DarthGonzo
11-23-2001, 11:12 PM
Boy I love doing these. I wonder how long it will take me to cover every Tom and Jerry cartoon. Then I can group em' all together on a definitive Tom and Jerry web site or something. So anyway, here goes with another...
Cue Ball Cat
released November 25th, 1950
directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Ed Barge and Kenneth Muse
musical direction by Scott Bradley
Summary
Apparently playing sports all by himself doesn't bother Tom very much, as he is making up his own rules (i.e. cheating) at a local pool hall after hours. Jerry happens to be sleeping in a corner pocket, and when Tom disturbs his slumber the mouse goes up to investigate. Tom relentlessly abuses Jerry for a while, sending a stream of balls after him, chalking up head and using him as the tip of a cue stick and forcing him to balance on an 8 ball, jumping through a flaming ball wracker. Finally, Jerry can take no more and slams Tom with his own cue stick. The two play baseball for a while with the billiard balls, with Tom taking several painful hits to the face. When he catches a fly ball he is pulled into a soda machine, which belches out a soda bottle-shaped cat. Jerry hides inside the pool table so Tom floods it with a fire house. When Jerry takes refuge on a scoring wire, Tom resorts to tossing cue sticks at the poor mouse. One slides underneath Jerry's rear end and gives him a nasty friction burn, so he responds by shooting a cue aimer down Tom's throat. Several more billiard balls end up down Tom's gullet when he sends them after Jerry like a multi-colored snake. Finally, the mouse escapes into a corner pocket and Tom forces a cue stick down into it, little realizing it is emerging from the side pocket right behind him. Jerry ties a large hat pin to the stick, baits it and allows Tom and give the stick one final thrust, impaling his own rear end. Getting stuck in the corner pocket after leaping up into the air, Tom has no choice but to swallow a pool ball after Jerry makes a perfect seperation, sinking every ball.
Summary
Cue Ball Cat is probably one of the more well known of all the Tom and Jerry sports cartoons, and that is probably because of how violent it is. While most other Tom and Jerry cartoons involving sports have some sort of plot, Cue Ball Cat exists solely for the sake of the characters brutalizing each other with billiard equipment. Some have said that this cartoon is an example of brutality at it's worst in the series and that comment does seem to make sense. There is no plot or characterization, so the violence exists just for the sake of being violent. To be honest, it's a funny sort of violence, but quite gratuitous. It seems jarring how often in the late 40s and early 50s Tom and Jerry flipped flopped in extremes. Where cartoons like The Cat and the Mermouse and Heavenly Puss were full of whimsy and were rather good natured, cartoons such as Cue Ball Cat and Tennis Chumps explored the more violent nature of the Tom and Jerry series. The final gag in this cartoon is borrowed from Tee For Two, a cartoon which is superior to this one. But that does not mean all the violent gags are bad ones. Like it was noted before, most are quite funny. But without the personality behind them, it seems to lose something and the characters become stereotypes.
Patterson, Barge and Spence all get alot of time to strut their stuff here. Since the cartoon mostly takes place on and around the same pool table the strength of Cue Ball Cat's visuals lies solely on the character animation, and it is as strong as ever. Sadly, Ken Muse animates less than a half minute of this seven minute cartoon. This is one of a string of several early 50s Tom and Jerry cartoons which underutilize Muse's talents, which is a shame since he's so good.
Bradley's score is decent here, but not one of his best. He introduces several new themes that are unique to this short, such as chase music used several times during the second half of the cartoon.
In all, Cue Ball Cat is a rather undistinguished cartoon, relying solely on violent material to carry it along. That's not to imply that the cartoon is not funny, but it lacks personality, which is something most of the Tom and Jerry shorts made around this time have in spades.
Cue Ball Cat
released November 25th, 1950
directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
animated by Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, Ed Barge and Kenneth Muse
musical direction by Scott Bradley
Summary
Apparently playing sports all by himself doesn't bother Tom very much, as he is making up his own rules (i.e. cheating) at a local pool hall after hours. Jerry happens to be sleeping in a corner pocket, and when Tom disturbs his slumber the mouse goes up to investigate. Tom relentlessly abuses Jerry for a while, sending a stream of balls after him, chalking up head and using him as the tip of a cue stick and forcing him to balance on an 8 ball, jumping through a flaming ball wracker. Finally, Jerry can take no more and slams Tom with his own cue stick. The two play baseball for a while with the billiard balls, with Tom taking several painful hits to the face. When he catches a fly ball he is pulled into a soda machine, which belches out a soda bottle-shaped cat. Jerry hides inside the pool table so Tom floods it with a fire house. When Jerry takes refuge on a scoring wire, Tom resorts to tossing cue sticks at the poor mouse. One slides underneath Jerry's rear end and gives him a nasty friction burn, so he responds by shooting a cue aimer down Tom's throat. Several more billiard balls end up down Tom's gullet when he sends them after Jerry like a multi-colored snake. Finally, the mouse escapes into a corner pocket and Tom forces a cue stick down into it, little realizing it is emerging from the side pocket right behind him. Jerry ties a large hat pin to the stick, baits it and allows Tom and give the stick one final thrust, impaling his own rear end. Getting stuck in the corner pocket after leaping up into the air, Tom has no choice but to swallow a pool ball after Jerry makes a perfect seperation, sinking every ball.
Summary
Cue Ball Cat is probably one of the more well known of all the Tom and Jerry sports cartoons, and that is probably because of how violent it is. While most other Tom and Jerry cartoons involving sports have some sort of plot, Cue Ball Cat exists solely for the sake of the characters brutalizing each other with billiard equipment. Some have said that this cartoon is an example of brutality at it's worst in the series and that comment does seem to make sense. There is no plot or characterization, so the violence exists just for the sake of being violent. To be honest, it's a funny sort of violence, but quite gratuitous. It seems jarring how often in the late 40s and early 50s Tom and Jerry flipped flopped in extremes. Where cartoons like The Cat and the Mermouse and Heavenly Puss were full of whimsy and were rather good natured, cartoons such as Cue Ball Cat and Tennis Chumps explored the more violent nature of the Tom and Jerry series. The final gag in this cartoon is borrowed from Tee For Two, a cartoon which is superior to this one. But that does not mean all the violent gags are bad ones. Like it was noted before, most are quite funny. But without the personality behind them, it seems to lose something and the characters become stereotypes.
Patterson, Barge and Spence all get alot of time to strut their stuff here. Since the cartoon mostly takes place on and around the same pool table the strength of Cue Ball Cat's visuals lies solely on the character animation, and it is as strong as ever. Sadly, Ken Muse animates less than a half minute of this seven minute cartoon. This is one of a string of several early 50s Tom and Jerry cartoons which underutilize Muse's talents, which is a shame since he's so good.
Bradley's score is decent here, but not one of his best. He introduces several new themes that are unique to this short, such as chase music used several times during the second half of the cartoon.
In all, Cue Ball Cat is a rather undistinguished cartoon, relying solely on violent material to carry it along. That's not to imply that the cartoon is not funny, but it lacks personality, which is something most of the Tom and Jerry shorts made around this time have in spades.