed.
A superscripted one ( 1 ) denotes cartoons in the standard Academy ratio presented in newly remastered versions. A superscripted two ( 2 ) denotes cartoons presented in the CinemaScope aspect ratio using a new anamorphic widescreen transfer.
An introduction by Whoopi Goldberg where Goldberg explains that the Tom and Jerry cartoons may contain racial stereotyping (particularly centered on the appearance of Mammy Two-Shoes) that may offend some modern-day viewers.[2] A similar introduction is in the third volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.
Commentary tracks on Puss Gets the Boot, The Night Before Christmas, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse, and Saturday Evening Puss by MADtv castmember Nicole Parker and animation historian Earl Kress[2]
"Animators as Actors": Actor's workshop of where the inspiration for character personalities come from[2]
"The Comedy Stylings of Tom and Jerry" (featuring appearances by Mark Kausler, Jerry Beck, and MADtv castmembers Nicole Parker and Ike Barinholtz)[2]
Vol. 3 completes the Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry cartoons, save for Mouse Cleaning and Casanova Cat. According to a Warner Home Video press release, these cartoons were omitted from the set for racial stereotyping.[3] (These cartoons are presented uncut on the European PAL DVD set Tom and Jerry: The Classic Collection, with Mouse Cleaning appearing on Vol. 2 and Casanova Cat appearing on Vol. 3 of that series.)
Disc two contains shorts presented in the CinemaScope format, all in new anamorphic widescreen transfers.[4] However, one short, Pup on a Picnic, is presented in a cropped and zoomed 16:9 version rather than in its true 2.35:1 proportions. This short was later released by Warner on streaming in its correct aspect ratio.
"Cat and Mouse: The Tale of Tom and Jerry": a documentary on the history of the Tom and Jerry shorts, and the censorship issues the series has had to deal with.[4]
The Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection sets contain shorts that have been altered from their original versions.
The first volume contains three shorts (The Milky Waif, The Truce Hurts, and The Little Orphan) that include depictions of blackface. Censored versions of these were in the 2004 release, though Warner corrected this through a disc replacement program, which began in 2006. Subsequent releases are not censored.
The second volume contains four shorts (The Lonesome Mouse, Polka-Dot Puss, Saturday Evening Puss and Nit-Witty Kitty) with edited sound tracks. These four shorts contained a redubbed Mammy Two Shoes audio track, instead of the original. Similarly to the first volume, Warner instated a disc replacement program, and later reprints contain the original Mammy Two Shoes tracks.
The final volume contains an edited version of His Mouse Friday (1951). The shorts Mouse Cleaning (1948) and Casanova Cat (1951) were omitted from the set due to their inappropriate racial stereotypes, according to a statement from Warner Home Video.[5] These two shorts were the only original Tom and Jerry shorts not present in the Spotlight Collection series, however, the two shorts are on the European Classic Collection.
