...It ended up on the cutting room floor. What is unique about this short, is the fact that it was done in collaboration with two animation legends, Joe Barbera and Phil Roman. And Mike Peraza as well!.
First we had a story meeting, then I would go off and rough out my first pass at the board. Then we would pin them up, and discuss different ways the story and gags could be told. Man I had blast working with these fantastic talents. .
Tom had conceived this elaborate Rube Goldberg mouse trap, but Jerry showed up early....
... Tom gets mad at Jerry for knocking over the dominos, and lunges at Jerry, setting the trap in motion...
...with Tom in it....
All of this mayhem was to be timed to music by the great Henry Mancini himself...
At the end everything gets sucked into the hole and the scene goes black, credits roll!
This cartoon was never animated, but it should have been!
Oh, and they didn't talk until after this part, we were going for a more traditional
Tom and Jerry cartoon for this opening sequence.
Hi there Keith! I just stumbled upon this website recently and I admire your work on the storyboards!
ReplyDeleteThe opening cartoon/intro sounded promising since it was going for a more traditional route, too bad it wasn't used. I know that the movie itself gets a lot of flak and criticism for the main duo talking, weak characters, and the songs they sing (I criticized the film as well for these weak points) but I do enjoy the music done by the late and great Henry Mancini and the animation at times is good (Hanna-Barbera and Tex Avery alumni Irv Spence worked on this feature).
I just have a few questions concerning the film: I heard rumors that the Hanna-Barbera studio was developing a T&J feature but production shifted to Film Roman to complete it, was this true? Also, was there any changes in the story when developing the film? I hope to hear from you soon!
Thanks,
Pat Caldora
Pat, T&J may have been considered as a feature at H&B, I don't know though. Financial considerations may have been behind the move to Film Roman. The story was developed in the storyboarding process.
ReplyDeleteHi Keith, thank you for the reply! I thought I heard that rumor from somewhere (probably some animation forum or something along those lines). Will you post more artwork and stories behind the making of the film? I would love to hear more about it! Hope to hear from you soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Pat Caldora
I was wondering that myself. Seeing as how by that time, H-B was already under Turner's roof, and they created the characters, why not just have them make the movie? Maybe like you said, money. Oh well. This would have been nice to see.
ReplyDelete