Devon Baxter
@devonbaxter
Film Restoration Artist - Animation Historian - Video Editor. PATREON:
Here’s a nice bit of graceful music and animation by Ken Muse from THE FLYING CAT (’52). The theme for Tom’s flight is Chopin’s “Valse Brilliante in E Flat Major.” Unless there’s anything else folks want to see, I think that’ll do for today’s Muse-ings. Hope you all enjoyed it!
HEAVENLY PUSS (’49) contains a bravura assignment from Ken Muse. Tom, now dead from a piano crash, needs to beg Jerry's forgiveness in order to save his soul from Spike/Hades. Ken’s animation really sells the emotional stakes here, as Tom goes through a wide range of emotions.
A marvelously choreographed bit of musical timing by Ken Muse from MOUSE CLEANING (’48). The tune played here is Chopin’s “Minute Waltz.”
Ken Muse animated Tom at his most vicious and Jerry at his most powerful in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. MOUSE (’47). (A small flaw/missed opportunity: if Tom’s mixture really works the way it does, why didn’t that fly turn into a “super-fly"?)
The most famous of all T&J moments is Tom’s rendition of “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby” from SOLID SERENADE (’46), sung by trumpeter/vocalist Ira “Buck” Woods. Ken Muse animated [almost] the entire sequence (Ed Barge animated Jerry about to hurl his revenge pie at Tom).
The MGM musical ANCHORS AWEIGH (’45) has the iconic live-action/animation “Worry Song” sequence of Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry, voiced here by Sara Berner. Ken Muse animated the key dialogue exchange and the segment's finale.
Funny, comic action sequence by Muse in T&J's third Oscar winner QUIET PLEASE! ('45). Harry Lang provides the singing vocals for Tom here.
Another great Muse sequence of Tom dressed in drag to swipe Jerry from a rival eagle. The MGM orchestra plays a brassy rendition of W. C. Handy’s ”St. Louis Blues.” (FLIRTY BIRDY, 1945.)
Ken Muse’s wonderful sequence in MOUSE IN MANHATTAN (’45) displays a beautiful quality equal to Scott Bradley’s usage of “Manhattan Serenade” throughout the picture. (Metro’s animation department had budgets second to Walt Disney’s, which supported the cartoons’ visual sheen.)
T&J’s second Oscar-winner MOUSE TROUBLE (’44) consists of blackout gags with Tom using an instructional book to eliminate Jerry. Here are some of Ken Muse’s sequences in some of his finest work. (Harry Lang does Tom’s laughing fit, and Sara Berner voices the girl mouse decoy, sped up.)
Ken’s animation could be as lively and elegant as Scott Bradley’s 1940s MGM scores, as seen here in THE MILLION DOLLAR CAT (’44). Note the contrasts in movement when Tom pulls the bedsheets from Jerry, and vice versa. The tune heard on the soundtrack is “Sleepy Time Gal.”
In THE ZOOT CAT ('44), Muse animated Tom wooing his love interest with a suave Charles Boyer routine (which then switches to Groucho by the end). Radio comedian/actor Jerry Mann provided the vocal impersonations here.
Bill and Joe’s Oscar-winning wartime parable THE YANKEE DOODLE MOUSE (’43) features one of Muse’s first big sequences in the series. Ken was known as a fast animator who produced a high volume of footage, exceeding the usual 25 feet (16 seconds of screen time) per week.
n 1941, Ken was one of the many artists who were fired due to his participation in the Disney strike. When he learned of a job opening at MGM, Muse was placed in the Hanna-Barbera unit on the Tom and Jerry cartoons. His first T&J scene was for 1942’s FINE FEATHERED FRIEND.
In A GENTLEMAN’S GENTLEMAN (’41), Muse animated the opening and closing scenes with Mickey and Pluto. This one showcases more of Ken’s slick drawing and sculpted, dimensional animation, evident early on in his career.
Muse was entrusted with these final scenes from MR. MOUSE TAKES A TRIP (’40). (The shot of Pete on the observation car might be another animator, but isn't listed in the circulating production scene draft.)
This block of scenes from TUGBOAT MICKEY (’40) was one of Muse’s first solo assignments for Disney. Right away, you’ll notice Ken’s use of squash-and-stretch and great attention to solidity & weight.
Ken Muse started in the animation business at Walt Disney Studios in 1937 as an in-betweener. Later, Muse became an assistant to Preston Blair on “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” for FANTASIA. Impressed by his work, Preston vouched for Muse and got him promoted to full animator.
Born on this day in 1910: animator Ken Muse, best known for his exceptional work on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, and one of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera’s most dependable artists up to his passing in the 1980s. Several examples of his animation will be posted to celebrate.
Happy 80th anniversary to Bob Clampett's THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY ('46)!
