# Tom Ray > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tom_Ray > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tom_Ray.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ray > Source revision: 1345734117 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American animator (1919–2010) For other people named Tom Ray, see [Tom Ray (disambiguation)](/source/Tom_Ray_(disambiguation)). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tom Ray" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (February 2022) **Thomas Archer Ray**[1] (August 2, 1919 – April 6, 2010[2]) was an American [animator](/source/Animator). ## Career Ray was born in [Williams, Arizona](/source/Williams%2C_Arizona).[1] He began work at [Leon Schlesinger Productions](/source/Warner_Bros._Cartoons) in 1937, working under [Tex Avery](/source/Tex_Avery) for six months. He applied for a job at [MGM](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_cartoon_studio) 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](/source/James_Stewart).[3] He later worked at [John Sutherland Productions](/source/John_Sutherland_(producer)), getting his first screen credit there with *[Destination Earth](/source/Destination_Earth)* in 1956. In 1958, he returned to Warner Bros. Cartoons and became a master animator in the [Robert McKimson](/source/Robert_McKimson) unit. After a brief stay in the [Friz Freleng](/source/Friz_Freleng) unit, he was assigned to work with the [Chuck Jones](/source/Chuck_Jones) unit, where he co-directed *[Adventures of the Road-Runner](/source/Adventures_of_the_Road-Runner)* and several *[Bugs Bunny Show](/source/The_Bugs_Bunny_Show)* episodes. He followed Jones to [MGM Animation/Visual Arts](/source/MGM_Animation%2FVisual_Arts) in 1963; there, he directed two [Tom and Jerry](/source/Tom_and_Jerry) compilation shorts, *[Matinee Mouse](/source/Matinee_Mouse)* in 1966 and *[Shutter Bugged Cat](/source/Shutter_Bugged_Cat)* in 1967. His later credits include animation on *[Pink Panther](/source/List_of_The_Pink_Panther_cartoons)* shorts, [Ralph Bakshi](/source/Ralph_Bakshi)’s *[Heavy Traffic](/source/Heavy_Traffic)* and *[Coonskin](/source/Coonskin_(film))*, Chuck Jones TV specials, numerous [Filmation](/source/Filmation) and [Hanna-Barbera](/source/Hanna-Barbera) series. He also was an animator at [Rick Reinert Productions](/source/Rick_Reinert), where he did animation on *[Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons](/source/Winnie_the_Pooh_Discovers_the_Seasons)* and *[Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore](/source/Winnie_the_Pooh_and_a_Day_for_Eeyore)*, both of which were commissioned by [Walt Disney Productions](/source/The_Walt_Disney_Company). Ray directed many episodes of various series including the [Sunbow Productions](/source/Sunbow_Entertainment) animated series based on [Hasbro](/source/Hasbro) properties like *[My Little Pony](/source/My_Little_Pony_(TV_series))*, and was also the director for episodes of [Film Roman](/source/Film_Roman)'s *[Garfield and Friends](/source/Garfield_and_Friends)*. He later worked on animation in the 90's like *[Tiny Toon Adventures](/source/Tiny_Toon_Adventures)*, *[Darkwing Duck](/source/Darkwing_Duck)*, *[Animaniacs](/source/Animaniacs)*, *[The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries](/source/The_Sylvester_%26_Tweety_Mysteries)* and *[The Mask: Animated Series](/source/The_Mask%3A_Animated_Series)*. 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](/source/East_Stroudsburg%2C_Pennsylvania). Ray moved his studio to [Virginia Beach, Virginia](/source/Virginia_Beach%2C_Virginia) 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 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bcdb_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bcdb_1-1) ["Director, Tom & Jerry animator Tom Ray dead at 90"](http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/Director_Tom_Jerry_animator_Tom_Ray_dead_at_90_P108228/). The Big Cartoon Forum. Retrieved 2010-04-08.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Tom Ray, 1919–2010"](https://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/tom-ray-1919-2010.html). 8 April 2010. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Tom Ray Interview](https://www.childrenstvarchive.com/interviews_ChildrensTVarchive.html) ## External links - [Tom Ray](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0713022/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [Tomstone Animation Studios](http://www.tomstoneanimation.com/) - [Tom Ray Filmography](http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/search.cgi?Animator=Tom%20Ray&query=&substring=1)[*[dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tom Ray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ray) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ray?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.