The Art Of Tom And Jerry Laserdisc Archive Apr 2026

Disc three was the anomaly. Labeled only “ Yankee Doodle Mouse (Alternate).” No mention in any catalog. Leo loaded it, and the screen showed a version of the 1943 short where Tom, instead of military regalia, wore a newsboy cap. Jerry’s bombs were pillow-shaped. The title card read “ The Peacemaker. ” A wartime propaganda reel that never aired—too gentle, too ambiguous. Tom and Jerry shaking hands at the end. The Hays Office had rejected it. The disc hissed, and a subtitle appeared: “Restored from Joseph Barbera’s personal reel, 1978.”

The screen stayed black for thirty seconds. Then a single frame appeared: a hand-drawn cel of Tom and Jerry sitting on a curb, looking up at a star. No text. No action. Just stillness. The cel faded, replaced by a live-action black-and-white video—grainy, handheld. A man in a cardigan sat at a drafting table. He was old, white-haired, smiling. He held up a pencil. the art of tom and jerry laserdisc archive

It was Joseph Barbera. The date stamp read 1994—two years before the laserdisc’s supposed manufacturing date. Disc three was the anomaly

The screen went black. The laserdisc player’s laser returned to its resting position with a soft click . Jerry’s bombs were pillow-shaped

Inside, the five discs were immaculate. No rot, no scratches. Each came in a thick cardboard sleeve with liner notes in Japanese and English, featuring production cels from the Hanna-Barbera era. Leo carefully slid the first disc— Puss Gets the Boot (1940)—into his vintage Pioneer player.

“If you’re watching this,” he said, and his voice cracked, “you kept the format alive.”