Babes in Arms (1939)
It took just eleven weeks in the spring and summer of 1939 to rehearse, record and film Babes in Arms; almost autobiographically, Mickey and Judy played the children of vaudevillians. With their families in financial straights, the two teens were scripted to join forces with other friends to stage a fund-raising show in a Long Island barn; in best fictional tradition, their production ends up on Broadway. Other "babes" in the cast included Betty Janes and Douglas McPhail as a somewhat more stolid duo of legit singers and June Preisser as "Baby Rosalie" - a wicked take-off of a Shirley Temple-esque child star past her prime. Also seen were Sidney Miller (Rooney's songwriting partner and later a much-respected film and television director) and Johnny Sheffield, MGM's "son of Tarzan."

BONUS FEATURES:

• Introduction by Mickey Rooney
• Commentary by John Fricke
• "Our Gang" short Duel Personalities
• Classic Cartoon The Mad Maestro
• Newsreels
  
  • Judy Garland's Birthday
    
  • New York World's Fair 
  • March of Dimes Promo
• Radio Broadcasts
  • Gulf Screen Guild Theater Radio Broadcast 9/24/1939
  • Gulf Screen Guild Theater Radio Broadcast 11/09/1941
  • Good News Radio Show of 1938
• Leo is on the Air Radio Promo
• Theatrical Trailer

Strike up the Band (1940)
With Babes in Arms a triumph, Arthur Freed quickly announced Good News as an immediate Rooney / Garland / Berkeley follow-up. That 1927 B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson Broadway show had been filmed by M.G.M. in 1930, but Freed felt that its collegiate atmosphere would constitute a perfect vehicle for the teens. An initial script proved unsatisfactory, however, M.G.M. chieftain Louis B. Mayer suggested instead that Arthur build an original screen story around the George and Ira Gershwin son entitled Strike Up the Band: "It sounds so patriotic." The new John Monks, Jr. / Fred F. Finklehoffe treatment capitalized on the contemporary success of big name swing bands and cast Rooney as a drummer who converts his high school aggregation into a modern dance orchestra with Judy as lead vocalist. Their efforts propel the group to a top spot in a nationwide band contest conducted by Paul Whiteman; en route, they must deal with a lack of funds, the necessity of an emergency operation and Mickey's preoccupation with the new girl in town, June Preisser.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Introduction by Mickey Rooney
• Pete Smith Specialty Comedy Short Wedding Bells
• Classic Cartoon Romeo in Rhythm
• Do the La Conga Stereo Remix Version
• Theatrical Trailer
• Leo is on the Air Radio Promo
• Radio Broadcasts

Babes on Broadway (1941)
Even before the success of Strike Up the Band managed to surpass that of Babes in Arms, Arthur Freed was in search of further vehicles for Mickey and Judy. He ultimately pitched and original idea to Fred Frinklehoffe, built around the concept of those young hopefuls who had progressed beyond the "babes in barns" stage and - powered by their dreams of the theater - had poured  in Manhattan from all over the country. Their unofficial clearinghouse was the Pitt-Astor Drug Store in the heart of Times Square, a combination news station and meeting place for all such show business aspirants. Working with Elaine Ryan, Finklehoffe developed Freed's proposal into Babes on Broadway, and their screenplay revolved around Rooney and his two song-and-dance partners, who enlist Garland as costar in a showcase for the drug store actors.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Introduction by Mickey Rooney
• Pete Smith Specialty Comedy Short How to Hold Your Husband - Back
  
• Classic Cartoon Dance of the Weed
  
• Theatrical Trailer
• 2 Leo is on the Air Radio Promo
• Radio Show Adaptation of Merton of the Movies with Rooney and Garland
• Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry On! Song Demo Performed by Burton Lane

Girl Crazy (1943)
Turning back to Broadway, The Freed Unit next reworked the 1930 stage musical Girl Crazy into a new vehicle for Rooney and Garland for 1943. The plot was much changed from that of the original show, but fortunately retained seven songs with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother, Ira. Mickey was cast as a madcap Yale student whose father sends him west to Cody College to keep him away from women. At first, the fledgling playboy rankles everyone (while falling in love with Judy, cast as the dean's granddaughter). But when lack of enrollment threatens closure of the school, he produces a Wild West rodeo and carnival to try to attract new students.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Introduction by Mickey Rooney
• Commentary by John Fricke
• Vintage Short Hollywood Daredevils
  
• Classic Cartoon The Early Bird Dood It
• I Got Rhythm Stereo Remix Version
• Theatrical Trailer
• Bronco Busters Outtake - Audio Only

The Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland Collection- BONUS DISC

• Private Screenings with Mickey Rooney -1996 TCM special hosted by Robert Osborne
• The Judy Garland Songbook - A Chronological Cavalcade of Musical Numbers. A superb collection of 21 complete, magical Judy Garland musical numbers spanning her many films from 1936-1954
• Mickey and Judy Trailer Gallery
  • Thoroughbreds Don't Cry
  • Love Finds Andy Hardy
  • Babes in Arms
  • Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
  • Strike Up the Band
  • Life Begins for Andy Hardy
  • Babes on Broadway
  • Girl Crazy
  • Thousands Cheer
  • Words and Music