| Animator William Hanna and storyman Joseph Barbera were teamed as duo-directors under Rudolf Ising's unit in 1939. Their first cartoon together, "Puss Gets The Boot" (1940), was a hit and solidified their partnership and relationship with MGM.
When the demand for more "Tom & Jerry" cartoons came from the theatre owners, producer Fred Quimby ordered the team to stay with the cat and mouse. He would augment his "Tom & Jerry" releases with characters from other directors, most notably Tex Avery.
Thus, Hanna and Barbera directed only a handful of cartoons not starring Tom & Jerry. "Swing Social", "Gallopin' Gals", "The Goose Goes South", "Officer Pooch", and "War Dogs" offer a fascinating glimpse of what other directions the team might have gone had "Tom & Jerry" not hit.
In the 1950s, Hanna and Barbera decided to spin-off Spike & Tyke into a companion series, but this was short-lived. They also decided to remake Hugh Harman's 1939 prize-winning anti-war parable "Peace On Earth" as "Good Will To Men" in CinemaScope, renewing its pacifist message for a new generation.
In addition to their short subject cartoons, Hanna and Barbera were asked to collaborate with the feature film unit from time to time. Gene Kelly's superb sequence in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Esther Williams' water ballet in "Dangerous When Wet" (1953) are milestones in movie history.
Contains the following episodes:
- Two Little Indians (1952)
- Life With Tom (1952)
- Puppy Tale (1952)
- Posse Cat (1952)
- Hic-cup Pup (1952)
- Little School Mouse (1952)
- Baby Butch (1952)
- Mice Follies (1953)
- Neapolitan Mouse (1953)
- Downhearted Duckling (1953)
- Pet Peeve (1954)
- Touche, Pussy Cat! (1954)
- Southbound Duckling (1954)
- Pup On A Picnic (1953)
- Mouse For Sale (1953)
- Designs On Jerry (1953)
|