The Karate Guard (2005)

 

When I started this blog, my goal was to review every one of the theatrically released Tom and Jerry short films. Well, I have finally reached this goal because The Karate Guard marks the final theatrical Tom and Jerry short (it played before the animated feature film, The Ant Bully (2005)). Having reached this goal, this blog is now semi-retired. I may occasionally return to this blog to write about various Tom and Jerry TV cartoons and feature films, but this will not be on a regular basis. For the most part, the attention that has gone to this blog will go to my Three Stooges blog. 

In this final short film, Jerry's spiritual mentor prepares Jerry to fight Tom with karate. After Tom gets the best of Jerry, Jerry's spiritual mentor decides Jerry needs help. The spiritual mentor gives Jerry a gong. When Jerry rings the gong, a Karate Guard named Momo-sumo (Spike the Bulldog) appears and beats up Tom. 

Most of the revivals of Tom and Jerry have been hit or miss. Luckily this short is very much a hit. The slapstick gags are creative and a lot of fun. While some ideas are copied from the older cartoons, this film still manages to fit some new gags in here and have fun twists on the old gags to make them feel fresh. The character animation is often excellent. These characters say a lot with just facial expressions and sometimes these bits of character animation are even funnier than the gags themselves. The timing here is extremely good, even without Willaim Hanna (who had died in 2001). The whole cartoon has a great sense of comedic energy from start to finish and each gag lasts just the right length. The film also has a strong ending. 

I will admit while Tom and Jerry cartoons have always had their violent gags, the ones involving the toy plane can be a bit too unpleasant to look at.   

The credited directors on this film are Joseph Barbera and Spike Brandt. This marks the last directorial credit for Joseph Barbera as he would pass away in 2006. Joe would however provide the story for the direct to video movie, Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale (2007), which was released after his death. Spike Brandt has a long history of reviving classic cartoon characters back, often with his cartoon partner Tony Cervone.  He co-produced and (sometimes) co-directed (with Cervone) the TV series Duck Dodgers, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated and The Looney Tunes Show. Brandt and Cervone also produced and directed many of the Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo direct to video movies. Joseph Barbera also receives a writing credit. Barbera and Iwao Takamoto were the film's storyboard artists. Iwao Takamoto worked as a storyboard artist and production designer on many of the TV shows for the Hanna-Barbera studio. Michael Giacchino is credited as the composer. Michael Giacchino is a well-established film composer who worked on such movies as The Incredibles (2004), Mission Impossible III (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), The Batman (2022) and Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) along with many more. 

The credited animators on this film are Spike Brandt, Darlie Brewster, Tony Cervone, Gary Mouri, Michael Nickelson, Barry O'Donoghue, Wendy Perdue and Jeff Siergey. The credited clean-up artists are Mi-Han Ha, Sun-Hee Hong, Eun Kyung Kim, Mi-Jeong Kim, Min-Jung Kim, On-Kyung Kim, Tae-Yun Kim, Young Joo Kim and Young-Hee Kim. The credited background painters are Mi-Young Choi, Dennis Durrell, Louis Gonzales, Michael Humphries, Mi-kyung Kim, Sun-Hee Kwon, Sun-joo Lee, Eric Semones, Jesse Silver, Dennis Venizelos and Mi-Jin Yoo. Gary Mouri is the credited background layout artist. Doug Ninneman is credited as animation clean-up key. The credited final checkers are Jan Browning, Teri N. McDonald and Denise M. Mitchell.

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 3 and Tom and Jerry: The Deluxe Anniversary Collection. 

The idea of Spike being Jerry's bodyguard is similar to the classic short The Bodyguard (1944). The scene where Tom hires Butch and some other cats to take care of Spike is reminiscent of the cartoon, Jerry's Cousin (1951). The designs for Tom and Jerry used here are the same ones that would be used for the duo's direct to video movies as well as the second season of TV's Tom and Jerry Tales. 

This is a very strong cartoon that often feels like classic Tom and Jerry. 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

The Mansion Cat (2001)

 

The Mansion Cat was a rare Tom and Jerry short to be made for the Cartoon Network and Boomerang TV channels rather than for theaters or as part of a TV series. That may lead you to wonder why I am including it on this blog which is dedicated to the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts. It is because, according to Wikipedia and few other arguable sources, it received very limited theatrical release in Latin America. Regardless of whether this is true it is the last Tom and Jerry short William Hanna worked on. He passed away before the cartoon aired and the short features a dedication to him at the beginning. This seems like reason enough to include it here.  

In this short, Tom's owner is leaving on a trip and tells Tom to make sure nothing in the house is damaged.  

Despite the cat and mouse duo's creators being involved this is a weaker short. The pastel style of artwork is kind of off putting. The backgrounds are often too sparse and empty. Most of all this art style simply does not fit these characters or this type of pantomime comedy. We have not only seen the gags in this cartoon before, but we have seen them done much better. That is because both the art and the timing are off, killing any chance these gags had of being funny.   

The credited director and writer of this short is Karl Toerge. This is Toerge's only time working with Tom and Jerry. He worked as a storyboard artist on such animated TV shows as Ghostbusters, BraveStarr, The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog, Garfield and Friends and Baby Looney Tunes. He was a one of the directors on the direct to video movie, Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000). He also directed episodes of the animated TV shows Slyvester and Tweety Mysteries, Ape Escape and Dinosaur Train. William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Diana Ritchey and Linda Simensky are the executive producers. Joseph Barbera also receives a story consultant credit. James T. Walker is the credited animation director. The same year this cartoon aired, Walker directed the direct to video movie Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2001). Karl Toerge and Brian Chin are the credited background artists. Kevin Frank and Jim McLean are credited for character animation layouts. Martin Crossley and Star Wirth are the credited xerographers. Joseph Barbera voices Tom's owner. 

Only one more cartoon to go folks. 

Purr-Chance to Dream (1967)

Purr-Chance to Dream marked the end of an era for Tom and Jerry. This was the last theatrical short from the 20th century that would star the famous cat and mouse duo. Today one thinks of any film or TV series ending with an entry that feels like a finale. This however is a fairly recent development. It was definitely not true for the classic theatrical cartoon shorts. Each series of theatrical cartoon shorts ends with a film that simply feels like another cartoon. There is nothing about Purr-Chance to Dream that would make it feel like anything more than just another Tom and Jerry cartoon.

In this short film, Tom is having nightmares about a big bulldog beating him up. After waking up he chases Jerry to a giant doghouse. However, the dog that comes out is a very tiny bulldog. At first Tom thinks this is funny but the dog ends up being much tougher than he looks. 

This is a fun short. Though the basic premise had been done before in The Cat's Me-Ouch (1965), this film does have its clever moments. Tom turning into sausages and the great ending gag are especially clever. Though the premise is similar to a previous cartoon, this film never out and out copies the previous short. Each of the gags is unique to this cartoon and the nightmares add a fun new touch. The nightmares are another highlight due to the delightfully surreal background art that perfectly contrasts with the rest of the cartoon. All the while, Tom and Jerry are same wonderful characters that we have loved in the previous shorts.  

Unfortunately, this film also features the same flaws of the non-Chuck Jones directed shorts from this era. That is to say the timing can be off at times and there are some poor drawings. 

This may not fully reach the heights of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1940's and early 50's but it is still a fairly strong note for this era to end on. 

When MGM decided to end the Tom and Jerry series, it was because they were losing interest in animation as a whole. The studio was feeling that these cartoons cost too much for the amount of money that they made. They felt that there was much more of a financial future in live action film and TV. Chuck Jones' unit made some more TV specials, but this was also short lived. Chuck stated that MGM, "saw no future in $100,000 a year net from every TV special." Film Historian and Critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his essential animation history book Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, "This time there was no reprieve. Like other studios with major cartoon properties, MGM failed to see how continued production - for television or theaters - could stack up against the millions one could derive from live action features and TV series." 

Ben Washam is the director, and Irv Spector is the writer for this cartoon. The credited animators are Dick Thompson, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray and Philip Roman. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist. Don Morgan is the credited layout artist. 

This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6 and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, the VHS set Tom and Jerry: Little School Mouse and the Laserdisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

This film appeared on the Toon in With Me episodes Two Drink Minimum at the Cackle Barrel (2021), Bill's Legs Leave His Body (2022), Bedtime Stories (2022), In Your Dreams (2023), Be Prepared (2024), Our Worst Nightmares (2024), Trekkin' the Blue Grass State (2025) and TWIM's Horror Show (2025). 

My goal with this blog was to cover every theatrical Tom and Jerry short length film. Because of this, after this post I will skip ahead to the 21st century and review two shorts that received limited theatrical releases. After that I will pretty much be done with this blog. I may occasionally go back and review TV cartoons or feature length movies, but these will not be on a regular basis as I will have already done what I set out to do. For the most part the time I have given to this blog will shift to my Three Stooges blog. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resources Used

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

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Purr-Chance_to_Dream

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062162/

Advance and Be Mechanized (1967)

 

Advance and be Mechanized is the final entry in the Chuck Jones produced trilogy of space themed cartoons. 

In this short film, Jerry uses a robot mouse to steal some cheese from an outer space cheese mine that Tom is guarding. Tom sends out a robot cat to capture Jerry's robot mouse. 

While this will never be ranked among one of the cat and mouse duo's best films, it isn't a bad cartoon either. The final gag is a surprisingly great one for this late in the game. Dean Elliot's musical score and the timing are also quite strong here. 

However, most of the gags are not that great. Besides the last gag, most of them are rather forgettable and none of them really get a laugh. Though the robot cat and mouse are a clever idea on paper, it rarely works when Tom and Jerry barely interact with each other (Mouse in Manhattan (1945) being a notable exception) and that is what happens here. It is just simply more fun to watch Tom and Jerry fight than to watch a robot cat and mouse. There is also a feeling of sameness about this cartoon. It hardly stands out from the other films and this trilogy and when I think about this trilogy it can be hard to remember what gags go with what cartoon. 

The credited director for this film is Ben Washam. The credited animators are Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Don Towsley and Philip Roman. The story credit goes to Bob Ogle. Don Morgan is the credited layout artist, and Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist. Dean Elliott receives a music credit. This marks the 1960th Tom and Jerry cartoon. There is some animation here reused from Guided Mouse-ille (1967). 

This film is available on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Paws for a Holiday (also available 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: Puss 'n' Toots and Tom and Jerry: Part Time Pals plus the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

This cartoon aired on the Toon in With Me episodes Bill Finds the User's Manual (2021), Craftwerk #2 (2021), Sventoonie Is Out of This World (2022), Party, Pizza Party! (2023), Everyone's a Critic (2023) and The Grand Canyon State (2024). 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Shutter Bugged Cat (1967)

 

Shutter Bugged Cat marks the last and least of the theatrical Tom and Jerry cheater cartoons. As a refresher this means a cartoon that uses clips from previous films in it. The previous clips here come from the shorts Part Time Pal  (1947), The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), Nit-Witty Kitty (1951), Johann Mouse (1953), Heavenly Puss (1949) and Designs on Jerry (1955).

In this short film, Tom rewatches filmed footage of his previous attempts to catch Jerry in hopes that he can learn from his mistakes. 

This is one of the all-time worst Tom and Jerry cartoons. One of the major problems with this film is simply how the clips from the previous Tom and Jerry shorts are presented. The format features Tom rewinding and fast-forwarding the footage he is watching. This completely ruins the pacing and the effect of these clips. Seeing Tom play back these clips simply take its audience out of the film. It doesn't help that the clips themselves are hardly the highlights from the older cartoons. This film also suffers from one of the main flaws of Matinee Mouse (1966). That is that Tom and Jerry's designs around this era are quite different from how they looked in the 1940's and 50's. Because of this the transitions between the new footage and the old footage are quite jarring. Worse yet the wrap around story borrows heavily from the much better Designs on Jerry. This is one of the lowest points of the cat and mouse duo's filmography. 

Due to the amount of footage used from the Hanna and Barbera directed Tom and Jerry films, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera receive directors' credits. Tom Ray also receives credit for directing the new scenes. Bob Ogle receives a story credit. The credited animators are Irven Spence, George Gordon, Ed Barge, Pete Burness, Kenneth Muse, Lewis Marshall and Ray Patterson. These are all animators who worked on the Hanna and Barbera era of Tom and Jerry. It is worth noting though that Lewis Marshall did not work on any of the cartoons from which were used in the clips. This marked the 159th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

This film appears on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Classic Collection Volume 6, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection and Tom and Jerry: Fur Flying Adventures - Volume 3 as well as the Laserdisc set, The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

This cartoon is featured in the Toon in With Me episodes, Fan-Tastic Friday #2 (2021), Toony Thinks This Is a Rerun (2022) and Picture Day (2023). 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Surf-Bored Cat (1967)

 

Surf-Bored Cat marks the 158th Tom and Jerry cartoon and the last directed by Abe Levitow. 

In this short film, while on a cruise Tom wishes to go surfing. However, he runs into trouble with a shark, a starfish and of course Jerry. 

This is an enjoyable little film but hardly among the cat and mouse duo's best. The basic premise of this short is a fun one and the filmmakers are able to get some very clever gags in. Dean Elliott's surf-rock inspired musical score is a lot of fun and the opening part of it will randomly come into my head at times. However, the cartoon does suffer from the same flaws as most of the Abe Levitow directed shorts. There are some poor drawings here and the character animation leaves a bit to be desired compared to the cartoons that Chuck himself directed. The timing feels really off on many of these gags. Because of this some gags that should be really strong do not really get a laugh. 

It is interesting to note how this film has little to do with Tom and Jerry fighting. Jerry is at first simply an observer to Tom's various surfing mishaps. Later he mocks Tom for his ineptness at surfing. While it is nice to see a change of pace at times this feels like a Tom cartoon with Jerry simply thrown in there because he is expected to be there.  

The credited animators on this film are Dick Thompson, Philip Roman, Ben Washam, Hal Ambro, Don Towsley and Carl Bell. The credited writers are Bob Ogle and Sid Marcus. Cartoon fans might know Sid Marcus best from his time at Warner Brothers where he wrote Devil May Hare (1954), the first Tasmanian Devil cartoon.  Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist, and Don Morgan is the credited layout artist.  

This cartoon 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 Summer Holidays as well as the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. It is also featured as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray for the Elvis Presley movie, Double Trouble (1967). 

This cartoon is featured in the Toon in With Me episodes, Toony's Calendar (2021), Bill 2: Algae Boogaloo (2021), Old Dog, New Tricks (2023), History's Mysteries (2025) and Santa Cruise (2025).

-Michael J. Ruhland

The Mouse From H.U.N.G.E.R (1967)

 

With most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons focusing on slapstick and character driven comedy, Tom and Jerry shorts that are actually parodies are rather rare. The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. is an exception. It is a parody of the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 

 In this short film, Jerry is a secret agent who is assigned to recover a fridge full of cheese from enemy agent Tom Thrush (a reference to the evil organization T.H.R.U.S.H. from The Man from U.N.C.L.E.).  

This is one of the weakest Tom and Jerry shorts of the Chuck Jones produced era. Though it is about the same length as most Tom and Jerry cartoons, it feels too short in a way other cartoons don't. Part of this is that too much of the runtime is taken with setting up the story. By the time Jerry actually makes it to Tom's hideout, there is not much time for the typical Tom and Jerry action. This also leads to a surprising lack of gags here. The few gags there are here are simply not that funny. As with many of the non-Chuck Jones directed shorts from this era, the timing is off. Because of this the basic gags we see here have been done better in countless other cartoons. This is not helped by some weak drawings that find their way into the cartoon. 

Abe Levitow is the credited director. Bob Ogle is the credited writer. The credited animators are Philip Roman, Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray and Dick Thompson. Bob Inman is the credited background artist. Don Morgan is the credited layout artist. 

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's Adventures as well the VHS set Tom & Jerry Cartoon Festival: Volume 4 and the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

The cartoon aired on the Toon in With Me episodes Tyler (2021), Yee Chowdy! (2022), I Spy (2022), Toony and Bill Dial-Up 1995 (2025), Women's History - Going Undercover (2026). 

This marks the 157th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

-Michael J. Ruhland