John Foster and George Rufle | Pots and Pans / 1932 [animated cartoon]

the swinging diner

by Douglas Messerli

 

John Foster and George Rufle (directors) Pots and Pans / 1932 [animated cartoon]

 

Pots and Pans begins with an image of Tom and Jerry’s busy little railcar diner, wherein, once again, everything is performed in perfect synchronization (the job of Gene Rodemich) with the musical soundtrack, the musical notes, in this case, literally floating out of out the windows.

    This short cartoon, revealing its affinity more than all the other Tom and Jerry films I’ve seen to its roots in “rubber hose” line drawings, begins with an infant crawling up the step into the diner before scaling the high seat in search of a bucket of milk, which Tom quickly provides him treating the spouts of a large cannister like they were the tits of a milk cow.

     A moment later Jerry fries up eggs, produced directly for the birdy in a cuckoo clock, for an irate customer.

     Nearby sit two men, one a clearly effeminate dandy, the other a burly worker with a face of stubble. The effeminate man, in a low, gruff voice demands the brute pass the salt, while the tough-looking figure chastises him for his rude insistence in a sissy falsetto, already bringing into question what 21st century filmmakers would explore concerning whether or not there is such a thing as a truly “gay” voice.

      Jerry, meanwhile, pounds out a large mass of dough in time to the rhythm before shaping it into a roll, poking a pole through one end to the other and cutting the long penile-shaped mass, again the beat of the music, into doughnuts. A large man who looks suspiciously like Wimpy of the Popeye cartoons sits drinking a cup of coffee; when the cooks aren’t looking, he opens up his coat within which sit a baker’s dozen of boys who quickly grab up the fresh doughnuts.

      A quartet of angry customers pound the table demanding soup. Tom throws out soup bowls, pours liquid into each, and shoves them down the counter, followed by dancing spoons, as the quartet, after slurping up a few spoonsful, break out into a tuneful ditty which Tom accompanies by magically turning the cash register into a piano, the pots, pans, and the frying sausages dancing along as even the stools on which the men sit transform themselves into various sized horns.

 

   So filled with the joy of music is the little dining car that it picks itself up from its nearby urban setting and leaps onto the railroad tracks. A sleek monster of a train however speeds toward the rocking and rolling diner car resulting inevitably in a huge collision, the train demolished while the dining car and its happy occupants survive.

      This work reflects the musical interests of most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons, but pared down as it is to the real essence of the series, it’s one of the very best.

 

Los Angeles, November 1, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).

 

 

John Foster and George Rufle | In the Bag / 1932 [animated cartoon]

 

poet lariat

by Douglas Messerli

 

John Foster and George Rufle (directors) In the Bag / 1932 [animated cartoon]

 

In this adventure Tom and Jerry are flying over in a plane when suddenly it has engine problems and crashes to the ground, temporarily burying Tom, before Jerry pulls back to earth.

    As generally happens on their adventures and the couple move forward laterally in space, they discover another and several others following them behind. In this case it’s a bull who when top grabs his horns, lifts his head up and plants a kiss on Tom’s lips (another common occurrence in this series: Tom is kissed by a native chieftain in Jungle Jam and by a walrus in Polar Pals, both released in 1931) before attempting, unsuccessfully to gore him.

    No sooner have they rid themselves of the bull that the duo spot a wanted sign on a tree with a picture of the desperado. In the next frame we see a hand extend from behind the tree as the real villain steps out and attempts to rob our boys. While the wanted man is busy with Tom, however, Jerry points to the wanted sign, pulling down the cowboy’s hat to encase him. Even the desperado’s horse laughs at that ludicrous act. And in no time at all Tom and Jerry have jumped upon the horse’s back and speed off.

     Outside a bar, meanwhile, a couple of cowboys sit, one strumming a banjo while does a dance with a lariat. Jerry takes over the lariat and does a spectacular dance, creating an occasion, that appears in nearly of the Tom and Jerry series for pair to engage in music and dance.  

      The entire town seems to come out to applaud Jerry’s act, and soon go rushing into the bar, the bartender becoming something like today’s “flair bartenders,” juggling bottles and shakers with his mixology skills to entertain the crowd.

       For entertainment we see what appear to be a couple of females from behind, large bustles covering their asses, before their turn, what we thought were fans or bustles now serving as short skirts. But at that very moment, the skirts suddenly drop into place as chaps, as the “girls” lift their heads we show us they are really ugly cowboys performing in a kind of range version of a drag show.

      A trio of cowpokes follows as Tom and Jerry once more play an instrument (this time a tuba), sing, and dance. At that very moment, however, the villain returns to our piece appearing much larger than life (we discover he’s standing on a monkey’s back) at the bar door, guns in hand, demanding they “stick ‘em up.”

 

    In surreal comic style, we see the bar now from outside where several hands reach through the roof to the skies. Back inside they all stand with hands in the air, Tom’s pants falling to his shoes a couple of times.

    The robber pulls a large magnet out of his bag and draws all the gold, coins, watches, and other things metallic worth to him, which he stuffs into his bag before backing through the door and riding off.

     Jerry, jumping upon a nag’s back, goes on the chase. The villain is able to levitate several cannons from within his hat and shoot them variously at his insistent pursuer. We see where Jerry’s lariat skills come in handy, as he pulls it out and lassos the cowboy and his horse, tight-walking across and even under the rope while escaping bullets as he finally knocks out both the villain and his horse, dragging them back into town to the hoorahs of all. He’s awarded a pot of money on the spot.

     Jerry leaves it behind on the street as he returns to the bar to celebrate.

    When the desperado finally awakens, he spots the bag and exchanges it with one tucked inside his shirt.

      Tom, we discover in several episodes, is not always loyal to his partner. And when he sees the bag on the street, pointed out to him by his horse, he cannot resist. He grabs it up and rides off.

      In the woods a safe way out of town, he opens up the bag only to find it filled with nuts. Almost immediately after he pronounces the word “nut” he is descended upon by a mass scurry of squirrels as the lenses closes down for the end.

 

Los Angeles, November 1, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).

 

 

 

 

John Foster and George Stallings | Trouble / 1931 [animated cartoon]

swish, push, and swallow

 

John Foster and George Stallings (directors) Trouble / 1931

 

As I mention above, the Van Beuren Studios versions of 30 cartoons made between 1931 and 1933 of Tom and Jerry, have nothing to do with the 1940s Joseph Barbara and William Hanna MGM cartoon cat and mouse also named Tom and Jerry. In fact, when Official Films bought the earlier series in the 1940s, they renamed the central characters as Dick and Larry.

     In the earlier Tom and Jerry animated short, Trouble, the characters are ambulance-chasing lawyers, who, alas, have not had a case in a month. Jerry, always the optimist, demands Tom “cheer up,” as he finally attaches a board with their names and vocation on them on the front door of their shack. Jerry, to help in lifting Tom’s spirits, takes out his banjo while the two sing a duet.

     At that very moment a marching bad just happens along, and the two see the perfect opportunity to let the crowds know about their firm, pulling down the new sign and strapping it would Tom’s neck and they go marching in the parade.

     The marching band move forward and in reverse as they make their way down the street, their alternative movements all to the confusion and duress of Tom and Jerry. But what the viewer most notices is the larger-than-life bass drummer, who the Instagram poster of QueerAnimation describes by breaking down the image:

 

“First, the ‘teapotting’ pose, where a character rests one hand on their hip with the elbow at a 45-degree angle, and their other arm is bent outward to the side. This extended arm usually has the pinkie pointed out. Next, is the physique. On average, early gay cartoon characters are reed-thin, and move in a swishy, pompous manner. For the drummer, this is demonstrated by his dainty, tiptoe walk cycle. Lastly, another common detail is a made-up face complete with eyelashes and cupid bow lips, a touch which blurs the line between defining masculinity and femininity.”

      In short, the drummer represents yet another example in the early 1930s of the popular stereotypes of the gay pansy.

     What that commentator does not mention is that every time the trumpeter in the front line of the band, with Tom and Jerry in the lead, blows his horn, the blast pushes Tom forward, forcing his penis to make contact with Jerry’s ass, moving them several times into this uncomfortable simulation of butt-fucking. Finally, the horn swallows the two up, blowing them out again as, after a few magical calisthenics, they fall directly into the sewer.

     And almost before we realize that what we are truly missing in this stick figure faggot figures in any real penile shape, a blimp that looks more like an oversized pickle appears in the sky, flying through clouds, one of which looks very much like Harpo Marx smoking a cigar before the blimps moves off.

      A man can be seen scaling a high-rise building, his job apparently to anchor the blimp to the top of the building. But “accidents do happen,” as Tom has long argued, and realizing that the man is about to fall, the call goes out for an ambulance—which of course these eager lawyers just have to chase.

      Eventually, the man falls, slowly, very slowly to the ground, but instead of splatting against the concrete, floats up and off, falls back, and finally stands, tossing out dozens of his cards: Joe Spoof, Slow Motion Actor, a character as surely from cartoon-land as that endless survivor Wile E. Coyote.

 

Los Angeles, October 23, 2023

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (October 2023).

Douglas Messerli | Queer Encounters: Five Tom and Jerry Cartoons [essay]

queer encounters: five tom and jerry cartoons

by Douglas Messerli

 

Not to be confused with the later MGM studio animated cartoon of a cat and mouse duo created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Amadee Van Beuren’s production at RKO Radio Pictures began in 1931 and ran until 1933, with 30 cartoons produced overall.

    Van Beuren originally imagined his duo also as a cat and dog pair, but instead created them as a human comedy duo, one thin and tall figure, Tom, and the other short and plump, Jerry, not at all so very different from Laurel and Hardy.

    As the Wikipedia article on this cartoon series explains, “Their design reflected the ‘rubber-hose’ animation style—as opposed to the more elastic and cylindrical anatomies of figures—that was popular in New York City in the day.”

    The Van Beuren features were notable for their creative use of sound and music, combining the rhythms with the cartoon actions of the characters, animals, machines, and even landscapes.

     Although the Van Beuren characters were not nearly as popular as Mickey Mouse or Betty Boop, like them they often incorporated the sassy and sexual innuendo of the pre-Code era, as these four films attest.

     With the increasing pressure of the Code and the development of far less crudely rendered cartoons, RKO began to demonstrate disinterest in the series which were primarily directed by John Foster in collaboration with George Stallings or George Rufle. But in mid-1933 RKO installed the son, Hiram S. “Bunny” Brown, Jr., of one of their executives as business manager. Foster and Brown almost immediately clashed, and Foster was replaced by Stallings, with the last of the Tom and Jerry series, Doughnuts appearing on September 1, 1933. The series would be replaced by Otto Soglow’s cartoon figure, “The Little King,” some of whose cartoons are also discussed in these pages.

     By the end of that month, Brown severely cut the payroll of its animation department, discharging 10 animators and assistants from the staff of 96. Among those fired were two of the most noted animators, Harry D. Bailey, who had been with RKO for 12 years, and George Rufle, who was co-director of three of the films I discuss here.

     The films I’ve chosen all contain gay imagery: Trouble (directed by Foster and George Stallings from October 10, 1931); In the Bag (Foster and Rufle from March 26, 1932); Pots and Pans, (Foster and George Rufle, May 14, 1932); Magic Mummy (Foster and Stallings,  February 3, 1933); and Doughnuts (Frank Sherman and Rufle, the last of the series).

     “Bunny” Brown later went on to direct the serial unit at Republic Pictures.

     Official Films later acquired Van Beuren’s library for home-movie distribution and some years after controlled the TV syndication, changing the character’s names to Dick and Larry so they would not be confused with the Hanna-Barbera cat-and-mouse duo. Barbera had, himself, previously worked on the Van Beuren Tom and Jerry shorts as an animator and scenario writer.  

 

Los Angeles, November 1, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).