I know this isn’t as cool as the stuff David posts on a regular basis, but I thought people would like to see them anyway.
First, courtesy of a generous private collector, are the original opening titles to Tex Avery’s Wild and Woolfy; compared to the reissue here, we see that they completely redid the opening background (probably lifted from Homesteader Droopy), omitted Walt Clinton’s name for whatever reason, and of course, changed the wanted poster.
[wpvideo 7BYlDhRx w=400]
Next is one I posted before, but it had been taken offline, so I’m presenting it here on my own server: the original opening to Hanna-Barbera’s Tom & Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl. In the reissue, they decided to get rid of the pan on the night sky over the Bowl all together (as well as the Tom & Jerry headshot without the names), and just let the credits appear over bland blue titles. Included as a bonus is the MGM Cartoon Carnival tag (MGM’s answer to Warners’ theatrical Bugs Bunny Festivals) with a unique rendition of the 1950s Avery theme by Scott Bradley.
[wpvideo 1yJlODhw w=400]
(For those curious, HB was on a reel with a few other cartoons, but they were ones that did not suffer the same kind of manhandling when reissued. Grumble, grumble…)
But man— this IS as cool as my posts. You’ve got watchable footage of a scene that was later altered. Tremendous jhob… let’s all keep the finds coming.
They also removed Walt’s name from Swing Shift Cinderella (all this time, I thought his animation was Blair’s or Love’s, until rewatching it today). Like changing Ken Muse to Kenneth, only even more confusing…
Anyways, this is awesome stuff! Out of curiosity, have you ever seen the uncut version to the Famous cartoon, “Popeye and the Pirates?”. I know it’s a different kind of edit than these reissues, I’m just wondering. =)
Actually, Clinton isn’t credited at all on Swing Shift (I have the copyright synopsis).
I have to conclude that Popeye and the Pirates was a Hayes Code edit and that even a Paramount original would not have the ‘offending’ scene.
This is fantastic, Thad. The originals by far outshine the reissues.
Looking at it again, I am enamored with the opening of “Hollywood Bowl”. When I saw your screencaps when you first posted them, I didn’t think they were anything special, but seeing them in motion, the way they were meant to be seen, with Tom and Jerry’s faces over an orange background preceding a spectacular star pan…the result is nothing short of phenomenal. “Wild and Woolfy” is an important discovery as well. It would be well worth comparing all of the reissues with the original cartoons were it possible. Anything could have been changed.
Also note that Fred Quimby’s name is not in the original title for “Wild and Woolfy”
I think Thad once said Quimby’s name/producer credit wasn’t on ANY original MGM cartoon titles until 1946’s “The Hick Chick”. Is this true, Thad?
And for years I thought “Homesteader Droopy” reused the footage from “Wild and Woolfy”!!
Thanks a million!
EXCELLENT – I’ve been sharing all of these discoveries with a few co-workers in my office and they are equally impressed!! “T & J in the HB” is one of my fave T & J shorts for the music alone and seeing the original titles just adds to my fondness!!
YOU ROCK, THAD!!
Excellent finds Thad. Why did they take Walter Clinton’s name out of “Wild and Woolfy”? Does anybody have an idea?
My theory is that, when they re-painted the background, they ran out of room.
Amazing!!!
Wow, this is impressive stuff, and you’ve given us the score, too! You know, I’ve been told, too often, that it is out of the question, but if you ever find the audio or any bit and piece of the original title sequence to “THE EARLY BIRD DOOD IT”, please post it here for all to see. Yes, I know that it is very possible that all such elements for these cartoons were destroyed, save for what is left and what we now see, but there is always the chance that Gerstein or yourself or a collecting friend might find a print somewhere that dates back a number of years and will turn out to be the only thing saved from such a horrible fate!
I really do believe it would have been cheaper to just let these cartoon rerun in theaters the way they were. Did it ever occur to them that creating new titles, and cutting them into the actual cartoons would actually cost them more money? To quote the Angry Video Game Nerd: “What were they thinking?”
I can see the thinking: they wanted to remove the WW2 references, which might have been a sore spot for traumatized vets and those who lost loved ones overseas.
If MGM’s elements hadn’t burned up years ago, this wouldn’t be such a dear issue. It’s good that SOME of these deleted/destroyed scenes are still in existence. We may never really see these cartoons as they first appeared.
Thanks for posting these two example of the MGM that was, once uponna time…
I can understand the WWII references, I was talking about the original title cards themselves.
Unfortunately Warner Bros. has now deleted the reissued versions of those cartoons, for which you had provided links…
I know that purists will balk at this, but why couldn’t the original title sequences for some of these cartoons be replicated? If decent audio tracks can be located, wouldn’t it be a simple matter of re-tracing and re-inking the original animation from the existing prints; as well as creaing newly-refurbished backgrounds? I know it’s “cheating”, but at least we would have fully-restored versions of some of our favorite cartoons.
On a slightly different topic, is anyone else besides me completely turned off by the Warner Bros. corporate logo that appears before the opening credits to “The Karate Guard”, the last Tom and Jerry cartoon that Joe Barbera worked on before his death? I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t belong there! To hell with who owns the rights to the characters now, Tom and Jerry are MGM characters and will remain so in my mind!