A Musical Up-Roar 1943-44
At MGM – Tex Avery settled into place, Tom and Jerry’s were rounding out nicely, and Barney Bar provided gentler laughs.
At MGM – Tex Avery settled into place, Tom and Jerry’s were rounding out nicely, and Barney Bar provided gentler laughs.
The musical highlights in the 1942-43 season of MGM cartoons.
During the 1940-41 season, MGM celebrated a match made in cartoon heaven – the teaming of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
The cartoons were starting to retreat from the ooey-gooey style of the early Happy Harmonies. And at times, they could create an unexpected classic.
In the 1939 season, Harman and Ising came back, each heading their own unit, and offering once again the benefits of full Technicolor.
At MGM, the Harman-Ising cartoons had been becoming more elaborate and more expensive with each passing season.
With their trademark ootsy-cutesie style continuing, and branching out into “swing” cartoons in Technicolor, the MGM cartoons kept the pace, musically at least.
At MGM, Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising found the mojo they had been seeking ever since they left Warner Brothers.
We finish off the Van Beuren studio, then move on to a new – the thundering roar of MGM.
Van Beuren made deals to get rights to well-known characters, either from comic strips (Toonerville Folks) or the well-remembered Felix the Cat.