Here’s an example from Mouse Cleaning (1948).
Tom’s been told by the maid to keep the house clean. In one scene, he realises eggs are going to fall from the air and splatter on the floor. The first drawing is held for ten frames.
Then he realises what’s about to happen. He scrunches down, then the take (with alternating drawings).
Tom scoots out of the scene.
Here’s the speed of the action. These frames are back to back. The first has Tom leaving. He’s already back in the second frame.
The usual team of Irv Spence, Ken Muse, Ed Barge and Ray Patterson receive the animation credit on screen. No background or layout artist are credited, but we could be viewing the work of Bob Gentle and Dick Bickenbach (to be honest, I don’t know which MGM cartoons were laid out by Gene Hazelton).
While the character most probably is meant to be a maid, nothing in the cartoon itself (or, for that matter, most Tom and Jerry cartoons in which she appears) indicates that: she's neither wearing a uniform nor answering to an employer. Any child watching this cartoon today would simply assume it's her house. One T&J cartoon even shows her in her bathrobe going up to her room at the head of the stairs, which is not where the maid's room would be.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I know her name is Mammy Two-shoes, but she's never called that in the cartoons, either.
Thanks for the Ken Muse. ;)
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