Bab 298: "Tom and Jerry"
Ren's face lit up with excitement as he looked at the new release from the system.
"It's this one... Tom and Jerry!"
He had never expected this show to appear in his system.
Tom and Jerry was an animated series that had accompanied the childhoods of many kids in Ren's past life. Even during his college years, whenever he got tired of playing games in his dorm, he would pull up Tom and Jerry on his browser to watch, thoroughly enjoying it. Sometimes, even his roommates would join him, watching the antics while sitting next to his hammock.
This show was an enduring comedy classic, a cornerstone of many childhood memories. Tom and Jerry focused on slapstick humor, exaggeration, and comedic violence to depict the never-ending battle between its two main characters, Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. Their relentless rivalry, the traps, chases, and clever strategies that unfolded between the cunning cat and the sharp-witted mouse formed the heart of the story.
Even though it was an American creation, the humorous moments were universal, transcending cultural boundaries without being limited by regional differences. It was similar to Mr. Bean—a show that could make people from any country laugh.
The series blended two distinct types of humor: slapstick and dark humor.
What is slapstick humor?
It's like the comedic style of Charlie Chaplin, using exaggerated physical actions and facial expressions to create a sense of absurdity and amusement. But producing this kind of humor requires actors with exceptional talent—comedians on par with Chaplin were quite rare in Ren's previous life.
However, animation had the advantage of bringing exaggerated actions and expressions to life without needing live actors. Through detailed animation, it was possible to create even more extreme gestures and facial expressions, though it required painstaking attention to detail.
Fortunately, this wasn't a problem for Ren. His drawing skills were widely recognized, and the artists at Picca Comics had grown significantly under his guidance.
As for dark humor, that was even easier to understand.
In Ren's past life, many people who watched Tom and Jerry enjoyed seeing Tom the cat being tricked and humiliated. The more Tom suffered, the louder the laughter. This was the essence of dark humor—it played into people's natural tendency to enjoy watching others face misfortune and chaos, a reflection of the same mindset that made people love to "watch the world burn."
Tom and Jerry also influenced many domestic animated shows that followed a similar dark humor style. For example, the popular Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf featured goats, like Jerry, and the wolf, resembling Tom. Similarly, Boonie Bears was another show that adopted a similar formula.
Both these shows, like Tom and Jerry, anthropomorphized animals to deliver humor and action.
However, unlike Tom and Jerry, many domestic shows were highly commercialized. Both Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Boonie Bears were created as fast-food entertainment, sacrificing quality for mass appeal. The characters' movements lacked the finesse and polish seen in Tom and Jerry.
Don't be fooled by the fact that each Tom and Jerry episode was only around seven minutes long. A huge team—150 animators—devoted all their time to creating those seven minutes of fun, music, and chaos. The series didn't rely on dialogue; instead, it used facial expressions and actions to convey emotions. That's why the characters' performances had to be both expressive and subtle—overacting would ruin the tone.
This attention to detail was why Tom and Jerry won twelve Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film and even an Emmy Award.
Of course, times had changed, and many manual techniques used back then could now be replaced with modern technology.
For example, in the past, exaggerated movements required an enormous amount of drawing. When Tom and Jerry was made, there was no 3D modeling or tracing technology.
But now, those technologies had become standard practice, and even Ren's company used them in many projects. Therefore, the workload wasn't as overwhelming as it once was.
And even if more staff were needed, Picca Comics had the resources to hire them!
"But…" Ren furrowed his brows.
While humor may transcend borders, Tom and Jerry was still an American show.
Many of the details were rooted in Western culture. For instance, episodes about Christmas, Halloween witches, or medieval stories would need adjustments.
Ren would have to modify these elements to fit local audiences.
"Looks like I'll have to put in some extra work for a while."
Ren stretched lazily. But he wasn't too worried. If certain elements couldn't be adapted, he could simply remove them altogether.
After all, Tom and Jerry wasn't a serialized show—it was episodic, so individual stories didn't rely on each other.
However, there was another challenge that Ren found a bit daunting: the music.
The soundtrack in Tom and Jerry was integral to the success of the show. In addition to the humorous plot, much of its charm came from the carefully curated musical score.
Many people credited the success of Tom and Jerry to its use of classical and symphonic music. Pieces like "The Blue Danube" and Chopin's "Fantasy Impromptu" were perfectly timed with the action, adding to the comedic effect.
But as the series progressed, it became clear that more and more original music was being composed for the show. By the later episodes, Tom and Jerry had introduced a mix of jazz, modernist music, and even atonal compositions.
In Ren's world, while there were classical pieces similar to those in Tom and Jerry, the original compositions didn't exist.
This gave Ren a bit of a headache.
"But, whatever…" Ren mulled over the problem for a few minutes before brushing it aside.
After all, Picca Comics employed talented musicians. Ren didn't believe that the cultural depth of this world would be any worse than that of his previous one.
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