Tuesday 8 October 2019

Colour and Mood

Gene Deitch uses background colour changes to indicate mood—at least, that’s what I think he’s doing—in The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit (1962).

Jerry swallows some watermelon seeds and starts sounding like a maraca. Tom captures him in a jar. See how the colour changes once Jerry is in the jar.



The colour is a little lighter when the camera switches to a medium shot.



The colour changes to a magenta when Tom dances around shaking the Jerry maraca in a jar. Below is a really ugly in between.



The colour changes back when the maraca sound suddenly stops. Tom looks in the jar. Jerry spits out the seeds. There are a bunch of those coloured jagged rings outlined in white that Deitch liked to use.



Chris Jenkyns provided the story for this cartoon.

1 comment:

  1. Steven Konichek's score for this scene has always been my favorite moment in Deitch's era.

    That ugly in between is probably one of the funniest drawings in these shorts.

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