Cartoon Logic

This week we dive into MGM's flagship series, Tom & Jerry, the sassiest, brassiest cartoons made in Hollywood's Golden Age. We take a look at industry heavyweights Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera (and their team of animators) and what made a seemingly hack concept of cat-and-mouse so unmatched for so long in this exploration of "visual nonsense". Our analysis is of Tee for Two, and will hear how the description of one scene in particular in a historic magazine article made Bob need to see this cartoon.

In this week's episode, we scratch the surface about just what makes director Bob Clampett's Warner Bros. cartoons so unique and invigorating, and what gives them the frenetic energy no one has ever matched. Our in-depth dissection is of Baby Bottleneck, one of his last and very best films starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, which Clampett himself called a series of "incidents". And just why did he call them that? Listen and find out! 

Our first episode will give you a taste of what to expect as we dive into an in-depth discussion about the cartoons featured on Warner Archive's summer release, Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 2. Learn all about the Famous Studios crew, particularly Disney Legend Bill Tytla and New York heavyweights Jim Tyer and John Gentilella, that brought these often maligned cartoons to life, and just why these little Blu-Ray collections are worth celebrating.

Every episode we'll also dissect one cartoon in detail, and we decided for our first episode to pick perhaps the most... famous of Famous Popeyes, Rocket to Mars. Strap yourselves in, because this trip is really necessary.