Tom & Jerry Animators

Ken Muse

• The most “Disneyesque” animator
• Characters are always solid, appealing, and on-model
• Movement is fluid and full
• Draws Tom with 3 chest bumps until 1951
• Draws Jerry with long hairs and thick tail
• Worked on nearly every Tom & Jerry cartoon from “Fine Feathered Friend” (1942) to the end of the series

Pete Burness

• Animation is slightly primitive yet funny and expressive
• Movement is very “pose to pose”
• Draws Tom with scraggly hair and no chest bumps (early/mid 40’s) or several vague chest bumps (late 40’s)
• Worked on Tom & Jerry from 1942 to 1947 (uncredited in the late 40’s)

Ed Barge

• Characters are more round, cute, and less detailed
• Expressions are milder
• Draws Tom with 2 chest bumps
• Draws Jerry with short hairs and thin tail, continues to give him eyelashes through the early 50’s
• Worked on Tom & Jerry from 1945 to 1956

Ray Patterson

• Characters have lots of detail; often extra hair and furrowed brows
• Funny and loose facial expressions; very wide grins
• Movement is full but slightly less fluid than Muse’s
• Draws Tom with 2 chest bumps
• Draws Jerry with long hairs and thin tail
• Worked on Tom & Jerry from 1943 to 1955 (briefly left in 1946 – 47; uncredited on several cartoons in this period)

Irv Spence

• Characters are less detailed and often off-model
• Very loose and funny poses and expressions
• Fast, wild movement
• Draws Tom with 2 chest bumps, large eyes, and pointy ears
• Also often draws dots at the base of Tom’s whiskers from the late 40’s to the mid 50’s
• Draws Jerry with short hairs (until late 40’s) and thin tail
• Worked on Tom & Jerry from 1941 to 1957 (briefly left in 1946 – 47)

Mike Lah

• Characters are usually off-model
• Movement is stylized: spastic, rapid-fire pose-to-pose
• Crazy poses and facial expressions
• Lots of flailing limbs and scrunched eyes
• Draws Tom with 2 chest bumps
• Worked on only 7 Tom & Jerry cartoons; eventually joined Tex Avery’s unit

Thanks to Mike Russo, Steve Hartley, Thad Komorowski, and others for identifying these animators’ styles.