A few days ago, I suddenly saw the news that one of the directors of "Tom and Jerry", Jean Deeche, died at the age of 95, only to find that this animated short film that has accompanied generations of people has passed a long time ago.
The memory of this cartoon is still vivid, although each episode is only more than seven minutes long, there is no excessive line portrayal, but it easily makes people laugh, and what is more rare is that when the age and time span also gradually let us understand the profound meaning behind the story, it becomes more three-dimensional.
"Tom and Jerry" in our childhood memories is actually a work from two other periods, and in the earliest days, the image of the entire series was not three-dimensional enough, nor was it so deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Later, there began to have classic titles and relatively perfect animated characters, which made it stand out at once, and most of the fragments in our memories are also from this period.
However, in 1960, due to financial constraints, the animation department was forced to close, and then Jean Deeche's self-recommendation was introduced, but this period was full of violence and was not suitable for children.
Therefore, the version of Gene Deich's mentoring period was not introduced in China, because this period is also known as the black history of "Tom and Jerry", its painting style is too weird, and the dark tone also makes it a relatively bad stage of the series.
Back to "Tom and Jerry", as a high gold Oscar for best animated short film, it has won seven awards, five nominations, and occupies a high score of 9.7 in Douban, which shows why its influence has endured for decades.
Whether it is in the portrayal of characters, or in the layout of details, or in the expression action, background music and story core, it is one of the factors of its success.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, character portrayal: the protagonists Tom and Jerry are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the supporting roles are also crucial. </h1>
(1) Tom and Jerry's love and killing
The story revolves around the love-hate relationship between Tom cat and Jerry mouse, but it is not a complete contradiction and opposition, many people grow up to understand that we were originally deceived by an appearance for many years, Tom's kindness, Jerry's company, so that they are more like friends who have known each other for many years, usually laughing and playing, but at key moments have become each other's greatest support.
I remember one episode where Jerry retrieved a puppy, but because the mouse hole was too small to enter, he slept with Tom, and when he was woken up, Tom drove it out of the house.
Soon it rained heavily, Tom was worried about them, so he took an umbrella out to look for them, but accidentally fell into the river, fortunately was rescued by Jerry who arrived in time, and later returned home, he distributed his food to Jerry and the little milk dog, and the happy picture was suddenly touching.
Such a plot is not in the minority, when Tom is sick, Jerry is taking care of him, when Jerry is sick, It is Also Tom who is guarding from the side, Tom gives courtesy to the little female cat, Jerry will be jealous, and when it is really rejected, Jerry will find ways to comfort him, it seems that they have been opposing, but in fact, unconsciously, they have become each other's most important partners.
(2) The small character hidden in it has also left a deep impression on many people.
Jerry's relatives are more powerful than one, the eldest cousin has a burst of strength and can easily crush all cats, the second cousin is a magician, and he is also not afraid in front of cats, and his cousin is a musician, and he can always unexpectedly rip off Tom's beard every time, each of which has a very distinct character attribute.
There is also the nephew Tiffy, who is not wet in diapers and often makes trouble for Jerry, and it is vivid and vivid, and the strange appearance hits the hearts of many people at once.
And Tom's relatives are more than one instigation, nephew is cute and invincible, but is a cat who makes friends with mice, cousin George is timid and afraid of things, and he is even more afraid of Jerry to be overwhelmed, it is really instigated, the distant nephew three kittens, full of bear children, in addition to tos to make trouble for Tom and Jerry, nothing else, so in that episode it is also rare to let them have the same goal and start to cooperate with the outside world.
The animation portrays Jerry as the weakest of the mouse family, and Tom as the strongest of the cat family, and in this contrast, it highlights the comedic color of the whole story.
In addition, there is the white rich beauty that makes Tom fall in love at first sight, sexy and beautiful, Tom has paid everything to please it, but it finally chose to take the rich and handsome hand, leaving only Tom who increased his sadness in vain.
And the fierce but loving bulldog, all reflect the greatness of the father's love. It also contributes to a three-legged situation in many plots.
The little yellow duck that has appeared many times is also impressive, and such a colorful multitude of small supporting characters makes us feel a real and rich animal world.
It can be said that this is definitely an animation suitable for all ages, and it is also an animation that will not feel outdated at any moment, because any detail of it can make people feel the intentions and sincerity of the main creative team.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > two, detail layout and emoticons: in the reflection of perfect reproduction of reality, it also makes the story more meaningful. </h1>
(1) Detail layout: Pure hand-drawn original paintings, every moment is based on reality.
Imagine that in today's era of Internet popularity, the complete presentation of an animation can not be said to be easy, let alone the difficulty at that time?
It is said that "Tom and Jerry" experienced several times of scrapped manuscripts to the trough of snow hiding at the beginning of its establishment, until it won the Oscar for Best Short Film several times, so that it was not abandoned, and finally achieved the golden age of this animation masterpiece.
The protagonist of the entire animation does not have too many lines, and the rare line portrayal gives some supporting characters, so it also makes the advancement of the plot completely dependent on background music and body movements.
The depiction of the details is really admirable, the curtains fluttering with the wind, the decoration layout of the home, or the bed sheet cover when Jerry sleeps, are very vivid.
There is also a variety of food in the refrigerator, and various props to make everything more real.
One of the most impressive episodes, "Cat's Concerto", won the 18th Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, in which every string Tom played, or every key that Jerry stepped on when he was messing around, and the meticulousness of the score, were completely realistic.
What's even more frightening is that Tom only has four fingers, and such details are also completely taken into account, so we say that its detail layout is one of the main factors behind his success.
(2) Expression action: In order to be more dramatic, the main creative team is imitating reality
When I watched cartoons as a child, I found that Tom could often change into strange shapes, which always felt incredible, and later I got cats, only to find that their flexibility was really so outrageous.
This kind of respect for the reality of reality is reflected in the presentation of animation again and again, such as Jerry's characteristic big ears, which indicates in various details that it should be a flying elephant flower rat, and liking sweets is also its standard.
Although we only watched the episode of "Tom and Jerry" for only seven minutes, behind it was the painstaking efforts of the main creative team of 150 people, and on average, an episode took less than half a year, and the longest episode even took eighteen months.
Just one episode of animation, almost more than fifteen thousand original paintings, all the action forms, in order to make the audience more engaged, but also let the whole team do everything to imitate and observe, and finally there are these classic signs presented.
For example, when Tom conducts the symphony, all the conducting techniques are completely consistent with reality, and those vivid and three-dimensional images are exaggerated expressions in the mirror, or the staff who create exaggerated actions try again and again.
It is precisely because of this high standard that this work still stands at the top of the animation pyramid in the baptism of nearly eighty years.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > three, background music and story core: it is not only a cartoon, but also affects the life trajectory of many people. </h1>
(1) Background music: As the enlightenment of classical music, it was the first music teacher for many people
The famous pianist Lang Lang once said that his fate for the piano, and the rich body movements when performing, came largely from "Tom and Jerry".
Just like in "The Cat's Concerto", Franz Liszt's "Rhapsody of Hungaria No. 2" was played.
At that time, I was a child who was two or three months away from the age of two, and I didn't even know what a composer was, I just liked the animated characters in it, and I liked them sometimes with tacit understanding, sometimes with confrontation...
The faster they bounce, the tighter they chase each other, the crazier their adventures become, the more ridiculous their heels fall, and the more fun their pranks become.
Playing the piano means prank, and playing the piano means having fun.
——Lang Lang, "A Journey of a Thousand Miles, My Story"
Such an attitude affected Lang Lang's entire state, and later, according to netizen statistics, in the entire cartoon, there are more than fifty famous classical music works alone, and the works of famous musicians such as Chopin, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky are included in it.
So such a work, in addition to being a childhood memory, more importantly, it affects the life trajectory of countless people, some because "Tom and Jerry" is related to music, and finally admitted to the conservatory, there are also people who go to see an episode every time they go to the trough, and they can find the power of optimism, and the number of this group of people is still quite impressive.
(2) Story core: It turns out that many people's truths have been explained thoroughly in the story, but we can only understand it when we grow up.
When we grow up and look at it again, we will also find that what we did not understand when we were young, but we can understand it now, which is also a cartoon with a lot of life inspiration, there is family affection, friendship, and love, no matter which aspect of the portrayal, it is very profound to show us a three-dimensional and extremely positive truth.
For example, Tom, who only knows how to please in the face of love, can never get the happiness of imagination, which is to tell us that humble love is not real love.
In the episode of "Peace Treaty", the ugliness of human nature is portrayed in a vivid and exquisite way, and Tom, Jerry and Spike, who are tired of fighting all day long, sign a peace treaty.
But this superficial beauty seems so vulnerable, just because of a piece of fat meat, all the agreements are easily reduced to ashes, but isn't this true human nature? Rather than pretending to maintain generosity, selfishness is the most indisputable dark side of everyone.
Churchill once said that "there are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests".
Perhaps this is the most rare part of the whole story, it does not use a fictional dream to cover up the real ugliness, but in a way that each of us can accept, telling us that these unpleasant sides can also exist.
Tom and Jerry both have an ugly and selfish side, but their kindness is still deeply rooted in people's hearts, and Jerry does everything he can to help his friends.
And every time Tom made a will, he also donated all his capital to charity, and his duplicity made him treat the rats viciously and drive them out of the house, while secretly keeping the crack in the door, afraid that they would really become homeless.
Many times we will say that for such a beautiful memory, it is not only as a child, but also as a stage in our growth process.
This cat and mouse and other small animals have taught us too much truth, and unconsciously made us better people.
The most rare thing about a person's life is that it can't jump at any stage, and they who grew up with us when we were young can still make us laugh or cry, all of which allow us to return to that moment again and see what we once were.
I think this cartoon will never go out of style, the departure of the main creative team only represents that in another world, it still continues its glory, and I hope that when we slowly move towards the aging world, we can continue to taste this classic eternity with our generation of friends.
Thanks for reading, image from Tom and Jerry
Wen | stars in the deep sea
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