There is much to love about Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology, though a few details fall short of expectations.
I was thrilled to receive a copy of Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology, especially after hearing that the set would contain all 114 classic Tom and Jerry shorts, uncut and uncensored. As a lifelong Tom and Jerry fan, I’d long bewailed the fact that some of the shorts just weren’t available on modern home video, making this release a seeming dream come true.
Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology
Released by: Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release Date: December 2, 2025
While the DVD version that I have is missing the extra disc of special features, the release is, for the most part, everything one could hope for. All of the shorts are indeed included, with the animation cleaned up and restored. And having multiple commentary tracks to choose from for multiple cartoons is fun also, as each set of commentators has their own interesting tidbits to add to the story.
I do, however, have a major bone to pick with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and it has everything to do with Mammy Two-Shoes, a recurring character in the early cartoons presented as Tom’s long-suffering owner.
For those who might not be familiar, Mammy Two-Shoes was originally voiced by Lillian Randolph (1898-1980), an American actress and singer and star of radio, film, and television. As Mammy, as her name implies, was based on the mammy stereotype, the character originally spoke in something of a broken dialect. For example, the character might say “You is” instead of “You are.”
I state all this because when the set promised to show the cartoons *exactly* as they were shown in theaters the first time, I fully expected to pop in the first disc and hear Lillian Randolph’s distinctive voice. Imagine my surprise then, when “Puss Gets the Boot” started playing and someone else’s voice came on for Mammy. You see, back in the 1990s, the character of Mammy was redubbed by Thea Vidale. The lines are almost identical, the primary difference is Mammy now speaks grammatically proper English.
For those who have heard both versions, as I have, the difference is immediately obvious. If the set had contained multiple audio track options for Mammy’s voice, that would be one thing. But this set clearly uses the 90s re-dub, which, while similar, is not the original audio and frankly I am not okay with this decision. If you are going to restore a cartoon to how it was originally presented, you have to include all the elements and that includes how certain characters spoke. Of course it was racist for Mammy to speak that way at all, but that falls under the message presented at the beginning of the set that says “These cartoons are a product of their times….” and can’t really be used as an excuse.
I know the original audio exists because my older Tom and Jerry sets contain Lillian Randolph’s voice, not the redub. I find it hard to believe that it wasn’t possible to remaster the original audio instead of going with a more recent dub.
Thankfully, apart from that issue, the rest of the set is everything I could’ve wished for. The cartoons were, in terms of visuals, restored perfectly. For anyone wanting to add the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons to their physical media collection, this is the most affordable way to do it.
Tom and Jerry: The Golden Era Anthology is now available everywhere.
