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Creator / Van Beuren Studios

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"The Van Beuren Corporation" or Van Beuren Studios (pronounced Van Burr-en), originally known as the "Fables Studio", was a cartoon studio that lasted from 1920 to 1936. It is the least known cartoon studio of The Golden Age of Animation, yet its brief history is dotted with interesting films and major animation talents.

The studio originally had its start in 1920 as "Fables Studios", which was co-founded by the Keith-Albee organization and Paul Terry to produce the Aesop's Fables series of shorts. However, it was bought out by Amedee J. Van Beuren in 1928, with the studio being renamed to Van Beuren Studios as a result. Terry would leave the studio a year later to form the far more successful Terry Toons.

Like many non-Disney/Warner Bros. cartoon studios, critics and historians generally tend to give Van Beuren the footnote treatment, writing off the cartoons as cheaply produced drivel—but this isn't quite true. For all the sloppy animation and one-note characters, there are some inspired gags here and there, as well as some very good musical scores provided with each cartoon. Despite this, many of the shorts were scattered and lost for a long time, due to their public domain status and lack of care. The fact that the studio's role in the History of Animation was very minor and tangential compared to the other studios does not help. Fortunately, thanks to recent DVD collections, especially from Thunderbean, and the fact that all of the studio's cartoons are public domain, the bulk of this studio's sound output is available on DVD for viewing.

It is also worth noting that Van Beuren Studios was located directly across the street from Fleischer Studios, one of their biggest competitors.

Works of the studio:

  • Aesop's Fables, AKA "Aesop's Film Fables" (1920-1928 for silent shorts, 1929-1933 for sound shorts) inherited from the Fables Studio, which was formerly run by Paul Terry. Originally a long running silent cartoon series, it became a series of sound cartoons which introduced one of the earliest sound cartoons, "Dinnertime", which notably predates Disney's Steamboat Willie by a month. The sound era of the series lasted around 120 shorts, including its sub-series. Paul Terry's Farmer Al Falfa was also a recurring star of the silent shorts, even appearing in a few of the early sound films before Terry, who had left to found his own studio, wrangled back the rights to the character.
    • The Fables had its own sub-series, "Cubby Bear" (1933-1934), which ran for 16 shorts, with a 17th one being finished, but unreleased until it resurfaced on a Cubby Bear DVD collection decades later. Notably, three shorts in the series, The Gay Gaucho (1933), "Cubby's World Flight" (1933) and the unreleased "Mischievous Mice" (1934) were outsourced to the Harman-Ising cartoon studio, and they heavily resemble the Bosko cartoons they made.
  • Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry (1931-1933) Two bungling young men, one short, one tall, which ran for 26 shorts. Absolutely no relation to MGM's Tom and Jerry shorts, but when reissued as home movies, the characters were renamed "Dick & Larry" to prevent confusion.
  • The Little King (1933-1934): An animated adaptation of the classic Newspaper Comic strip, lasting 10 shorts. Two shorts preceding this series were also based on Little King's companion strip, "Sentinel Louie", but released as part of the Aesop's Fables series.
  • Amos N' Andy (1934): A short lived attempt at adapting the popular radio show of the 30s. It notably featured their original radio actors reprising their roles, but it only lasted for two shorts.
  • Toddle Tales (1934); A Roger Rabbit Effect-based series of cartoons made by Burt Gillett to help beef up the quality of Van Beuren's product. It lasted three shorts. Unlike the Rainbow Parade shorts, they were all made in Black and White.
  • Rainbow Parade (1934-1936); A series of color cartoons that lasted 26 shorts, and includes four sub-series and several oneshot cartoons. More than a few of them are obvious attempts to ride the coat tails of Disney's Silly Symphonies.
    • Parrotville Parrots (1934-1935): A 3 short gag series centered around a group of bumbling parrots.
    • Molly Moo Cow (1935-1936): A 7 short pantomime series centered around a nimble, friendly bovine, who helps out whoever she can.
    • Toonerville Trolley (1936); An adaptation of Fontaine Fox's classic comic strip, lasting three shorts, with the third being the very last cartoon released by the studio.
    • Felix the Cat (Otto Messmer) (1936) While Felix the Cat was very prominent in the silent era, the rise of sound film ultimately proved to be his downfall. However, he survived as a popular newspaper comic, and did receive a very brief three-cartoon revival via Van Beuren Studios' "Rainbow Parade" series during the 1930s, with a fourth short in the planning stages before the Van Beuren Studio abruptly went belly-up In 1936.
     Silent and Sound Filmography 

1915

  • Little Herman: Paul Terry's very first cartoon. Lost film.
  • Down on the Phoney Farm

1916

1917

  • Character as Revealed by the Ear (Short) (producer)
  • Character as Revealed by the Mouth (Short) (producer)
  • Character as Revealed by the Eye (Short) (producer)
  • His Trial (Short) (producer)
  • Some Barrier (Short) (producer)
  • Character as Revealed by the Nose (Short) (producer)
  • Farmer Al Falfa's Wayward Pup (Short) (producer)
  • Golden Spoon Mary (Short) (producer)
  • 20,000 Feats Under the Sea (Short) (producer)

1920

1921

  • The Wolf and the Kid
  • Cat and Mice
  • The Conceited Donkey
  • The Fly and the Ant
  • The Frogs That Wanted a King (no relation to a similarly named 1922 puppet animation short)
  • The Woman and the Hen
  • The Owl and the Grasshopper
  • The Fox and the Goat
  • The Cat and the Monkey
  • The Dog and the Bone
  • The Frog and the Ox
  • Venus and the Cat
  • The Wolf and the Crane
  • The Hare and the Tortoise
  • The Hermit and the Bear
  • The Fashionable Fox
  • Mice at War
  • The Donkey in Lion's Skin
  • The Fox and the Crow
  • The Cat and the Canary
  • The Country Mouse
  • Cats at Law
  • The Ants and the Grasshopper
  • The Rooster and the Eagle
  • Mice in Council
  • The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg
  • The Lioness and the Bugs
  • Hare and Frogs
  • The Bear and the Bees

1922

  • Magic Boots
  • Two of a Trade
  • The Fable of the Dog's Paradise
  • Two Trappers
  • The Fable of Henry's Busted Romance
  • The Fable of the Man Who Laughed
  • The Fable of Friday the 13th
  • The Fortune Hunters
  • The Enchanted Fiddle
  • The Elephant's Trunk
  • The Fable of Henpecked Henry
  • The Fable of the Romantic Mouse
  • The Fable of the Rolling Stone
  • The Fable of the Hated Rivals
  • The Big Flood
  • The Fable of Two of a Trade
  • Two Slick Traders
  • The Fable of the Two Explorers
  • The Boy and the Bear
  • The Fable of Fearless Fido
  • The Fable of the Mechanical Horse
  • The Fable of the Farmer and the Mice
  • The Fable of the Dog and the Fish
  • The Fable of the Boastful Cat
  • The Fable of the Worm That Turned
  • The Fable of the Mischievous Cat
  • The Fable of Brewing Trouble
  • Crime in a Big City
  • The Country Mouse and the City Cat
  • The Cat and the Pig
  • The Farmer and His Cat
  • The Maid and the Millionaire
  • The Dog and the Wolves
  • The Hunter and His Dog
  • Love at First Sight
  • The Model Dairy
  • The Eternal Triangle
  • The Boy and His Dog
  • The Dog and the Wolf
  • The Wicked Cat
  • The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
  • The Rich Cat and the Poor Cat
  • The Boy and the Dog
  • The Lion and the Mouse
  • The Dissatisfied Cobbler
  • The Farmer and the Ostrich
  • The Spendthrift
  • The Tiger and the Donkey
  • The Cat and the Swordfish
  • The Dog and the Thief
  • The Villain in Disguise
  • The Fox and the Grapes
  • The Miller and the Donkey
  • The Swordfish
  • The Dog and the Flea
  • The Dog and the Mosquito
  • Chemistry Lesson

1923

  • The Best Man Wins
  • The Good Old Days
  • Five Orphans of the Storm
  • The Cat Came Back
  • A Dark Horse
  • The Five Fifteen
  • Happy Go Luckies
  • Farmer Al Falfa's Pet Cat
  • Do Women Pay?
  • A Barnyard Rodeo
  • The Circus
  • Aged in the Wood
  • The High Flyers
  • The Cat's Whiskers
  • Love in a Cottage
  • Derby Day
  • The Cat's Revenge
  • Walrus Hunters
  • The Cat That Failed
  • Great Explorers
  • The Bad Bandit
  • Pearl Divers
  • Marathon Dancers
  • Nine of Spades
  • The Thoroughbred
  • Mysteries of the Seas
  • Pace That Kills
  • The Covered Pushcart
  • The Beauty Parlor
  • The Burglar Alarm
  • Springtime
  • The Stork's Mistake
  • Spooks
  • Amateur Night on the Ark
  • The Fable of the Fish Story
  • The Fable of the Mouse Catcher
  • Pharaoh's Tomb
  • The Fable of the Jolly Rounders
  • The Gamblers
  • One Hard Pull
  • Day by Day in Every Way
  • Farmer Al Falfa's Bride
  • The Fable of the Alley Cat
  • The Fable of the Sheik
  • The Fable of the Traveling Salesman
  • The Fable of the Spider and the Fly
  • The Fable of the Mysterious Hat
  • Troubles on the Ark
  • The Fable of the Gliders
  • The Fable of a Raisin and a Cake of Yeast
  • The Fable of a Fisherman's Jinx
  • The Fable of Cheating the Cheater
  • The Fable of a Stone Age Romeo
  • The Frog and the Catfish

1924

  • She's In Again
  • A Jealous Fisherman
  • Down on the Farm
  • Mysteries of Old Chinatown
  • Noah's Athletic Club (1924) ... Production Company
  • She's in Again (1924) ... Production Company
  • Lumber Jacks (1924) ... Production Company
  • Good Old Circus Days (1924) ... Production Company
  • She Knew Her Man (1924) ... Production Company
  • Sharp Shooters (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Cat and the Magnet (1924) ... Production Company
  • Monkey Business (1924) ... Production Company
  • Black Magic (1924) ... Production Company
  • Lighthouse by the Sea (1924) ... Production Company
  • Noah's Outing (1924) ... Production Company
  • Hawks of the Sea (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Mouse That Turned (1924) ... Production Company
  • In the Good Old Summertime (1924) ... Production Company
  • Barnyard Olympics (1924) ... Production Company
  • Message from the Sea (1924) ... Production Company
  • House Cleaning (1924) ... Production Company
  • Amelia Comes Back (1924) ... Production Company
  • Flying Fever (1924) ... Production Company
  • Woman Honor (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Prodigal Pup (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Sport of Kings (1924) ... Production Company
  • A Woman's Honor (1924) ... Production Company
  • Desert Sheiks (1924) ... Production Company
  • Body in the Bag (1924) ... Production Company
  • Home Talent (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Organ Grinders (1924) ... Production Company
  • That Old Can of Mine (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Flying Carpet (1924) ... Production Company
  • One Good Turn (1924) ... Production Company
  • Jolly Jail Bird (1924) ... Production Company
  • Jealous Fisherman (1924) ... Production Company
  • When Winter Comes (1924) ... Production Company
  • An Ideal Farm (1924) ... Production Company
  • Trip to the Pole (1924) ... Production Company
  • Homeless Pup (1924) ... Production Company
  • If Noah Lived Today (1924) ... Production Company
  • Running Wild (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Champion (1924) ... Production Company
  • From Rags to Riches (1924) ... Production Company
  • Champion (1924) ... Production Company
  • Why Mice Leave Home (1924) ... Production Company
  • All-Star Cast (1924) ... Production Company
  • Herman the Great Mouse (1924) ... Production Company
  • Captain Kidder (1924) ... Production Company
  • Rural Romance (1924) ... Production Company
  • Good Old College Days (1924) ... Production Company
  • Rat's Revenge (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Morning After (1924) ... Production Company
  • The Black Sheep (1924) ... Production Company
  • Animals Fair (1924) ... Production Company

1925

  • The Picnic
  • In Dutch
  • Noah Had His Troubles (1925) ... Production Company
  • The English Channel Swim (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Haunted House (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Bonehead Age (1925) ... Production Company
  • A Day's Outing (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Great Open Spaces (1925) ... Production Company
  • More Mice Than Brains (1925) ... Production Company
  • On the Links (1925/I) ... Production Company
  • The Honor System (1925) ... Production Company
  • Wild Cats of Paris (1925) ... Production Company
  • Laundry Man (1925) ... Production Company
  • Closer Than a Brother (1925) ... Production Company
  • Air-Cooled (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Hero Wins (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Lion and the Monkey (1925) ... Production Company
  • Hungry Hounds (1925) ... Production Company
  • Nuts and Squirrels (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Ugly Duckling (1925) ... Production Company
  • Barnyard Follies (1925) ... Production Company
  • Window Washers (1925) ... Production Company
  • Over the Plate (1925) ... Production Company
  • Soap (1925) ... Production Company
  • Bubbles (1925) ... Production Company
  • Yarn About Yarn (1925) ... Production Company
  • Bugville Field Day (1925) ... Production Company
  • For the Love of a Gal (1925) ... Production Company
  • When Men Were Men (1925) ... Production Company
  • Wine, Women, and Song (1925) ... Production Company
  • Office Help (1925) ... Production Company
  • Runaway Balloon (1925) ... Production Company
  • The End of the World (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Runt (1925) ... Production Company
  • Hot Times in Iceland (1925) ... Production Company
  • Echoes from the Alps (1925) ... Production Company
  • A Fast Worker (1925) ... Production Company
  • Darkest Africa (1925) ... Production Company
  • Permanent Waves (1925) ... Production Company
  • Deep Stuff (1925) ... Production Company
  • S.O.S. (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Adventures of Adenoid (1925) ... Production Company
  • At the Zoo (1925) ... Production Company
  • Housing Shortage (1925) ... Production Company
  • The Pie Man (1925) ... Production Company
  • Jungle Bike Riders (1925) ... Production Company
  • Clean-Up Week (1925) ... Production Company
  • Fisherman's Luck (1925/I) ... Production Company
  • Bigger and Better Jails (1925) ... Production Company
  • Transatlantic Flight (1925) ... Production Company
  • Biting the Dust (1925) ... Production Company
  • Hold That Thought (1925) ... Production Company
  • African Huntsmen (1925) ... Production Company
  • One Game Pup (1925) ... Production Company
  • On the Ice (1925) ... Production Company

1926

  • Thru Thick and Thin
  • Where Friendship Ceases
  • Watered Stock
  • Why Argue
  • Where Friendship Ceases (1926) ... Production Company
  • School Days (1926) ... Production Company
  • Bars and Stripes (1926) ... Production Company
  • Hitting the Rails (1926) ... Production Company
  • Buck Fever (1926) ... Production Company
  • Radio Controlled (1926) ... Production Company
  • In Vaudeville (1926) ... Production Company
  • Thru Thick and Thin (1926) ... Production Company
  • Home Sweet Home (1926/I) ... Production Company
  • Gun Shy (1926) ... Production Company
  • Phoney Express (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Road House (1926) ... Production Company
  • Why Argue? (1926) ... Production Company
  • Watered Stock (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Charleston Queen (1926) ... Production Company
  • Knight Out (1926) ... Production Company
  • A Buggy Ride (1926) ... Production Company
  • Pests (1926) ... Production Company
  • Scrambled Eggs (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Last Ha Ha (1926) ... Production Company
  • Dough Boys (1926) ... Production Company
  • Venus of Venice (1926) ... Production Company
  • Her Ben (1926) ... Production Company
  • Pirates Gold (1926) ... Production Company
  • Pirates Bold (1926/I) ... Production Company
  • Chop Suey and Noodles (1926) ... Production Company
  • Jungle Sports (1926) ... Production Company
  • Plumber's Life (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Land Boom (1926) ... Production Company
  • Little Parade (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Big Retreat (1926) ... Production Company
  • A Bumper Crop (1926) ... Production Company
  • Liquid Dynamite (1926) ... Production Company
  • An Alpine Flapper (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Shootin' Fool (1926) ... Production Company
  • Farm Hands (1926) ... Production Company
  • Hearts and Showers (1926) ... Production Company
  • Rough and Ready Romeo (1926) ... Production Company
  • Big Hearted Fish (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Merry Blacksmith (1926) ... Production Company
  • Fly Time (1926) ... Production Company
  • Up in the Air (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Fire Fighter (1926) ... Production Company
  • Spanish Love (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Mail Coach (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Wicked City (1926) ... Production Company
  • Hunting in 1950 (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Wind Jammers (1926) ... Production Company
  • The June Bride (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Little Brown Jug (1926) ... Production Company
  • Lighter Than Air (1926) ... Production Company
  • Three Blind Mice (1926) ... Production Company
  • The Gold Push (1926) ... Production Company

1927

  • Horses, Horses, Horses
  • A Hole In One
  • A Horse's Tale (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Home Agent (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Junk Man (1927) ... Production Company
  • Christmas Cheer (1927) ... Production Company
  • Rats in His Garrett (1927) ... Production Company
  • Carnival Week (1927) ... Production Company
  • Flying Fishers (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Fox Hunt (1927) ... Production Company
  • Saved by a Keyhole (1927)
  • Signs of Spring (1927) ... Production Company
  • Brave Heart (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Big Tent (1927) ... Production Company
  • Lindy's Cat (1927) ... Production Company
  • All Bull and a Yard Wide (1927) ... Production Company
  • River of Doubt (1927) ... Production Company
  • Human Fly (1927) ... Production Company
  • In Again, Out Again (1927/I) ... Production Company
  • Cutting a Melon (1927) ... Production Company
  • Small Town Sheriff (1927) ... Production Company
  • Hook, Line and Sinker (1927) ... Production Company
  • A Hole in One (1927) ... Production Company
  • Red Hot Sands (1927) ... Production Company
  • Ant Life as It Isn't (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Bully (1927) ... Production Company
  • Subway Sally (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Love Nest (1927) ... Production Company
  • Riding High (1927) ... Production Company
  • Big Reward (1927) ... Production Company
  • One Man Dog (1927) ... Production Company
  • Died in the Wool (1927) ... Production Company
  • Hard Cider (1927) ... Production Company
  • A Dog's Day (1927) ... Production Company
  • Digging for Gold (1927) ... Production Company
  • Horses, Horses, Horses (1927) ... Production Company
  • When Snow Flies (1927) ... Production Company
  • Bubbling Over (1927) ... Production Company
  • A Fair Exchange (1927) ... Production Company
  • Pie-Eyed Piper (1927) ... Production Company
  • Anti-Fat (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Honor Man (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Medicine Man (1927) ... Production Company
  • Keep Off the Grass (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Magician (1927) ... Production Company
  • All for a Bride (1927) ... Production Company
  • Taking the Air (1927) ... Production Company
  • Cracked Ice (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Mail Pilot (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Crawl Stroke Kid (1927) ... Production Company
  • In the Rough (1927) ... Production Company
  • Tit for Tat (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Plow Boy's Revenge (1927) ... Production Company
  • Chasing Rainbows (1927) ... Production Company
  • Sink or Swim (1927) ... Production Company
  • The Musical Parrot (1927) ... Production Company

1928

  • Mouse's Bride
  • In The Bag (no relation to the later VB short with the same name)
  • 35.Mail Man (1928) ... Production Company
  • Flying Hoofs (1928) ... Production Company
  • Stage Struck (1928) ... Production Company
  • Barnyard Politics (1928) ... Production Company
  • Day Off (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Fishing Fool (1928) ... Production Company
  • On the Links (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Polar Flight (1928) ... Production Company
  • Caught in the Draft (1928) ... Production Company
  • Laundry Man (1928) ... Production Company
  • Gridiron Demons (1928) ... Production Company
  • Big Game (1928) ... Production Company
  • Monkey Love (1928) ... Production Company
  • Kill or Cure (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Magnetic Bat (1928) ... Production Company
  • High Seas (1928) ... Production Company
  • Sunday on the Farm (1928) ... Production Company
  • Alaska or Bust (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Cross Country Run (1928) ... Production Company
  • Sunny Italy (1928) ... Production Company
  • Our Little Nell (1928) ... Production Company
  • Outnumbered (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Early Bird (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Baby Show (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Huntsman (1928) ... Production Company
  • City Slickers (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Mouse's Bride (1928) ... Production Company
  • Ride 'Em Cowboy (1928) ... Production Company
  • Puppy Love (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Flight That Failed (1928) ... Production Company
  • Happy Days (1928) ... Production Company
  • War Bride (1928) ... Production Company
  • Coast to Coast (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Jungle Triangle (1928) ... Production Company
  • Barnyard Artists (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Flying Age (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Battling Duet (1928) ... Production Company
  • Barnyard Lodge Number One (1928) ... Production Company
  • Scaling the Alps (1928) ... Production Company
  • Jungle Days (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Son Shower (1928) ... Production Company
  • On the Ice (1928) ... Production Company
  • The County Fair (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Blaze of Glory (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Spider's Lair (1928) ... Production Company
  • Everybody's Flying (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Good Ship Nellie (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Wandering Minstrel (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Boy Friend (1928/II) ... Production Company
  • High Stakes (1928) ... Production Company
  • A Short Circuit (1928) ... Production Company
  • The Broncho Buster (1928) ... Production Company
  • Dinner Time: Dec. 17 Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry. First sound cartoon made by the studio.

1929 (all copyright dates)

  • The Faithful Pup—May 4—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry, Harry Bailey
  • Concentrate—May 4—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • The Jail Breakers—May 6—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Woodchoppers—May 9—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Presto Chango—M Ay 20—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Custard Pies—May 26—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Skating Hounds—May 27—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Stage Struck—June 25—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • Bug House College Days—July 23—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • House Cleaning Time—July 23—Aesop's Fables—John Foster
  • A Stone Age Romance—August 1—Aesop's Fables—No Credit
  • The Big Scare—August 15—Aesop's Fables—Paul Terry
  • The Big Burg—Aesop's Fables—?
  • Jungle Fool—September 15—Aesop's Fables—John Foster, Mannie Davis
  • Fly's Bride—September 21—Aesop's Fables—John Foster
  • Summer Time—October 11—Aesop's Fables—John Foster
  • Mill Pond—October 18—Aesop's Fables—John Foster
  • Barnyard Melody—November 1—Aesop's Fables—John Foster
  • Tuning In—Nov. 7—AF—no credits
  • Night Club—Dec. 1—Aesop's Fables—John Foster, Mannie Davis
  • Close Call—Dec. 1—Aesop's Fables—Harry Bailey
  • Wooden Money

1930

1931

  • Toy Town Tales (AKA Toyland Adventure/Toyland Capers) Jan 4-Aesop's Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Red Riding Hood—Jan 18—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • The Animal Fair—Feb 1—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • Cowboy Blues—Feb 15—Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Radio Racket—March 1—Fables—Foster
  • College Capers—March 15-Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Old Hokum Bucket—March 29, Fables—No credits
  • Cinderella Blues—April 12, Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Mad Melody—April 26, Fables, Foster, Davis
  • The Fly Guy—May 10, Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Play Ball—May 24, Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Fisherman's Luck—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Pale Face Pup—June 22—Aesop's Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Makin 'Em Move (AKA In a Cartoon Studio)-July 5, Aesop's Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Fun on the Ice—July 19—Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Wot A Night—Aug 1, Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Big Game—Aug 3—Fables—No credits
  • Love in a Pond—Aug 17—Aesop's Fables—John Foster, Mannie Davis
  • Fly Hi (recolored)—Aug 31—Fables-Foster, Bailey
  • Polar Pals—Sept 5—Tom and Jerry, Foster, Rifle
  • The Family Shoe (AKA The Golden Goose)—Sept. 14—Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Fairyland Follies—Sept. 28—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Trouble—Oct. 10—Tom and Jerry, Foster, Stallings
  • Horse Cops—Oct. 12—Fables, Foster, J.J. McManus
  • Cowboy Cabaret—Oct. 26, Fables, Foster, Davis
  • In Dutch—Nov. 9—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Jungle Jam—Nov. 14—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Rufle
  • The Last Dance—Nov. 23—Fables—no credits
  • A Swiss Trick—Dec. 19—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings

1932

  • Toy Time—Jan. 27—Aesop's Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Rocketeers—Jan 30—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Rufle
  • A Romeo Monk-Feb. 20—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • Rabid Hunters—Feb 27—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Fly Frolic—March 5, Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • The Cat's Canary—March 26, Fables, Foster, Davis
  • In the Bag—March 26, Tom and Jerry—Foster, Rufle
  • Joint Wipers—April 23—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Magic Art—April 25—Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Pots and Pans—May 14, Tom and Jerry, Foster, Rufle
  • Happy Polo—May 14—Fables—No credits; Sound reissue of "The Polo Match" (1929)
  • Spring Antics—May 21—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • The Tuba Tooter—June 4—Tom and Jerry, Foster, Stallings
  • Circus Romance—June 25—Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Plane Dumb—June 25—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Rufle
  • The Farmerette—June 28—Faboles, Foster, Bailey
  • Stone Age Error—July 9—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • Redskin Blues—July 23—Tom and Jerry-Foster, Stallings
  • Chinese Jinks—July 23—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • The Ball Game—July 30, Aesop's Fables—Foster, Rufle
  • Wild Goose Chase—Aug. 12, Fables, Foster, Davis
  • Jolly Fish—Aug. 19—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Nursery Scandal—Aug. 26—Fables—Foster, Bailey
  • Bring 'Em Back Half-Shot—Sept. 9, Fables—Foster, Davis
  • Barnyard Bunk—Sept. 16—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Rufle
  • Down in Dixie—Sept. 23—Fables, Foster, Baileu
  • Catfish Romance—Oct. 7—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • A Spanish Twist—Oct. 7—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Feathered Follies—Oct. 21, Fables, no credits
  • Venice Vamp—Nov. 4—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • Piano Tooners—Nov. 11—Tom and Jerry, Foster, Rufle
  • Hokum Hotel—Nov. 18—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Pencil Mania—Dec. 9—Tom and Jerry—Foster, Stallings
  • Pickaninny Blues—Dec. 12—Fables, Foster, Davis
  • A Yarn of Wool—Dec. 16—Fables, Foster, Bailey
  • Bugs and Books—Dec. 30—Fables, Foster, Davis

1933

1934

1935

1936

Tropes related to the studio:

  • Advertised Extra: "Molly Moo Cow and Rip Van Winkle" is mainly about Molly getting drunk over her conscience's objections and messing around with a makeshift bowling alley set up in the woods by a bunch of gnomes. Rip gets less than a minute of screen time and (predictably) spends most of it asleep, his only contribution to the plot being accidentally letting Molly's conscience out of the beer barrel Molly trapped it in.
  • All Just a Dream: The end of "Wonders of the Deep", where the cat finds out the octopus he's fighting is Farmer Al Falfa, though the cat still has the bag of money from the dream. He trades it with Al in exchange for food and runs off, only for Al to find out its full of hundreds of mice instead!
  • Alcohol Hic: Molly Moo Cow gets this after getting drunk in "Molly Moo Cow and Rip Van Winkle".
  • Amoral Attorney: In "Trouble", Tom and Jerry are running a failing lawyer business, and resort to Shameless Self-Promotion by walking right in front of a marching band.
  • Animated Adaptation: They made three of them, based on Otto Soglow's comic "The Little King" (with two preceding shorts based on its companion strip, "Sentinel Louie"), the radio show "Amos N Andy", and Fontaine Fox's comic "Toonerville Trolley".
  • Animation Bump / Art Evolution: By the late 1933 to 1934 period, the studio's animation was considerably improving over their earlier shorts. As early as "Sinister Stuff", the characters become noticeably less flat and more rounded and appealing. Then Burt Gillett got to the studio, and the animation improved even more.
    • The three Harman-Ising Cubby Bear shorts ("The Gay Gaucho", "Cubby's World Flight" and "Mischievous Mice") have much more polished animation than the shorts prior to "Sinister Stuff".
    • Several shorts, such as "Makin' Em Move", "The Fatal Note" and "Fiddlin' Fun", have shots where the backgrounds are animated in three dimensional perspective.
  • Animate Inanimate Object: The living clocks in "Grandfather's Clock", and the living kitchen appliances in "Picnic Panic".
  • A Pirate 400 Years Too Late: Even though most of the Cubby Bear cartoons are clearly set in the 1930's, there are pirates in "Bubbles and Troubles".
  • Art Deco: The Little King shorts have some of their characters designed like this, in order to match the designs of the original comic. The backgrounds are still standard ink wash paintings, and many of the other characters still use the Van Beuren house style.
  • Artifact Title: The Aesop's Fables sound films, which abandoned the format of the silent shorts (which were somewhat based on the actual fables and had "Aesops" at the end of each one) in favor of the musical gag cartoon format.
  • Art Shift: The three Harman-Ising Cubby Bear shorts are drawn In a very different style than the rest of the series.
    • The Little King Van Beuren shorts have more of an Art Deco aesthetic to the character designs to match the look of the comic it adapted from.
  • Asteroids Monster: In "Parrotville Fire Department", one of the parrots tries to take down one of the living little flames with an axe, but this just splits them into even smaller little fires.
  • Badass Adorable: Cubby Bear is adorable looking, and as we see in shorts like "Goode Knight", he can kick butt if he needs too.
    • When one of their brothers is threatened, the other two kittens in "Rough on Rats" give the evil rat one heck of a beatdown during the climax!
    • Felix the Cat retains this trait in his shorts. He even sword fights the villain of "The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg"!
  • Bait-and-Switch:
    • At the start of the song sequence in "In The Bag", it starts off with what looks like two cowgirls dancing to the rhythm, with their ten gallon hats covering their faces—only for the end of their dance to reveal that theyre both gonkish men instead.
    • The bandits entrance to the saloon in "In The Bag" has a rather un-PC take on this, with the bandit seemingly being very tall as he approaches the saloon doors—only for the doors to swing open and reveal he's been shoulder-carried there by a black man, who he promptly kicks away as he finishes his entrance.
  • Bag of Kidnapping: The raccoon villain from "The Last Mail" kidnaps Cubby Bear's girlfriend Honey with this method after stealing their mail.
  • Bedsheet Ghost: A group of them briefly pop up to scare Tom and Jerry in "Wot a Night", but they quickly fall through a trapdoor—just to wind up with a group of skeletons instead.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Subverted in "Jungle Jam"; Tom and Jerry seem like they're going to be rescued from the cannibals cornering them on the beach; but as soon as their leader sees who they're rescuing, he immediately does a 180 with the rest of the navy, leaving Tom and Jerry to wing it and swim for their lives under the fire of the cannibals spears.
    • In "Rough on Rats", two of the kittens save their third sibling from an evil rat this way.
    • In "Along Came A Duck", the frog saves the duck he was messing around with from drowning, as his shenanigans got the duck tangled in seaweed underwater in the first place.
    • Molly Moo Cow pulls this to save Robinson Cruesoe from a tribe of cannibals in "Molly Moo Cow and Robinson Cruesoe". She swims back to the island after Robin had scared her off, and grabs all of his rifles with her tail and uses them to scare off the cannibal tribe.
  • Black Comedy: In " Sultan Pepper", the Little King invites a Sultan to his castle, who brings an entire harem with him. During dinner, he counts them all and realizes there's 13 of them, so he takes the only fat one into a back room and shoots her with a pistol, stating after the fact that "Thirteen is bad luck."
  • Blowing a Raspberry: Milton Mouse does this to his girlfriend in the end of "Circus Capers", and it literally makes her panties fly clean off!
  • Body Horror: In "Swiss Trick", Tom and Jerry are visiting the Swiss Alps, they eat a strange kind of cheese that causes swiss cheese like holes to open up in their body! And then get chased by an army of mice who think they're walking cheese.
    • In "Wot A Night", they inexplicably get their lower bodies (but not their heads) reduced to bare skeletons.
  • Boxing Kangaroo: One briefly appears in "A Royal Good Time", and it helps the King escape from the villain of the short.
  • Brawn Hilda: Katrinka in the Toonerville Trolley series.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Farmer Al Falfa deals with two pesky kids in "Day at the Park", and the local monkey, bitter at him over their last fight, uses the situation to call the police on Al.
  • Butt-Monkey: In the Toonerville Trolley series, Mr. Bang is never safe from the world's abuse.
  • Captain Ersatz: Milton Mouse, who was an obvious ripoff of Mickey Mouse. Incidentally, by the time of "Hot Tamale", Milton looked identical to another Mickey Mouse clone: Foxy, of Warner Bros. cartoons. As with Foxy, Walt quickly got wind of Van Beuren's ripoff and forced them to never use Milton again. This didn't stop them from creating another, less blatant ersatz of Mickey, called Cubby Bear.
    • "The Farmarette" features a boop oop a doop cat girl that is obviously inspired by Betty Boop; she's even voiced by one of Betty's actresses, Margie Hines!
    • Their Tom & Jerry characters are believed to be inspired by the comic strip duo Mutt And Jeff.
  • Captured by Cannibals: Waffles and Don wind up in this situation in "Jungle Jazz".
    • The Little King gets captured by a tribe of them in "On The Pan"; he's even served with Happy Birthday topping written in him!
    • Tom and Jerry also suffer this fate in "Jungle Jam". They win them over with their music, at least until they try to run away.
    • Robinson Cruesoe suffers this fate in "Molly Moo Cow and Robinson Cruesoe", but Molly manages to save him.
  • Cartoon Bomb: What the villain of "The Fatal Note" tries to kill the King with.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: The evil gnomes in "Sunshine Makers", who openly call themselves nasty, mean and sad, and hate anything sunny or happy.
  • Cardboard Prison: Of the lighter variety, the dog catcher in "Dinnertime" unwittingly let's all of his dogs loose while trying to catch the dogs raiding Farmer Al Falfa's meat shop.
    • The royal prison the King visits in "Jolly Good Felons", which is played for laughs; one of the prisoners even removes one of the bars from his cell window, only to dust it off and put it back. Then the King unwittingly ticks off a prisoner by ruining his chess game, which makes him tear the bars off his cell, steal the keys from the prison guard, and then a lever that releases all of the prisoners!
  • Catching Some Z's: In the opening of "Dinnertime", the bird is sleeping like this until his alarm clock wakes him up, and the dog catcher in the same shirt is doing this before he's awakened.
  • Cats Are Mean: The cat in "Dinnertime" and the villainous cat in "Bird Scouts".
  • Cats Have Nine Lives: The cat in "Dinnertime" almost loses his nine lives from falling, but he climbs back up through the air to get them. A nearby dog who was drinking beer sees this, looks at his bottle, and then drops it and runs off in fear.
  • Christmas Episode:
    • "Opening Night", Cubby Bear's first short. Santa Claus even cameos in the opening.
    • The Little King short "Pals" is set during Christmas Eve, and the reused print of the film was even renamed "Christmas Night".
  • Cute Kitten: The kittens in "Rough on Rats", "Merry Kittens", "Rag Dog" and "Scottie Finds A Home". Felix the Cat also counts in his three shorts.
  • Damsel in Distress: Cubby Bear's love interest Honey, who seems to exist only to be rescued by Cubby.
  • Davy Jones: "The Haunted Ship" short of the Aesop's Fables collection features Davy Jones, a skeleton wearing a bicorne, as the captain of the Davy Jones, a haunted and infested sunken ship. Waffles and Don board it and find a piano, which they play to appease the other creatures. Unfortunately, their music also awakens Davy Jones. He comes out of his cabin — his locker — and gives chase. Although Waffles and Don are swimming back to the surface, it isn't shown how the chase ends.
  • The Dead Can Dance: A good chunk of "Wot A Night" is centered on a skeleton composer playing a piano song, prompting his other skeleton friends to dance to it.
  • Dem Bones: The army of skeletons in "Wot a Night". Tom and Jerry inexplicably wind up like this at the end.
    • A fishing skeleton appears for a gag in "The Rocketeers".
    • The dancing mummy skeleton and his subsequent army of skeletons in "Gypped In Egypt".
  • Deranged Animation: Most of the pre-Gillett Van Beuren cartoons are very wildly animated and surreal in tone.
  • Disney Acid Sequence: Occurs in "Gypped in Egypt" after Waffles and Don unwittingly kill their camel, which causes the Sphinx to put a curse on them.
  • The Ditz: The Little King has shades of this. While he's not incompetent, he acts very eccentric and childish for someone in his position.
  • D.I.Y. Disaster: The conflict of "Joint Wipers". Tom and Jerry are amateur plumbers, and they unwittingly flood the entire building they're working in.
  • Domestic-Only Cartoon: All of the shorts were made in the US.
  • Downer Ending: While "Jolly Good Felons" ends with the prison riot subdued, the King is mistakenly jailed with all of them, while another prisoner escaped by disguising himself in his stolen regal outfit.
  • The Everyman: Cubby Bear. He can be a good fighter, dancer and singer, but otherwise has little going for him personality wise.
  • Evil-Detecting Dog: In "Scottie Finds A Home", the eponymous terrier knows right away that the vagrant who arrives at the grandmothers house is up yo no good. After barking at him, the hobo hangs him by his sweater on a nearby tree as he goes off to pester the grandma cat for food.
  • Expy:
    • Their Tom and Jerry were just human versions of previous Van Beuren characters Waffles the Cat and Don Dog.
    • In the Harman-Ising Cubby Bear shorts, Cubby looks, moves and acts very similar to Harman-Ising's own Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid.
  • Extra! Extra! Read All About It!:
    • The opening of "Mild Cargo" has a goat spreading newspapers of Cubby's arrival at their jungle, while shouting the phrase.
    • The bird from the ending of "A Little Bird Told Me" says this to the kids after she's done telling her story.
  • Fat Bastard: The young cat and his grandmother in "Scotty Finds a Home" are menaced by a pudgy dog vagabond who breaks into their house and forces them to give him their food.
  • Food Porn: "Pastry Town Wedding" is entirely set in a colorful land of cake and cake decorations.
  • Forced Transformation: In "Spinning Mice", the evil little devils turn the wizard into a giant rabbit by spilling his own potion on him.
  • Framing Device: The Toddle Tales and two of the Rainbow Parade shorts have live action openings and endings, with the cartoon segments inbetween that provide the "morals" of the cartoons.
  • Going Commando: Atypical of most female cartoon characters of her time or design, the girl cat in "Silvery Moon" has a noticeable lack of bloomers beneath her skirt.
  • Hair-Raising Hare: The rabbit Tom and Jerry are hunting in "Rabid Hunters". It turns out to be a skunk In disguise.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: The Terrible-Tempered Mr. Bang in the Toonerville Trolley series.
  • Harmless Villain: The Lepodopterist in "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies". He's not even portrayed as malicious, but as a wimpy fool who only wants to catch butterflies, obliviously at the expense of their freedom. He even sings about how he's too cowardly to go hunting for lions or tigers, so he spends time catching butterflies as his hobby.
  • Hobos: The antagonist of "Scottie Finds A Home" is a vagrant who heckles the kittens' grandma for free food in her own home.
  • "I Am" Song: Robinson Cruesoe gets one early in "Molly Moo Cow Meets Robinson Cruesoe".
  • Imperial Stormtrooper Marksman Ship Academy: The guards in "Goode Knight" are all cross eyed, and thus are terrible shots with their arrows when they're going after Cubby.
  • In Name Only: Only the earliest Aesop's Fables cartoons were loose adaptations of the actual Fables; later entries usually revolved around cats, mice, and the disgruntled Farmer Al Falfa.
  • iSophagus: Late in "Bird Scouts", the cat that's attacking the birds ends up getting one of their bugles stuck in its throat, which unintentionally rallies the young scouts against it.
  • Jerkass Gods: In "It's a Greek Life" the God Mercury threatens to break the centaur's neck if he doesn't fix his winged sandals. He manages to beat him up a good deal before the centaur's ducks save him.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Robinson Cruesoe in "Molly Moo Cow and Robinson Cruesoe". Initially, he is openly hostile and drives Molly away from the island just so he can be alone, even though he admits she's a nice cow. He comes around and befriends Molly once she saves him from a tribe of cannibals.
  • Knight of Cerebus: The giant rat in "Rough on Rats"; once he shows up, kidnaps and tries to kill one of the kittens, the tone of the cartoon considerably changes.
  • Later-Installment Weirdness: The Burt Gillett era shorts from 1934 to 1936 take a total 180 approach to the studios previous cartoons, completely overhauling the art direction, animation and content.
  • Lighter and Softer: The Gillett era Van Beuren shorts.
  • Literal Ass-Kicking: In "Dinnertime", the puppy does this to another dog before running off.
    • Nero's champion does this to Cubby upon accepting his challenge to the chariot race in "Fiddlin' Fun".
    • Jerry does this to a cannibal before running off in "Jungle Jam".
  • Mad Bomber: The villain of "The Fatal Note", who tries, and fails, to kill the King with a bomb.
  • Medium Blending: For some odd reason, the opening titles to "Plane Dumb" has a live action waterfall superimposed behind it.
  • Mickey Mousing; As usual for golden age cartoons, all of the films are timed to musical tempos and beats, with characters often moving directly in synch with the musical tracks.
  • The Middle Ages: The setting of "Goode Knight", where Cubby Bear plays the role of Robin Hood.
  • Mischief-Making Monkey: For no particular reason, a monkey happens to reside in a nearby tree in "Day at the Park", and it causes Al Fslfa a good deal of trouble.
  • Mocky Mouse: Milton Mouse is such a blatant copy of Mickey Mouse that he is almost visually indistinguishable from Mickey and had to be dropped when Disney threatened legal action. His short-lived replacement Cubby Bear is also flagrantly based on Mickey.
  • Mordor: The swampy, gnarly and desolate village of the evil gnomes in "Sunshine Makers", at least until the good gnomes bombard it with Sunshine milk, turning it into a colorful, lively land lush with life again.
  • Mood Whiplash: "Rough on Rats" is mostly a cutesy, happy gag cartoon—but then the rat comes along and kidnaps one of the kittens, trying to cut him in half with a buzz saw as the music and tone (and even the music, complete with a wailing chorus) takes a dramatic turn as the other two kittens come to his rescue and assault the rat.
  • Morph Weapon: Of the funny variant; in "Rabid Hunters", Tom corners a rabbit, first pulling out a handgun, but then he turns it Into a hunting rifle on the spot.
  • Ms. Fanservice: The Mae West horse from "Galloping Fanny", and the Mae West duck in "Mild Cargo".
  • New Job as the Plot Demands: Despite his Farmer moniker, Al Falfa has held different jobs throughout his shorts, such as running a deli (I.e. Dinnertime) or being a local cop (I.e. Day at the Park).
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Celebrity caricatures were common in several of the shorts, such as Honey Bear dressing up as Mae West and Gandhi making a cameo in "Croon Crazy", and a bird in "A Little Bird Told Me" being named Walter Finchell, a play on the famous radio star Walter Winchell.
    • The buzzard who turns his head into that of Jimmy Durante in "On The Pan".
    • "Cupid Gets His Man" features a character who is a caricature of W.C. Fields.
  • No More for Me: In "Dinnertime", a dig with a bottle of beer has this reaction when he sees a cat climb into the air to recollect it's lost nine lives.
  • No Name Given: The kittens in "Merry Kittens" and "Rag Dog" aren't named, are interchangeable in personality, and are only distinguishable by their colors (white, orange, grey).
  • The Not Catch: In Tom and Jerry's "A Fireman's Life", the boys have a Fireman's Safety Net ready for a man trapped in a burning building. He jumps...and they leap out of the way, deciding to catch the female resident instead.
  • Obliviously Evil: The Lepodopterist in "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies". He's just a giddy butterfly catcher who does it as a hobby, and is too ignorant to realize the feelings of the bugs he catches. Molly, of course, will not let this stand.
  • Offscreen Teleportation: The rabbit in "Rabid Hunters" uses this when Tom and Jerry are chasing it on a tree branch.
  • Off with His Head!: Tom briefly gets his head knocked off as a gag in "Swiss Trick". He quickly puts it back on.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Tom and Jerry disguise themselves in blackface makeup (while impersonating Amos N Andy at the same time) when they travel to Africa in "Plane Dumb". The natives aren't fooled.
  • Parody Product Placement: "The Sunshine Makers" was originally made as a promotional film for a long forgotten product called Borden's Milk, which is used in the cartoon as "Sunshine Milk" to make the evil gnomes happy.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: The puppy in "Dinnertime" is able to easily lift up a comically large piece of meat from Farmer Al Falfa's butcher shop before he gets caught.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: The bandit in "In The Bag" arrives to the tavern while shoulder riding on a black man, who he bandhandedly kicks far away as he makes his entrance.
  • Poorly Disguised Pilot:
    • Before starting their Little King shorts, Van Beuren made two shorts based on the Little King's companion strip, "Sentinel Louie", which were both released as part of the Aesop's Fables series of shorts.
    • "Plane Dumb" feels like a prototype for the Van Beuren Amos n Andy shorts, since the bulk of the cartoon has Tom and Jerry disguised in blackface makeup and acting like Amos N Andy, even talking a lot, something they almost never did in previous shorts.
  • Pounds Are Animal Prisons: The dog pound in "Dinnertime" Is presented like this.
  • Precision F-Strike: "Goofy Goat Antics" was banned from many theaters for use of the word, "damn". Note that this was three years before The Hays Code.
  • Product Placement: "The Sunshine Makers" was originally made as a promotional film for Borden's Milk.
  • Psycho Serum: In "Spinning Mice", the wizards magic potion, which normally turns ugly things into beautiful things, becomes this after an extra ingredient accidentally falls into it, turning a batch of mice into little Red Devils.
    • In "Sunshine Makers", the evil gnomes have a murky spray that can counteract the happy effects of the good gnome sunshine milk.
  • Public Domain Animation: All 189 of their sound cartoons (as well as their 347 silent cartoons) have fallen into the Public Domain, which made it easy for Thunderbean to re-release them once they found the best source materials available.
  • Punny Name: Walter Finchell, the bird reporter in "A Little Bird Told Me", a parody of the then famous radio star Walter Winchell.
  • Random Events Plot: Most of the shorts are strings of gags or musical affairs with no real plot to speak of.
  • Robe and Wizard Hat: The wizard in "Spinning Mice" wears this getup.
  • Robot Buddy: Farmer Al Falfa's robot in "The Iron Man".
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Little King, who often takes the initiative to do something in his own hands, including fighting his own assailant in "The Fatal Note".
  • Rubberhose Limbs: Present on virtually all of the characters in the studios shorts, same the occasional design with more muscle or fat on their limbs.
  • Santa Claus: Appears in the opening of "Opening Night" and also appears in "Pals / Christmas Night".
  • Sad Clown: Milton Mouse briefly becomes his during the end of "Circus Capers" when his girlfriend has an affair with the ringmaster. He even addresses himself as a sad clown in his brief song number, only for his girlfriend to have second thoughts and come back to him.
  • Scary Stinging Swarm: The fate of the Lepodopterist in "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies", where Molly sends him tripping against a local beehive, prompting them to chase off the guy.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In "Jungle Jam", the Navy pulls this on Tom and Jerry, just when it seemed like they were going to rescue them.
  • Sentient Vehicle: The train early in "Swiss Trick". At one point, it gives out and a rescue dog arrives to give it some brandy to drink.
  • Shameless Self-Promoter: In "Trouble", Tom and Jerry walk right in front of a marching band with a sign in order to promote their failing lawyer business.
  • Show Within a Show: "Makin' Em Move" is set In a cartoon studio run by cartoon animals, who watch the cartoon they made during the end.
  • Shout-Out: In "Pals / Christmas Night", one of the hoboes the King befriends has the NRA (National Recovery Administration) logo tattooed on his chest.
  • Sissy Villain: The Lepodopterist from "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies". He's so wimpy and nonthreatening, that the only villainous thing he does is catch butterflies (at the expense of their freedom). He even sings about how he's too cowardly to go chasing after tigers and lions, so he goes after butterflies instead.
  • Slippy-Slidey Ice World: The setting of "Frozen Frolics" and "Polar Pals".
  • Smelly Skunk:
    • Used for a gag in "Noah Knew His Ark"—the two skunks are stuck in their own private boat tied behind the ark.
    • The rabbit in "Rabid Hunters" turns out to be a skunk in disguise.
  • Space Whale Aesop: The "moral" of "Grandfather's Clock"; don't play around with or smash clocks, because they have hearts and feelings just like you and me!
  • Spoof Aesop: During the silent era of the series, each cartoon would end with a so-called "Sugar Coated Pill of Wisdom". "Summertime" (1929), for instance, ends with the line "Hairs, brains and skirts are short this season."
  • Standard Snippet: When the Navy Beans are marching out in "How's Crops?", the staple song "The Sailor's Hornpipe" plays. It's also used briefly in "Polar Pals" when a pelican has a xylophone played in its mouth.
    • Early in "Wot a Night", the "Volga Boatmen" song plays when a car is wading through flooded waters.
    • In "Rabid Hunters", the hunting song "A Hunting We Will Go" plays when Tom and Jerry begin hunting.
  • Stock Animal Diet: The ending of "In the Bag"; Tom got his money bag swapped out with walnuts, and when he opens the bag in the forest and finds out he's been duped, a bunch of squirrels swarm him!
  • Stock Footage: A scene of Cubby riding a horse in "The Gay Gaucho" is reused from Harman and Ising's "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!".
    • An entire sequence of "Silvery Moon" is retraced animation from "Toy Time".
    • "Noah Knew His Ark" reuses footage from a short released five months before it, "Ship Ahoy".
    • "The Farmarette" reuses an entire sequence, complete with its original soundtrack, from the short "Farm Foolery".
    • "Chinese Jinks" (1932) reuses a sequence from "Laundry Blues" (1930).
    • "Plane Dumb" reuses a brief sequence of blackface skeletons singing from "Wot a Night".
    • The Little King shorts sometimes reused backgrounds from previous shorts, as well as the staircase sequence that's animated in perspective.
    • The 1936 Egyptian cartoon "Mafish Fayda" traces several scenes of animation from the Tom and Jerry shorts "Wot a Night" and "In the Bag".
    • "Catfish Romance" (1932) reuses scenes directly from a previous short, "The Haunted Ship" (1930).
  • Sudden Anatomy: Molly Moo Cow's feet can turn into hands whenever the situation calls for it.
  • Suddenly Speaking:
    • Much like the more well known cat and mouse duo, Tom and Jerry very rarely speak in most of their shorts (mostly making mumbles or yells instead), with the exception of "Plane Dumb".
    • The Little King, like in the newspaper comic he comes from, is mostly voiceless (to the extent that when he "speaks" in "Jest of Honor", it's completely unintelligible gibberish) but he inexplicably gets a handful of speaking lines in "Marching Along".
    • Felix the Cat's shorts also count as this, since he was a silent cartoon star to begin with, and even his handful of earlier sound films had no real dialogue for him either.
    • In "Molly Moo Cow Meets Rip Van Winkle", Molly, who usually speaks in moos or grunts (with occasional facsimiles of sounds like "Yoo hoo!") gets a handful of speaking lines.
  • Super Not-Drowning Skills: Waffles and Don are inexplicably able to breathe underwater in "The Haunted Ship".
    • Tom and Jerry do this in "The Rocketeers", since most of the short is set underwater.
  • Thick-Line Animation: The general art style of the studio used this, especially in its early 30s shorts, but abandoned it once Burt Gillett arrived and overhauled the whole shop.
  • 13 Is Unlucky: In "Sultan Pepper", the Sultan shoots one of his harem girls off screen, since he realized there was 13 of them. After the fact, he states that he did it because "Thirteen is bad luck."
  • Too Many Babies: In "Frozen Frolics", a stork delivers a batch of at least 43 baby penguins to a visibly worried father penguin.
  • Under the Sea: Most of "The Rocketeers" is set underwater, after Tom and Jerry's attempt to fly off on a rocket goes haywire.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: In "Circus Capers", when Milton Mouse flies thru the ringmasters roof, Milton's girlfriend is too involved in her affair with the ringmaster to even glance over at him!
  • The Unintelligible: When the Little King "speaks" in "Jest of Honor", it's indecipherable gibberish.
  • Villain Song: The brief song by the evil gnomes In "Sunshine Makers".
    • The Lepodopterist's ditty from "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies", for the given value of a villain.
    • The Pirates song number in "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg".
    • The "You Talk Too Much" number from "Bold King Cole".
  • Visual Pun: In "In The Bag", when the bandit orders the saloon patrons to "Stick 'em up!", the patrons reach for the cieling—as in, their arms stretch out so much that they burst right out of the saloons cieling and hang in mid-air in fear.
  • The Voiceless: Just like in the newspaper comic he hails from, the Little King has no dialogue (save for a handful of lines in "Marching Along"). Even when he does "speak" in "Jest of Honor", it's completely unintelligible gibberish.
    • Tom and Jerry act like this in most of their shorts, with the notable exception of "Plane Dumb".
    • Molly Moo Cow usually doesn't speak in her shorts either; she either makes cow like moos and grunts, or facsimiles of words like "Yoo Hoo!". She does have a few lines of dialogue in "Molly Moo Cow Meets Rip Van Winkle".
  • Weaponized Headgear: The villain of "In the Bag" has four guns poking out of his hat that he uses to shoot Jerry with during the climatic chase.
  • Wizard Classic: The wizard in "Spinning Mice".
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: In "Rough on Rats", the mother cat is present for the first minute, but vanishes for the rest of the cartoon as the kittens play around in the grocery shop, not even appearing when one of her kittens is kidnapped and almost killed by a rat.
  • When It Rains, It Pours: The opening of "Wot A Night" has Tom and Jerry stuck in a rainstorm so heavy, it floods their car!
  • Wheel o' Feet: The butterfly catcher runs like this when he's trying to run after the butterflies in "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies".
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Used by two dancing cowboys during "In the Bag".
  • The Wild West: The setting of "Hot Tamale", The Gay Gaucho, "In the Bag" and "Redskin Blues."
  • William Telling: In "A Royal Good Time", the King has his servants place apples on their heads, which he perfectly shoots off with his rifle as he moves along.
  • Woodland Creatures: The birds of "A Little Bird Told Me", who live in a forest village.
  • Written Sound Effect: Tom calls to Jerry for help this way when he falls underwater in "Polar Pals".
  • X-Ray Sparks: One of the mice electrocutes Cubby's cat this way with a lightbulb socket In "Mischevious Mice".
  • You Dirty Rat!: "Rough on Rats" revolves around a trio of cute kittens battling a large, nasty rat.

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