Hey, let's watch an old cartoon. This is "Piano Tooners," a Van Beuren effort starring Tom and Jerry. This is the human Tom and the human Jerry, not to be confused with the cat/mouse duo that later became famous in MGM cartoons by Hanna and Barbera. The cartoons of the human guys who went by those names were made from 1931 through 1933. The one you'll see if you click below was released November 11, 1932.
The most interesting thing about it is probably the attempt to create a character who's basically Betty Boop rolled into one. And why not? Ms. Boop was pretty darn popular in 1932. The voice of the knock-off here sounds like Mae Questel but is more likely a woman named Bonnie Poe. Questel was the main voice of Betty but others did it from time to time, including Bonnie Poe. (The same was true of Olive Oyl: Usually Questel but occasionally Poe or someone else.)
Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry were briefly popular but their success faded, as did their studio's. It shut down in 1937 and its library passed from hand to hand. At some point after the feline/rodent version became popular, the titles on the old Van Beuren cartoons were changed and Tom and Jerry became Dick and Larry…though not on all prints. When Sheriff John ran them on his Los Angeles kid show in the late fifties, they were still Tom and Jerry. This one is one I think I actually remember watching then. It's a little better when you're six years old and there are commercials for Bosco before and after.
