PDA

View Full Version : Favorite Tom & Jerry Cartoon?



Matt Yorston
01-04-2002, 10:30 PM
Forgive me if this topic has come up before (I'm sure it has but anyway...) but, with the recent Tom & Jerry "craze", (DarthGonzo's reviews, plus my exposure to them again thanks to Morpheus), I wonder if anybody here has a favorite Tom & Jerry they'd like to share?

IMHO, the ones from the early 1940's are some of the best. My absolute favorite from this era is "Mouse Trouble" with its rapid fire succession of gags (Tom getting beartrapped on his rear, beaten up by Jerry, getting the top of his scalp blasted off by a rifle causing him to sub with a toupee, etc.), wonderful Bradley music, and excessive ending in which Tom is literally blasted to another world! Who couldn't love a cartoon like this (and it won the 1944 Oscar too)?

Another one of my favorites is "Baby Puss". Ya really empathize with poor Tom in this one. He didn't really do anything to Jerry in this one, Jerry just wanted to take advantage of a wonderful situation. The scene in which alley cats Butch, Meathead, and Shorty torture the hapless Tom to the tune of "Mama Yo Quiero" is absolutely priceless!

"A Mouse in the House" is another favorite. A perfect situation: two cats in the house but only the one who catches a mouse can stay. Tom and Butch go all out to make sure THEY are the ones who capture Jerry but, in the end, all three have to go!

"Mouse Cleaning" is, you guessed it, another fave of mine. I think EVERY Tom & Jerry fan likes this one. Wonderful gags as Tom desperately tries to keep the household spotless before Mammy Two-Shoes returns from shopping. In particular, check out Tom's wild "Eye-popping, jaw-dropping" take after discovering he has "scrubbed" a tomato stain on the wall with ink!

Finally, my other favorite Tom & Jerry cartoon is "The Missing Mouse", although this one doesn't seem to be a favorite of many other people, especially due to the lack of Scott Bradley's scoring. Nonetheless, Ed Plumb does a more than adequate job (if it had to be anyone other than Bradley, I'm glad it was him) and there is GREAT comedy/drama here as Tom fearfully believes Jerry to be the "explosive mouse" and goes all out to make sure the mouse doesn't "injure" himself and set off the explosives. In the end, the real white mouse shows up but, luckily, "the mouse is no longer dangerous".... After an explosion, "Don't you belive it!"

Well, those are my "Top Five". Anybody else hear wanna share their thoughts?

Matthew Hunter
01-04-2002, 10:34 PM
Mine is "Old Rockin' Chair Tom", and I haven't seen it in a long time. Tom is getting lazy on the job, so Mammy Two Shoes hires 'Lighnin'", a professional mouser, to get rid of Jerry. The two cats and the mouse just keep the rapid-fire violence going between them. The funniest is the iron and magnet gag.

-Matthew

Tintin
01-04-2002, 10:38 PM
It's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse my favorite Tom & Jerry cartoon. I got the time-compressed version but it's funny overcoat the end where Tom was very small! :D

chuckamuck43
01-04-2002, 11:23 PM
The ones all of you are mentioning are definately among the best. I would add these:
Mouse in Manhattan (1945)
Not for the gags (which are GOOD) but for its charm. Jerry was never more winning!

Solid Serenade (1946)
My earliest memories of Tom & Jerry are of Tom singing this song. And the gags and pacing are top-notch!

Heavenly Puss (1949)
I love the premise. And Fluff, Muff & Puff always bring a tear to my eye. The animation of Tom in this one is especially good (Gonzo, who animated the contract signing segment?) - you can really feel his anxiety.

Pecos Pest (1955)
Uncle Pecos is funny - and Tom's reactions are funnier!

Thad Komorowski
01-04-2002, 11:39 PM
I'll edit the post later, but here are four of my all-time favorite T&Js:


"Mouse Trouble" - A very violent, but funny, T&J cartoon, with my favorite gag out of the series, Tom eating the female mouse wind-up toy, and every time he hiccups, the voice of the toy says "Come out and see me some time!" :D


"Mouse Cleaning" - The reactions of Tom when Jerry makes more of a mess for him to clean up is hilarious! And the ending makes a great finale too.


"The Lonesome Mouse" - A classic cartoon rarely shown today, due to its abuse of Mammy a LOT. But the timing of it is just darn funny! Especially the scene where Tom repeatedly swipes at Jerry with the meat cleaver almost forgetting that they were faking. "Hey! Were still KIDDING, ain't we?" "Uh--sure!"


"The Cat Concerto" - This cartoon has to have Scott Bradley's greatest music score, and the timing with Tom playing the keys to the music is excellent. The ending is a pay off as well.



-Thad

Eraserhead
01-04-2002, 11:52 PM
In six words....

"The White Mouse will not explode"

Howard
01-05-2002, 12:52 AM
Tom and Jerry have to be my all-time favorite cartoons (all of them from 1940 until 1980, anyways. I didn't care for Tom and Jerry Kids or Tom and Jerry the Movie). My favorites are too many to mention, but here are a few:
"Puss Gets The Boot", "Yankee Doodle Mouse", "Part Time Pal", "Dicky Moe", "Buddies Thicker Than Water", "Carmen Get It", "Penthouse Mouse", "The Cat Above and the Mouse Below", "New Mouse in The House", "Cat in the Fiddle", and my all-time favorite is "Cat Concerto". I love that scene where Jerry is stuck in the piano keys!

PorkyandDaffy
01-05-2002, 04:27 AM
TRAP HAPPY. Hilarious and violent

Brandon Pierce
01-05-2002, 11:41 AM
PECOS PEST!!!! I love this one!!!!!!

"You know very well I can't leave without a guitar string! Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!"

Larry T
01-05-2002, 12:10 PM
Without a doubt, The Truce Hurts . I could watch this cartoon a million times back-to-back and still ask to see it once more.

Second runner-up: Push-Button Kitty.

Third: Mouse In The House.

Fourth: Kitty Foiled.

Fifth: Saturday Evening Puss (original version). Kind of dated music-wise, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Billy
01-05-2002, 12:53 PM
It's just GOTTA be Saturday Evening Puss,especially as we get the original 1950 version in the UK. Mammy is at her best, the characters are spot on and as for the music...CLASS! Shame I haven't seen it since October :(

DarthGonzo
01-05-2002, 01:56 PM
Originally posted by chuckamuck43
The ones all of you are mentioning are definately among the best. I would add these:
Mouse in Manhattan (1945)
Not for the gags (which are GOOD) but for its charm. Jerry was never more winning!

Solid Serenade (1946)
My earliest memories of Tom & Jerry are of Tom singing this song. And the gags and pacing are top-notch!

Heavenly Puss (1949)
I love the premise. And Fluff, Muff & Puff always bring a tear to my eye. The animation of Tom in this one is especially good (Gonzo, who animated the contract signing segment?) - you can really feel his anxiety.

Pecos Pest (1955)
Uncle Pecos is funny - and Tom's reactions are funnier!

Kenneth Muse animated that entire scene from Heavenly Puss. Terrific work, isnt it?

chuckamuck43
01-05-2002, 04:13 PM
Originally posted by DarthGonzo


Kenneth Muse animated that entire scene from Heavenly Puss. Terrific work, isnt it?

Absolutely! BTW that's what makes pretty much ALL the MGM Tom & Jerries great - great animation and the story gets told with the fewest possible words!

Ironic that HB ended up doing cartoons that were 90% dialog, eh?

hiphats
01-05-2002, 05:00 PM
I know you have all heard this before in some form, but here goes again...

This is my Top 5 T & J shorts.

5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse

4. The Cat Concerto

3. Cue Ball Cat

2. Puss Gets The Boot (the first and seminal T & J short)

1 (and without question the greatest MGM animated short ever made)...Carmen Get It! (despite limited animation from the Deitch/Snyder era, this is T & J's finest hour. And don't forget the dancing ants!)