Thoughts on "Tom and Jerry Tales"

I'm not sure if this should go here in the MGM forum, because it involves characters that originated at MGM, or in the Television Discussions, because this pertains to a television show. I'll let you decide, Bruce...

Anyway, I finally was able to catch an episode of "Tom and Jerry Tales" on the KidsWB last Saturday. I have to admit I had mixed feelings. On the one hand I was glad that the producers (including the late Joe Barbera) decided to try and emulate the classic theatrical shorts in terms of characterization and storylines... but on the other hand I sensed that something was nevertheless missing, although I haven't yet been able to put my finger on it exactly.

I do wish they had used the original sound effects (like a shotgun blast to accompany someone getting bashed in the head, or a bullet ricquocheting whenever someone zips out of frame), however. The music also sounds a little chintzy, but maybe I'm being too picky here.

The episode I saw last Saturday seemed to have a nautical theme throughout, with each of the 3 individual cartoons involving either deep-sea fishing, a day at the beach, or treasure-hunting for pirate-booty. I'm glad they gave Spike the bulldog the familiar Jimmy Durante voice from the old MGM shorts. It was also interesting to see the amourous octopus character from the animated sequence in the MGM musical, Dangerous When Wet, resurrected for the deep-sea fishing story; although I noted more than a few borrowings from Pepe LePew ("...I am zee locksmith of love...") in the characterization. I note that Sander Schwartz is an executive producer, so maybe that was his way of incorporating the Looney Tunes characters into this series.

Sometimes Jerry's character design seems to alternate in some scenes between the Hanna-Barbera version and the one that appeared in the crappy Gene Dietch shorts in the early 60's; but maybe I'm just seeing things. Tom has the grey patch in between his eyes that was part of his design up until the mid 1950's, when he became more streamlined. The reason his design was streamlined back then ws to reduce what is known in animation as "pencil milage" (this was the reason that Mickey Mouse was animated without a tail during WWII). So it's amazing that the patch was included in the TV series, given the fact that the budget must be considerably lower than that at MGM during the 40's...

I will have to watch a few more episodes before I can come to any considered opinion of this series. Overall, I feel that it comes close to recapturing the look and spirit of the originals; but I also think that what is currently lacking is heart. From what I've seen so far the sentiment seems a little contrived. What also seems to be missing is some of the subtle nuances that made the original series so enjoyable. The characters sometimes move too fast here, with little of the "business" that helped define their personalities. I'm thinking, of course, of the shorts from the late 1940's (like The Little Orphan or Cat Fishin') when the characters were at their peak. It's a shame that Bill Hanna had passed on before this new series got off the ground; I think it lends credence to the generally-held opinion that both he and Barbera were jointly responsible for the success of Tom and Jerry. Any contribution that Hanna made to this new series would undoubtedly have breathed even more life into the characters.