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00:00 Hey, I'm Whoopi Goldberg and welcome to the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection.
00:05 I've been a fan of Tom and Jerry since I was a little kid, because they're the quintessential
00:09 cartoon comedy team in that slapstick tradition of great silent comics.
00:14 The Oscar-nominated short Puss Gets the Boot first set the stage for their ongoing literal
00:18 cat and mouse game that usually ended with that clever mouse Jerry getting the best of
00:23 poor old Tom Cat.
00:25 Now the Tom and Jerry episodes included in this collection, and the outrageous brand of humor shown here,
00:31 comes to us from a time when racial and ethnic differences were caricatured in the name of entertainment.
00:37 Now while humor may have been the intent of such caricatures, they also had the effect
00:41 of revealing society's unfair and hurtful representations of people of color, women,
00:46 and ethnic groups.
00:48 Now some of the cartoons here reflect prejudices that were common in American society, especially
00:53 when it came to racial and ethnic groups.
00:55 Now these prejudices were wrong then, and they are certainly wrong today.
01:00 With Puss Gets the Boot, we're introduced to one of those caricatures, Mammy Two-Shoes.
01:05 Now Mammy Two-Shoes had a key reoccurring role in a number of Tom and Jerry shorts,
01:10 and was an important component that made the interplay in those cartoons work so well.
01:16 Her performance was voiced by black actress Lillian Randolph, who had played a variety
01:23 of roles on television, radio, and films like It's a Wonderful Life.
01:27 Now Mammy is significant to the template of Tom and Jerry, because she brings the human
01:31 touch to the cartoon world, an entry point for the viewer.
01:36 The fact that she is so definite a character, even though we really never see her face,
01:41 is due to the acting and posing that Joe Barbera excelled at, the skills of the animators,
01:46 and the excellent voice talent of Lillian Randolph.
01:49 "Well come on Tom, it's time you were put out for the night."
01:53 Removing Mammy Two-Shoes from this collection would be the same as pretending that she never
01:58 existed.
01:59 The same is true for the other images and jokes that we wouldn't normally include in
02:03 a mainstream cartoon today.
02:05 So Ms. Two-Shoes, along with other elements that reveal the prejudices of the time, are
02:10 presented here to accurately reflect a part of our history that cannot and should not
02:15 be ignored.
02:17 With this release, Warner Bros. presents the original Tom and Jerry cartoons and the original
02:22 Mammy Two-Shoes, all as created by Hanna-Barbera.
02:26 These cartoons are some of the best animation of the golden era.
02:31 Quite simply, Tom and Jerry remain one of film history's most beloved comedy duos.
02:37 It's hard enough when you're live action, so for an animated cat and mouse to be as
02:41 famous as Martin and Lewis or Abner and Costello is proof that these cartoons are timeless and
02:48 will probably be entertaining new generations of fans for years to come.
02:53 Sit back and enjoy.
02:55 (sneezes)
02:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]