The Art of Tom and Jerry...before Cinemascope

Like Warner Brothers, most of the Tom and Jerry cartoon shown on television do not contain it's original openings. Thanks to hiselliotness from the animation forum, I think I may have cracked the code. Keep in mind the information here is not what I believe was used so I could be wrong....LOL

All the Tom and Jerry cartoons prior to 1943 have the MGM studio logo used in their Technicolor movies.
I'm guessing that they used similar openings as Puss Gets The Boot which lists no animators, just the directors and the title.




Starting in 1943 and probably continuing until 1946, MGM probably used this opening
and Tom and Jerry logo (obtained from Jerry Beck's website).
Notice how the ribbon listing "Ars Gratia Artis" is almost similar in style to the pic above. Unfortunately the physical footage containing the Tom and Jerry logo is no longer available (see Jerry Beck's website for more details).

Unfortunately, you'll only see this MGM-Leo opening on practically every non-reissued MGM cartoon during that time (Tex Avery, George Gordon) except T&J.




In 1946, this opening logo was used (based on some of Tex Avery's non-reissued cartoons of the time like Henpecked Hoboes and Hound Hunters.
They took away the "Ars Gratia Artis" insignia. The film ribbon changed color and it's not as thick as before. In addition, only one ribbon is located on each side of Leo's head instead of two. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is written in bold print, while Technicolor is written in script.
Notice at the bottom it says "In Technicolor", only to be replaced by "Color by Technicolor"




Between 1947 and 1951, MGM used this opening with this new Tom and Jerry logo.
The Little Orphan, Hatch Up Your Troubles, Love that Pup, and (I think) Jerry's Diary are some examples.
Two Tom and Jerry cartoons originally released in 1942 (The Bowling Alley Cat and Fine Feathered Friend) and all of the cartoons originally released in 1943 and 1944 were re-issued wth both these logos.
The Bowling Alley Cat, Fine Feathered Friend, and Sufferin' Cats use the same theme music from the 1949 toon The Cat and The Mermouse.
The Lonesome Mouse uses the typical Tom and Jerry theme song of 1949-1950.
It's the same logo as the previous one, but now it says "Color by Technicolor"




In 1952, MGM used this opening, but kept the same Tom and Jerry logo.
Tom and Jerry cartoons originally released in 1945 were re-issued wth both these logos.
The film ribbon changes color again and this time around, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is written in script, while Technicolor is written in bold print. The background is a all bright red background unlike the previous background.




In 1953 when they released Mice Follies, MGM used the same opening from above and this Tom and Jerry logo for the first time.




Around the time Mice Follies was released, MGM would use this new opening logo (with a blue background) along with the new Tom and Jerry logo from above, but slightly modified. Notice that now Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is now written on the film ribbon.

All of the Tom and Jerry cartoons originally released before 1943 (except for Puss Gets The Boot, The Night Before Christmas, The Bowling Alley Cat and Fine Feathered Friend) and cartoons originally released in 1946 - 1951 were re-issued wth both these logos.
A lot of these reissue prints list the Westrex logo towards the lower right hand side on the same screen as the animators which was a form of sound recording used in the mid-1950's (see Jerry beck's website for more information).




Then came Cinemascope