Hello, I'd like to share with you an interesting note that was published by Devon Baxter.
It's a telegram sent to Dick Huemer by Van Beuren in which the latter asks Huemer and his colleagues, Sid Marcus and Art Davis, to return to New York to work in his studio to produce a new series about human characters, who are undoubtedly the future Tom and Jerry.



This is a very interesting piece of information, as it completely overturns everything we knew about Van Beuren's launch of the series. Indeed, in the introduction to the filmography of Tom and Jerry , David Gerstein states that the creation of these two human characters was the idea of animators George Stallings and George Rufle, but this telegram shows that the idea of creating a series centered on humans did not come from them at all. Gerstein also implies that the creation of the series was a consequence of Walt Disney's lawsuit against Van Beuren over the Milton and Rita Mouse characters, but the date the telegram was sent - April 2, just two days after Disney's lawsuit - shows that the two events are not connected.

To return to the event in question, I think it was a very good idea on Van Beuren's part to hire Huemer, Marcus and Davis in his studio, because if all three were excellent animators, the Tom and Jerry series could have benefited from careful animation and could have been much more successful, because it should be noted that the main reason for the series' failure was due to its lamentable animation. In fact, the animation is so sloppy and lazy that the characters' expressions become almost unintelligible, making it impossible to get attached to Tom and Jerry as we can't feel Tom's fear and anxiety and Jerry's tranquility and cynicism. I'm sure the series could have been much more successful if it had had proper animation!

What's more, both John Foster and Dick Huemer made some very good horror cartoons, particularly The Haunted Ship (1930) and Halloween (1931), so their association could have given us great things.

Unfortunately, Charles Mintz must have been tipped off somehow, which is perhaps why he stopped producing Toby The Pup cartoons and terminated his contract with RKO.

If anyone has any further information or suggestions on this event, I'd love to hear from you!

Obviously no one has any information to contribute or any suggestions to make...

I guess the information I have given must not have been well understood.

If you haven't understood anything I've said, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Please be patient. This forum isn't the most active place in the world, and your post was only made two days ago.

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Please be patient. This forum isn't the most active place in the world, and your post was only made two days ago.

Okay, I thought the lack of response was because people here hadn't understood my message, but you're right, I should have been more patient.

I actually meant to reply to this yesterday, but other work and interests got in my way first. As long as people don't give off a sense of ignorance in their responses, I'm very much willing to respond to topics here, particularly those on New York cartoons!

Unfortunately, in this topic, we have no idea how Mintz, or Huemer and co. thought about this telegram. Since neither Huemer or Davis (most prominently interviewed) mentioned anything about this offer made by Van Beuren, its likely they either didn't respond or didn't care about the offer. By April 1931, work would've already began on the Scrappys, so its likely not one of them would have taken the offer, that likely would've eventually have them move back to New York, something I don't think they would've wanted to do. That said, Van Beuren's offer implies them staying in California, so if that was the case, its unlikely there would've been direct creative contribution between them and the NY staff

I also have some doubts about Van Beuren's seriousness in this offer too. Keep in mind, Huemer, Marcus, and Davis were just completing the Toby the Pups at this time, which were ended in part, due to politics to the RKO-Pathe merger. Pathe brought the Van Beuren studio, which seems to of been the preferred studio, and thus got more marketing. Van Beuren may not of wanted two studios both working for RKO-Pathe, which may be why he made this offer. Its possible this was an attempt swindle the staff for doing cartoons for RKO as well, but we'll never know, as again, we have no surviving evidence of how Huemer and co. reacted to this offer, or Van Beuren's further motives behind this offer, though the latter is not hard to guess, to some extent.

I'd like to thank Devon Baxter's post, An Art Davis Scrapbook on Cartoon Research , where you swiped the telegram from

I actually meant to reply to this yesterday, but other work and interests got in my way first. As long as people don't give off a sense of ignorance in their responses, I'm very much willing to respond to topics here, particularly those on New York cartoons!

Unfortunately, in this topic, we have no idea how Mintz, or Huemer and co. thought about this telegram. Since neither Huemer or Davis (most prominently interviewed) mentioned anything about this offer made by Van Beuren, its likely they either didn't respond or didn't care about the offer. By April 1931, work would've already began on the Scrappys, so its likely not one of them would have taken the offer, that likely would've eventually have them move back to New York, something I don't think they would've wanted to do. That said, Van Beuren's offer implies them staying in California, so if that was the case, its unlikely there would've been direct creative contribution between them and the NY staff

I also have some doubts about Van Beuren's seriousness in this offer too. Keep in mind, Huemer, Marcus, and Davis were just completing the Toby the Pups at this time, which were ended in part, due to politics to the RKO-Pathe merger. Pathe brought the Van Beuren studio, which seems to of been the preferred studio, and thus got more marketing. Van Beuren may not of wanted two studios both working for RKO-Pathe, which may be why he made this offer. Its possible this was an attempt swindle the staff for doing cartoons for RKO as well, but we'll never know, as again, we have no surviving evidence of how Huemer and co. reacted to this offer, or Van Beuren's further motives behind this offer, though the latter is not hard to guess, to some extent.

I'd like to thank Devon Baxter's post, An Art Davis Scrapbook on Cartoon Research , where you swiped the telegram from

Thank you for this very comprehensive and informative reply.

I am rather surprised to learn that Dick Huemer and his colleagues did not want to return to New York, as Ben Harrison in his handwritten notes  had implied the opposite. However, it seems to me that Dick Huemer had mentioned in an interview that he wanted to go and work at Disney Studios at the time, which might explain why he wasn't interested in Van Beuren's request.

I'd also forgotten that RKO didn't start distributing Van Beuren's cartoons until 1931, which explains much better why they stopped distributing the Mintz studio's cartoons, thanks for reminding me.

Again, it's a real shame that this project failed, but at least it shows that Van Beuren tried to improve the quality of animation in these cartoons (unless, as you say, it was just a scam on his part).

By the way, do you know if the first Scrappy cartoons were produced before the end of the Toby the Pup series?