The New The Tom and Jerry Show

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There is a new Warner Bros. Animation series, The Tom and Jerry Show coming out soon!

The series will be premiering Wednesday, April 9 on Cartoon Network.  Entertainment Weekly just debut a trailer for the show yesterday which you can check out here:  http://family-room.ew.com/2014/03/17/tom-and-jerry-exclusive-video/

As you can see the cat and mouse grudge match between these two continues with the same brand of slapstick humor that made Tom and Jerry two of the most beloved characters in animation history.  In addition to their familiar suburban house setting, each 11 minute short of the new series will expand Tom and Jerry’s never-ending game of cat-and-mouse to include more fantastic worlds, from a witches cabin to a mad scientist’s lab.

Voiced with comedic stars such as Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) leading it’s talented  cast, the show should be a hit with kids.  Here is what Jay Bastian, the WBA creative executive had to say in an interview with me last week.

Q1- Have you always been a Tom and Jerry Fan?

Jay Bastian– Who isn’t?  I always loved watching Tom and Jerry cartoons with my father, since he would laugh just as much as I did at them.

Q2-  Who is your favorite, Tom, or Jerry?  (And why)

Jay Bastian– This is a debate I have been in both at Cartoon Network and at Warner Bros. for years.  People are entrenched on one side or the other and can speak at length about their respective stance.  I guess I always root for the underdog, so I’ve always been firmly on Jerry’s side.

Q3- How is the new The Tom and Jerry Show different the the older cartoons?

Jay Bastian– Hopefully the characters, their relationship and the slapstick violence will still feel like what was established in the classic shorts.  The newest thing we’ve added in this series is the reoccurring scenarios of the science lab, the witches’ house and Tom and Jerry’s detective agency.  The idea was to keep them the same characters they have always been, but add in new locations and things to throw at one another.

Q4- How did you choose your voice talents?

Jay Bastian– We have a nice mix of classic and new characters on the show.  It’s no easy task finding someone who can sound like Lil’ Quacker and still understand what he’s saying, but Sam Kwasman is somehow able to do it.  For the father in our house setting, we needed someone who could be a lovable jerk, which is not easy to pull off.  We were lucky enough to get Jason Alexander who has somewhat perfected that ability on television and in film.  For the detective narrator we needed someone who could be both noir serious and funny, so again, we were fortunate enough to get the amazing Gary Cole.   Simon Helberg plays a rat who is Jerry’s friend in the lab scenario, and he is both delightfully quirky and intentionally annoying.

Q5- Do you enjoy working with TV stars like Simon Helberg and Jason Alexander?

Jay Bastian– They are both great at what they do AND fun to work with in the booth.  They’re truly talented professionals.

Q6- Did the voice talents transition from traditional TV roles to voice acting well, or was it hard for them (and you) to “get into the swing” of it?

Jay Bastian– They had all done animation voices before, so they were great right out of the gate.  Like any role, they needed to figure out who the character was, but actors of their caliber figure it out pretty quick.

Q7- What is it like to work with such iconic characters, beloved by several generations?

Jay Bastian– It’s definitely a lot of pressure.  You know you’re never going to top the classic shorts, but you at least hope you can do right by the characters.  When we made The Looney Tunes Show, even though we were making something very different from the original cartoons, we were thrilled that a new generation was discovering Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, sometimes for the first time.  After The Looney Tunes Show premiered, the ratings for the classic Looney Tunes shorts on CN shot up higher than they’d been in years, and we took great pride in that.  We would love for the audience to love our new shows, but at the very least we want them to discover the classic shorts that we’ve loved for our entire lives.