Catty-Cornered (1966)

 

Catty-Cornered marks the 151st Tom and Jerry cartoon and the fourth directed by Abe Levitow. 

In this short film, Jerry lives in the wall between two apartments. On one side of the wall lives Tom and on the other side lives another cat. 

This is probably the best Abe Levitow directed Tom and Jerry cartoon. The premise is a very strong one. While two cats have fought over Jerry before, there is a nice twist here where neither cat notices each other. That makes it feel surprisingly fresh for a film this late in the game. The gags themselves are honestly quite funny and clever, especially the ones involving the swordfish and the slingshot and cannon. 

It does however have the same faults as the other Abe Levitow directed shorts. The timing can be off on some gags and there are some weak drawings. 

Some sources state that the orange cat here is Lightning, the same orange cat from the Hanna and Barbera directed Tom and Jerry shorts. If so, this is his first appearance since Mucho Mouse (1957) and his last appearance in a theatrical short.  

Tom and Lighting in Old Rockin' Chair Tom (1948)

The supposedly same cat in this cartoon. 

There is a 1953 Tweety and Slyvester cartoon with the same title. In that cartoon Tweety is a valuable bird who is kidnapped by gangsters Rocky and Mugsy. Slyvester of course sees Tweety and wants to eat the canary but must first get past Rocky and Mugsy. That short film has a delightfully clever ending, where Slyvester catches Tweety but before he can eat the bird, he is hailed a hero for saving the poor kidnapped bird. 



The credited animators on this film include Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris and Don Towsley. John Dunn is the credited writer. Hal Ashmead is the credited artist. Don Morgan is the credited layout artist. Carl Brandt receives a music credit. The vocal effects are credited to Mel Blanc and June Foray. As far as I am aware Hal Ashmead only received two cartoon credits. Those were this cartoon and the TV classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). Don Morgan on the other hand has many credits to his name. AS well as working on these Tom and Jerry cartoon he worked on such animated feature films as The Phantom Tollbooth (1970), Charlotte's Web (1973), Heavy Traffic (1973), Coonskin (1974), Hey Good Lookin' (1983), The Pagemaster (1994), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure (2002). He also worked on such animated TV shows as Off to See the Wizard, Where's Huddles, Wait Til Your Father Gets Home, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Super Friends, The Smurfs, Muppet Babies, Adventures of the Gummi Bears and Danger Rangers. 

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: Cat and Dupli-cat and the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons.

This cartoon appeared on the Toon in With Me episodes Open Mic Night #1 (2021), Show & Tell Day #2 (2021), March Mayhem (2022), Cartoon Mashup (2024) and Trekkin' Finale: Land of Lincoln (2026). 

-Michael J. Ruhland 

The A-Tom-inable Snowman (1966)

 

This marks the 150th Tom and Jerry short and the third directed by Abe Levitow. 

In this short film, Tom chases Jerry through the Alps. Whenever Tom gets hurt from his failed efforts a St. Bernard brings him to with his barrel of alcohol making Tom drunk.

Like most Abe Levitow directed shorts this cartoon is considerably weaker than the Chuck Jones directed ones. There are some weak drawings here and the timing can feel quite a bit off. Meanwhile the gags feel overly familiar, repetitive and not that funny. The ending gag simply feels out of place and more strange than funny. 

In defense of this cartoon though, the background art is nice to look at, and the musical score is quite fun

The credited animators on this film are Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam and Philip Roman. Bob Ogle gets a story credit. Dean Elliott gets a music credit. The credited layout artist is Robert Givens and the credited background artist is Bob Inman. This is one of only three Tom and Jerry cartoons Bob Inman worked on. The others were Love Me Love My Mouse (1966) and The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. (1967). He would also work with producer Chuck Jones on the TV specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), The Pogo Birthday Special (1969) and A Very Merry Cricket (1973). He also worked on many animated TV series including The New Three Stooges, Off to See the Wizard, It's the Wolf, Motormouse and Autocat, The Roman Holidays and Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. 

This cartoon appears on the DVD sets Tom and Jerry: Paws for a Holiday, Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, Tom and Jerry: Winter Wackiness and Tom and Jerry: Winter Tails as well as the VHS sets Tom and Jerry: Blue Cat Blues, Christmas Cartoon Capers and Christmas Collection: Looney Tunes (despite having Looney Tunes in the title this VHS features three Tom and Jerry cartoons (the others being The Night Before Christmas (1941) and Snowbody Loves Me (1964))) plus the Laserdisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. It also appeared on the Toon in With Me episodes The Snow Day (2021), No Rats, Ands or Buts (2021), A Most Unusual Winter (2023), On Location (2024) and Holiday Markets (2025). 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Matinee Mouse (1966)

 

Matinee Mouse marked the first Tom and Jerry cheater cartoon since Smarty Cat (1955). For those of you who need a refresher, this term refers to a cartoon that heavily relies on clips from previous films. While this short was made during the Chuck Jones era, the cartoons clips that are used all come from the Hanna and Barbera era. As such William Hanna and Joseph Barbera get a director's credit here. This is one of only two (the other also being a cheater) Tom and Jerry shorts from this era that Chuck Jones does not take credit on. This film uses clips from the shorts, The Truce Hurts (1948), Professor Tom (1948), Love That Pup (1949), Jerry's Diary (1949), Jerry and the Lion (1950), The Flying Cat (1952), The Missing Mouse (1953) and The Flying Sorceress (1956).

In this short film, Tom and Jerry are fighting as usual, when they decide to call a truce. Now deciding to be friends the two decide to go to their local movie theater. That movie theater just happens to be showing Tom and Jerry cartoons that day. Each of them laughs at the other's pain onscreen which leads to them fighting again. The idea of Tom and Jerry watching their own films in a theater was done before in Cruise Cat (1952). 

This is definitely the better of the two cheater Tom and Jerry cartoons from this era. The premise is quite charming. While the storyline may be predictable, it is fun. It suits the characters of Tom and Jerry perfectly and it is fun to see their reactions to what is happening on screen. I also loved the cameo by Droopy on one of the movie posters. 

This said, it has the flaw of every one of these Tom and Jerry cheaters. The previous material simply works much better in the context of the original cartoons. Because of this while I laughed at some of these scenes in the original shorts, I did not laugh seeing them presented simply as isolated clips. There is also the flaw here that the Chuck Jones era versions of these characters don't always match the Hanna and Barbera versions. Because of this there are some very jarring moments as we cut from the new to the old footage and back again. 

The credited animators on this film are Ken Muse, Ed Barge, Irven Spence, Ray Patterson and Lewis Marshall. These are all animators from the Hanna and Barbera era. Tom Ray gets a story credit. Dean Elliott gets a music credit. This is the 149th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

This cartoon 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 in Matinee Mouse and the LaserDisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons. It aired on the Toon in With Me episodes When Jimmy Met Mabel (2021), A Tribute to the Movies (2021), Soup-Off (2022), A Cracker Barrel of Laughs (2023), Time for Recess (2024) and 2024 Rewind (2024).

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Filet Meow (1966)

 

Once again Abe Levitow returns to the director's chair for another Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

In this short film, Jerry tries to protect a goldfish from Tom, who plans to eat her. 

The plot here is quite similar to that of Jerry and the Goldfish (1951), however this cartoon doesn't reuse any gags from that previous film. The Tom and Jerry Wiki states that the goldfish here is the same one who appeared in that previous short. If that was indented to be the case (which I have my doubts about), the character was heavily redesigned for this film. This is a much more obviously feminine fish down to wearing lipstick and eye shadow.  

This is an enjoyable if unexceptional cartoon. The storyline is while not new has also not be overdone either. While most of the gags aren't great, there are a couple of good ones, especially those involving the shark. The characters are just as likable as ever. Probably the film's greatest asset though is Dean Elliott's jazzy score. This score is very fun and memorable. When I saw that this would be the next cartoon I would review for this blog, I could hear the music in my head before rewatching it. 

Once again though, these cartoons directed by Abe Levitow lack the great timing and superior drawings seen in those directed by Chuck Jones. 

This cartoon has the distinction of being the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to air on the METV channel. This was on January 2, 2021 as part of the premiere of the channel's Saturday morning cartoon block. It would later play on the channel as part of the Toon in With Me TV series on the episodes, Toony Can't Swim Because of the 20 Minute Rule (2021), 1970s Fashion Trends (2023), Scrappy Living (2023), Bill & Toony's Tops (2024) and World Tuna Day (2025). 

The credited animators on this cartoon are Don Towsley, Tom Ray, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam and Ken Harris. Bob Ogle is the credited writer. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist and Robert Givens is the credited layout artist. Mel Blanc and June Foray provide the vocal effects (though no actual words are spoken in the film). 

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. 

Puss 'n' Boats (1966)

 

This marks the 147th Tom and Jerry cartoon, the 20th produced by Chuck Jones and the 2nd to be directed by Abe Levitow. 

In this short film, Tom is guarding a boat that is full of cheese. This job proves to be much harder than anticipated, when Jerry gets a whiff of the cheese and decides to come aboard. 

This is an enjoyable short. The premise is a strong one and there are some pretty creative gags. I especially like the gag with Tom crawling through the pipe. Tom and Jerry are just as fun of characters here as they always are.  However, the pacing and many of the drawings simply aren't as strong as in the cartoons that Chuck directed himself. 

This marks the first Tom and Jerry short to have a story by Bob Ogle. Ogle would also write the Tom and Jerry shorts, Filet Meow (1966), The A-Tom-inable Snowman (1966), Rock 'n' Rodent (1967), The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R. (1967), Surf Bored Cat (1967), Shutter Bugged Cat (1967) and Advance and be Mechanized (1967). He also wrote some Pink Panther cartoons for DePatie-Freleng as well as all 16 of the Crazylegs Crane shorts. He also worked on such TV shows as Groovie Goolies, The Flintstone Comedy Hour, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Yogi's Gang, Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics and The Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show. 

This marks the first of four Tom and Jerry cartoons for which, Carl Brandt would do the music for. Cartoon-wise Brandt also did the music for the TV series The Dick Tracy Show and The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. Most of his work was for live action though. He composed music for such movies as THe Cowboy (1954), Seven Angry Men (1955) and Shotgun (1955) as well as for the TV shows Mister Roberts, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle: USMC, That Girl, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mod Squad.

The credited animators are Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray and Dick Thompson. The credited layout artist is Don Morgan. The credited background artist is Philip DeGuard. This cartoon is available on the DVD set Tom and Jerry: Chuck Jones Collection. 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Love Me Love My Mouse (1966)

 

Except for a quick gag in Tom-ic Energy (1965), romance has not yet played a role in Chuck Jones' version of Tom and Jerry. That changes with this short film, which focuses on Tom's relationship with his girlfriend. Many believe his girlfriend in this cartoon to be Toodles, his love interest from the William Hanna and Joseph Barbera cartoons. It is easy to understand why people believe this. Though (if this is Toodles), she is completely redesigned, she is a white cat that serves as Tom's love interest. If we are to take this as Toodles, then this marks the only appearance of a Hanna and Barbera supporting character during the Chuck Jones era. 

In this cartoon, Tom is visiting his girlfriend and bringing her a gift of a mouse (Jerry). Tom intends for them to eat the mouse, but his girlfriend finds it adorable and wants to keep it as a pet. Jerry then tries to get revenge on his foe by making Tom's girlfriend believe that Tom is going to eat him. 

As with many of the Tom and Jerry shorts from this era, this cartoon is more charming than it is funny. While familiar the basic premise is a decent one. The character animation is often excellent. The look on the girlfriend's face during the last gag is even funnier than the gag itself. The story moves at a fast pace and remains enjoyable to watch. The lovey dove backgrounds in the beginning may be too cutesy for some but for me they work. This is because they put you into Tom's frame of mind and make good contrast for how his expectations are quickly dashed. 

However, none of the gags in this cartoon are actually funny. They all have been done before and better. Despite being a fan of Mel Blanc and June Foray, I find the cutesy voices to be very off-putting here.   

The credited animators on this film are Ben Washam, Philip Roman, Don Towsley and Dick Thompson. Chuck Jones is the director. Ben Washam gets a co-director's credit. Michael Maltese is the writer. The credited layout artist is Robert Givens. Eugene Poddany gets a music credit. Mel Blanc and June Foray provide the voices. This is the 146th Tom and Jerry cartoon. 

This film is available on the DVD sets, Tom and Jerry: Mouse Trouble and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection.  

Here are some animation cels for the film (via the Tom and Jerry Wiki). 

-Michael J. Ruhland

Jerry-Go-Round (1965)

 

Jerry-Go-Round is the first Tom and Jerry cartoon to be directed by Abe Levitow. Levitow had previously been an animator for producer Chuck Jones' unit at Warner Brothers, eventually going on to co-direct a couple films with Jones. Levitow even directed the feature film, Gay Purr-ee (1962), which was co-written by Chuck and his wife Dorothy Jones. However, his best known and most beloved directorial effort was for the classic UPA TV Christmas special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962). This was also the first Tom and Jerry short written by John W. Dunn. Dunn had been one of the main writers of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons in the early 1960's. He wrote stories for all the Warner Brothers directors including Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson. Friz Freleng took a special liking to Dunn and Dunn wrote many of the cartoons for Friz's DePatie-Freleng cartoons including the Pink Panther, Inspector, Blue Racer, Ant and the Aardvark, Hoot Kloot, Tijuana Toads and Roland and Ratfink cartoons. He would later be a writer for the Hanna-Barbera TV series, The Ri¢hie Ri¢h/Scooby-Doo Show.

In this short film, Tom chases Jerry into the circus. Here Jerry befriends an elephant, who helps protect Jerry from Tom. 

This is frankly just an okay cartoon. Here the circus setting is very charming, the character animation is quite good and Eugune Poddany's musical score is a lot of fun. However, at times this short can feel like it is just going through the motions. Not only are none of the gags actually funny but none of them have any real punch to them. These are just typical cartoon gags delivered in a bland and uninspired fashion. While William Hanna and Joseph Barbera would often times do gags, we have seen before in their Tom and Jerry cartoons, the timing and delivery of these gags made them work perfectly. Here the timing feels off, and the delivery feels uninspired.  

The credited animators on this film are Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Don Towsley, Tom Ray. Philip DeGuard is the credited background artist, and Don Morgan is the credited layout artist. Mel Blanc is credited for the vocal effects. This is the 145th Tom and Jerry cartoon. Jerry had previously befriended an elephant in Jerry and Jumbo (1953). 

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 & Jerry Volume 6 Much Ado About Mousing and the LaserDisc set The Art of Tom & Jerry: Volume III: The Chuck Jones Cartoons.

The Tom and Jerry Wiki states, "Media studies scholar, Jo Johnson, argued that the short had a coded same-sex relationship between Jerry, who was gendered by Jones as female, and a female elephant who wears a pink tutu. He also argued that the episode's ending could be read as a 'prophetic depiction of Gay Pride.'" Yeah, right! I can guarantee you none of this was ever on the mind of Abe, John or Chuck as they made this cartoon. I completely believe in representation in media but there is such a thing as reading too much into something whose creators only plan was to make a piece of entertainment. 

-Michael J. Ruhland