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Director: Chuck Jones
Release date: January 20, 1967
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★
Review:
The harbor was a popular setting in Chuck Jones’s Tom & Jerry series. Like the earlier ‘Much Ado About Mousing‘ (1964) and the later ‘Cannery Rodent‘ (1967), ‘Cat and Duplicat’ is set in a harbor.
Here Tom fights a rather dog-like cat over Jerry. The timing of this cartoon is remarkably slow and terrible, especially in an all too elaborate mirror routine. Eugene Poddany’s awfully sounding music wears down the action, like always.
Watch ‘Cat and Dupli-cat’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 154
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Catty Cornered
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: O-Solar-Meow
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: June 2, 1951
Stars: Tweety & Sylvester, Granny
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Granny sneaks Tweety into a hotel where no pets are allowed.
Another old lady sneaks Sylvester in, who inhabits the room next to Tweety. Like in ‘All a bir-r-r-d‘ Sylvester encounters a vicious bulldog, too. The cartoon contains a classic corridor-with-doors-gag, but the cartoon’s greatest joy is its great twist on the chase routine, provided by a pet inspector who at times interrupts the chase of the three animals.
‘Room and bird’ is the first of four 1951 Warner Brothers cartoons featuring music by Eugene Poddany instead of Carl Stalling.
Watch ‘Room and Bird’ yourself and tell me what you think:
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: April 14, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In the opening scene of ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ we see Tom fishing for Jerry in a harbor, using cheese. But Jerry seeks help from a yellow bulldog. The bulldog gives Jerry a whistle with which he can call for the Bulldog’s help.
Sounds familiar? Indeed, this idea is borrowed from the early Tom & Jerry short ‘The Bodyguard’ (1944). ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ is not bad, but it pales when compared to the former cartoon. Its story and its gags are fine, but the music, by Eugene Poddany, wears the action down, despite his effective use of Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous fate theme from his fifth symphony.
Watch ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 131
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Is There A Doctor in the Mouse?
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Snowbody Loves Me
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 