Gene Deitch Era Of Tom & Jerry Cartoons

i actually prefer them to the later chuck jones ones. they are truly bizarre and often surreal. the use of sound fx/music/voice is so disjointed and even a little creepy. they kinda freaked me out as a kid. and now they kinda give me acid flashbacks. i don't know if you can get just this era on dvd. tod dockstader worked on these! love him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t66sYpoWDSw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx8cWN7SjfE

love this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g63cioGMoeU

Yeah, I like them, Scott! They're really imaginative. Yesterday one came on TV using fades of a cell layer with a persistent background to indicate scene changes or transitions between setups - they're blackout gags without the blackouts, which I haven't seen in other cartoons very often, I'm sure, and none that I can remember now. The design and production choices overall really impress me as being very deliberate and not made for their cheapness, as one could easily assume, and the drawing has got this really expressive economy that's not quite full-on UPA. Dig the flat colors, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhQ-WMKmKXA

and don't get me wrong, i love chuck jones as much as anyone, and his later Tom & Jerry cartoons look great, but he brought things back to the 50's. just love that short-lived euro-run of surreal hijinx.

Gene's still alive too!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Gene_Deitch.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyI-BT5OOY4

I love that the President of the International Brotherhood of Cats is A. Ketzel!

there is a great series of interviews w gene and his sons in this fairly recent issue of the comics journal mag

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/2782413535_294745f3f4.jpg?v=0

i would love to read that! i haven't read a gary groth epic in years. i still need to read the kevin eastman behemoth that someone gave me a link to on ilm. being in western mass i hear all kinds of fascinating stories about the years of the ninja turtle around here. would make a great movie.

needless to say, i'm a kim deitch fan. have been since i was a kid.

that first one with the dog-cat switch...so inventive and charming! especially the bit with the book, and the final scene of jerry. this is some fine tonic.

haaaa, the moment in the space one where jerry slams his foot down and initiates relativity drew a genuine guffaw

Those Deitch ones all had the most horribly tinny sound tracks, didn't they?

These were the ones of "Tom in the MGM logo" right?

"Those Deitch ones all had the most horribly tinny sound tracks, didn't they?"

they were recorded really strangely in eastern europe. that's what i meant when i used the word "creepy". they aren't really creepy, the sound is just really strange. all echo and room noise. on the cheap. but very distinctive. i have very vivid memories of hearing the sound on these as a kid. the dicky moe episode especially made a big impression on me. i knew there was something wrong with it. or that it wasn't your usual T&J. now, they really do remind me of an underground comix approach to funny animals.

Yeah, remember when Krusty the Clown had to resort to airing that "Worker & Parasite" cartoon? The (Simpsons) animators TOTALLY captured that precise sound/feel!

guys, guys. a little off topic. but can anyone remember the title of the tom & jerry cartoon where a feline friend of tom's has sworn off mice? and what was that cat's name?

mane staley