Thomas Archer Ray (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was an American animator.

Career

Ray was born in

Williams, Arizona Williams ( yuf-x-hav, Wii Gvʼul) is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County, Arizona, United States, located west of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff. Its population was 3,023 at the 2010 census. It lies on the routes of U.S. Route 66, ...

. He began work at

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

in 1937, working under

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His mo ...

for six months. He applied for a job at MGM and was hired. According to him, he got paid $18 a week, 6 times the money he got paid at the Warner Bros studio. After enlisting in March 1941, he was stationed at Fort MacArthur, and he rode on the same bus as Jimmy Stewart.Tom Ray Interview
/ref> He later worked at John Sutherland Productions, getting his first screen credit there with Destination Earth in 1956. In 1958, he returned to Warner Bros. and became a master animator in the Robert McKimson unit. After a brief stay in the

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ' ...

unit, he was assigned to work with the

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, pro ...

unit, where he co-directed '' Adventures of the Road-Runner'' and several ''

Bugs Bunny Show ''The Bugs Bunny Show'' is a long-running American animated anthology television series hosted by Bugs Bunny that was mainly composed of theatrical ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons released by Warner Bros. between 1948 and 196 ...

'' episodes. He followed Jones to

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

in 1963; there, he directed two

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the ...

compilation shorts, '' Matinee Mouse'' in 1966 and '' Shutter Bugged Cat'' in 1967. His later credits include animation on '' Pink Panther'' shorts,

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatri ...

’s '' Heavy Traffic'' and '' Coonskin'', Chuck Jones TV specials, numerous Filmation and

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...

series, ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...

'' and ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part o ...

''. Ray directed many episodes of various series including the Sunbow Productions animated series based on

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

properties and was also the director for episodes of

Film Roman Film Roman, LLC is an American independent animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and later by Waterman Entertainme ...

's '' Garfield and Friends''. After his retirement from the Los Angeles animation business in 1998, Ray founded his own animation studio, Tomstone Animation, first located in

East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg is a borough in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Poconos region of the state. Originally known as "Dansbury", East Stroudsburg was renamed for geographic reasons when the Delaware, Lackawanna, an ...

. Ray moved his studio to

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city (United States), independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 United States cen ...

just before he died in Virginia on April 6, 2010 aged 90. Ray's sister, Brenda Ellen Ray, continues to live in Atlanta, Georgia. Ray's son, Thomas G. "Greg" Ray, and daughter, Donna Mouliot, followed him into the animation business.

References

External links

*
Tomstone Animation Studios

Tom Ray Filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Tom 1919 births 2010 deaths Animators from Arizona Film directors from Arizona American animated film directors People from Coconino County, Arizona Place of birth missing Warner Bros. Cartoons people Hanna-Barbera people Filmation people Warner Bros. Animation people