On a Classic Cat and Mouse

Theme song

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A classic cat chases mouse routine leading to mayhem and destruction featuring

Tom

• A cat who naps, eats and chases Jerry
• Seldom talks
• Thinks of schemes to catch Jerry
• Originally called Jasper

Jerry

• The clever mouse with an impish grin
• Seldom talks
• Charmer
• Usually triumphant

Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),

Hanna and Barbera produced and directed 114 from 1940 to 1957

Additional MGM releases include
- 13 shorts by Rembrandt Films (1961)
- 34 shorts by Chuck Jones’s Sib-Tower 12 Productions produced (1963-1967)

Debuting on CBS’ Saturday morning schedule on September 25, 1965, Tom and Jerry moved to CBS Sundays two years later and remained there until September 17, 1972.

Received 13 Academy Award nominations, but won 7 Oscars: The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), Mouse Trouble (1944), Quiet Please (1945), The Cat Concerto (1946), The Little Orphan (1949), The Two Mouseketeers (1952), and Johann Mouse (1953)

#50 on TV Guide 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters

A Short Clip

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Because of the limited dialogue, music was important Musical director Scott Bradley blended classical, jazz, and pop music

Because of limited speaking, easily to reconstruct in other languages; thus shown throughout the world

Enjoy this classic clip with Gene Kelly

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Criticisms
- Excessively violent, though no blood
- Stereotypical scenes of Blacks

Other Characters include: “Aunt” Pristine Figg, Barney Bear, Beegle Beagle, Butch the Cat, Captain Kiddie, Dr. J. “Sweetface” Applecheek, Dripple the Dog, Droopy the Dog, Dweeble, Ferdinand, Frankie the Flea, Grape Ape, Grappley, Lickboot, Lightning the Cat, Mammy Two Shoes, Meathead the Cat, Mumbly, Nibbles the Mouse (later called Tuffy), Puggsy the Dog, Quacker, Red (sometimes called Miss Vavoom), Robyn Starling, Spike and son Tyke, Screwball Squirrel, Squawk, Toodles Galore, Topsy,Wolfie

Tribute

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A full feature from 1956

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On a Singer

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Looney Tunes cartoon character

A male frog who wears a top hat, carries a cane, sings ragtime and vaudeville hits while dancing and performing acrobatics

The Story: A hapless, discovers Michigan J Frog and his entertainment skills in the cornerstone of an 1892 building under demolition; his greed envisions fame and fortune from this entertainer, but Michigan only performs for him and him alone

Created by Chuck Jones

First appearance, One Froggy Evening (December 31, 1955)

Last appearance, Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Original voice is subject to debate

Sings The Michigan Rag

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Appears on the cover of Leon Redbone’s 1975 album, On the Track

Michigan J Frog’s Song List

• I’m Just Wild About Harry
• The Michigan Rag
• Hello! Ma Baby
• Come Back to Éireann
• Throw Him Down McCloskey
• Largo al factotum
• Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone
• Moonlight Bay
• The Prisoner’s Song
• Yankee Doodle
• Let The Rest Of The World Go By

Served as mascot of the WB Television Network from 1995-2005

Some list July 22, 2005 as the date of his death because the WB Network Chairman at the time removed the frog as their logo an announced “The frog is dead and buried”

A medley

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Cheers to Lame Adventures for requesting this character! Give her a visit, say thanks, and tell her I sent you.

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On the Love Skunk

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A Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes, and Merrie Melodies cartoon character

A French skunk who is constantly seeking love

Storylines typically involve Pepé in pursuit of what appears to be a female skunk (“la belle femme skunk fatale”)

Has two big turnoff: his odor and his inability to take “no” for an answer

Created by Chuck Jones (1945)

A short video with Chuck Jones on Pepé

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17 shorts; first – Odor-able Kitty, last – Louvre Come Back to Me (1962)

1949 Academy Award winner: For Scent-imental Reasons

First voiced by Mel Blanc, who based the voiced on Charles Boyer’s Pepé le Moko (Algiers, 1938)

In first short he was named Stinky, but revealed to by a philandering American skunk named Henry with wife and children

Odor of the Day (1948) is the only cartoon in which Pepé is not a “lovebird” nor does he have a French accent; but not directly by Chuck Jones (but Arthur Davis)

Memorable Lines

• Do not come wiz me to ze Casbah – we shall make beautiful musicks togezzer right here!
• I am ze locksmith of love, no?
• I am the broken heart of love. I am the disillusioned. I wish to enlist in the Foreign Legion so I may forget. Take me!
• I like it! Come back! Ze corned beef does not run away from ze cabbage!
• How is it that she can sleep when I am so near? We must stoke the furnace of love, must we not?

Links with Pepé sound clips
From Soundboard
From Megawavs

Enjoy this episode: The Cats Bah

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On Clutch Cargo

I admit not watching Clutch Cargo, but this cartoon is part of cartoon’s golden age. Then again, somebody out there requested it, and I am quite the gracious type.

Clutch, a writer and pilot, goes across the world on dangerous assignments

Other characters: Spinner (young kid), Paddlefoot (kid’s dog), and Swampy (Clutch’s bearded friend)

Each adventure was segmented into 5, five-minute chapters, with the first four ending in cliffhangers

Created by Clark Haas

First aired March 9, 1959

Forerunner to Jonny Quest (past post here)

52 adventures; first, The Friendly Head Hunters; last, Big “X”

Music by Paul Horn, who only used bongos, a vibraphone, and a flute

Clutch voiced by Richard Cotting

Swampy voiced by Hal Smith, who played Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show

Production had a limited budget (including the music), thus used other methods to produce episodes at about 20% of Hanna-Barbera costs; less than 10% of Disney’s cost. This 4 ½-minute video explains Cambria Productions’ animation technique.

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Here’s a chapter of an adventure

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On a Whirlwind

After last week’s post populated with numerous never-heard-of-him comments, thought it was in everyone’s best interest to have a familiar character. Look who’s here!

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Taz is short for the Tasmanian Devil

The youngest Looney Tune character,

First appearance in Devil May Hare (June 19, 1954)

Only in 5 cartoon shorts before Looney Tunes studio closed in 1964

Short-tempered dimwit with a ravenous appetite, especially for rabbits

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Created by Robert McKimson

Originally voiced by Mel Blanc, followed by 7 others

Taz soundboard

Warner Brothers head thought Taz was too violent for kids (and parents would dislike it), so order McKimson to stop using Taz

Got his on show in 1991: Taz-Mania Intro

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Relatives: Hugh (father), Jean (mother), Molly (sister), Jake (brother), Drew (Uncle), Tasmanian She-Devil (wife), Dizzy-Devil (cousin), Slam Tasmanian (descendant)

Interesting jousting history between Warner Brothers and the Tasmanian government regarding using Taz for marketing purposes

Yes – I have a golf shirt with an image of Taz

Enjoy the full-length original episode: Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (1954)

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