
With sevens you have to get your gags in and get out. When Cartoon Network first started they were doing nothing but sevens, and then elevens allowed us to tell a bit of a richer, longer story. Now that every adventure is over 50% longer than the classic shorts, The Tom and Jerry Show is able to tell more engaging tales:
#Tom and jerry series series#
There’s so much out there there’s so many great old Tom and Jerry cartoons and other things out there that you want it to be noticeable when you see it.Īdditionally, the series will extend the familiar 7-minute shorts (sevens) to 11 minutes (elevens), which are then paired up for each of the 26 episodes ordered. We still are making Tom and Jerry direct-to-video movies where they still look more classic. It’s just like, ‘No, no, no – this is the style we’re trying for this series.’ It’s not like, ‘Oh, they have to stick with this going forward.’ I don’t think you ever set out to make the definitive look. Jay Bastian: I think a series allows you to try new things with it. Animation’s relationship with DC Comics, now that a DC Cinematic Universe is on the horizon.Įveryone remembers Hanna-Barbera’s classic characters Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse from the many cartoons and films that have been produced since Tom and Jerry’s creation in 1940s, and The Tom and Jerry Show is hoping to give an updated look at the iconic rivalry, while at the same time maintaining the core elements which caused fans to first fall in love with the duo.Īn updated look, yes, but not necessarily new one:
#Tom and jerry series update#
While speaking with us, Bastian breaks down Tom and Jerry, as well as what all went in to making The Tom and Jerry Show he reveals the challenges of telling a story in elven minutes explains why it’s not so easy to, say, make a Tiny Toon Adventures sequel and gives an update on Warner Bros. We spoke to WBA’s vice-president, series, Jay Bastian, regarding Tom and Jerry's return – as well as a few other things. Animation continues to breathe new life into beloved carton classics with their new series The Tom and Jerry Show, which premieres April 9 on Cartoon Network. Today, however, they’re back on DVDs - and on this website, as we invite you to explore their development with us, film by film.Warner Bros.
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On TV they were first renamed Dick and Larry, then put entirely on the shelf. Over the years the original Tom and Jerry drifted into obscurity. The last cartoon to star the original Tom and Jerry would be 1933’s THE PHANTOM ROCKET. Under Stallings, the Tom and Jerry series seemed to lose much of its earlier charm. In 1933, Van Beuren fired Foster and promoted Stallings to his position. In A SWISS TRICK, eating too much swiss cheese causes our heroes to grow holes in their bodies. In PIANO TOONERS, Jerry flushes a humanized “sour note” down the toilet. Old houses hid evil dancing skeletons seas concealed fish rabbis dressed in spy-drag black. Inanimate objects came to life two singers could share a single mouth. Van Beuren was second only to Fleischer in depicting surreal, impossible feats on screen Tom, Jerry, and their surroundings did it all. As the series progressed, though, the films became increasingly bawdy, boozy and bizarre.

The first Tom and Jerry short was 1931’s WOT A NIGHT, similar in style to the earlier cat and dog cartoons.


By mid-1932, though, they were streamlined to incorporate an increasingly rubbery graphical style. The turning point came only when Foster was joined by New York artists George Stallings and George Rufle - who brought with them the idea of turning the cat and dog into humans.Īt first, Tom and Jerry - the pair’s new name - were drawn in a literal style that directly recalled Mutt and Jeff. A better Foster decision was to develop a Mutt and Jeff-like cat and dog pair, but success still eluded Van Beuren. Terry’s directorial replacement, John Foster, first singled out a pair of mice, but their resemblance to Disney’s Mickey was too close for comfort. Van Beuren, who’d lost Paul Terry and other creative staffers in 1929, needed breakthrough cartoon characters to put his studio on the map. Van Beuren’s New York studio had another pair of stars named Tom and Jerry. Before the Cat and Mouse: Van Beuren’s Tom and Jerry Filmography compiled by David Gerstein and Pietro Shakarian Special thanks to Jerry Beck, Cole Johnson, and Mark KauslerĪlmost a decade before MGM’s famed cat-and-mouse team, Amadee J.
