Tom and Jerry 02-17-2002

[Pilmedium]

Spike's Birthday (Filmation)
The Night Before Christmas (1941)
Sorry Safari (1962)

[PorkyandDaffy]

What a horrible last show. :(

[Dub]

Not really...it depends on how you look at it...


You know - concerning the Filmation T&J short that showed...."Spike's Birthday"

I have to say it WASNT bad...WASNT GOOD.....but it wasnt the overall demonspawn that the Hanna Barbera's are regarded as...It brought up a neat little "curious" factor in me.

In a way - and people will probably tar, feather, and flail me for this - it reminded me of an underpar Gene Deitch cartoon. But I'd sorta like to see more of em considering that they are rarely if ever aired


Think about it in a Gene Deitch sense - it was very stretchy, used limited music, but unlike the Hanna Barbera's - DID NOT break the number one rule by having someone talk or use the mode of narration all the way through - which is what differs the Fimation T&J series from the Hanna Barbera's


You know - considering how much all the other shows dont played (i.e. the ones that DONT have Mammy in it which were reserved for Saturdays) and the ones that are heavily overplayed \(i.e. The Chuck Jones ones) I wouldnt mind seeing a few of these in regular rotation as curiosities. Thier not evil. Not great, but not mind wrenchingly WONKY.

It'd add more variety to a daily lineup that had - in a sense stagnated from overplaying of the "regular" HB and Chuck Jones cartoons.

Just a thought.

Too bad LNB&W and Saturday T&J are leaving. I'm probably of the minority here, but i wouldnt mind seeing a ***few*** more of the Filmation T&J's in regular tom and jerry rotation just for variety and curiosities sake...

It'd be more interesting than watching the millionth rerun of Chuck Jones "Tom And Jerry Space Saga" :)

Granted it was its last Saturday Show and I was hoping they'd go out with a big bang, but - you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time. I was semi-pleased. But thats just my perrogative. I'm an optimistic sort anyway. Like I said - I'd like to see more if just for curiosities sake.

BTW - Didnt CN do something similar when Tom and Jerry was off the air last time like this, by airing Hold That Pose? The HB T&J's with the bowtie?

[Pilmedium]

I think it would have been much worse if they aired three Filmation cartoons. This really wasn't bad for me, since I finally got "Sorry Safari". Now, I never have to watch a Deitch Tom and Jerry again. :)

[Tintin]

What Filmation cartoons?

[Dub]

I think it would have been much worse if they aired three Filmation cartoons. This really wasn't bad for me, since I finally got "Sorry Safari". Now, I never have to watch a Deitch Tom and Jerry again.



LOL! ^^ Youre right about one thing thpough - while I said I wouldnt mind seeing a few more Filmation T&J's - THREE in one episode would be a wee bit much ^^

Then again a lot of people I know have that same reaction when talking about Gene Deitch's stuff...


Originally posted by Cartoon Man
What Filmation cartoons?

Filmation did a series of Made for TV Tom and Jerry and Droopy's before Hanna Barbera got it back and re-did it again. (This time making T&J buddies and giving Jerry the red bowtie that you see in Tom and Jerry kids)

Most people can never agree on which version is worse - Filmation's version with cheap animation and writing, which if "Spikes Birthday" is any example, IN A WAY stayed somewhat truer to the original, though violence was basically "typical" lame slapstick, and Hanna Barbera's 2nd Version (also made for TV) which made them not violent at all and made them into buddies :P


There was one GOOD thing to come out of the TV versions though....I still like the themesong to this day. but thats just cuz I'm a nut :D

[Tintin]

This shorts was made on 1959-1960 or this is the new Tom & Jerry 70's episodes?

[Dub]

Fimation and Hanna Barbera 2nd generation make up the 1970 T&J's

[Howard]

Seeing "Spike's Birthday" again, boy, was the character design of Spike off or what? His voice was weird, too. I wouldn't mind seeing Filmation's Tom and Jerry added to the regular rotation (in small doses) because it would extend the playlist by about 26 shorts (in 1980, Filmation did about 13 half hour Tom and Jerry Comedy Shows, with 2 T&J shorts and one Droopy). The 1975 shorts would stick out like a sore thumb, but Filmation's cartoons are no worse than the worst Gene Deitch or Chuck Jones/Abe Levitow cartoons.

[angilbas]

I've seen about half a dozen Filmation T&Js; "Invasion of the Mouse Snatchers" was the most entertaining by far. Don't remember "Spike's Birthday."

I last saw "The Night Before Christmas" around 1970.

"Sorry Safari" is a guilty pleasure -- weird but stylish. The foreground (mostly jungle vegetation) slides in front of the characters a lot to give a 3-D effect seldom seen in low-budget cartoons.

-Tony

[Mibbitmaker]

The Filmation T&Js are pretty good, surprisingly, though my exposure to them about a decade or less ago left me underwhelmed (I got one on tape then, and my more recent viewing of it fared much better). They rate a bit below the HB MGM ones (equal or slightly below the Dietch ones), but FAR above the HB '75 ones.

I rather like the Dietch T&Js. They work better than their Popeyes (which were my favorites among the '60s TV Popeyes), though I've been away from those as long as Happy Birthdaze until tonight. The largely dialogue-less chase cartoons are better for that style with its cool (imho) sound effects.

I still prefer, most of the time, the HB MGM T&Js ... initially! :D

[DR. BELCH]

--"Spike's Birthday" was fairly amusing. Imagine if Bill and Joe had directed it, with Ray Patterson or maybe Ken Harris animating it. Maybe it was the irony of Spike, even when being nice, socking it to Tom that sold it. The actor doing the bulldog's voice sounded like he was trying for Billy Bletcher but wasn't quite there.

"Sorry Safari" has some interesting background music, and a novel effect when we hear nothing at all while Tom's ears are stopped up, then the soundtrack resumes abruptly when he pops them, but--eeeaaaugghhh, that purple rhino.

What I wouldn't have done for a Mammy in the final slot, though...and this is the third or fouth time since December I've seen the Christmas T&J.

[Pilmedium]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
but--eeeaaaugghhh, that purple rhino.

I should have pointed that out. It looks like what would be seen in any redrawn Looney Tune. :(




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