ThadBlog

One of the crucial aspects of the Tom & Jerry series by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera was that it had some of the GREATEST acting ever done in any cartoon. The cat and mouse rarely uttered anything besides an earth-shattering scream or priceless ‘gulp’, but this hugely underrated team of animators brought them to life with such beauty. The four regular animators on this series were Ed Barge, Ken Muse, Ray Patterson, and Irv Spence.

Today’s post is a breakdown of what they did throughout the short SLEEPY TIME TOM (1951).

Ken Muse was working on the series from almost the very beginning. Hanna and Barbera always used him for personality shots for these characters to establish a feeling that they really lived and breathed to the audience. I would hazard to say he was the best of them. Here he handles this whole opening with Tom coming home from partying with his buddies.

Irv Spence came over to MGM from Tex Avery’s unit at Warner Bros. (I believe he was in Tex’s unit at MGM very briefly too, but if you have theories of why he got switched to Bill and Joe’s unit, please let me know!). He was well known for creating wild animation, and is responsible for many of the great eye-ball popping reations in Tom & Jerry shorts. He also loved handling Spike the bulldog, according to Mark Kausler. Spence is my personal favorite Tom & Jerry animator, and one of my favorites in general. Here he handles this scene with Tom being confronted by Mammy. It has a wonderful sense of looseness for a 1950s short.

Ed Barge began his work on the Tom & Jerry series in the mid-1940s. He draws them very conservatively (and dare I say, ‘cutesy’, particularly in his earliest owrk), and they tend to jerk from pose to pose, but still always establishing a good sense of characterization, similar to Friz Freleng’s animators at Warners. Barge handles Jerry’s first two attempts at getting Tom to fall asleep.

Ray Patterson and his brother Don had a long career in animation. I think Ray’s best work is in the Tom & Jerry films, personally. Ray is able to handle lots of loose movement (though not as wildly as Spence would), and does a great thing with his characters where they purse their lips at random moments. See for yourself in this scene with the radio lullaby.

I’d publicly like to thank Mike Russo for helping me become familiar with these wonderful animators. He is a very intelligible fellow who puts my Tom & Jerry obsession (which is quite large on its own) to shame. He also requested Ray Patterson’s scene of Jerry disguised as a cannibal (voiced by Paul Frees) confronting Tom from HIS MOUSE FRIDAY (1951). I’m more than happy to oblige, Mike!

I also appreciate those who have e-mailed me willing to help me out! Thanks, guys! Stay tuned tomorrow for part two of my Tom & Jerry tribute!

This man needs no introduction, but I’ll tell you a little about him anyway. Jim Tyer was the most eccentric animator who ever lived. His scenes are hilariously drawn and stick out the most in any cartoon he worked on. He worked at Famous Studios (Popeye the Sailor, Noveltoons, etc.) for a brief time in the mid-1940s before going over to the other East Coast place, Paul Terry’s studio (Mighty Mouse, Heckle & Jeckle, etc.). This is one of his scenes featuring a delightfully evil Herman the Mouse from CHEESE BURGLAR (1946). He didn’t animate the final line, but it was too great of one to leave out.

So here’s the deal, folks. I am by no means an expert at identifying an animator’s scenes. That title is reserved for guys like Greg Duffell, Mark Kausler, and Larry Tremblay. But I’d like to learn more about these wonderful animators, and I think you may be able to help. If you have any drafts, ANY at all, that you’re willing to xerox and send to me, PLEASE e-mail me at thadkomorowski@yahoo.com . Ask any of my buddies over at GAC and they’ll tell you I will pay BIG BUCKS for anything to help me with animation research.

Thanks for hearing me out! And check back tomorrow for part one of my salute to Tom & Jerry animators!

Okay, you horny cartoon fans, here’s the number one request I’ve gotten for posting… One of Preston Blair’s ‘Red’ scenes! I chose my personal favorite, the number from SWING SHIFT CINDERELLA (1945). It’s amazing that Blair was able to animate her so amazingly real, with no live-action references whatsoever.

Tex Avery animators aren’t really part of my expertise (?), so please let me know if Ray Abrams or Ed Love doe work at some point in that clip (I’m really only familiar with those two at Lantz). I’ll go on a public rant on how I need to get xeroxes of drafts tomorrow, appropriately matched with a Jim Tyer scene.

It’s probably no surprise that Emery Hawkins is my favorite animator. His style is instantly recognizeable, and was always able to convey an emotion through the character (particularly the EYES in his Warner shorts, his trademark was making the pupils do all sorts of crazy things, like change colors or have one too many).

He animated what I think is one of the greatest pieces of character animation ever… The Woody Woodpecker log-stump opening of course! To me, this IS Woody Woodpecker.

Here’s another scene he did at Lantz, from THE RECKLESS DRIVER (1946). Look at how freely Wally’s expression changes from dumbfounded to aggravation so freely. Clearly a master at work.

And here’s a particularly gruesome piece he did for WHO’S COOKIN’ WHO (1946). It’s the infamous ‘meat-grinder’ scene. I’m not sure which makes this scene more painful, the delightfully painful looks the wolf makes while grinding his own body, or the bone-crunching sound effects. Ouch! Animators today can take a lesson from him and others that you DON’T need to show anything of graphic nature to make something painful register with the audience.

Hawkins did some wonderful animation for Art Davis’ unit when he was at Warners in the late 40s. Like with Woody at Lantz, Daffy Duck here moves very fluidly (and noticeably a little skinnier). Hawkins uses his thing with the eyes here in this clip from the great WHAT MAKES DAFFY DUCK (1948). Notice how he’s able to use the same technique to convey different emotions. With Daffy it’s to signify lust and perversion, while with the fox it’s to express shock and confusion.

When Art Davis’ unit closed down, Hawkins was sort of a drifting animator, doing scenes for Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Bob McKimson alike. McKimson’s early pictures from this era are very fluid, so Hawkins fits in more with the look and feel better, like with this scene from BOOBS IN THE WOODS (1950). He may not have done the first scene, but Daffy in the lake is definitley Hawkins.

Notice how his characters stand out in these scenes from Friz’s GOLDEN YEGGS, ALL ABIR-R-R-RD, and Chuck’s RABBIT OF SEVILLE (all 1950). While the other animators were very much capable of delivering emotions, Hawkins does it in such a manner that it sticks out like a sore thumb from the likes of Virgil Ross or Ken Harris (which makes those scenes a lot more fun, in my opinion!).

Golden Yeggs (1950)

All Abir-r-r-rd (1950)

Rabbit of Seville (1950)

I’d like to close this post with my all-time favorite piece of animation ever, the final shot Emery Hawkins did for Art Davis’ underrated masterpiece, TWO GOPHERS FROM TEXAS (1948). The Shakespearean dog here is possibly the most insane character ever animated for a Warner cartoon without the name ‘Clampett’ or ‘Scribner’ on it. This bit speaks for itself. Also, a big thanks to Amid Amidi for plugging my blog on his and Jerry Beck’s website, CARTOON BREW. Thanks Amid!

Bob McKimson was one of the biggest assets to the Warner Bros. cartoon studio. Many experts (John Kricfalusi and Mark Kausler among them) claim that his drawings were used as reference for everyone else, thus creating the Looney Tunes drawing style of the mid-40s. He had a photographic memory, and is probably responsible for any scenes where characters are 100% ‘on-model’ in Bob Clampett’s cartoons.

This is just one of his many great scenes, requested by Jon Cooke, and I’m more than happy to oblige. McKimson handles the cats for this great innuendo-filled scene from A GRUESOME TWOSOME (1945) (”Ya say ya go ga-ga, over anythin’ in PANTS?!”). The unforgettable Rod Scribner animates the random, horny dog’s entrance. “Umbriago!”

This will be my last post tonight, so listen up!

The Lantz shorts are some of the easiest to differentiate an animator’s scenes. Woody in particular is a character that has varying traits with each animator. Fred Moore gives him kind of a Road Runner-type comb in his scenes. Ed Love draws him fairly on model though with wonderful expressions. Pat Matthews’ stuff is completely off the wall, and his Woody has HUGE pupils.

Here’s two lengthy clips from one of the best Woody Woodpecker shorts ever made, Dick Lundy’s WILD & WOODY (1948).

In this first clip, Fred Moore animates Woody on his horse, and Ed Love picks up with him coming out of the office (”…I’ll tear out his gizzard!”). Then Pat Matthews picks up the animation at the close-up of Buzz Buzzard’s face for the rest of this clip. You have to love Buzz’s entrance into the saloon!

Animation expert Mark Kausler pointed on some corrections in my analysis of the second clip. It is Ken O’Brien handles Buzz drawing on Woody, and Woody spraying him with the hose. Brien has a style very similar to Moore so I was just attributing his traits to Moore.. Ed Love picks up with Woody as a baseball umpire, then as a batter… He sees that his gun is empty.

Pat Matthews picks up with the whole barrel and jackhammer scene. Mark tells me that this is Les Kline who did the great scene witht the giant gun blasting Buzz’s ass. I wouldn’t have attributed it to Moore, and actually didn’t want too as the characters looked a little too ‘balloony’ (i.e., hands and limbs suddenly inflated), but he was the only that fit in. Thanks Mark! The rest is handled by Ed Love. Whew!

Unfortunately, this beautiful animation was short lived, as Lantz had to close his doors for financial difficulties. When he reopened in 1950, the animation was never the same. Jon Cooke requested this next clip. Ed Love had to animate Lundy’s DROOLER’S DELIGHT (1949) all by himself, so forgive him for making Woody suddenly small enough to fit in an ice cream dish. It’s a CARTOON after all!

Finally, Andrea (Duck Dodgers), requested this classic scene by Grim Natwick from Lundy’s SMOKED HAMS (1947). Enjoy Wally Walrus’ play his bed posts like an organ. Hilarious!