{"id":76106,"date":"2022-11-17T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T08:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=76106"},"modified":"2022-11-17T00:03:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T08:03:37","slug":"vbs-tom-and-jerrys-final-journey-the-phantom-rocket-1933","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/vbs-tom-and-jerrys-final-journey-the-phantom-rocket-1933\/","title":{"rendered":"VB\u2019s Tom and Jerry\u2019s Final Journey: “The Phantom Rocket” (1933)"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"\n

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It\u2019s Tuesday night as I write this, earlier than usual for Thunderbean Thursdays. I\u2019m heading out to Los Angeles for a school trip to CTN. It will be the first time some of the students have been to California, and it really does help students that may want to work there establish the lay of the land and make contacts. Although I enjoy the time with the students and visiting friends and Thunderbean is in good hands while I\u2019m away, right now a big part of my focus has been digging into final pieces on a few titles. I\u2019ll be burning the midnight oil in the hotel room working on bringing together elements of a few sets, including some finishing touches for the long-in-progress Flip the Frog<\/em> set. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On new special title news, we\u2019re doing our almost usual Holiday\/ Christmas disc pre-order special disc \u201cHoliday Surprises 2022\u201d. It\u2019s available at thunderbeanshop.com.<\/p>\n

As the year gets close to wrapping up, at Thunderbean we\u2019ve been working on the strategy for the company in the coming years and what we\u2019ll be working toward. We collectively decided it\u2019s time to retire most (if not all) of the special discs by the end of the year. We\u2019ve made the majority of them available one last time for a few more weeks, also at the Thunderbean shop.<\/p>\n

\"\"Next week\u2019s Thunderbean Thursday will be about Stop Motion Marvels, volume 1<\/em>, the Blu-ray upgrade to the DVD we produced 12 years back. It\u2019s coming back from replication while I\u2019m away, but we\u2019ll start shipping it in another week and a half or so. Thanks to everyone for supporting this set.<\/p>\n

The Thunderbean drives are mostly packed away at the moment while I get ready for a trip in the morning, so I\u2019ve grabbed something in progress to show today- The Phantom Rocket<\/em> (1933). This is the last of the Van Beuren Tom and Jerry cartoons, but not the last to be cleaned up for the set. It seems like this is one of the lesser seen of the series. In this short, Tom and Jerry attempt a rocket flight that turns into a semi disaster as a thief attempts to rob them-just as the rocket takes off. A funny premise and gay master of Ceremonies attempt to lend a hand to what is, at best, a pretty average gag cartoon with a large part of the footage devoted to the rocket gags rather than our heroes. There is a nice tribute song at the end, stating \u2018Hooray for Tom and Jerry\u2019 as they\u2019re bathed in their reward money for delivering the criminal to a well-fortified prison. A pretty mild sendoff into the world of past cartoon stars.<\/p>\n

\"\"I wonder if the Van Beuren universes are connected like the DC, Marvel, American Horror Story and Stars Wars Universes are. They seem to be since Tom and Jerry show up in a Cubby Bear cartoon, and the next year the Little King visits a prison that looks suspiciously like the same prison in this cartoon. What your theory on all of this.<\/p>\n

Finally, I would be remiss without a few thanks. Mark Kausler lent this lovely print for the scan, and Animator\/artist and great film restoration artist Ciara Waggoner, who\u2019s worked on a lot of the Tom and Jerry set, did a nice job on this one. <\/p>\n

Have a good week all!<\/p>\n