Inbetweener
Posted:
Apr 21, 2007, 2:06 PM
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T&J- The Gene Dietch era
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Right, I thought I'd post something quite controversial here-
I like watching the Gene Dietch cartoons of Tom and Jerry.
There we go- and I have my reasons, too!
I could trot out the sympathy cards of 'well, the animators didn't know what T&J looked like' and 'They only had $1.06 to make how many cartoons', but I find there were quite a few gags and set-pieces that hadn't been done in the entire of the Hanna-Barbera era of shorts.
OK, I'm not saying I like all of the Dietch shorts- the first five are almost complete write-offs- especially with the latest adult owner of Tom being a bad-tempered, cruel, angry sadist who would get a call from animal inspectors in this day and age. Whereas the previous owners, Mammy-Two-Shoes, George and Lady of the House would punish Tom only at the end of cartoons (and usually with a swift kick out of the house), this angry man dishes out regular abuse with such contempt you feel much more sorry for Tom.
So, forget that High Steaks, Sorry Safari and Down and Outing ever existed. That leaves nine out of the twelve, and we'll drop the unfunny Switchin' Kitten (which contains probably the most strangest 'joke' in the form of Tom being grown into a flower), It's Greek to Me-Ow and Mouse into Space.
OK, we're left with six, and things aren't looking too promising. However, this is where my ax-wielding ends and my praise begins for these remaining half-dozen.
One thing that the Dietch shorts get criticized for is the lack of plot and imagination. Bunkum. How many other T&J shorts have been like The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit ? Or the stylish tones of Dicky Moe?
Sure, many of the other cartoons stole the original basic plot idea from the Hanna-Barbera era, but they added something to it. The Western setting for Tall in the Trap may only add to the several H&B Wild West cartoons, but none had set Jerry as a cheese-rustling (but likeable) villain before.
It was also the first T&J cartoon with a delayed introduction, as it jumps straight into the sheriff vowing to catch Jerry with 'the fastest trap in the west'. A few of Chuck Jones's T&J cartoons also used the delayed introduction technique as well. It's not much of a trick, but I quite liked it, and I'm the one writing this, so there.
There are other ongoing themes- Calypso Cat has Tom finding another girlfriend and Jerry becoming jealous at not being chased (H&B actually used this jealousy plotline twice- although one of these only served to run some old clips of Tom falling in love). Sprintime for Thomas , the H&B short, also introduced a second male cat as grounds for a competition between Tom and the new male.
OK, comparing Calypso Cat to Springtime for Thomas is a little unfair, seeing as the latter stands as one of the absolute classics of all-time, but what I find interesting is that in Calypso Cat, Tom is not actively seeking out to eliminate competition from other male cats. He's clearly extremely reluctant to let his girlfriend be serenaded by this flirtatious steel drummer, but he's polite enough to let her enjoy it, only for Jerry to make it seem like he's not by banging a rock against the steel drum, angering the drummer enough to play rhythms on Tom's head instead.
I'm aware I'm already causing those at the back to nod off at this point, so I'll wrap things up by briefly going through my three remaining favourites. The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit has some excellent set-pieces, such as Jerry dancing to dixie music after having swallowed watermelon seeds, to the judo contest face-off and, best of all, the deadpan yet funny narration. One of the most underrated T&J cartoons ever produced. Buddies Thicker Than Water won't win many prizes for its contrived title, but does contain a (for once deliberately) creepy soundtrack as Jerry attempts to scare Tom witless in a superb revenge attack, which serves Tom right for not repaying Jerry's kind act of letting him in from the cold. The abstract painting of 'Old Tom' Jerry has in his bedroom is a nice touch, too.
Finally, the musical finale Carmen Get It! rounds off the Dietch era in an upbeat fashion. It scores plenty of points for using a score that hasn't been used in 1000 other cartoons and the soundtrack is actually perfectly in time with the animation. A shame it took 12 cartoons to get it right, but better late than never. I liked the 'ants as musical notes' scene as well- don't think anybody else has used that (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).
The final (final!) points I'd like to make surround the animation and the sound effects. In a complete contrast to the latter-day HB T&J (and, indeed, HB cartoons c.1961-2), the Dietch cartoons contain fluid, rapid, off-model animation and contain thousands of different facial expressions made by the main characters. The sound effects are a million miles away from the standard HB SFX, some sounding very surreal, some working perfectly. You could even argue that the Dietch cartoons were an antidote to the increasingly sterile output of Hanna-Barbera, if you wanna be bold to say such stuff.
Well, I enjoyed six out of the 12 Dietch cartoons, which makes a perfectly-reasonable hit rate of 50%, a figure that's made more impressive if you see how much better they became towards the end. Doubtless if Dietch had been given more resources and a contract extension at the time, there was potential for a fine canon. As it was, a short, quirky, surreal and now sadly-glossed over period of T&J's history was made.
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"Stop steaming up my cup!"
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 21, 2007, 5:58 PM
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I, too, have mixed feelings about the Gene Deitch "Tom and Jerry" shorts. While a few like "Down and Outing" and "Switchin' Kitten" aren't that great, I thought "Dicky Moe" and "Mouse into Space" were both pretty funny. A few like "Calypso Cat" and "Landing Stripling" seemed to imitate older shorts (the bird in "Landing Stripling" was really weird, but so cute!). However, the best one of them all is "Carmen Get It!" It does a great cartoon about classical music, especially since I LOVE the opera "Carmen!" The animation in these shorts is a bit glitchy at times, but other times it's near the typical quality of theatrical animation... it was just done in Europe! The sound effects are also pretty weird... they remind me of the sound effects used on "Sesame Street" back in the 1970s. But it looks like Tom and Jerry will never use the original MGM sound effects again, ever since the Gene Deitch shorts.
Anyways, Gene Deitch wrote a GREAT blog about working on those T&J shorts on his website! I highly recommend it!
http://genedeitch.awn.com/...apter&chapter=20
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People think I am crazy just because I didn't like "Ratatouille." Am I REALLY crazy, or do I see things differently?
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Supervising Animator
Posted:
Apr 21, 2007, 6:36 PM
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I'll admit that I like "It's Greek to Meow" and "Switchin' Kitten" I definately enjoyed "Carmen Get It" simply for the classical music. I also love the part where Carmen is suppose to sing but instead screams due to seeing Jerry!
About "Tall in the Trap" Michael Maltese is the story writer for this one. That's why some of the gags seem so familiar.
There's something unnerving about "Buddies Thicker Than Water" I think I was disturbed when I first saw the "drunk" scene. I'd probably find it funny now.
Yeah-the nasty owner really got on my nerves-he was really ugly too
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Bugs Bunny cartoons are not supposed to feature a lisping Viking rabbit hunter enthusiastically professing his operatic love for a bunny in drag.
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 21, 2007, 9:03 PM
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Viewing the Gene Dietch directed Tom & Jerry shorts was always a weird, almost surreal experience for me. I can't put it much better than that. Perhaps it was the fact that the art and animation was so different looking than it was when Bill & Joe were running things. Also, as Wile E. already said, the music and sound effects used in those shorts were very bizarre.
But I think the main reason why the Deitch directed T&J shorts didn't work for me is because they were so unceasingly and unabashedly one-sided. It's as if Mr. Dietch watched every T&J short made up to that point and the only discipline he got from them was: No matter what the situation, Tom must lose!
The ones with Tom's creepy male owner came off as extremely sadistic, almost Politically Incorrect when viewed now. You have to wonder, a) why this guy even owned a pet when he didn't even seem to like Tom very much, and b) why no one ever called Animal Control on this guy. Many of the Diecth T&J shorts just had Tom suffering one painful humiliation or injury after another, never once knowing a moment of even temporary glory. "Dicky Moe" has a particular nasty streak against Tom, IMHO. The abuse and indignities that Tom suffers in this short are almost too numerous to list. But the problem is that this behavior is unwarranted. The short begins with Tom being shanghaied aboard Capt. Ahab's ship against his will and being forced to do chores for the crazed Captain. While Jerry, for his part, comes off as an obnoxious jerk who just torments Tom because he enjoys it, not for the purpose of self preservation. It is clear that Mr. Dietch viewed Tom as a clear cut villain (as evident in the opening scene of "The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit", in which the narrator describes Tom as "mean" and "stupid", while Jerry is "sweet" and "innocent". This mentality serves in direct contrast to Chuck Jones' T&J shorts, where he tired to make sure that nothing was clear cut because in comedy, you have to be able to understand the hero and the villain. Granted, the Chuck Jones T&J short were reminiscent of The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote than they were Tom & Jerry, but they weren't without their moments.
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There are no bad ideas, just badly written ones.
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Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 22, 2007, 1:09 PM
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Speaking only for myself, the Deitch-Snyder cartoons are gruesomely unwatchable.
Cartoon shorts were rarely moneymakers for the studios, and MGM funded cartoon production from profits reaped on their feature films. When the Supreme Court ruled that studios could not lawfully compel theaters to show cartoons, newsreels, serials and the like along with the feature film, studios began rethinking their animation departments. Some were dissolved, others were given meager budgets. This is why the later Tom and Jerry shorts from Will Hanna and Joe Barbera seem to pale against their earlier efforts: less funding = less quality.
Ultimately, MGM shut down its animation department, and set Hanna and Barbera and their staff out at the curb with very little forewarning. At first, MGM thought they could simply reissue old T & J shorts, but distributors demanded fresh 'toons. Deitch, seeking cheap animation sources, contracted Rembrandt Films of Czeckoslovakia to make a new batch of T & J shorts.
[passage deleted by author]
Pardon my bluntness, but I could almost puke at the unholy gall of MGM management.
OUB has no love for these imported counterfeits. Thankfully, Warner Brothers and Turner Entertainment have seen fit to erect a memorial to honor the lifetime works of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. "Where's the tribute to Deitch and Snyder?" I ask snidely.
(This post was edited by oneuglybunny on Apr 22, 2007, 11:44 PM)
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Lead Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 22, 2007, 3:16 PM
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[quote removed by peterhale]
I fear your outrage has made you say a few things that you may wish to reconsider!
However, I do agree with your condemnation of MGM and its typical managerial mis-assumptions that
a) cartoon properties are of little value,
and then, on realising their mistake, that
b) anyone can churn them out.
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("La-la La-la I can't HEAR you!")
(This post was edited by peterhale on Apr 23, 2007, 2:39 AM)
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 22, 2007, 3:17 PM
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BTW, I read somewhere that Tom's "cruel owner" was a variation of a Terrytoons character named Clint Clobber.
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People think I am crazy just because I didn't like "Ratatouille." Am I REALLY crazy, or do I see things differently?
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Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Apr 23, 2007, 12:01 AM
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I fear your outrage has made you say a few things that you may wish to reconsider!
Agreed, sir. A word to the unwise is sufficient: the venomous passage has been deleted.
This issue touches on a sore spot with me, and a fuming silence was an option I'd considered. In hindsight, that would have been best.
(This post was edited by oneuglybunny on Apr 23, 2007, 12:06 AM)
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Jpeg Master / Moderator
Posted:
Apr 23, 2007, 2:02 AM
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Well spoken in retort!
I actually was very entertained by Calypso Cat and Dickey Moe, they were my favorites.
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Apprentice
Posted:
Apr 23, 2007, 1:11 PM
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I actaully enjoy the Gene Deitch era a lot. Everything in the cartoons were rather strange compared to any Hanna Barbara short. I also like the artwork better than any cartoon that was made in the last few years at HB, especially the backgrounds in Dickey Moe. I also really enjoy the abstract music and sfx. My favorite of all time of that short period with Deitch is Carmen Get It! I also enjoy the Deitch Krazy Kats, and I think they are the best in the 1960's TV series.
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Apr 24, 2007, 7:16 AM
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Out of the 12 Dietch/Snyder cartoons that were produced, I only really liked The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit; that one was a marked departure (stylistically-speaking) from the others. The visuals were much more imaginative; sometimes just simple solid fields of color for backgrounds--some of which would dissolve behind the characters to suggest the passage of time and space.
I hated the ones with the mean owner. I think that the producers figured they needed someone to own Tom, but couldn't resurrect M2S because of previous complaints from the NAACP; so they came up with this guy!
Carmen Get It does have it's moments; I laughed at Jerry being stuck in the light-socket and then turned-on (revealing an x-ray of his insides). Also, I noticed that the opera conductor in that cartoon bears a striking resemblance to Arturo Toscanini (1867-1954), one of the greatest conductors who ever lived!
What I hated most about these cartoons was their soundtracks... I mean, the music sounds like it was recorded in a men's lavatory!
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"Sit, Ubu, sit... good dog!" ("Arf"!)
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Inbetweener / Contributor
Posted:
May 13, 2007, 3:59 PM
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I think Gene Deitch has taken more abuse than is warranted by the best of his other output. Why is it no one talks about NUDNIK or TOM TERRIFIC anymore? Those series easily showed he had style.
To me, CALYPSO CAT is the only post-50s T&J that even approaches justice to the classic chemistry.
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"As we say in Swahili: 'OOP!'"
--George of the Jungle
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Lead Animator / Contributor
Posted:
May 13, 2007, 4:19 PM
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Maybe it's about expectation and maybe it's about crippling budgets, but with the few exceptions quoted most non-HB Tom & Jerrys are not only pretty dire but not up to the best work of the directors. I watched "Of Feline Bondage" today, and the plodding pacing and mistimed (indeed misconceived) gags are nothing like Chuck Jones' work at all. (The poses are, but not the direction!) I guess they were rushed through several at a time and the timing of some films was left to lesser talents.
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("La-la La-la I can't HEAR you!")
(This post was edited by peterhale on May 13, 2007, 4:23 PM)
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Inbetweener
Posted:
Aug 6, 2007, 3:29 PM
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One thing I've also noticed is that, despite the claims of a seriously limited budget in the Deitch era, is that two of the cartoons, 'Switchin' Kitten' and 'Buddies Thicker Than Water' are both nearly *nine* minutes long. That's nearly twice the length of some of the Jones shorts! And the two which are nine minutes long seem to have a fair amount of budget spent on them- the first has overly-fluid animation (but well-drawn backgrounds) and the latter has a reasonably complicated plot (and the impressive feat of Tom and Jerry being able to drink three bottles of wine between them!)
There's a huge gap between the good Deitch cartoons and the poor ones, I'll admit that. 'It's Greek To Me-Ow!' is horribly drawn, with Tom's eyes just looking like a fish, with oversized creepy pupils.
They aren't Oscar-winners, but I stand by my claim that the latter Deitch cartoons are pretty fine and made me smile on more than one occasion, and The Tom & Jerry Cartoon Kit deserves at least a mention in their history. The last half-dozen are also significantly better than the last half-dozen of the H-B era.
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"Stop steaming up my cup!"
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Aug 6, 2007, 4:00 PM
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I agree with you regarding The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, which is indeed a clever and imaginative entry in the entire Dietch/MGM output. It's too bad the others in the T&J/Dietch series weren't just as clever. Tall in the Trap is a close second, because of the contributions by Michael Maltese. Switchin' Kitten has a great final gag in which Jerry is turned into Leo, the MGM Lion!
There are 1-2 brief scenes in It's Greek to Me-ow in which Tom actually looks like his old H-B "self"; for instance, when he has Jerry trapped in a vase and he is peering into it. Whoever animated that scene must have been paying close attention to the classic H-B shorts.
I think what I find most objectionable in the Dietch series are the music scores; which, as Leonard Maltin so aptly put it, sound like they were recorded in a men's lavatory!
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"Sit, Ubu, sit... good dog!" ("Arf"!)
(This post was edited by zavkram on Aug 6, 2007, 4:01 PM)
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Inbetweener
Posted:
Aug 7, 2007, 1:38 PM
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It's a shame with the sound quality of those musical scores, as there's some neat ideas in there, and the creepy soundtrack in the second half of Buddies Thicker Than Water is perfectly sinister.
It just so happens that either the music is too quiet, it's slightly mis-timed or doesn't flow well from one camera angle to the next. That said, it's absolutely fine in the whole, erm, 'judo-off' at the end of the T&J Cartoon Kit, from Tom's angry pacing and getting his Judo certificate (and I love the beaming smile he gives when he shows it to the camera- it's one of my favourite poses of the lot), right to the last second, when the music, for no other reason than it's funny, slows to a halt like being stopped on a record player.
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"Stop steaming up my cup!"
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Supervising Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Aug 7, 2007, 6:01 PM
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The music in "Carmen Get It!" was pretty good and didn't have the reverb echo. I guess they fired the old audio mixer and got in a new one for that short. But they did the "Carmen" pieces all out of order, unfortunately.
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People think I am crazy just because I didn't like "Ratatouille." Am I REALLY crazy, or do I see things differently?
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Aug 10, 2007, 12:28 PM
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I had forgotten about that one. My guess is that they used an existing recording of the Carmen selections and then spliced in the comical music effects (for example, when Jerry substitutes the music on Tom's music stand).
It looks like the conductor in that cartoon is a caricature of the famed maestro, Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957).
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"Sit, Ubu, sit... good dog!" ("Arf"!)
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Inbetweener / Contributor
Posted:
Aug 16, 2007, 11:38 PM
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Actually, I have my own theory about these Czech soundtracks: it must have something to do with the concert halls in which they're recorded. If you're as much a classical buff as I, you'll know that most recordings of the Prague Symphony & the Czech Philharmonic, released on the Czech SUPRAPHON label, have an almost-overreverbant sound. (So do live-action director Milos Forman's early features.) I personally have always liked this sound, which is fine for regular listening, though not perhaps for cartoon shorts.
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"As we say in Swahili: 'OOP!'"
--George of the Jungle
(This post was edited by dingdog on Aug 16, 2007, 11:39 PM)
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