Mauricio Alvarado and Brandon Adams, the impassioned production partners behind the Mutt & Jeff project, both had the same response when asked why they chose to devote their time and effort to the ridiculously obscure cartoon duo. As Alvarado put it, “I vaguely remembered the characters from old public domain tapes, with their re-colorized episodes included. But it wasn’t until I saw a couple of the original silent shorts that I realized how funny they were.”

Harry Conway "Bud" Fisher was the mastermind behind the creation of the original odd couple, Augustus J. Mutt and Edgar Horace Jeffries. The pairing dates back to 1907 and is credited with being the first successful daily comic strip in the United States. The boys were so well received that animation was inevitable. Between 1913 and 1926, Fisher cranked out a remarkable 300 shorts; each of which ran between four and seven minutes. The earliest of these, complete with speech balloons, were basically animated comic strips. Watching them in chronological order, the viewer can witness the birth and development of silent cartoons, from barebones drawings and strictly lateral movement to smoother, more polished imagery that began experimenting with depth of field.

Adams’s restoration journey “began with digital sources, working with files from laserdiscs and DVDs. Then I graduated to acquiring and restoring original film prints.” How long did the restoration take? According to Alvarado, “I started ordering the Mutt & Jeff scans back in 2021. At the time, I was trying to establish myself as a cartoon restoration producer, and I thought Mutt and Jeff was a series that was being ignored. Nobody had ever released an official set of the toons, so I thought it would be fun to do.”

There seems to be a discrepancy over how much more is coming. Alvarado says, “we have enough material for at least 3 volumes, while Brandon “feels there’s enough for one more volume, not two more. Regardless, a volume 2 is planned.” In the meantime, you should check out their website; it honors not just Mutt & Jeff, but Bosco, Buddy, Barker Bill, and more. How about a request? The majority of Heckle and Jekyll cartoons out there appear to be VHS dubs taken off television. Those taking magpies sure could stand a digital sprucing.

On a personal note, I first came across Mutt & Jeff upon discovering a “Tijuana Bible” in dad’s ancient porn stash. Alvarado asked if I still had it, and I had to tell him that dad threw it out the moment he heard me giggling in the other room.

The only thing missing in this sparkling 19-cartoon collection is a list of titles, so I made one of my own.

RESTORED SHORTS

Harps and Halos (1917) “Bud” Fisher 5 mins.

It’s bedtime, and while Jeff tries to sleep, Mutt empties his partner's wallet and heads out for a night on the town. In Jeff’s dream, Mutt plays the part of both St. Peter and Satan, eventually hopping a comet with handlebars provided by his guardian angel. The quaint dashed eye-lines, known as emarata, or the exclamation and question marks that appear overhead — both used to draw attention to an object or show what a character is thinking — were expressive hallmarks of silent animation.

Domestic Difficulties (1916) “Bud” Fisher 6 min.

Mutt’s wife puts him to bed and heads out for a night on the town. Little did she know that her hubby would climb down a three-story drainpipe to join Jeff for a bit of carousal. They get soused to the point of a drunken stupor, and Fisher visualizes their boozy state with a wonderful effect of the world wobbling around them. Jeff takes delight in the shellacking Mutt’s wife gives him — until the latter crashes down upon him, bricks and all.

The Honest Jockey (1920) “Bud” Fisher 6 min.

Mutt whips up a batch of liquid amphetamine, and after injecting it into a peg-legged grandpa, the old bird sucks down a lightpost whole before spitting out horseshoes and beating a wrestler three times his size. The next injectee is an emaciated mule whose ribcage jockey Jeff plays like a harp. During the big race, jockeys and their horses are shaded so as to differentiate between them. And while Mutt may not look Jewish, that doesn’t stop him from letting out an “Oy Gevalt!” when Jeff increases his chance of winning by giving the nag a shot of speed.

Bombs and Bums (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

Our duo decides to migrate to Russia, where income tax and prohibition are unheard-of commodities. It's more imaginative than any of the shorts that come before it: the backgrounds are fleshed out, with gag dispensation that’s as hilarious as it is fluid. A pair of bearded Moscovites play golf with timebombs, only to be engulfed and devoured by a pack of wolves who eat one Ivan right out of his frock coat and cossack hat. A breakneck chase involving a pack of wolves displays linear movement designed with depth in mind. This is also the first short in the package to give Charles R. “Charlie” Bowers a co-director credit. For those not familiar with Bowers' contribution to stop motion, check out It’s a Bird (1930) and be prepared to be amazed.

Dog-Gone (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

Mutt judges a dog show, with Jeff in a pooch costume that bears more than a passing resemblance to Betty Boop’s pal, Bimbo. And forget about dog catchers eager to round up strays: they’re nothing compared to Schultz the Sausage Man.

The Globe Trotters (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 6 min.

Who doesn’t love a cartoon that takes place in a movie theatre? M&J screen their home movies to a crowd of eager and curious attendees. Russia once again comes into play, as a steady flow of bolsheviks give up their beards at a mattress factory. A firing squad gives a wheel of swiss cheese its holes, and once we're back in New York, it’s discovered that it’s all a dream.

A Roman Scandal (1927) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 7 mins.

Released two years after Ben-Hur. Professor Feep, a crystal ball-gazer decked out in wizardly gear, offers the twosome a trip back to ancient Rome for a chariot race. The pacing and character movement are strictly top flight.

Set ‘Em Up Again (1926) Charles R. Bowers &“Bud” Fisher 6 min.

Mutt and Jeff are the proud proprietors of a bowling alley. There’s no lack of laughter when the arm of an absent-minded bowler, who forgot to release the ball, stretches the entire length of the alley. Later, Jeff doubles as the headpin when an angry bowler rolls ‘em as if he was a one-man firing squad. A highly imaginative chase caps the short, with an extendable canoe spanning the distance of two mountaintops.

A Stretch in Time (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 6 min.

A log cabin is the setting for this variation on a cowboys and Indians vamp. High point: a wind up Victrola  fires musical notes that cause the Indians to drop their tomahawks and dance.

Ups and Downs (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 

Laughter ensues when a pair of gravity-defying mountain climbers scale a considerable elevation, only to loop their climbing rope around a  mountain goat’s horns.

Westward Whoa (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

The boys play bronco busters to rope a steer. The Fleischer influence abounds: a bull’s tale becomes a question mark as they brand the herd כָּשֵׁר. For more on this short, check the entry on the colorized version below.

ARCHIVAL SHORTS THAT HAVE YET TO BE RESTORED

Cramps (1916) “Bud” Fisher

The short finds Jeff doubled over with abdominal spasms, prompting Mutt to hop the fire escape and rush down to the local apothecary to mortar and pestle up a remedy.

A few notes on the print: the tinted print appears to have water damage that dissipates as the short plays out, and while IMDB lists a running time of 7 minutes, my counter clocked it at 5.5 minutes.

The Circus (1917) “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

The circus comes to town, and our out-of-work duo accept a job watering elephants. It isn't long before the boys get distracted by the ladies' dressing tent. Later, Mutt strikes a blow as a “mitt artist,” going up against a boxing kangaroo. Alas, much of the match is obscured by chemical decomposition. A similar bout of degradation arises when Jeff the big cat trainer takes on Mutt in a lion suit.

Fishing (1920) “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

Mrs. Mutt sends her son Cicero to the fishing hole with daddy and Jeff, where the only catches they net are a tree-climbing dog fish clinging to the youngster’s behind and a skunk and her kits. Junior turns state’s evidence when he runs home to mama with the biggest whopper of all: daddy making time in the arms of a bathing beauty.

When Hell Freezes Over (1926) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

One of the funnier entries opens in a flop house adorned with icicles and Mutt & Jeff scrapping to control the rights to the only blanket. It’s so frigid, Jeff hides in Mutt’s pants while he’s still in them! Satan himself guides the boys on a journey to a sepia-toned Hades and entrusts them with the task of keeping the last flame in hell flickering. A midwesterner must have composed the melody mill soundtrack; what better tune to underscore the frigid antics than Fred Fisher’s (no relation) iconic Tin Pan Alley standard, "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)"? The six years that separate this from Fishing show a marked growth in both storytelling and detailed backgrounds.

Laughing Gas (1917) “Bud” Fisher 7 min.

With Jeff’s cheek swollen to near-Popeye sized proportions, Mutt escorts his pal to the dentist’s office, where a whiff of nitrous oxide turns everything he sees into an excuse to regale. After he gets set before a judge for daring to laugh at a cop, each subsequent howl adds another 30 days to his sentence. One may wonder why a canister of laughing gas is in a courtroom. But how else are they going to end the cartoon?

Playing With Fire (1927) “Bud” Fisher

Surrealism is in full swing as Jeff’s smoke ring wizardry lassos Mutt’s foot before causing a four alarm blaze. Borrowing a page or three from Max and Dave Fleischer’s style of transformative animation, a breakaway pumper truck slides down a fireman’s pole piece by piece. There’s even a white Bimbo-esque pup. Back at home, Mutt does battle with an unquenchable anthropomorphic flame that ends with a curtain shot that’ll leave Jeff (and you) howling.

“Lots” of Water (1927) Charles R. Bowers & “Bud” Fisher 5 min.

It’s handcar vs. steam locomotive as the twosome — or at least Jeff — pump their way to Balmy Beach, where a fortune in swampland real estate awaits. When they find they're unable to reach their island abode, Mutt, in a delightful bit of business, turns himself into a human bridge for Jeff to cross. The makers save the best for last as our scraggly chums do battle against high tide, alligators, and a waterfall.

Westward Whoa (1926) “Bud” Fisher

For those who thought colorization was the dreamchild of Ted Turner, guess again. Before computer colorization added a funeral parlor pallor to black-and-white movies, Kromocolor Services reshot and hand-colored a pair of the Mutt & Jeff shorts in the 1930s (Slick Sleuths and Westward Whoa) for theatrical release. 

For those interested in adding Mutt & Jeff to their personal video collection, click here.