Busy Buddies (1956)

 

In 1975, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would revisit their characters of Tom and Jerry with a TV show entitled, The Tom and Jerry Show. That series would feature Tom and Jerry not as rivals but as best friends who work together to solve problems. Though Busy Buddies was a theatrical short film Bill and Joe made nearly two decades before that TV series, this film much more resembles that series than the typical Tom and Jerry short of the 1950's. 

This short also casts the cat and mouse duo as best friends. When the owners of the owners of the house go out on a date, they leave teenager babysitter Jeannie to watch over their baby. However, Jeannie is much more interested in talking to her friends on the phone than actually watching the baby. When the baby finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations, it is Tom and Jerry who must help protect him.   
This is a charming little short, even if it doesn't feel like a typical Tom and Jerry cartoon. The background art is lovely to look at. The stylized look to the background provides a delightful 50's charm to the film. Unfortunately, this is not as obvious if you watch the film in the cropped version that often appears on TV. If you watch this cartoon in widescreen or its original CinemaScope format, the artwork is lovely to see. The basic storyline is a fun one and a good setup for a cartoon. The humor here may not be laugh out loud funny but is really charming. This cartoon is more likely to make you smile than laugh but there is no problem with that sometimes.

The main problem I have with this short though is that Tom and Jerry's personalities don't shine through as much as in the average Tom and Jerry short. Tom and Jerry are really interchangeable with any number of cartoon characters here. However, this flaw doesn't keep this film from still being really charming. 



The credited animators on this film are Irven Spence, Lewis Marshall, Kenneth Muse and Ed Barge. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. Robert Gentle would not only work with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera on these theatrical shorts but also many of the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons. He worked on such Hanna-Barbera shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Yogi Bear Show, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat, The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends and many more. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. You can see some of his background art for the Hanna-Barbera TV shows here.

This marked the 100th Tom and Jerry theatrical short film. It premiered in theaters on May 5, 1956. This film would receive a semi-sequel with the last Hanna-Barbera directed Tom and Jerry theatrical short, Tot Watchers (1958). The basic plotline of a pet (in this case Tom) having to look after a neglected baby would later be the basis of the Mindy and Buttons segments on TV's Animaniacs. Those segments would also feature a similar ending to this film. 

This cartoon is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Vol. 3, the Laserdisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume II and the new Blu-Ray set, Tom and Jerry: The Complete CinemaScope Collection (this features the best home version of this film. 

The 2006 album, TOM AND JERRY & TEX AVERY, TOO! Volume 1: The 1950’s, features musical scores from various MGM cartoons. Included here is Scott Bradley's score for Busy Buddies. 

A 1963 Gold Key Tom and Jerry comic book was also titled, Busy Buddies. However, that comic book would not be an adaption of this film. The title would also be the name of a 1944 Three Stooges short. 

As a special treat for the 100th post on this blog, here are some pages from classic movie magazines about our favorite cat and mouse duo. 

Motion Picture Herald 1946

 

Motion Picture Herald 1952

Variety 1949

If you have trouble reading the following article (from a 1949 issue of The Exhibitor), click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen click here.

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Egg and Jerry (1956)

 

The Egg and Jerry marks the first of three Tom and Jerry CinemaScope remakes. These films would be shot for shot remakes of earlier Tom and Jerry shorts, adapting the cartoons into the CinemaScope format. These remakes would be so similar to the earlier shorts that they would even reuse the same audio. The other two Tom and Jerry CinemaScope remakes are Tops with Pops (1957, remake of Love That Pup (1949)) and Feedin' the Kiddie (1957; remake of The Little Orphan (1949)). MGM would release three other CinemaScope remakes at this time. Millionaire Droopy (1956, remake of the Droopy cartoon, Wags to Riches (1949)), Good Will to Men (1955; remake of the Hugh Harmon short, Peace on Earth (1939)) and Cat's Meow (1957; remake of the Tex Avery short Ventriloquist Cat (1950)). All these remakes would be produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who would receive directing credit Good Will to Men as well as the Tom and Jerry shorts. Cat's Meow would be the last directorial credit for Tex Avery. 

The Egg and Jerry is a remake of Hatch Up Your Troubles (1949). Being a shot for shot remake, the story is exactly the same here. In this film, an egg rolls out of its nest, while a mama woodpecker is away. The egg rolls into Jerry's home and hatches there. Since the first thing the baby woodpecker sees is Jerry, he assumes that Jerry is his mama. Jerry tries to return the little woodpecker to his nest, but the little woodpecker just wants to follow Jerry. Unfortunately for the little woodpecker, when he pecks on Tom's chair and breaks it, he has an angry cat after him. Jerry then tries to protect the woodpecker from Tom.

This type of film may feel pointless today, when Tom and Jerry air on TV every day (and pretty much all their films are available on DVD and/or Blu-ray. However, it is important to remember that these were originally short films made for theaters. There is a good chance that the average moviegoer had never seen the cartoon this was remaking before or at least had not seen it since 1949. Because of this, this cartoon would have seemed like a completely new film to them. Taken for what it is, I definitely enjoyed watching this film. The original did a great job mixing humor and sentimentality and since this is a shot for shot remake the same is true here. Adapting to CinemaScope meant that this cartoon had new background art. This background art here is more stylized and inspired by UPA. This type of stylized background also looks forward to the backgrounds William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would soon use in their early TV cartoons. These backgrounds look very handsome here, while also perfectly suiting the characters and story.      

The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Irven Spence and Kenneth Muse. These are the same animators who are credited on Hatch Up Your Troubles. Unlike that earlier short, there is a background credit and a layout credit here. The credited background artist is Don Driscoll. This is Driscoll's only credit on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The credited layout artist was Richard Bickenbach. This marked the 99th Tom and Jerry short film. This cartoon is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection: Vol. 3 and Tom and Jerry: Follow that Duck! as well as on the new Blu-ray set, Tom and Jerry the Complete CinemaScope Collection. 

Later an episode of TV's The Tom and Jerry Show would be entitled The Egg and Tom and Jerry (1975). This TV cartoon would bear little resemblance to the theatrical short film in a similar name. In that episode, Tom and Jerry would get in trouble as a baby eagle thinks Tom is his mother, while the mother thinks Jerry is her baby. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Flying Sorceress (1956)

 

This short film marks the first Tom and Jerry cartoon (and the 98th short film overall) of 1956, landing in movie theaters on January 28 of that year. For their first film of 1956, Tom takes center stage with Jerry almost in a supporting role here. 

In this short film, Tom breaks a lamp while chasing Jerry. His owner (Joan) is very angry and makes him clean up the mess he made. Tom then sees an ad in the newspaper stating, "Wanted: Intelligent cat to act as traveling companion for elderly lady. Apply in person, 13 Sunnydale Road." Tom decides to run away and get this job. However, he soon learns that this elderly lady is really a witch. When the witch goes to bed, Tom decides to take her broomstick for a joy ride. 

This is a delightful cartoon and one I watch every October. The plot of this film is a departure from the typical Tom and Jerry short. However, it is a plot that works perfectly with Tom's character. This story takes full advantage of Tom's childlike playfulness, mischievousness and cockiness. Though the animation was getting more limited around this time, the animators were still able to express all these emotions perfectly without Tom having to say a word. Though Jerry receives a smaller role in this film, he also gets some good character animation here, especially his bewilderment when he sees Tom on the broomstick. This cartoon also benefits from a great sense of atmosphere, especially the scenes in the witch's house. The background art in these scenes create a very fun Halloween-like atmosphere. The humor may not be as laugh out loud funny here as it was in the 1940's Tom and Jerry shorts. However, it is very charming and sometimes that is enough. 

The title for this film would later be reused for an episode of TV's The Tom and Jerry Show, The Flying Sorceress (1975). In that episode, a witch named Free Fall Frieda recruits Tom and Jerry to help her test out her 1401 wide-bodied flying cauldron. Th kind witch wants to use this invention to help people and first the trio tries to use it to help farmers dust crops and then later as a transportation service.

This cartoon features the character of Joan as Tom's owner. This is the third short to feature this character and the first where you see her face. This is one of eight films this character appears in and one of four, where she is seen without her husband George. 

The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Irven Spence. Lewis Marshall and Kenneth Muse. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. The credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach. Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. Robert Gentle would also work on many of Bill and Joe's later TV shows including The Huckleberry Hound Show, Quick Draw Mc Graw, The Atom Ant Show, Space Ghost, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends, Pac Man and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. He also worked on the Hanna-Barbera feature films Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (1964), The Man Called Flintstone, Charolette's Web, Hedi's Song (1982) and Rock Odessey (1987) as well as the Loopy De Loop theatrical shorts. You can see some of his background art for the Hanna-Barbera TV shows here. The witch is voiced by June Foray, who the same year first voiced the Looney Tunes character Witch Hazel in the Bugs Bunny cartoon, Broomstick Bunny (1956). She had also voiced another character named Witch Hazel in the Donald Duck cartoon, Trick or Treat (1952).  June would later provide Jerry's voice in some of the Chuck Jones produced Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1960's. Clips from this cartoon would later be reused in the cheater cartoon, Matinee Mouse (1966). This cartoon is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection and Tom and Jerry: Hijinks and Shrieks. It is also a bonus feature on the DVD and Blu-Ray of the direct to video movie, Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001). 

Below is a lobby card for this short film. 

- Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/The_Flying_Sorceress

https://tomjerry1975.neocities.org/episodes/NTJ_Show6#80-19

That's My Mommy (1955)

 

That's My Mommy marked the first film that William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced as well as directed as by this time Fred Quimby who had produced the cartoons for MGM had retired. Bill and Joe did not only produce the films they directed but also the other MGM cartoons such as the Droopy shorts. Bill and Joe would of course after the Tom and Jerry shorts to produce many of the great TV cartoons, when they started their own animation studio, Hanna-Barbera.

In this short film Quacker the duck hatches from his egg and the first thing he sees is Tom. He assumes that Tom is his mother, but Tom only has interest in eating Quacker. Jerry tries to convince Quacker that Tom is not his mother but Quacker "loves his mommy" and doesn't believe Jerry. 

Animator Michael Lah once stated that William Hanna "loved cutesie stuff ... Joe was the other way, wild as hell." This showed itself in some of the Tom and Jerry cartoons by the mixing of sentimentality with wild cartoon slapstick. Though this mixture had appeared in these films as early as the third short (The Night Before Christmas (1941)) by the 1950's the addition of sentimentality to the Tom and Jerry formula was becoming more common. In my opinion, That's My Mommy is one of the finest examples of these more sentimental Tom and Jerry shorts. It is also probably Quacker's best film.

There is a lot to love about this cartoon. Both Tom and Jerry are the characters that we know and love. They are both at their most likable and relatable. Though by this time the animation on these shorts was becoming more limited, through the facial expressions and even the way they move we can always tell what both these characters are thinking without them having to say a word. Sometimes these facial expressions can even get laughs on their own. I love the look on Tom's face when Quacker says, "my mommy will protect me" and the annoyed expression on Jerry when Quacker closes the book on him. Both of these little moments make these predictable gags still quite funny. Quacker is also at his most likable here. While I may not be a fan of his cutsie voice, he is very likable here and plays well off both Tom and Jerry. There may not be as many laugh out loud moments here as there are in the 1940's Tom and Jerry films but most of the gags at least made me smile. The ending to this film is very sweet and quite touching. It also reminds us why we care about these characters as well as laugh at them. 

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence and Lewis Marshall. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle and the credited layout artist is Richard Bickenbach (credited as Dick Bickenbach). Richard Bickenbach not only worked on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Tom and Jerry shorts but also on their later TV work. He would work on such Hanna-Barbera TV series as Quick Draw McGraw, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo Where Are You and many more. He would also work on the Hanna-Barbera feature films, The Man Called Flintstone (1966) and Charolette's Web (1973) as well as the Loopy the Loop theatrical shorts. Robert Gentle would also work on many of Bill and Joe's later TV shows including The Huckleberry Hound Show, Quick Draw Mc Graw, The Atom Ant Show, Space Ghost, Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo Where Are You, Super Friends, Pac Man and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. He also worked on the Hanna-Barbera feature films Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (1964), The Man Called Flintstone, Charolette's Web, Hedi's Song (1982) and Rock Odessey (1987) as well as the Loopy De Loop theatrical shorts. You can see some of his background art for the Hanna-Barbera TV shows here.

This marked the 97th Tom and Jerry cartoon and the last of 1955. This cartoon was released in Cinemascope and all the rest of the Hanna-Barbera directed Tom and Jerry shorts afterwards would be as well. This cartoon is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3 and will be on the upcoming Tom and Jerry the Complete Cinemascope Collection Blu-ray. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/That%27s_My_Mommy

https://www.imdb.com/