In the world of animated film, the partnership
of Tom and Jerry has a special claim to eminence. Tom is unquestionably
the best-known cat, beating out Sylvester, Tweety Pie's enemy, by
several lengths, and Jerry, Tom's faithful tormentor, is unrivaled in
his diabolical ingenuity.
For twenty-seven years, from 1940 to 1967, Tom and Jerry's adventures
accompanied some of MGM's finest films. This prestigious series, with
its wealth of 161 titles, divides into three periods:
1940-1957: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
1960-1962: Gene Deitch
1963-1967: Chuck Jones
While the last two periods occured during the decline of the American
animated cartoon, the first seventeen years of production represent
dazzling artistic genius.
The series won seven Academy Awards:
1943 - The Yankee Doodle Mouse
1944 - Mouse Trouble
1945 - Quiet Please
1946 - The Cat Concerto
1949 - The Little Orphan
1952 - The Two Mouseketeers
1953 - Johann Mouse
On these pages you will find several production-drawings and a
production-cel from the first period of Tom & Jerry cartoons. Every
animation fan has a favorite Tom & Jerry cartoon from this era which
he touts as "the best". But there are so many good shorts in
the series that these judgements reflect the individuals' tastes, rather
than the quality of the films.
I hope you'll enjoy my website, and if you have anything to add or any
other comments, please e-mail me: hwalther@xs4all.nl
Hans Walther
All images © and TM of the respective studios.
You can click on the thumbnails to see
larger images.
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