Duel Personality (1966)

 

Duel Personality marks the first Tom and Jerry film of 1966, and it is a strong start to this year.

 In this short film, Tom and Jerry decide to settle their feud once and for all with a duel. However, this duel does not go the way either of them planned.  

This film was a childhood favorite of mine. I think the reason for that is that I was used to most Tom and Jerry cartoons having one opponent (usually Jerry) getting the better of the other. In this film, everything either character does backfires on them and both characters end up getting the worst of it. This made it feel so different to me that it stayed in my mind in a way some other Tom and Jerry cartoons of this era didn't. Watching this cartoon as an adult I still love it. The gags (while not laugh out loud funny) are quite clever. The premise and execution are rather unique to the cat and mouse duo, while still remain true to the characters and the spirit of the previous cartoons. On top of this the musical score is a lot of fun, and the character animation is excellent. 

This cartoon was the first Tom and Jerry short to feature music by Dean Elliott, who would go on to score a few more of the Chuck Jones-era Tom and Jerry cartoons. He would also work with Chuck Jones on plenty of Chuck's TV specials as well as the feature films The Phantom Tollbooth (1970) and The Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Movie (1979). Before his Tom and Jerry work, Elliott had worked on some of UPA's Mr. Magoo cartoons. He would also do some work for the DePatie-Freleng studio, working on the Dogfather cartoons and the Dr. Suess adaptations The Cat in the Hat (1971) and The Lorax (1972). Elliott also did some live action work including on the infamously bad movie, Sex Kittens Go to College (1960).  

The credited animators on this film are Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam and Ken Harris. Maurice Noble gets a co-director's credit. Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones share a writing credit. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. This is the 143rd Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 2 and Tom and Jerry's Adventures as well as the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

The Cat's Me-Ouch (1965)

 

The Cat's Me-Ouch marks the last Tom and Jerry cartoon of 1965, which was a surprisingly strong year for the cat and mouse duo. 

In this cartoon Jerry decides to send out for a ferocious bulldog, when he sees an ad in a catalogue. However, it turns out the dog is about the same size as Jerry. Tom at first laughs at this tiny bulldog but it still ends up making the cat's life miserable.

This is a fun little cartoon. The premise of the tiny bulldog is a very clever one and a new one for Tom and Jerry. The bulldog is a fun little character and is greatly brought to life with some charming character animation. The character animation of both Tom and Jerry is excellent too, reminding us why we love these characters. As per-usual Eugene Poddany's music is great and fits the action perfectly.

However like in many of Chuck Jones' Tom and Jerry films, the gags are often more clever than actually funny. On paper there is nothing wrong with these gags and they do have a charm to them. However, they never elicit any actual laughter. 

The credited animators on this film include Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam and Ken Harris. Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones share a writing credit. Maurice Noble gets a co-director's credit. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. Eugene Poddany gets a music credit. June Foray and Mel Blanc get credit for vocal effects (there is no spoken dialogue). This marks the 142nd Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

In the scene where Jerry imagines a big bulldog chasing Tom, there is reused animation from Tom-ic Energy (1965). The tiny bulldog here greatly resembles that of the big bulldog in Tom-ic Energy and Much Ado About Mousing (1964). The tiny bulldog would later be used in Purr-Chance to Dream (1967). 

This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection and Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection as well as the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons and as a bonus feature on the Blu-Ray for the Elvis Presley movie Harum Scarum (1965). 

-Michael J. Ruhland

 

The Year of the Mouse (1965)

 

Note: This review contains spoilers. 

The Year of the Mouse was a remake of a short film that Chuck Jones had made for Warner Brothers, Mouse Wreckers (1949). In that cartoon mice Hubie and Bertie find a nice house to live in but unfortunately for them a cat, Claude Cat to be exact, is already living there. They decide to make Claude feel like he is losing his mind to get the house to themselves. 

In The Year of the Mouse, Jerry and another mouse, decide (for no other reason than that they find it funny) to make Tom think he is going insane through a series of rather gruesome practical jokes. 

The main difference between this film and Mouse Wreckers is the ending. In Mouse Wreckers, Hubie and Bertie drive Claude to a mental breakdown and have the house to themselves. In Year of the Mouse Tom catches Jerry and his friend and put the two mice in trap. The mice are trapped in a bottle and can't pull the cork out of the bottle or the gun will go off. As this is one of those shorts (like The Two Mouseketeers (1952)) where Jerry is the clear antagonist. This makes Tom's victory over Jerry very satisfying.

 

This is a very well-made film. The character animation is excellent, especially in Tom's reactions to Jerry's practical jokes. Tom has really felt more relatable and sympathetic than he does here and how real the animation and expressions make him feel plays a major role in this. The humor is quite dark and violent but so over the top that it comes off as quite funny (even if we feel very sorry for Tom). The main reason this cartoon works so well is that the ending is so incredibly satisfying.  

This marks the 141st Tom and Jerry cartoon. The film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection as well as the VHS sets, Tom and Jerry: Puss 'n' Toots and Tom and Jerry: Part Time Pals and the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

THe credited animators on this film are Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones share a writing credit. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. Eugene Poddany gets a music credit. Mel Blanc and June Foray are credit for the voices in this cartoon (though there are no actual spoken words; the characters make vocal sounds). 


The Tom and Jerry Wiki gives the name of Jerry's friend as Nipper. The character only appeared in this one cartoon and is not named in it. The name "Nipper" however seems to have come from the mobile game, Tom and Jerry Chase. 

There would later be an episode of the streaming series Tom and Jerry in New York entitled Year of the Mouse (2021). That episode (directed by Darrell Van Citters and written by Robert F. Hughes) Tom chases Jerry through Chinatown during the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile Jerry falls for a beautiful female mouse. 

-Michael J. Ruhland



 

Of Feline Bondage (1965)

 

After the last few Tom and Jerry shorts were simply spot gag cartoons with little story, this film gives the cat and mouse more of a story than just a cat chasing a mouse. 

As this short film starts, Tom is getting the better of Jerry for once. However, seeing Jerry's plight, his fairy godmother appears and gives him a potion to turn invisible. Jerry uses this to get revenge on Tom. 

This is a decent cartoon. Like many of the Chuck Jones directed Tom and Jerry shorts, the highlight is the character animation. The best scene is easily Jerry interacting with the fairy godmother. Jerry's pantomime of his encounter with Tom is delightful and the evil smile (which resembles that of the Grinch in Chuck Jones' 1966 TV special) on both characters is the only really funny moment in the film. Unfortunately, as great as this scene works, the rest of the cartoon has a been there done that quality to it. Jerry has turned invisible before in The Invisible Mouse (1947) and The Vanishing Duck (1958). Unfortunately, both those films simply have better gags that are more creative, clever and funny than what we have here. Also, despite being the same length of most Tom and Jerry cartoons, this film feels too short and not enough actually happens. When the ending comes there is a feeling of "shouldn't there be more?" 

The credited animators on this film are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray and Dick Thompson. The story is credited to Chuck Jones and Don Towsley. This is the only story credit for Don Towsley that I am aware of. Towsley was a former Disney animator having worked on many classic cartoon shorts as well as feature films like Pinocchio (1940) and Fantasia (1940). He would animate on many of the Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry shorts as well as How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). Towsley's television work included being on a director on such animated shows as Fraidy Cat, Wacky and Packy, The New Adventures of Gilligan, The New Adventures of Batman and The New Archie/Sabrina Hour. Eugene Poddany receives a music credit. Maurice Noble gets a co-director credit. The credited background artist is Robert Gribbroek. The credited voice artists are Mel Blanc and June Foray. This is the 140th Tom and Jerry theatrical short. 

The title of this cartoon is a reference to the 1915 novel Of Human Bondage, which had by this time already had three Hollywood feature film adaptions, one in 1934, one in 1946 and one in 1964. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 2 and Tom and Jerry's Magical Misadventures. It can also be seen on the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons and the VHS set Tom and Jerry: Cat and Dupli-cat. The film is included as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray for the Elvis Presley movie, Harum Scarum (1965). 


-Michael J. Ruhland

I'm Just Wild About Jerry (1965)

 

I'm Just Wild About Jerry is another spot gag cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. 

The storyline once again simply involves Tom chasing Jerry, this time in a department store. 

This film has its charms. A department store is a great setting for a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It allows for some great and very creative artwork. There are also some very charming moments such as the toy car having a face and walking slowly towards Jerry. However, despite this none of the gags hit as well here as they do in other Chuck Jones spot gag cartoons. I really didn't laugh once in this short and many of the gags seem to feel too long and drawn out to have any real punch. I also felt the last gag was too surreal and didn't really fit the characters of Tom and Jerry. 

The credited animators on this film are Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. Eugene Poddany gets a music credit. Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese share a writing credit. Maurice Noble is the co-director, and Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist. This is 139th Tom and Jerry cartoon overall. It is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Paws for a Holiday (also on VHS), Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection as well as the VHS sets Tom and Jerry: Tom and Chérie and Tom and Jerry: Part Time Pals and the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Haunted Mouse (1965)

 

After Jim Pabian took directing duties for The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off (1965), Chuck Jones returns to the director's chair for Haunted Mouse. 

In this short film, Jerry is visited by his relative or friend (the film doesn't specify his relationship with Jerry), a mouse magician who looks just like Jerry. When Tom mistakes this magical powered mouse for Jerry, he finds himself in much more trouble than he bargained for. 

This is another short of this era that is more charming than funny. The magician mouse is a fun character and some of the tricks he plays on Tom are quite amusing. The storyline may be familiar, but it is charming. The background art and character animation are both excellent. I also really love the musical score, especially the jazzy little theme at the start. 

What hurts this film is the mixture of a slower pace with the typical short runtime. Because of this combination not much actually happens in this cartoon. There is a real lack of gags here and there is too much space between the gags that are here. The gags that are here are fun but there are too few of them for a Tom and Jerry cartoon.   

The Tom and Jerry Wiki refers to the magician mouse as Jerry's cousin Merlin Mouse. Neither this name nor him being Jerry's cousin are ever referred to in the cartoon, making me wonder where this so-called information comes from. This magician mouse would not appear in another Tom and Jerry cartoon, but he would appear in the Chinese mobile game, Tom and Jerry Chase.  

There would later be an episode of TV's The Tom and Jerry Show also titled Haunted Mouse (2014). In that episode (directed by Darrell Van Critters and written by Robert Zappia), Tom and Jerry are Sam Spade-esque private detectives, who are hired by Nibbles (or Tuffy if you prefer) to rid his house of a ghost. It turns out the ghost is just a rat named Melfred, who planned to scare Nibbles out of the house, so he and his family could move in. However, it turns out that Tuffy is a real ghost. 

There is also a Looney Tunes cartoon titled The Haunted Mouse (1941). In that short film (directed by Tex Avery), a ghost mouse torments a cat that finds himself in a ghost town. The Haunted Mouse marked the first time Michael Maltese would receive a writing credit on a Warner Brothers cartoon. Michael Maltese would of course go on to write for many of the Tom and Jerry shorts of the Chuck Jones era. That short film also marked the first Looney Tunes cartoon to star one-shot characters. Before that the Looney Tunes would always star a reoccurring character (first Bosko, then Buddy, then Porky Pig), while its sister series Merrie Melodies would feature quite a few one-off short. 

The credited animators for this Tom and Jerry cartoon are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray and Dick Thompson. Chuck Jones and Jim Pabian share a story credit. Eugene Poddany has a music credit. Maurice Noble is credited as a co-director. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. Mel Blanc is credited for the vocal effects (there is no spoken dialogue in this film). This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Hijinks and Shrieks (also on VHS), Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 2, Tom and Jerry: Tricks & Treats and Tom and Jerry's Magical Misadventures. It is also a bonus feature on the DVD for the direct to video movie, Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001). The film is also available on the VHS set Tom & Jerry Volume 6 Much Ado About Mousing and the LaserDisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

The cartoon ends with the magician mouse making words come out of his hat. The words keep magically changing and spell out "The End" in various different languages. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off (1965)

 

The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off marks the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be produced by Chuck Jones but not directed by him. In Leonard Maltin's landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon, Maltin states, "Jones' agreement with the studio brass enabled him to launch other projects for theaters and television. He handed directing assignments on Tom and Jerry to Abe Levitow, Ben Washam, Jim Paiban, and Tom Ray, freeing himself to work on two unusual shorts - The Dot and the Line and The Bear That Wasn't." I am glad he did as I love The Dot and the Line (1965). Easily Jones' most popular and endearing non-Tom and Jerry project for MGM was the TV special, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). For many, including myself, it doesn't feel like Christmas without watching that TV special.

  The director would on this short film would be Jim Pabian. Jim Pabian is a name that is less known than other Tom and Jerry directors. This is for an understandable reason as much of his work on classic cartoons was uncredited. A rare on-screen credit for him was on the feature length movie, Snoopy Come Home (1972). Though The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off was his first time directing a cartoon for MGM, he had previously worked at the studio as an animator on many of the cartoons of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. He had previously worked with Harman and Ising on their Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for Warner Brothers, and he would even work on the one Silly Symphonies cartoon Harman and Ising made for Disney, Merbabies (1938). Jim Pabian was not the only Pabian working for Harman and Ising as his brother Ton Pabian also worked for them. Animation historian Devon Baxter noted, "One perplexing footnote in the annals of animation history concerns the Pabian brothers. Both James Anthony Pabian (born April 14, 1909) and Anthony Albert Pabian (born March 3, 1914) referred to themselves as 'Tony,' though James often adopted the name 'Jim.' According to Rudy Ising, the two brothers often traded their namesake on a regular basis at Harman-Ising." Because of this sometimes one brother would be credited on studio documentation where another brother actually animated. The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off marked Jim Pabian's only time directing a Tom and Jerry cartoon, though he would receive a story credit on the Chuck Jones directed Haunted Mouse (1965).    

Despite Chuck not directing this film, it still has a Coyote and Roadrunner feel to it. There is no real story here outside of Tom chasing Jerry. Rather the film is made up of various spot gags. The final gag involves Tom dressing up as a girl mouse to attract Jerry but instead he attracts a whole plethora of mice that won't leave him alone. This gag is very much borrowed from the ending of Chuck's Roadrunner cartoon, Ready.. Set.. Zoom! (1955). 

This is a fun but flawed little cartoon. Once again, the gags are charming rather than funny. Despite this some of them are very clever. I always loved the gags with Tom laying food in front of Jerry's mouse hole. Though borrowed from another cartoon, the ending gag is a very strong one. For the most part the animation is quite good here and the characters are their usual fun selves. 

However, there are three moments that fall flat, that have always kept me from enjoying this cartoon as much as I should. One is a gag involving a door that doesn't even make sense by cartoon standards. Another is that often Tom accidently gets a fish in his mouth, he immediately removes it. Tom has shown in previous cartoons that he likes to eat fish, so why would he do this, when his goal is to eat Jerry. The last is the most glaring visual error in the history of Tom and Jerry. Jerry's disguise in one scene very obviously disappears for a few frames. It is rare to find such an obvious error in a Tom and Jerry film and this makes it stand out all the more.  


The credited animators on this film are Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. The credited background artist is Robert Gribbroek and the credited layout artist is Maurice Noble (who also receives a co-director credit). Chuck Jones and Jim Pabian both receive a story credit. Eugene Poddany has a music credit. The title of this film is a reference to Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov, which received a movie adaption in 1958. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection as well as the VHS set, Tom and Jerry: Blue Cat Blues and the LaserDisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. This marks the 137th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

Resources Used

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

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merrit and J.B. Kaufman. 

The Animated Movie Guide Edited by Jerry Beck.

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/The_Brothers_Carry-Mouse-Off 

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mgms-alias-st-nick-1935/