Tom and Jerry

[Homer I Am]

Didn't see a thread about this. T&J is one of my favourite cartoon shows, I don't think of it as a kids cartoon though seeing as it has politically incorrect humor and violence. I liked it until it got ruined when Gene came along.

[stitchje]

I used to love these cartoons when I was a kid, I sometimes still watch them when they are shown on tv

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

It's place in cartoon history can't be denied; however I have watched these over and over and over again as a kid that I have no need to watch any of the shorts, regardless of the reason. (If you want to watch them, just remember to tune into Cartoon Network at noon; they will always be there, regardless of what happens. It's like one of the channels now few consistent fixtures.)

I will say that the style of shorts changes; back then it was seemingly designed to be played in a theater with the humor that was appropriate for it's day but not appropriate now due to the changing times (blackface for example); the Chuck Jones era was different in that it was made to resemble his style and not that of T&J (though it was still T&J); after that... I don't know. I guess the shorts were done after the 1970's.

[comeau]

I actually like some of the Gene Deitch cartoons, I find the art style to be interesting. True, the writing isn't really that good, but hey many of the latter day MGM ones weren't really that good either.

I like Deitches T&J's more than Jones' honestly, even though I hold a great deal of respect for him for his work at the Termite Terrace. I just never found any of his Tom and Jerry's to be particularly interesting.

[Homer I Am]

You only noticed the less skill in writing? What? I respect your opinion but I thought the dialogues were done lazily and mumbled, the music was cheap and sparse, the sounds were just annoying and futuristic, they used so much reverb focused crap that it became unbearable, the animation was cheap and quick and there was certainly much less detail with grainier quality:
Hanna-Barbera era

Gene Deitch era

The Chuck era was just plain weird, they MUST have been on drugs. The worst thing about it is how they made everything OH SOOO0O FLUFFY AND CUTE AWWW.. so annoying.

[comeau]

But you're comparing a cartoon from 1942, early in the series run, to Deitches' instead of one of the ones from the mid-50s, where the budgets were tighter and the quality of most of the cartoons was sub-par. While I'd infinitely agree with you that the shorts from the 40s and early 50s are of much better quality than Gene's cartoons, I don't think they are any worse than(with a few exceptions, like Blue Cat Blues) what was being put out at the end of Hanna-Barbera's run.

[*NormalGamer*]

For me, depending of the era's, they each have their own unique flavor for many different people. Tom and Jerry are great cartoons to watch. ^_^

[Dark Homer]

never really cared for those guys

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Tom and Jerry = Legends.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

I never really liked them either.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

The Chuck era was just plain weird, they MUST have been on drugs. The worst thing about it is how they made everything OH SOOO0O FLUFFY AND CUTE AWWW.. so annoying.

That's not how I remember it; it was more abstract then weird... If you look at Chuck's work at the similar era, you'll notice a lot of similarities between that and Tom & Jerry. It was just a thing he was going through, a thing which seemed to be the now during the 70's.

[cinco]

The drawings during the Chuck Jones-era were just bad.
I know it's because of the reduced budget and the minimalistic approach, but that just didn't fit Tom&Jerry.

[Homer I Am]

Yeah and they made Jerry look like Porky Pig and the humor wasn't as good. Also, I went to Wikipedia and it said that the Chuck era was drug-influenced.

[zartok-35]

Well, everything was drug-influenced in the 1960s.

[Homer I Am]

Wanna roll up a fat one?

[Homer I Am]

This might be straying off-topic a little but does anyone else think that cartoons have gotten lazy? When I look at cartoons from the golden era they have much more detail to them, I actually see textures and not a bunch of colors. These days (even with The Simpsons) the cartoons are ugly as fuck and lack detail, all I see is Adobe and no traditional animation whatsoever. The only detail I see is pathetic attempt at lighting, and I'm sure this hasn't got to do with budgets.

[comeau]

That's nothing new; when was the last time you saw a cartoon as animated as Tom and Jerry or the Looney Tunes? TV cartoons have traditionally been produced on rather cheap budgets, all the way back to some of the earliest like Huckleberry Hound(in fact Hanna-Barbera made a whole studio and legacy around the concept of cheaply produced cartoons). A few have tried and succeeded to break the mold, notably Ralph Bakshi's New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, John K's Ren and Stimpy, and Steven Speilberg's/Tom Ruegger's Tiny Toons/Animaniacs/Pinky and the Brain/Freakazoid(they were famously produced with two to three times the animation frames as other TV cartoons at the time), but most of the cartoons that rival the classic shorts are produced by independent animators. Even with all the theatrical Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. has put out over the years, none of them have matched the levels in the 1940's LT shorts.

[cinco]

It's a lost art.
Look at the backgrounds of yesteryear. They were absolutely gorgeous. Like little paintings.
Nowadays even feature animation hardly reaches that level of quality.

[stitchje]

totally agree with you cinco

[Homer I Am]

Yeah, why won't they traditionally hand draw animation anymore? It's all Adobe and crap now.

[laurso99]

The one Gene Deitch cartoon I've seen (Switichin' Kitchen) actually had some pretty cool and interesting visual gags and was Svankmajer-esgue. The only real problem being it didn't adhere fully (or at all) to the conventions we've come to expect from Tom and Jerry and tone just felt off. If it wasn't Tom and Jerry, but a different cat and mouse then I'd defend it a lot more, but as a Tom and Jerry cartoon - it just feels wrong.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

It's a lost art.
Look at the backgrounds of yesteryear. They were absolutely gorgeous. Like little paintings.
Nowadays even feature animation hardly reaches that level of quality.

Even in the late 80's they did that; what the fuck happened?

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Yeah, why won't they traditionally hand draw animation anymore? It's all Adobe and crap now.

Money money money.

[Homer I Am]

Fuck money.

[Homer I Am]

This is very weird.

[Alex of Insomnia]

Heres the tom & jerry thread

[cinco]

This is very weird.

I always thought those episodes were just memories of fever dreams.

[Alex of Insomnia]

Yeah the Gene Deitch cartoons all had very poor animation and backgrounds not to mention the sound fx just sound weird to, they just don't feel like Tom & Jerry cartoons.
The Chuck Jones shorts were a little better, the animation didnt fit Tom & Jerry but was still better than the Gene Deitch era and the episodes themselves. Even the later Hanna Barbara incarnations weren't animated as good as the original 114 theatrical shorts.

Also does anyone have the Tom & Jerry Golden Collection 1 Blu-ray I'm going to get it as soon as I can find it somewhere.

[cinco]

Which cartoon was the turning point? Which one was the last one of those 114?

[Alex of Insomnia]

Tot Watchers the last of the original Hanna Barbara run. The 114th short

Its not that great but still better than the latter Gene Deitch cartoons