Some Thoughts on Tom & Jerry: The Movie
A new Tom & Jerry live-action/CGI hybrid movie is on the way, but the duo’s initial outing on the silver screen in a feature makes for amusing viewing after almost 30 years.
…MGM
Reviving the Dead: MGM Devlops Animated Addams Family
If you’ll pardon the pun in the title, the news is entirely real. MGM as Variety are reporting have in development an animated feature based on the Addam’s Family.
Besides the usual question of ‘why’, is ‘why now’? The Addam’s Family have been around for decades in print, TV and the silver screen. They’ve even been animated before for TV by Hanna-Barbera, twice!
As exciting as it is to see new Addams family material and especially so seeing as it will be animated, it’s not hard to imagine why it’s being done. Far from bringing back a timeless property is the desire to earn money.
That, in essence, is my main problem with such revivals. They’re not new material, they’re rehashing old material into something supposedly new. To explain further, the Addams Family are macabre and dark, but there are just one example. There is a lot of of original material out there that is just as good, if not better.
The problem really lies in the existing studio models that are used to create such film projects, and we’re starting to see them on YouTube as well. In effect, the desire to produce hits on a constant basis becomes the driving factor for output, and variety and originality suffers as a result.
Your thoughts? Am I hollow in the head, or is bringing the Addams Family back really, a good idea?
and
Tom & Jerry: 72 Years Old Today
Yes, the original cat and mouse duo are 71 years young today, February 20th. Back in 1940, the short Puss Gets The Boot was released and featured the two characters who would quickly become the characters that are so beloved today.
So now I’m curious, in 1940, was stuff from 1869 as popular and as widely known as Tom & Jerry are today?
Fred Quimby Details How Cartoons Are Made
Here’s a link to a 2009 post by Michael Sporn that is worth your while reading.
The Secret to Great Comedy
The difference between what the audience expects, and what it actually gets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soEeeGXC-XY
Once the audience is set up, the animators are free to go nuts with Tom and Spike and they way they do it creates a great comedic moment that transcends the boundaries of time.