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Chapter 20: Tom & Jerry: The First Reincarnation
OK, OK. I know what you think of our Tom & Jerries. But do you know the whole story? Let me tell you about it.
Joe Vogel was the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1961, when our Prague-produced "Munro." won us the Oscar. MGM had belatedly realized that they had made a big booboo when they fired Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and closed down their animation unit. Vogel began casting about to find a possible way to continue their prime cartoon property, Tom & Jerry. Snyder stepped quickly into the breach, brandishing our Oscar statuette, and assured Vogel that we were the very ones to do it - not having the faintest idea whether or not we could. Willy-nilly, we became the very first to attempt continuing these characters!
Personally, as a UPA man, I had always cited Tom & Jerry cartoons as the primary bad example of senseless violence - humor based on pain - attack and revenge - to say nothing of the tasteless use of a headless black woman stereotype house servant. Then there was the Prague animation studio itself, with its diametrically opposed school of storybook animation, always tastefully designed and restrained.
Even if the spirit was willing to give it an honest try, the fact remained that these communist-era, isolated animators had never in their lives seen even one Tom & Jerry cartoon! I had seen more than a few, and in spite of my ideological distance, I did appreciate the perfect craftsmanship, the expressive animation, with its exquisite timing, the endless gag inventiveness, and the characters' incredible damage survival.
I felt that I understood the idiom enough to adapt to its basics, but how in the world was I going to get it across to the capable but totally T&J-innocent group of Prague animators?
Adding to these obvious hurdles was the time and budget restrictions we were presented with. Whereas Bill & Joe and mostly the same four or five animators, had been doing T&J for about twenty years at that time - surely knowing the characters better than their own children - and whereas they had been producing the cartoons for over $40,000 each, (I think making about six of them per year), we were contracted to produce 12 in a year, from a standing start, with a peanuts studio budget of only $10,000 a piece!
It was clear to me that the undertaking was basically impossible, and I knew that my colleagues in the animation industry would be unforgiving in their appraisal of our results. Yet there were overriding personal and financial considerations that made it imperative that I take on this guillotine project. Readers of my book, "For The Love Of Prague," will know that in 1961, receiving an Oscar, and having production offers such as this as a result, was the key to my being able to stay in Prague long enough to sort out my personal life, and be able to marry Zdenka. So Tom & Jerry were actually battling each other to save me! So I had to suppress my preconceptions, rise to the challenge, and do my very best to adapt to the idea that mayhem can be fun.
The first step was for my new colleagues to see some examples. MGM sent me exactly four 35mm Tom & Jerry prints, plus the most recent model sheets, and a few stacks of actual pencil animation, the original drawings on paper. We all studied the material over and over, running the films in projection and on the studio's editing tables. We watched for the little timing tricks, the "takes," the basic attitudes and facial expressions. We practiced drawing the characters in their typical poses.
Someone upstairs says the Gene Deitch T&J's have better looking graphics than the original. I very much disagree! I think the original has much prettier graphics! The G.D. ones, to me anyway, don't have very good looking graphics at all.
I have a key master, multi cel set-up from a Tom and Jerry cartoon which has Tom driving a green forklift while chasing Jerry who is flying a small, yellow plane. I am trying to find out who made this (HB, Deitch, etc...) and the name of the specific cartoon.
I know it is not a Chuck Jones piece. The notations on the bottom of each cel include the letters, "TJ."
Can anyone tell from this description if you recognize the cartoon?
HMGsvR
I think the biggest problem w/ Gene Deitch's T&J's is that Jerry always triumphs over Tom. W/ the original version there are lots of exceptions.
I was first exposed to Tom & Jerry with syndication in 1977, where they played the whole series from 1941-67 together (and the 1975 incarnation was soon added), so your batch was just another variation. Just like several studios (including yours) produced Popeyes. The thing I didn't like about them was that Tom never "won". (Calypso Cat was the closest to a good ending for Tom).
I can imagine the shock of longtime T&J theatrical fans in 1961, excitingly having waited three years for a new Tom & Jerry, walking in to Switchin' Kitten!
Still, the graphics (backgrounds) were so crisp and shiny, even better looking than the originals (hard to believe they were from the early 60's). And the music and sound effects were just an interesting novelty. My wife and I joke about the "booiii-oooi-ooing!"
High Steaks was the funniest to me.
The Filmation series in the 80's (the next one after the one where they were friends all the time) was very similar to yours in many ways (including Tom never having any definite wins).
I was lured over here by a rumor floating around about a 14th film where the Clint Clobber guy stabs Tom or something.
I also thought the Popeye you did around the same time with the alien spaceship that looked like a mailbox was hilarious.
CAN I BELIEVE IT? PRAISE FOR MY TOM & JERRYS!
Over the long years since 1961, when my puny 12-picture series of Tom & Jerry films were made, I’ve been pummeled with much critical flak, and derisive letters, pointing out the inferiority of our T&Js, compared to the original Hanna & Barberra originals. (Big News!) At least one of the letters was packed with obscene invective, and verged on the death-threatening. Amazingly, there were quite a few praiseful letters. One such, received in late 2005, may not even be an ironic joke. I insist on believing it!
Name: mike anderson
Location: houston, texas
e-mail: michaelleeanderson@yahoo.com
Dear Mr. Deitch,
I appreciate the time and effort you have given to help prospective animators. The reason I searched your name on google is that for years, every time I saw a Tom and Jerry produced by Gene Deitch, I said to myself, "this fellow Gene Deitch is quite a character." Those particular T and J's really stand apart and always fascinated me. Not only do they make me laugh, but the style is so fresh. Actually, I used to tell my kids, "Watch this one, it's really weird." I meant that in a good way! They obviously come from the mind of a very creative person. And your website may one day inspire me to get off the couch and actually try my hand at making something I love instead of just watching the creations of others.....Thank you....Mike.
hi Gene
It's nice to know that you have a web presence and that I can contact you with comments about cartoons you made which I grew up with. I sort of knew the basic story behind the Deitch-era Tom & Jerrys already, but it's nice to hear it from the man himself.
Okay, I'm writing this after seeing an hour block of your T&Js last night on Boomerang after having not seen them in many years--I'll be honest--it's not that I don't or didn't like them, but I will second that comment from Marcy in Colorado that the cartoons have always struck me as being rather unsettling at times, even scary. Definitely *way* bizarre. I think it is a combination of the choppy animation, the very strange soundtracks (using, I presume, then-contemporary electronic music techniques like tape manipulation and echo), and certain gags and layouts that must have just bugged me personally (if you must know, shots of Tom flailing about in the pool in "High Steaks", and in the rocket fuel and in outer space in "Mouse In Space", with accompanying sound effects, come to mind). I agree that the Prague team really did/could not get a grasp on the T&J style of comic violence, and as a result the Deitch T&Js in my opinion are often more disturbing than funny. They are however generally quite inventive, I quite appreciate the "modern" aesthetic viz the classic Disney-level animation of the Hanna-Barbera era, and as an electronic music enthusiast I think what you guys did with the soundtracks was really pretty cool.
One other element of your T&Js that contributed to the weirdness: how shall I put this? Well...they *feel* like something captured from behind the Iron Curtain. It's as if alongside the direct MGM/Hanna-Barbera lineage there was a parallel, but imperfectly copied, independent Tom & Jerry series of which contraband prints somehow made their way into the US. In a sense, they seem somehow unrelated. (I feel the same way about the Filmation TV series, btw.) Besides the starkly herky-jerky animation quality, I am struck by the sort of vague anonymity, unfamiliar names in the credits, unconventional treatment of the beginning and end titles, backgrounds and settings that don't quite look familiar--even little details like the lack of the MPAA/AMPAS/etc. logo bugs...I dunno.
I stress again, Mr. Deitch, that I don't dislike your take on Tom & Jerry--far from it, I do enjoy the films, although on different terms than the classic Hanna & Barbera ones--but I'm trying to express just how unusual and unique they've always been in my eyes. I think the constraints that you and the Prague staff worked under helped give your Tom & Jerrys an extremely offbeat, quirky vibe--probably not intentional, but really quite memorable anyway. So from someone who's been familiar with your 12 or 13 (whichever) Tom & Jerry films since childhood, I'll happily take the opportunity to thank you for making a memorable contribution to the series, and for explaining on this website how you came about doing it.
cheers
Billy S.
Hello, Gene!
I'll have to be honest and say I've never cared for your Tom and Jerry's. The budgets can be blamed to a certain degree, but I think the real problem is your basic indifference to the original source. You seem distant from these characters, as contrasted with the way you connect with your own characters like Sidney and John Doormat in the wonderful films you made for Terrytoons.
You stated that we cannot look at the first 12 Tom and Jerry's and call them hilarious classics, and yet several of them are - which is why the series succeeded. Chuck Jones stated it best when he said (I'm paraphrasing) "Nobody can take someone else's characters and make them work the same."
"The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" is very funny though, because it completely breaks the T&J rules and becomes a genuine Gene Deitch film.
Anyway, I'll be posting some more comments on the other chapters. Thank you for all you've contributed to the art of animation.
Having grown up when all the Tom and Jerry variants were aired randomly, I came to enjoy each for their specific qualities. I think the mumbling, high-strung man in the Dietch era who appeared in the fishing trip and Dicky Moe was absolutely hilarious, much more so than any other human counterpart to Tom and Jerry. The electronic sound effects were also well-done. Positively space-age.
Mr. Deitch, as someone already said, I enjoyed T&J when I was a kid and I enjoy them today. About your productions, I like the one with the fishing trip and the Carmen opera. On the other hand, I like Mr. Jones characters expresions and I think they were funny too. But, of course the original H&B series are by far the better. I think seriously that they couldn�t be duplicated even today, despite of tech advances (something like the Pyramids)
However, your production is very superior to that nasty T&J TV series created later by Hanna and Barbera themselves.
Best regards!!
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