Like almost all of you my introduction to Gene Deitch was his Tom and Jerry cartoons. Growing up I admit that I wasn't a fan. My opinion was simply that the Hanna-Barbera cartoons were much funnier and that these were just plain weird. When I discovered his work at Terry-Toons, I was surprised by just how good these films were. These films were very experimental and had a style completely separate from what anyone else was doing. As well as their artistic brilliance, these cartoons were extremely entertaining and are such a joy to watch. Someone needs to make a DVD or Blu-Ray set of Gene Deitch’s work at Terry-Toons available. I would watch them all the time. Anyway as I started to learn more and more about his work as a filmmaker and the less than ideal conditions his Tom and Jerry films were made in, and then re-watching his Tom and Jerrys, I actually began to really enjoy them. They were very different from my beloved Hanna-Barbera films but they were darn good cartoons in their own right. Still even for those who don't like his Tom and Jerrys, his other work remains brilliant and he was a true animation legend. We lost a truly great filmmaker.
Of course the best way to celebrate the man is to watch his films and you can do that below.
-Michael J. Ruhalnd
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