Tom and Jerry Model Sheet

Tom & Jerry is the original animated series created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the success of which allowed them to found their own studio. Originally aired in 1940, it has been repeated, rerun, revived, and enjoyed for nearly 80 years with a new Tom & Jerry Movie released in 2021. This adorable hand-painted cel and giclée print background symbolises one of the animators' longest living legends in a joyful still of the frenemies surrounded by their own model sheet.

Both the cel and the printed background pay homage to the original Hanna-Barbera animators' techniques. Each still in a cartoon would be hand-drawn and painted onto acetate cels and set against separate painted backgrounds to create a snapshot from an entire scene. But, prior to this, animators would hand-draw model sheets to explore the poses, expressions and features of their characters while maintaining consistency in his/her appearance as they entered the phase of creating cels.

Framed in glass and metallic beige painted pine and spruce wood, this remarkable artwork forms part of our second Hanna-Barbera collection which you can shop here.