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