I was going to do a post yesterday about one of my favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons "Zoot Cat" but I was too tired last night to stay up and upload a clip of Irv Spence's dance scene. I went to check out Thad's blog this morning and he beat me to it, even the same model sheet plus some others. This cartoon has some of my favorite animation from Irv Spence. Here's some animation drawings plus a different scene by Irv Spence. Sorry for the copycat post Thad.
Here's so more Tex Avery model sheets. John K. suggested that I post these as they're favorites of his so how could I resist. These were drawn by Irv Spence who was an animator on many of Tex's shorts. Plus some of the best Tom and Jerry shorts and even on Ralph Bakshi's films. Please check out Cartoon Diary: The 1944 Cartoon Diary of Irv Spence, it has some really great drawings on it. If your curious, these model sheets can be found in John Canemaker's book Tex Avery: MGM Years. I believe it's now out of print but if you see a copy grab it. It's loaded with great images. I'm sure anyone who owns it will agree.
There's also some more I posted over here at DrawingBoard.org.
As much as I admire the skill of Disney animators and others like Ken Harris, Ken Muse, Virgil Ross and Bob McKimson, I really get fired up over animators like Irv Spence, Bob Cannon, Rod Scribner, Pat Matthews, Emery Hawkins, Michael Lah and of course Jim Tyer. I find myself just watching Tyer's work over and over. I just love funny drawings and they don't get much funnier than his.
This is Jim Tyer's animation from the opening of "Prehistoric Perils". I don't recall off hand of Tyer animating musical bits in any other Mighty Mouse cartoon. I wish he would have though, this is much more entertaining than what the other animators were doing. There's some great animation when Mighty Mouse breaks through the TV screen too. Watch his eyes.
Of all the revivals of Tom and Jerry since Hanna and Barbera's original theatricals I have to say that the 1980 "Tom and Jerry Comedy Show" produced by Filmation is hands down the best. You could make the case that the shorts rival HB's MGM classics. The chase scenes look like they could have been animated by Irv Spence himself, they're so good. Enjoy some art from "The Great Mousini" and "Invasion Of The Mouse Snatchers". Fortunately, someone was kind enough to upload the cartoons to youtube.
"Henpecked Hoboes" marked the first appearance of George and Junior. Both of whom were inspired by George and Lenny in "Of Mice and Men". I can't watch that movie without laughing. I just always think of the George and Junior cartoons, or "Lonesome Lenny". The awesome model sheet was drawn by Irv Spence.
"Tee For Two" is one of my all-time favorite Tom and Jerry shorts. Mostly because I love Irv Spence's animation in this cartoon. I find it to be some of his funniest. One of the other things I love are the backgrounds, I believe these were painted by Robert Gentle. Sorry that the characters are in a couple of the pics. I usually try to use frames that don't have any animation over it. But in this case I liked the backgrounds too much to discard them just because Tom and Jerry are in it.
It's been about a week since my last post so I figured I'd start up again with some pics from Tex Avery's hilarious short "Slap Happy Lion". This cartoon is packed with some really great and wild animation, definetly some of my favorite of all time. The model sheet was drawn by Irv Spence but I'm not sure who drew the different animation drawings. I've also uploaded the scene that corresponds with these animation drawings, sorry for the crappy quality though. Check back later this week for the rest of the stuff I scanned from "Slap Happy Lion"
I was going to do a post yesterday about one of my favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons "Zoot Cat" but I was too tired last night to stay up and upload a clip of Irv Spence's dance scene. I went to check out Thad's blog this morning and he beat me to it, even the same model sheet plus some others. This cartoon has some of my favorite animation from Irv Spence. Here's some animation drawings plus a different scene by Irv Spence. Sorry for the copycat post Thad.
Pete Burness
Irv Spence
Pete Burness
Ken Muse
