Chasing Their Cartoon Dreams
cartoon—a Tom and Jerry cartoon—in the works. The reaction was again one of indifference—still of the mindset, “Too many cat and mouse cartoons,” with little new or entertaining to offer in any combination or form. As hard as they tried, they could not convince the “suits” otherwise and the future of Tom and Jerry appeared to remain in limbo. Two coinciding events would influence the course of history. Despite being released with relatively little fanfare, Puss Gets the Boot had generated a much more enthusiastic response than MGM executives had counted on. Praise continued to pour in, as a result. Quimby received a letter from a woman of obvious clout, Besa Short, a film exhibitor and owner of the Loew’s theater chain in Dallas, Texas, expressing her admiration for the film and inquiring, “When are we going to see more of these charming cat-and-mouse cartoons?” Besides becoming widely embraced by film exhibitors like Short, that spring, Bill and Joe drew the highest honor possible from their peers for their first effort: an Academy Award nomination for “Best Short-Subject (Cartoon).” As a result, Quimby and the studio brass conceded, giving Bill and Joe the okay to direct two more Tom and Jerry cartoons starring the dueling cat-and-mouse duo. Although technically they were supervised by Ising, Quimby’s plan was to develop Bill and Joe into their own production unit independent from Harman and Ising, with whom, as Joe writes, “he [Quimby] was constantly at odds.” Of the two, Bill felt a deep loyalty to Ising dating back to his days at Harman-Ising studios. His conscience got the better part of him. After returning from a brief vacation, Joe discovered that Bill had lobbied Quimby, unbeknownst to him, for them to work under Ising. Quimby called them in to meet with him and discuss Bill’s proposition. After stating he understood they were willing to work under Ising, Joe flat out stated, “I don’t know why we would do that, because Rudy never came into the room when we were doing ‘Puss.’” In Joe’s words, Quimby worked “himself into a loose-dentured rage,” barking, “Are you telling me that Rudy never came into the room?” Joe confirmed it. “Is that right, Bill?”
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