Kat-Tales
In this series of strips from 8-5 to 8-11-1938, the boll weevil and moth story concludes with both of Krazy’s hats devoured. Then Krazy has some trouble distinguishing a canoe from a boat. I like the poignancy of Offissa Pupp in 8-11, standing on the bank saying “Goodbye, Sailor, Sail far, Sail Wide, Sail On…”. Then Garge reveals the inevitable gag in the last panel, deflating Pupp’s poetic send-off. Today, I actually got to record a tandem commentary with Leonard Maltin for another Oswald cartoon. I think we had a good time doing it. Then I did an interview on camera for the third volume of THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD. We talked about Donald’s treatment by the studio as a “star”. I won’t go into any more detail then that, but buy or rent the DVDs and find out. It was great working with Leonard, I’ve been corresponding with him since I was a kid. I wrote the first version of my Film Comment Tom and Jerry article for Leonard’s Film Fan Monthly when I was 12 or 13. Do any of you get his “Movie Crazy” newsletter? I always enjoy reading it. He has a thoughtful article in the current one about how he discovered silent comedy through his exposure to early television and talks about how silent comics such as Snub Pollard and Andy Clyde were given extended leases on their careers by television. The photo gallery on Andy Clyde is worth seeing, Andy was certainly a master of makeup! See you all next week.
David Nethery says:
I’m sure I still have that Film Fan Monthly with your Tom & Jerry article around here somewhere. I have to look it up again . That was a great article. What’d you say the secret ingredient was …. ZAZZ ? right ? That summed it up wonderfully. Those cartoons have ZAZZ !
Mark Kausler says:
Hi Dave,
At the time that piece was written, I was really describing a sound effect as “Zazz”. That sound effect was literally a bullet richochet, better known in the industry as the “H-B Rico”. It’s a stock MGM sound effect, used in quite a few of their westerns and war actioners. The most “in the clear” use of it in a cartoon is probably “The Bodyguard” where first Jerry, then Tom run through a shot very fast, then Tom crashes into Spike and gets his head caught in Spike’s mouth. There is a very funny sound effect Hanna and Barbera used in that scene when Tom’s head goes into Spike’s mouth, sounds like gibberish played backwards! They used it every once inawhile, so did Tex. Walter Lantz used a variation of the same sound effect for a character’s “take” or “exclamation”, such as in NATURE’S WORKSHOP, when Pooch the Pup realizes that his body has ‘grown into’ the vulture’s body at the end of the catoon. His voice sounds like “novshmovkapop” played backwards! Hanna and Barbera kept the “H-B Rico” sound effects all through the TV years, and used them mostly for fast exits, where the character hovers in the air with legs churning for a few seconds, then zips off or pops off the shot with airbrush whirling lines trailing after. That technique of drybrush lines, originated with Irv Spence at MGM, but I digress.
Thad Komorowski says:
Well regardless, “zazz” pretty much sums up what the classic Tom & Jerrys have and what the imitations are lacking.