Pent-House Mouse marks the first Tom and Jerry film to be directed and produced by Chuck Jones. After Chuck Jones was fired from Warner Brothers for essentially moonlighting (working on the feature film for UPA, Gay-Purr-ee (1962)), he formed his own studio called Sib Tower 12 Productions. After Gene Dietch was removed from making Tom and Jerry films, MGM hired Chuck Jones' studio to continue to make the series. Like with Gene Deitch, Tom and Jerry was not a passion project for Chuck Jones. Jones personally said, "I accepted solely because the budgets I submitted would allow me to continue with full animation." With a budget of $42,000, these films were made for $12,000 more than some of Chuck's last Warner Brothers projects. Unlike Gene Deitch who set out to make his Tom and Jerry shorts feel like those of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Chuck Jones modified the characters to his own personal style. His Tom and Jerry cartoons focused less on the fast-paced slapstick action and more on being a showcase for strong character animation. The designs were made to make them look more like Chuck Jones characters and more capable of making the type of subtle facial expressions (that helped define Chuck's personal style). Because of this the character animation and facial expressions can feel more like Chuck's Warner Brothers character, Wile E. Coyote than like Tom and Jerry. Because of these changes Chuck's Tom and Jerry fans remain decisive among fans. Some love the character animation and this unique take on the characters. Others dislike that the new designs, the slower pace and feel that this era is lacking in laughs. Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin's opinion was a mixture of these two types of thought. Leonard wrote, "The results are, without question, the handsomest cartoons of the 1960's - and among the most strikingly designed cartoon shorts ever made. The only problem was that they weren't funny." To make these changes more complete Chuck Jones brought many of those who had worked with him at Warner Brothers to work on these films. This included writer Michael Maltese, layout artist Maurice Noble, background artist Philip De Guard and animators Ken Harris, Ben Washam, Richard Thomas and Tom Ray.
In this short film, Tom is relaxing on top of a penthouse. He is very happy, except for one little thing, he is hungry. We he sees Jerry on a nearby construction site; he decides Jerry would make a perfect lunch.
This first film is typical of Chuck's Tom and Jerry cartoons. It is very charming, but it is not really that funny. Though the designs may be quite different from the Tom and Jerry, we are used to, they work very well. These designs are very pleasant to look at and allow for some very expressive and subtle character animation. This character animation makes these characters feel more real to us than they ever felt in the Gene Deitch era. The background art is very handsome and simply a joy to look at. There are also some very clever filmmaking touches here. I love the bit of Tom and Jerry doing math in their head, including uses of a thought bubble above them. However, this delightful moment also shows the biggest fault of this cartoon. This type of gag is very clever and charming, but it doesn't exactly make you laugh. This would become reoccurring theme in these cartoons. The Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons are full of gags that are simply more clever than actually funny.
The credited animators on this film are Ken Harris, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson and Ben Washam. Chuck Jones would get a directing credit and Maurice Noble would get a co-director credit. The story credit would go to Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. This is the 128th Tom and Jerry cartoon and the only one released in 1963. It is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection as well as the VHS set Tom & Jerry Volume 6 Much Ado About Mousing and the Laserdisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons.
Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/tom-jerrys-greatest-hits/
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Pent-House_Mouse
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