The Bear That Wasn't

The second non-Tom and Jerry short film, and the last one they ever made, was this adaptation of Frank Tashlin’s book. Tashlin was a former contemporary of Jones’ in the Termite Terrace, but this short was the subject of contention between them. Despite having no real input on the film, Jones demanded that Tashlin be given producer credit in the event of an Oscar win, a nice gesture to be sure. Problem was, Tashlin strongly disliked what Jones had done with his work and wanted his name removed from the credits.

The tension between the two as artists is evident throughout “The Bear That Wasn’t” as Tashlin’s jaundiced worldview produces a series of great gags about corporate culture and identity crisis, but Jones was never that dark in his outlook. It’s an entertaining short, if somehow ultimately leaving behind an odd aftertaste.

The backgrounds and forms tilt strongly towards Jones’ later work in adapting Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book stories in that they’re less abstract and more representational. Still, Jones can’t stop himself from presenting pieces of the short as strange geometric abstractions, disassociating the bear from his surroundings and helping to solidify the narrative thrust in these moments.

But there’s still something off as a whole with “The Bear That Wasn’t.” The psychology at play here never feels totally committed to. Or perhaps there’s the slightly dated quality to the background music. Or the factory working montage that has an incredibly dated mid-60s swinging song playing underneath. It’s messy, but an entertaining mess. A glimpse at two different artists obsessions and styles merging uneasily with one another to produce something strange and wonderful, sloppy but endearing.