Ray Patterson: Anything for Work

[DarthGonzo]

Ok, Ray Patterson is my favorite Tom and Jerry animator, but I'm apalled at the stuff he worked as an animation director or supervising director for in the 1980s. "Christmas Comes to Pacland"? "Star Faries"? What the...? Ken Muse's name pops up on credits for alot of Hanna Barbera shows as well, and I usually see vintage Tom and Jerry crew members in the credits for "Tom and Jerry Kids". Couldnt they see what a horrible show they were making??

[lislebartman]

Of course they were horrible! What did you expect, Oscar winners?

Ray was one of many who worked with Hanna-Barbera @ MGM so when they left to open their own studio, many of their animators and the like followed them out the door. As the years went on, they didn't care about the product being produced as long as they were well paid...

Moral: Money talks, B.S. walks!

[DarthGonzo]

My question is why did Patterson leave the Tom and Jerry series before everyone else? He followed the crew when they left the series, but why didnt he work on those last few shorts?

[lislebartman]

I believe at that time he was at Universal with his brother Don Patterson working on Walter Lantz cartunes. Don directed some great 'toons for Lantz!

[DarthGonzo]

Originally posted by lislebartman
I believe at that time he was at Universal with his brother Don Patterson working on Walter Lantz cartunes. Don directed some great 'toons for Lantz!

I noticed Don's name on A Mouse in the House. What scene did he work on?

[lislebartman]

I'll have to watch it again to see. If I remember correctly, he animated the Mammy Two-Shoes scenes.

[DarthGonzo]

Originally posted by lislebartman
I'll have to watch it again to see. If I remember correctly, he animated the Mammy Two-Shoes scenes.

And what did Irving Levine do for Kitty Foiled?

[Thad Komorowski]

Don Patterson animated the scene in "A Mouse in the House", where Butch has Jerry in has hand, and Tom grabs it from behind the curtain. Butch runs behind it and finds Tom standing there smiling. Jerry then lifts Tom up, revealing where he is, and Butch picks up Tom, drops him, and nabs Jerry.


-Thad

[DarthGonzo]

Originally posted by Thad Komorowski
Don Patterson animated the scene in "A Mouse in the House", where Butch has Jerry in has hand, and Tom grabs it from behind the curtain. Butch runs behind it and finds Tom standing there smiling. Jerry then lifts Tom up, revealing where he is, and Butch picks up Tom, drops him, and nabs Jerry.


-Thad

Then what did Richard Bichenbach do?

[Matt Yorston]

Lislebartman wrote:

>I believe at that time he was at Universal with his brother Don >Patterson working on Walter Lantz cartunes. Don directed some >great 'toons for Lantz!

You're right. Patterson directed two Lantz cartoons (with codirector Grant Simmons, also from MGM) in 1954, "Dig That Dog" (one of my all-time favorite Lantz shorts) and "Broadway Bow-Wows" (Not quite as good as the former but wonderful, nonetheless). Both of these cartoons have some great moments, thanks largely to the collaboration between Patterson and Simmons, and it's a shame that those are the only two the duo ever directed before leaving Lantz. A shame, indeed...

In addition to directing, they are also credited with writing those cartoons and since the opening credits for both list no animators, it's safe to assume Patterson and Simmons did all of the animation as well. Come to think of it, maybe that's WHY they left. I know if I had to do my own stories, direction, AND animation for my cartoons, I'd get pretty tuckered out after awhile!

By the way, Lislebartman, I agree with your saying Patterson directed some great Lantz cartoons. He was quite possibly the most unsung animation director in history. Look at "Termites From Mars", "What's Sweepin'?" (my favorite 50's Woody toon), "Wrestling Wrecks" (the lone 3-d short from Lantz), "Under the Counter Spy", and "Convict Concerto". They are excellent by all means. A shame he never directed another cartoon after 1955 (but at least he went back to being an animator where he was equally skilled).

[Matt Yorston]

WHOOPS! I forgot to differentiate between Ray and Don in my post (they were brothers, after all).

My first 2 sentences (about the Patterson/Simmons short-lived directing team) refers to Ray.

The last sentence (about the other Patterson and his Woody cartoons) is about Don.

They were NOT the same person.... :D

[Matt Yorston]

...annnnnd, to top that off, I made another boo-boo.

"Wrestling Wrecks" was not in 3-D. I meant to say that "Hypnotic Hick" (also directed by Don Patterson) was Lantz's lone 3-d short. Sometimes I type faster than my thoughts process.....

[J Lee]

You really have to wonder whether or not the Lantz cartoons would still be in regular rotation of television today if Walter had been able to keep Avery and Don Patterson as his primary directors all the way through the 1950s, instead of finishing out the decade with Alex Lovy (whose cartoons weren't that bad) and Paul J. Smith (whose cartoons were). The problem with the studio's shorts are the 1930s ones were mostly in B&W, the 40s ones get edited too much, and from 1957 on, the rest of the output is dominated by Smith's work, most of which you watch once to see what it's about, and then click the channel whenever it comes on after that. Advertisers don't like those type of cartoons.


If nothing else, had Tex and Don made it all the way to at least 1960s, they would have left the studio with a little more fertile ground and a higher level of standards for Jack Hannah and Sid Marcus when they came to Universal.

[Sogturtle]

Fellers~

Some further clarifications on Br'er Ray Patterson...

The reason why Ray Patterson and Grant Simmons left MGM and turned up at Lantz... The reality was that they formed their own animation studio (ever hear of Grantray??). They rented space for producing commericals and cartoons and started up. It was there that they independently wrote, directed and produced the two cartoons "Dig That Dog" and "Broadway Bow-Wows". Walter Lantz agreed to buy the toons and released them as his...
Sooooo if you care to argue it out then are they Walter Lantz cartoons or are they not???

Besides a whole passel of commercials, directors Ray Patterson and Grant Simmons also did some other very notable work through their company Grantray-Lawrence. The late 1960's version of "Spiderman" featured a fair amount of their studio's work (subcontracted out by Steve Krantz and Ralph Bakshi). Earlier they did principal work on some of the earliest "Flintstones" episodes for Hanna-Barbera (the credits are woefully misleading, their only billing is as animators!!!). Annnnnd something that is pertinent to Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones... They were also subcontracted work (by UPA) for the feature "Gay Purr-ee". The credits once again don't start to tell the story... These projects featured their work and that of animators etc. under them.

[The Spectre]

Wow, I *always* wondered if Ray P. and Don P. were related... as a matter of fact one of the reasons I came to this forum was because I thought I might find out... but you guys are acting as if it's common knowledge. I looked on IMDB, but they say nothing on the matter. I assumed, then, that there was no connection...