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Warner Bros.' newest DVD set collects four more cartoons from their smash hit Tom and Jerry Tales in a single compilation. Much-beloved elements such as the tepid sub-Stalling/Bradley musical scores and the general unmemorable quality of the stories seem to have changed very little twelve to sixteen episodes into the game, but the animation and designs thankfully is still of a higher caliber than normal Saturday Morning fare. And to be fair, the shows here still show occasional glimpses of inspiration and hilarity, especially in the ones helmed by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone. Tom and Jerry Tales, Volume 4 contains 4 half-hour shows from the beginning of the show's second season, each containing three individual episodes sharing a sort of common theme. With that in mind, it might seem that story material will be stretched a little too thin in the attempt to come up with 3 different similarly-themed episodes for each show, but the results render that little comment an understatement.

The first show shoehorns our cat and mouse duo in various exotic locales and scenarios, going from the Far East to the Middle East to a Witch's creepy old house, in that order. This adds a little bit of variety to the basic Tom and Jerry dynamic, but the cartoons themselves are for the most part are just so forgettable. "Zent Out of Shape", the first cartoon on this disc, seems like it could've been an interesting cartoon, with the premise of monk Tom having to deal with Jerry's obnoxious music while peacefully eschewing violence. But the gags really don't hit any high points despite the utilization of the environment. Better is "I Dream of Meanie", which is basically Tom and Jerry's take on Aladdin. Jerry gets a hold of a magic lamp (The genie here is Spike the Bulldog) and uses its powers against Tom, until he tries to turn the tables and eventually take on the powers of the Genie himself. The last short, Which Witch, can't decide if it wants to be Tom trying to catch Jerry for a witch's spell or the duo trying to end a Hatfield-and-McCoy feud between two witches, which weakens the cartoon considerably. I have to say, however, the episode's completely out-of-left field ending had me laughing.

The next show, which has "Tom/Jerry gaining superpowers" as its central theme, fares even more poorly in the "memorable" department. The first short, "More Powers to You" features Tom and Jerry assuming the powers of a team of superheroes that are like a cross between the Power Rangers and the Fantastic 4. There's of course conflict between the two, but I found the short to be fairly entertaining, something that can't be said for the next two episodes. "Catch Me Though You Can't", or Jerry becoming super fast due to a science experiment snafu, is mostly a weak rehash of Road Runner shtick, but with more dialogue. However, there's one gag that made me laugh. When Tom tires himself out trying to catch the now-super fast Jerry, he nonchalantly picks up a beaker of some radioactive chemical he was working with earlier in the episode and casually gulps it down like it were a beverage. The resulting explosion and Tom's expression struck a chord in the part of my brain that responds to really stupid-but-funny cartoon antics. And the only thing that can be said for "Power Tom" (Tom unintentionally discovering his owner's superhero garb and wearing it to fight evil) is that the feminine super suit doesn't really fit Tom at all.

Show Three, in which every episode is directed and written by Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone, is without a doubt the best one on the disc. The theme this time is much looser, going with mostly domestic situations over the more fantastic and exotic scenarios of the past 6 episodes. In "Don't Bring Your Pet to School Day" Tom and Jerry are the pets brought in by school kids for Show and Tell. Tom's encounters with a burping frog and the impromptu dance enhanced by Jerry brought smiles to my face, but the show here is arguably stolen by a very Ben Stein-esque bunny rabbit (sadly he's not actually voiced by Stein). Tom even wins the prize for the little girl who brought him in. His luck promptly runs out in "Cat Show Catastrophe", where in addition to Jerry and Tuffy costing him first prize at the show (resulting in a been-done-before twist ending), he's thoroughly abused, stripped hairless, and humiliated in front of everyone along the way. Even though it's kind of cruel to Tom, the various hilarious facial expressions (particularly at Tom's exposure) are of the kind not seen in cartoons of any stripe anymore. "The Cat Whisperer" puts Tom in a draconian obedience program taught by the titular Cat Whisperer, which is made more hellish by Jerry's intervention. I actually felt for Tom for most of this short, apparently a natural emotion for those who love the old Hanna-Barbera shorts, and loved the ending in which Tom gets his well-deserved comeuppance. Overall, this particular show is a winner.

By far the weakest episode on the disc is the last and most definitely least Show #4. The theme here is "Jerry befriends an animal pal that wreaks havoc on Tom's mouse-chasing plans" that become a plot mainstay in the theatrical series from about 1949 onward. The classic cartoons that followed this formula weren't very good, and watching these halfhearted modern-day retreads of that familiar territory is just not a pleasant experience. "Adventures in Penguin Sitting" seems to combine elements of "Jerry and the Lion", "Mice Follies", and the Nibbles/Tuffy shorts. Specifically, a cute, perpetually hungry animal wanders into the Tom and Jerry residence amid radio warnings of the threat he poses, which leads to the fridge malfunctioning and much of the kitchen being covered in slippery ice. Sadly, this description is much more entertaining than the actual short. "Cat of Prey" features the unlikely and unusual setup of Jerry in a zoo show with a trained bald eagle. Tom of cvourse tries to catch Jerry at his own peril, thanks in no small part to not only the eagle, but an intervening octopus and a playful seal. This short doesn't quite reach the nadir of this show's other cartoons, possibly because it advertises a writing credit from animation veteran Tom Minton, but it's still not at the same level as the Spike/Cervone shorts. "Jungle Love", to close out, is just about the biggest case of wasted potential on the entire DVD. The cartoon starts by setting up the interesting concept of a wild man... er, cat, Tom chasing his also-wild mouse quarry, and even uses an appropriately stuffy nature show opening to start off. However, the good cartoon that might've been turns out to be yet more of the tedium of Jerry and an animal friend, this time a little rhino. I found it an incredible chore to sit through the whole episode in its mediocre entirety, but there is a fairly amusing bit in whicvh a wayward snake falls in love with Tom's tail (thinking it's a female snake). No, really.

The Bonus features here light, merely trailers for the newly rereleased DVD's of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and Horton Hears a Who. This is probably the least-surprising aspect of this particular disc.

So overall there are a few really good episodes on this disc, a couple of clunkers, and a whole bunch of mediocre, forgettable episodes. However, I'd say that if you dig Tom and Jerry, you'd do good by purchasing this DVD.

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