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 

Cannery Rodent (1967)

 

Cannery Rodent marks the last Tom and Jerry cartoon to be directed by Chuck Jones, though 
Chuck would continue to produce a few more shorts featuring the cat and mouse after this.

This short film begins with Tom and Jerry chasing each other into a fish canning factory and become canned themselves (hence the film's title). After they get out of the cans, they have one of their typical chases around a dock with a shark getting involved in the action as well. 

Cannery Rodent is an enjoyable but rather forgettable cartoon. Every gag here has been done before and none of them are really that funny here. Because it is neither that original nor funny this is a cartoon that will simply blend in with other Tom and Jerry cartoons in your mind. Though I have seen this cartoon plenty of times, it is one I often forget about when I think of the Tom and Jerry shorts of this era. Despite not being especially memorable, this cartoon still is fun. It moves at a fast pace, and the gags feature some strong timing. The character animation is pretty strong at times (especially with Tom). Dean Elliot's rocking '60's score is energetic and a lot of fun. This is one of those cartoons that you will enjoy watching but forget about not long after you watch it.

 

The title of the film is a play on the 1945 John Steinbeck novel, Cannery Row. This is not the only cartoon to have a title referencing that novel. A Sylvester and Tweety cartoon was titled Canary Row (1950). That cartoon has a special importance for cartoon fans as it was the film debut of Granny. 

The credited animators on this Cannery Rodent are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, O.B. Barkley and Bob Kirk. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist. As well as a director's credit Chuck Jones also receives a story credit here. This marks the 156th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

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: Blue Cat Blues and the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. 

This cartoon was featured in the Toon in With Me episodes, Stuff & Nonsense #7 (2021), Can of Cake! (2021), What's in the Box... of Wigs? (2022), Game Show Time! (2024) and *Cabin Fever (2025)

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Rock 'N' Rodent (1967)

 

Like how The Zoot Cat (1944) was clearly a product of the 1940's, Rock 'N' Rodent is clearly a product of the 1960's. With the character designs of Jerry's bandmates, the rocking soundtrack and the use of colors, anyone can clearly tell what decade this cartoon was released during. 

 

In this short film, Jerry is jamming with his bad at a hip rodent night club. Unfortunately, Tom is trying to sleep upstairs, and the music isn't letting him. 

This is one of the more fun, Tom and Jerrys to be directed by Abe Levitow. Much of this comes for the sheer style of the film. The use of color and lighting in the night club scenes is simply wonderful making this a pure visual treat. Carl Brandt's music is also a pure delight and gives a really fun 1960's energy to this movie. This cartoon also has improvements over some of the usual flaws of Levitow's Tom and Jerry shorts. Perhaps inspired by the fact the film revolves around music, the gags are actually quite well timed here. There is also some strong character animation in a couple scenes, especially when Jerry is getting himself ready in the mirror. 

However, the final gag is a bit too predictable and anti-climatic and I wish Tom and Jerry shared more scenes in this cartoon. 

The credited animators are Ben Washam, Dick Thompson, Tom Ray, Don Towsley and Ken Harris. Bob Ogle is the credited writer. Carl Brandt receives a music credit. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist, and Don Morgan is the credited layout artist. 

This film is 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 1, Tom and Jerry's Musical Mayhem, Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble and Tom and Jerry: Chaos Concerto. The cartoon also appears on the VHS sets Tom and Jerry: The Missing Mouse and Vid-ee-oh! Rap Toon Show and the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. It can also be found as a bonus feature on the Blu-Ray for the Elvis Presley movie, Double Trouble (1967). 

This short film appeared on the Toon in with Me episodes All Rhyme, No Reason (2021), Open Mic Night #2 (2021), Fantastic Friday #47 (2022), Making the Band (2023), Hipstery (2024), Reunited... So Good (2025) and Pillow Talk (2026).

-Michael J. Ruhland