You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Tom & Jerry’ category.
Directors: William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
Release Date: March 15, 1947
Stars: Tom & Jerry, Mammy Two-Shoes
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Mammy threatens Tom he goes out if he doesn’t catch ‘that mouse’.
In the chase Tom accidentally gets drunk, which changes him into Jerry’s best pal and rebellious against Mammy. This can’t go well, and in the end we see Mammy chasing a hiccuping Tom in a moonlit landscape.
The animation of the drunken Tom is very well done and a delight to watch. However, somehow, ‘Part Time Pal’ also seems to be the most inspirational cartoon to the Czech studio Gene Deitch led for his Tom and Jerry cartoons (1961-1962), because Tom’s design in this cartoon is remarkably similar to those later, way more poorly animated cartoons.
Watch ‘Part Time Pal’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mfpnw
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 28
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Cat Fishin’
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Cat Concerto
Directors: William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
Release Date: February 22, 1947
Stars: Tom & Jerry, Spike
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
Tom goes fishing in a no-fishing area, guarded by Spike. He uses Jerry as a live bait to catch an enormous pike.
The humor of this perfectly timed cartoon follows logically from the clever interplay between these four characters, it’s highlight being the sequence where Tom tries to land a big fish, which turns out to be Spike. The result is one of the most perfect Tom & Jerry cartoons ever.
Watch ‘Cat Fishin’’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 27
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Solid Serenade
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Part Time Pal
Director: Abe Levitow
Release Date: August 4, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
‘The A-Tom-inable Snowman’ is as abominable as the snowman’s supposed to be: it’s painfully bad and unfunny.
The cartoon has nothing to do with yetis, however. It is set in the alps and involves a helpful St. Bernard. The only surprise is that the titles roll in after 1’22.
Watch ‘The A-Tom-inable Snowman’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 151
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Matinee Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Catty Cornered
Director: Tom Ray
Release Date: July 14, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
In ‘Matinee Mouse’ Tom and Jerry make peace and go watch their own cartoons together in a cinema. Of course, the truce doesn’t last long.
‘Matinee Mouse’ is a compilation cartoon, and a very cheap and terrible one, too. It uses footage of the classic Hanna/Barbera entries, but these are set to new sound effects and new music by Don Elliott. The gruesome result is easily one of the worst Tom and Jerry cartoons ever. Its director, Tom Ray (1919-2010), directed only one other Tom & Jerry cartoon, ‘Shutter Bugged Cat‘ (1967). That one is also a compilation cartoon, and arguably just as terrible.
Watch ‘Matinee Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 150
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Fillet Meow
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: A-Tom-inable Snowman
Director: Abe Levitow
Release Date: May 5, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★½
Review:
In ‘Puss ‘n’ Boats’ Tom is a coastal guard trying to stop Jerry from entering a ship full of cheese. Surprisingly, this is a continuing story containing no black-out gags.
Unfortunately, the designs and animation are both weak, as is the music by first-timer Carl Brandt. The cartoon does contain some clever ideas, but they never get funny.
Watch ‘Puss ‘n’ Boats’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://tune.pk/video/23936/Tom-And-Jerry-Puss-N-Boats-Episode-147
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 148
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Love, Love My Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Fillet Meow
Director: Abe Levitow
Release Date: June 30, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★
Review:
In ‘Fillet Meow’ Tom is after a goldfish, who looks a little like Chloe from ‘Pinocchio‘ (1940). Of course Jerry tries to protect the cute little fish.
‘Fillet Meow’ was the third Tom & Jerry cartoon directed by Abe Levitow and by now quality standards had dropped almost to the level of the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerry shorts. The result is rather awful, and nowhere near the quality of the similar ‘Jerry and the Goldfish‘ (1951).
Watch ‘Fillet Meow’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://onlineplayer.eu/Tom-and-Jerry/filet-meow-148.html
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 149
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Love, Love My Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Matinee Mouse
Director: Chuck Jones & Ben Washam
Release Date: April 28, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Tom gives Jerry to his beloved, but she takes pity on the poor little mouse and protects him against Tom.
Jerry takes advantage of the situation, however, never stopping at putting the blame on Tom. Then, in the end, the puss’s love changes into hunger…
This is a very Chuck Jonesy cartoon, with loads of his wonderful trademark elegant designs and strong facial expressions. These solely make this cartoon one of the better entries in the series.
Watch ‘Love, Love My Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjNhJU35RFU
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 147
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Jerry-Go-Round
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Puss ‘n’ Boats
Director: Abe Levitow
Release Date: March 3, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
‘Jerry-Go-Round’ is staged at a circus: Jerry helps a circus elephant, who in turn protects Jerry from Tom.
This rather dull and unfunny cartoon marks the debut of animator Abe Levitow as a Tom & Jerry director. It is not a success. Levitow was an experienced director: in 1959 he had directed several Warner Brothers cartoons, and at UPA he had directed Mr. Magoo television specials, and the studio’s second feature, Gay-Purree (1962). Yet, this experience is hard to detect in ‘Jerry Go-Round’: both the designs, the timing and the animation are inferior to those in the cartoons directed by Chuck Jones himself.
Watch ‘Jerry-Go-Round’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FU8dTjIQ80
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 146
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Jerry, Jerry Quite Contrary
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Love, Love My Mouse
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: February 17, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In ‘Jerry Jerry Quite Contrary’ Jerry is a somnambulist who teases Tom in his sleep, much to his own dismay.
This is a good story idea, and it leads to a wonderful scene of Jerry trying to stay awake, but also to a weak ending of Tom migrating to a distant desert and Jerry sleepwalking after him.
Two other things are noteworthy about ‘Jerry Jerry Quite Contrary’: it reuses the wire gag from Chuck Jones own classic cartoon ‘Mouse Wreckers‘ (1949), and Don Elliott’s music is even better here than in ‘Duel Personality‘.
Watch ‘Jerry Jerry Quite Contrary’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 145
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Duel Personality
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Jerry-Go-Round
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: January 20, 1966
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
After another chase, Jerry challenges Tom for a duel.
What follows are rather Road Runner-like blackout gags in which the two try various weaponry. In the end it’s Tom who gets weary of their misguided attempts and goes back to the original chase.
‘Duel Personality’ is an original and entertaining film, in which the titles only arrive after 1 minute and 24 seconds. It’s also the first Tom and Jerry featuring music by composer Dean Elliott. Elliott replaced Eugene Poddany and his music is jazzier than Poddany’s, and his use of recurring themes make his music more like that of classic Tom & Jerry composer Scott Bradley. All in all a great improvement for the series.
Watch ‘Duel Personality’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 144
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Cat’s Me-ouch
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Jerry Jerry Quite Contrary
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: December 22, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Jerry orders a bulldog to help him against Tom. The bulldog turns out to be very tiny, but he’s ferocious nonetheless.
Unfortunately this nice idea leads to a slow and weak story, despite a clever gag with Tom and the little bulldog swapping doors.
The little bulldog, however, was a character to remember, and he would return in Tom & Jerry’ very last theatrical release, ‘Purr-chance to a Dream‘ (1967).
Watch an excerpt from ‘The Cat’s Me-ouch’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4U9CQhDsJY
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 143
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Year of the Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Duel Personality
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: June 9, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
Director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese reuse their story idea from their classic Warner Brothers cartoon ‘Mouse Wreckers‘ (1949), with Jerry and an anonymous mouse replacing Hubie and Bertie, and Tom replacing Claude Cat.
Like in the former cartoon, the two mice try to convince the unhappy cat he’s insane. The gags are different, though, as is the ending, for unlike Claude Cat, Tom gets his torturers and punishes them in the end.
Although ‘Mouse Wreckers‘ is much to be preferred above ‘The Year of the Mouse’, the inspired story works once again, and results in one of the better Tom & Jerry cartoons by Chuck Jones’s unit.
Watch ‘The Year of the Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 142
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Tom Thump
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Cat’s Me-ouch
http://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/437/tom-jerry-the-year-of-the-mouse.html
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: May 19, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Of Feline Bondage’ Jerry, whose life is made miserable by the sadistic Tom, is visited by a mouse fairy who gives him a potion that makes him invisible.
Jerry uses his invisibility to hunt Tom around the house with some scissors, cutting up Tom. However, he gets the same treatment from Tom when he gets visible again. The results are so ridiculous, the two laugh their heads off. Fade out…
‘Of Feline Bondage’ is a rather weak cartoon, despite some nice typical Chuck Jones expressions on both Tom and Jerry.
Watch ‘Of Feline Bondage’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x49xmhr
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 140
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: I’m Just Wild About Jerry
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Tom Thump
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: April 7, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
‘I’m Just Wild About Jerry’ is a chase cartoon taking place in a department store. It’s Jones’ fifth Tom & Jerry chase cartoon, ending a mini-series of chase cartoons within Chuck Jones’s Tom & Jerry series.
Although not hilarious, ‘I’m Just Wild About Jerry’ is particularly inspired, and arguably the best of the five. It contains a great gag in which Tom deftly catches a falling pot, but not the bowling ball that follows after. It also contains a running gag involving a streetcar.
Watch ‘I’m Just Wild About Jerry’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.izlesem.org/tom-and-jerry-i-m-just-wild-about-jerry-19651.html
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 139
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Haunted Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Of Feline Bondage
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: March 24, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Not to be confused with the 1941 Tex Avery cartoon ‘The Haunted Mouse’, this cartoon interrupts the string of chase cartoons by featuring a real story: Jerry is visited by his cousin(?), a Mandrake-like magician, who easily defeats Tom.
Less funny than the remotely similar ‘Jerry’s Cousin‘ (1951), this rather slow cartoon nevertheless features a hilarious scene in which the magician mouse remains an über-cool, deadpan expression while being caught by a sardonically laughing Tom. It also features some rather Dr. Seuss-like rabbits.
Watch ‘Haunted Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.220.ro/desene-animate/Tom-And-Jerry-Haunted-Mouse/f6HoGrlyGO/
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 138
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: I’m Just Wild About Jerry
Director: Jim Pabian
Release Date: March 3, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
‘The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off’, its literary title notwithstanding, is Chuck Jones’ fourth Tom & Jerry chase cartoon using blackout gags, this time indoors.
This was the first of the Chuck Jones Tom & Jerries not directed by Chuck Jones himself, and it shows. The designs and the animation are worse than in other entries. Especially Jerry is badly designed here. The music is also particularly uninspired. All this results in one of the weakest entries in the series.
About its director, Jim Pabian, little is known. He co-wrote this cartoon and the next, ‘Haunted Mouse’,with Chuck Jones. ‘The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off’ is the only cartoon he ever directed.
Watch ‘The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v20008062MnN6BagS
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 137
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Bad Day at Cat Rock
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Haunted Mouse
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: February 10, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Bad Day at Cat Rock’ is a third chase cartoon with blackout gags, this time on a building site.
Although it is one of the weaker chase cartoons, this cartoon features particularly nice opening credits and a very funny Road Runner-like series of gags in which Tom tries to launch himself numerous times using a boulder. Unfortunately, it ends abruptly, when Jerry draws an end to the cartoon.
Watch ‘Bad Day at Cat Rock’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qovbm
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 136
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Tom-ic Energy
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: January 27, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:‘
‘Tom-ic Energy’ is Chuck Jones’s second Tom & Jerry chase cartoon with blackout gags, this time situated in the city streets.
The short contains elements from two of Chuck Jones’ earlier series: Road Runner and Pepe Le Pew. It’s fast, it’s well-animated, its music (by Eugene Poddany) is not bad, and yet, it never becomes really funny. It’s difficult to tell why not.
Watch ‘Tom-ic Energy’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ofgp7?GK_FACEBOOK_OG_HTML5=1
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 135
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Bad Day at Cat Rock
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: January 20, 1965
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life’ is the first of a short series of five classic chase cartoons with blackout gags, resembling Chuck Jones’ own Road Runner series.
The gags are good, but somehow surprisingly unfunny at the same time. Most remarkably, this cartoon revives an ancient cartoon power, frequently used by Felix the cat in the twenties: the ability to use one’s question marks and thoughts.
Watch ‘Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3yzc0k
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 134
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Tom-ic Energy
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: December 8, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★
Review:
In ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ Tom is master of the house and Jerry is his slave. But then enters a cute young kitten. Tom gets jealous at the intruder and tries to get rid of it. But Jerry befriends the kitten and in the end the tables are turned.
One of the weaker entries in Chuck Jones’ Tom & Jerry series, ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ is a surprisingly unfunny cartoon, suffering from bad timing and ugly music.
Watch ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ngu09
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 133
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Snowbody Loves Me
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 