Michael Lah

The third ring offers a whimsical glimpse into the future - or at least a future from the POV of the mid-20th century - with a plethora of zany postwar inventions. While none of the cartoons "of tomorrow" foresaw smartphones or DVD players, these far-fetched contraptions, gadgets, houses and farms, televisions, and various modes of transportation could only come from the madcap mind of Avery and his M-G-M crew. Uncut, restored and remastered in High Definition for the first time, Tex Avery Screwball Classics Collection Volume 2 is another must-own collection from the master of hand-drawn mayhem.

At long last a beautifully restored and mastered selection of a number of cartoon king Tex Avery’s brilliant, innovative and (most of all) hilarious MGM shorts comes to Blu-ray via the Warner Archive, with the implied promise of more volumes to come. Some of his greatest cartoons are included, and many of these shorts have likely not looked and sounded so good since their original theatrical release. This is a virtual godsend for the director’s legion of fans, and a worthwhile introduction for those yet unfamiliar with Avery’s uniquely zany oeuvre.

A documentary about the life and career of legendary cartoon director Fred "Tex" Avery.

Droopy and Butch are competing race car drivers in a road race. While Butch has the faster car, his cockiness and the time he spends on unsuccessful schemes to stop Droopy work against him.

Droopy is guarding his flock of sheep from the rebel wolf.

Sir Droopalot and Sir Butchalot (Droopy and Butch) vie with each other to kill a dragon that is terrorizing their kingdom. Whomever vanquishes the dragon will marry the king's daughter.

A wolf with a Southern accent walks by just as a teacher is getting fed up with his class and walks out. Unfortunately, the class consists of three junior clones of Droopy, who manage to try his patience.

Butch and Droopy have equal shares in a gold mine. When they finally strike gold, Butch tries to make his share more equal by doing away with Droopy, with no success.

Spike has just finished the 20 year process of digging a tunnel from his prison cell but he picks the wrong place to hide.

Two outlaws are trying to steal a shipment of gold being guarded by Deputy Droopy, and have to keep quiet to avoid alerting the sheriff.

Nobody's home, so Tom invites his alley cat friends in to look at home movies (clips from earlier cartoons where Tom gets the drop on Spike). While they're showing them, Spike sneaks in.

The first Texas bad man come running into town a million years B.C.

The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day, traveling health-tonic salesman, Windy Weebe, comes to town and suggests they could swim the English Channel. Sponsored by "Liquapep" and coached by Windy, the family arrive in Europe. There it is decided that daughter Katie is the only one strong enough to enter the contest. But while she should be focused on the difficult and risky task ahead, Katie is pursed by dashing Frenchman, André Lanet... This comedic musical is well remembered for the scene when Katie dreams she is swimming with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry!

A veteran B-29 propeller plane, struggling to find work after the war, is upset after his wife gives birth to a little jet. When he tries to compete with modern planes in an around-the-world race, Junior comes to his aid. This short is virtually identical in plot terms and other items to One Cab's Family (1952), but this time around, it concerns a family of aeroplanes, and the problems Mom and Pop have with Junior, whose obsession with speed leads him to acquire a jet engine.

A cat learns the art of ventriloquism in order to play a series of practical jokes on a slow-witted bulldog...

Droopy inherits a fortune, but the will says that if he meets an untimely death all the money will go to Spike, who spends the entire film trying to make this happen.

A rabbit tries all he can to keep a hunting dog awake before tomorrow's big hunt.

Barney has a dive mask and swim fins to help with his pursuit of fish. First, though, he needs to get the anchor set, despite an overly helpful little seal. The seal acts like an inept hunting dog, leading Barney to a cave with an angry lobster, then an unfortunate encounter with a shark.

Barney Bear hunts a snowshoe rabbit, whose white fur makes him impossible to see in the snow and whose wiliness makes him impossible to catch.

An anthropomorphic jumping bean from Mexico causes Barney Bear no end of trouble.

Mammy Two-Shoes tells Tom and Butch that the cat who gets rid of the icebox-raiding, breadbox-invading mouse (Jerry) is the one who can stay.

Tom's day at the beach doesn't start out well. First he gets his swimsuit caught in the door of the beach house, and doesn't realize it until his intended dive in the ocean sends him snapping back and crashing through the door. He runs out and tries again. This time he is so determined to jump in the water that when he does so, he doesn't notice the tide is out and that he is swimming in the sand, which is filled with broken bottles, tin cans and other debris. Later, he tries to win over a beautiful girl on the beach, but, being the boor he is, he annoys her by drinking her soda pop, eating her hot dog and munching loudly as he lays his head in her lap. Suddenly, a tomato flies through the air and lands on his head. So does a banana peel. Tom looks for the culprit and finds him in the girl's picnic basket. Jerry is inside, eating what he wants and tossing out the rest...

Tom, sick of Jerry stealing the milk out of his bowl, poisons it. Instead of killing the mouse, the potion transforms him into a muscular beast.

Tom is given the task of guarding the fridge during the night by Mammy-Two-Shoes, but as soon as he has started he is tricked by Jerry into falling into the basement, where he lands in a barrel of cider. Now drunk, Tom staggers around in the house getting up to no good with Jerry.

Spike is guarding a private fishing hole - in his sleep. Tom sneaks in to do some fishing - with Jerry as bait. But one particularly vicious fish turns out to be more than Tom or Jerry bargained for, particularly when he wakes up Spike.

とある豪邸に住む雌ネコに恋したトム。トムはその家の番犬（キラーという名だがスパイクのこと）を物ともせずロープで縛り上げ、ウッドベースでブルースを弾き語りしながら雌ネコを口説く。 しかし豪邸の床下にはジェリーの家があった。ジェリーはトムの歌声とウッドベースの低音に安眠を妨害され、低振動によって家具まで壊れてしまう。怒ったジェリーはトムにアイロン入りのパイを投げつけ、番犬のロープを解く。トムは番犬に追われつつもジェリーを追いかけて、トムとジェリーのドタバタが始まる。ジェリーを犬小屋に追い詰めたトムだったが、中には番犬がいたのであった。ジェリーが逃げた後、トムは番犬にぶちのめされるのであった。 その後再びウッドベースの演奏が始まったのだが、トムがウッドベースにされジェリーと番犬に演奏されているのであった。

Tom calls the exterminators, but they send a cat, who despite his various tools, doesn't fare much better than Tom usually does.

Jerry is awakened from a nightmare by a knock on the door: someone has left a foundling in a walnut shell with a note, giving his name as Nibbles and saying he needs lots of milk. Fortunately, there's a dish handy, but it's next to Tom. Nibbles scurries out and dives off Tom's nose, then grabs a whisker for balance, waking Tom up. Jerry grabs him just in time and they hide under the milk. Tom laps up some milk and gets Nibbles; Jerry rescues him, and they run for the hole. Next, they try a very long straw; Tom catches them and sucks Nibbles through the straw. Much chasing follows, with a pause now and then for some milk. Tom traps Jerry in a milk bottle and chases Nibbles a while; he finally corners Nibbles and spanks him with a flyswatter. Jerry is so enraged he burst out of the milk bottle and lets out a ferocious roar; he grabs Tom by the tail and thoroughly pummels him, then stands over him as Tom feeds Nibbles milk.

The stork tells about a harrowing encounter with a gun emplacement. As a result, he declares himself "closed for the duration."

Tom is playing with Jerry when a cute lady cat is delivered to Mammy for her to take care of. Tom is smitten at first sight.

Tom is playing with Jerry when a cute lady cat is delivered to Mammy for her to take care of. Tom is smitten at first sight.

Tom's chasing Jerry when he runs right into a sleeping dog and the two of them must work together to fend him off.

It's snowy and cold outside, and warm inside where Jerry squeezes past a mousetrap to cavort under a present-laden Christmas tree. Mistaking the sleeping Tom for a plush toy, Jerry wakes him and a mad chase ensues.

Jerry takes a midnight snack from the fridge unaware that Tom is watching him.

This cartoon is by Rudy Ising, and is the last of a long line of black animal musicals done at MGM in the late 30s and early 40s.

The three little kittens have lost their mittens and are sent to bed without dinner. From their room, they see the Milky Way and sail up to it, using a basket and helium balloons, passing through some fanciful astronomical bodies, until they reach a Milky Way filled with every conceivable form of milk.

To the sound of the title song being sung by a campfire, a cow and her calf are bedding down for the night. The calf is frightened by a shadow, until it's revealed to be a jackrabbit. He follows the rabbit deep into the woods, but neither of them notices the wolf following until it's too late for the calf. The calf is trapped in a niche under some rocks, which the wolf quickly digs out. The wolf is closing in on the calf when the rabbit tries to distract him, to no avail.

Jasper is given an ultimatum by his master: break one more thing and you're out. Rodent Jerry does his best to make sure that his tormentor "gets the boot".

Barney's settling in for the winter. But water leaks, a loose shutter, a noisy fire, a teakettle left on, and some stray embers all get in the way, and Barney also locks himself out. And that's just the beginning.

A salt water version of "Water Babies" (1935); adorable redheaded 'merbabies' materialize out of the crashing surf and proceed to the sea floor where they conduct a circus along with a variety of sea creatures.