‘Tom and Jerry Show’ Premieres April 9 on Cartoon Network

The preview that Warner Bros. has released is an aesthetic trainwreck from top to bottom. The characters lack any sense of volume, construction, or appeal; the animation and gags are poorly timed to the point of being illegible; and the art direction and layout is amateurish beyond description. How does a layout like the following one make it through the production pipeline? It’s so awkwardly composed that the viewer doesn’t even understand Tom is lying the ground. In fact, Jerry’s body goes underneath Tom’s body which implies that Tom is somehow floating in the air:

This living room layout features a piano that defies the laws of gravity and manages to stand upright in spite of misplaced legs. One could argue that this is a stylistic choice—and it’s certainly possible to push a layout even further—but the tangent-filled and perspective-challenged drawing suggests that the person who drew this scene struggled with the assignment:

If this is Cartoon Network’s sizzle reel, I shudder to think about the stuff that’s not sizzle-worthy. What’s on display in this reel doesn’t exhibit the basic graphic competency that is expected of a professional studio production in 2014.