Puppy Tale (1954)

 

This short film was the first Tom and Jerry cartoon of 1954 and the 80th Tom and Jerry short overall. 

In this short film, Jerry overhears a loud noise outside and rushes out to see what it is. He then discovers a sack in the river with something alive in it. He pulls the sack out and discovers a group of puppies inside. One of the puppies takes a liking to Jerry and follows him home. Unfortunately for Tom, when the puppy gets to Jerry and his home, it tries to drink Tom's milk and take up Tom's bed. 

Though Tom and Jerry cartoons are best known for their slapstick violence, there are a surprising amount of Tom and Jerry shorts with a real sentimental streak. Though there were some of these more sentimental films in the 40's, it was in the 50's when these shorts were at their most prevalent. Puppy Tale remains one of the strongest of these sentimental cartoons. The storyline is basic but incredibly charming. It manages to be sweet and cute without ever feeling cloying. Unlike in some of the weaker cute cartoons, the sweetness just seems to flow naturally from the story. Tom and Jerry are both at their most likable here and the puppies are very cute. That this is a short completely without dialogue just adds to the charm. The ending is especially charming and heartwarming. Yet even with this, there is some good slapstick worked in here. I love the bits with Tom trying to get his milk away from the puppy. This may be a familiar gag but William Hanna's timing on it is perfect. The short also benefits from some wonderful background art on the outdoor scenes. These give the film a very effectively atmospheric feel. 

The credited animators on this short are Ed Barge, Irven Spence and Kenneth Muse. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. The film is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 3. 

Life With Tom (1953)

 

This short film marks the third Tom and Jerry cheater cartoon (a short that uses clips from previous cartoons). Clips are used from Cat Fishin' (1947), Kitty Foiled (1948) and The Little Orphan (1948). There would be only one more cheater cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after this, Smarty Cat (1955). After that there wouldn't be another cheater until the Chuck Jones produced, Matinee Mouse (1966).

In this short film, Jerry writes a book called Life With Tom, which tells the stories of all the times he has gotten the better of Tom. When Tom reads this book he gets very angry. This anger only increases when he hears various of his friends and foes laughing themselves silly while reading it. 

This is by far the best cheater Tom and Jerry cartoon. While it does have some of the flaws that are evident in all cheater cartoons, it is still a lot of fun. The clips used here are fantastic. Unlike Smitten Kitten (1952), this film uses the best clips for those cartoons. Frankly they are just as funny here as they were in the context of their original film. The new scenes are also excellent. The wraparound story is really clever and charming. The ending is particular is a wonderful little twist. The character animation on Tom as he gets more and more angry is also wonderful. The wraparound story may be similar to the first Tom and Jerry cheater, Jerry's Diary (1949). However, I feel that this is an even stronger short. This is due to clips that stand on their own quite well and the use of supporting characters. For a cheater, this cartoon is more fun than it should be. 

The credited animators on this short include Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge. It marks the 79th Tom and Jerry short overall. There is a blackface gag in the clip from The Little Orphan. This gag has been cut for TV airings, so you won't see it on Boomerang, Me-TV or ME-TV Toons. An unedited version of this short can be seen on the DVD set, 

By the way Jerry needs a better editor as a typo was left in his published book, a misspelling of "wasn't."

Two Little Indians (1953)

Despite William Hanna and Joseph Barbera directing both the 1940's and the 1950's Tom and Jerry shorts, there were some distinct differences between the shorts of the two decades. The 1950's saw a heavier use of supporting characters, more dialogue and more use of sentiment. Though Two Little Indians does feature supporting characters it is a bit of a throwback to the 40's films with its lack of dialogue and sentimentality. 

In this short film Jerry agrees to take care of two orphaned mice (both of whom look exactly like Nibbles), who want to constant play Indian. However, they get themselves and Jerry in trouble when they attempt to scalp and shoot arrows at Tom. 

This is a wonderful old-fashioned Tom and Jerry short. This whole film is nothing but slapstick cartoon humor. Much of this humor is simply hilarious, the slapstick is. This whole cartoon is full of great gags, some of which made me laugh out loud. Another reason this film is a throwback to the 40's Tom and Jerrys is the very fast pace that offers gag after gag with little break. William Hanna's timing here is perfect and it is hard not to get caught up in the pure comic energy. Even if there are gags that don't make you laugh, they still add to the fun because they add to this comic energy. 

The credited animators on this film were Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist. In some TV airings, the ending gag with the peace pipe has been cut. This cartoon is available on the DVD set Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1 and the DVD Tom and Jerry: Merry Mice. Unlike other cartoons that feature racial stereotypes this cartoon still plays regularly on Boomerang, ME-TV and ME-TV Toons. 

 

Motion Picture Herald, 1953

Just Ducky (1953)

 

This short film was in fact submitted for an Academy Award but ended up not being nominated. The films that were nominated were Christopher Crumpet (1953, UPA), From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (1954, Warner Brothers), Rugged Bear (1953, Disney (starring Donald Duck)), The Tell Tale Heart (1953, UPA) and Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953, Disney). The Oscar went to Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom. This marked only the second year since the first Tom and Jerry short, when a Tom and Jerry cartoon was not nominated for an Oscar (there was no Tom and Jerry nominated in 1942 either).

In this short film, Quacker the duck is unable to swim. Because of this Jerry offers to help teach him to swim. Tom spies the duck as well and thinks that he would make a good snack. So, Jerry must both teach the duck to swim and protect him from Tom. 

 This is one of those Tom and Jerry shorts that mixes sentiment with violent slapstick. As such it does a surprisingly good job. The two work very well together and neither seems to overtake the other. Why this works might be that the sentimentality comes from Quacker's friendship with Jerry, while the slapstick comes from the scenes with Tom. Both the sentimentality and the humor also work very well on their own. The story is simple and very charming. It has a real sweetness to it that feels natural instead of forced. There are also some truly great slapstick gags here. Quacker using the safety pin on Tom and Tom getting hit by the brick are both examples of pure cartoon slapstick at its best. 

This film marks the last time there was a white line between Tom's eyes in any of the theatrical shorts. This white line would not reappear until 1990 with TV's Tom and Jerry Kids. 

The credited animators on this cartoon were Irven Spence, Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse and Al Grandmain. The credited background artist was Robert Gentle. 

Again, the movie poster reused the artwork from previous movie posters. Only the title was changed. 

 

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin. 

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1953/

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Just_Ducky

That's My Pup (1953)

 

This short film marks the third appearance of Tyke, the small son of Spike the Bulldog. It is also the first appearance of this character since Slicked Up Pup (1951). After this short the character would appear more frequently in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. It would be less than a year before he appeared in another cartoon. In 1957 Spike and Tyke would receive a short-lived cartoon series of their own, though that would only last two cartoons. 

In this short film Spike wants to teach Tyke the basics of being a dog. This includes how to chase cats. To make sure his son does well Spike threatens Tom if he doesn't let Tyke chase him. Jerry overhears this and feels he can use this to get back at his foe.

This is a delightful short and one of the best cartoons to feature Tyke. This film reminds me of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1940's with the sheer wealth of great gags. One of my favorite gags is when Jerry is barking at Tom pretending to be Tyke. The character animation of Jerry gleefully doing this while being down on all fours like Tyke is hilarious. The punchline at the end of the gag is also laugh out loud funny. The way Tom uses a fake cat tail to trick Tyke is also very funny. This film also has one of the best Tex Avery inspired giant takes in a Tom and Jerry cartoon (pictured above). Seeing Tom coming out of his fur, while having underwear underneath it, is very funny. Once again, the pacing here is simply wonderful. William Hanna was a master at comic timing, and he is fully at the top of his game here. The whole cartoon moves at a wonderfully quick pace. This not only allows every gag to land perfectly but gives the whole short a delightfully fun comic energy. 

The credited animators on this film are Ed Barge, Ray Patterson, Kenneth Muse and Irven Spence. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. 

Below is the movie poster for this film. Once again it reuses the same artwork as the past few shorts. 

Johann Mouse (1953)

 

Note: Spoilers ahead.

This short film marked the seventh and last Tom and Jerry cartoon to win the Academy Award to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film (and the 75th Tom and Jerry short overall). It's competition this year was Little Johnny Jet (1953, MGM), Madeline (1952, UPA), Pink and Blue Blues (1952, UPA, starring Mr. Magoo) and The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952, National Film Board of Canada). Though not the first (this was also true of 1950), this is one of the earliest years in which a Disney film was not nominated. This shows how at this time critical and public tastes where switching from the lush animation of Disney to the more stylized modern art approach from the UPA studio. This change in taste also helps us understand why no more Tom and Jerry shorts would win after this. 

In this short film, Tom and Jerry live in the home of the infamous composer Johann Strauss. Jerry finds himself unable to stop himself from dancing whenever Strauss plays. Every time this happens Tom takes this chance to try and catch Jerry. However, when Strauss leaves on a trip, Tom wonders how he will get Jerry to come out of his hole. Tom then learns to play piano. Just when he is just about to catch Jerry the two are discovered by the servants, who are amazed to see a cat play the piano and a mouse dance. Before long the two are performing before the emperor himself. 

This is a very charming cartoon. The film has a wonderful storybook feel to it. This comes from both the narration (provided by character actor Hans Conried (animation fans might know him for voiced both Captain Hook and George Darling in Disney's Peter Pan (1953))) and the wonderful art style. The use of actual storybook pages with storybook style illustrations of the characters are especially wonderful. This helps this film stand out as something that feels unique among the other entries in this series. That is something that is rare in a cartoon series that has been around over a decade, but it is very true here. This cartoon also benefits from some wonderful character animation, especially when Jerry is dancing, and a wonderful use of Strauss' classical pieces. The only real problem here is that there is not as many laughs here as you might expect. This film only really has one good gag (Tom's piano lesson). However, I will admit it is a great one. 

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson, Ed Barge and Irven Spence. The credited background artist is Robert Gentle. Hans Conried receives a voice credit making him the first voice artist to receive credit on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Though Scott Bradley receives the music credit. Jakob Gimpel is given a credit stating, "Piano Arrangements Created and Played by." Jakob Kimbell was a respected concert pianist and music professor. He would also work as a film composer on such movies as Gaslight (1944), Possessed (1947), Letter from an Unkown Woman (1948) and Planet of the Apes (1968). He also played piano on the Bugs Bunny cartoon, Rhapsody Rabbit (1946). A scene from Johann Mouse would later be reused in the cheater Tom and Jerry short, Shutter Bugged Cat (1967). 

Below is the movie poster for this film. It is the same one that was used for the last couple cartoons, only with the title changed. 

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Johann_Mouse

 

   

Jerry and Jumbo (1953)

 

This short film is another example of a cartoon where Jerry befriends another animal and most help protect him from Tom. In this case it is Jumbo the Elephant. This marks Jumbo's only appearance in a Tom and Jerry cartoon (either theatrical or for TV). However, the character would appear in the mobile game, Tom and Jerry Chase. Jerry would however later befriend another elephant in the Chuck Jones short, Jerry Go Round (1966). 

As this short film starts a circus train is passing by, and a baby elephant falls out. Jerry quickly makes friends with this elephant. Yet when Jumbo takes Tom's food (though he doesn't see the elephant), the cat becomes very angry.

This is an incredibly clever cartoon. While it starts off as simply another film where Jerry makes a new friend, it soon takes a very clever turn. The mind games that Jerry and his new friend play on Tom are not only very clever but they are laugh out loud hilarious. Not only are the gags very clever but they are perfectly delivered. Once again, William Hanna's timing is not nearly perfect, it is perfect. The wild takes that Tom does are truly hilarious. They are incredibly over the top but at the same time compliment both the story and the gags rather than detract from them. The ending gag of this film is especially wonderful and cracks me up every time. I also love how this cartoon is completely without dialogue, yet the great character animation makes all the characters seem completely real. 

The credited animators on this film are Kenneth Muse, Irven Spence and Ed Barge. Robert Gentle is the credited background artist, receiving his third screen credit on a Tom and Jerry cartoon. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would later reuse the gag of an elephant sucking up peanuts with his trunk and making them seem to march towards him in the Ruff and Reddy TV series during a storyline entitled Pinky, the Pint-Sized Pachyderm (1958). This short was released to movie theaters in 1958 and 1959. It is available on the DVD set, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 2. 

The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "JERRY AND JUMBO: Tom & Jerry Technicolor Cartoon — This is one of the best of this popular series. Will keep any audience in stiches. - Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Col." 

The following movie poster is again a repeat of the poster we have seen the last two times, only with the title changed. 

 

Resources Used

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Jerry_and_Jumbo

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-the-center-ring-part-17/

https://lantern.mediahist.org/