Existing comment:
(85) Tom of "Tom and Jerry," ca. 1940.
Graphite and blue pencil.
Art Wood Collection of Cartoon and Caricature
Prints and Photographs Division
LC-DIG-ppmsca-06460 (85)
This model sheet for the animated character Tom showed artists working for Hanna-Barbera Studio how to draw the cat consistently, from the tips of his ears to the end of his toes. Early animators Joseph Barbera (b. 1911) and William Hanna (1910-2001) formed the partnership that produced the Tom and Jerry animated cartoons at MGM Studios from around 1940 until 1957. The award-winning series featured the gray cat Tom perpetually pursuing his mischievous co-star Jerry, a brown mouse. More than 150 shorts chronicled the pair chasing and teasing one another, ending up only occasionally as friends. |